Bad Luck Bantams

[BDutch]

Mites/Lice. My mother-in-law had her home infested with bird mites after some nested in her attic. So yeah, I'm a bit paranoid. The chickens do get monthly health checks, but that's little reassure to someone like myself. Current brooder is a watertight stock tank filled with chicken sand. Is there something better I should be using? Should I grease the sides (joking)? Should I swap to a bedding that can be more easily changed out? The sand is almost zero dust and very easy to clean... and it was an investment. I'd like to keep using it, but could be convinced to switch.

About the red mites:
Sand instead of bedding in summer is a good beginning.
Checking 2x a week during the warm period with corrugated (white) paper rolls under the roost bars and in the nestboxes is another thing you can do to prevent an unexpected outbreak.

I do a lot more and use diatomaceous earth (in sandbath, as paint) to prevent them to multiply an prevent an outbreak too. I wrote an article about how I concurred the red mites 3 years ago is in my personal thread June/July 2023.

 

[thecatumbrella]

Checking 2x a week during the warm period with corrugated (white) paper rolls under the roost bars and in the nestboxes is another thing you can do to prevent an unexpected outbreak.

This is an absolutely brilliant idea! I'm fortunate in that the roost area of my Omlet is made from single piece plastic (no gaps), but I'm saving this for later once they have a legitimate roost. I do something similar with coop dusting, only with First Saturday Lime. Pretty sure it works by the same mechanism (dehydrating the exoskeleton).

Finally figured out how to use labels to sort my bookmarks. Going under "mites". Easy peasy.

 

[AnneGirlGG]

FYI:
I bought bantam Amrock eggs last year. Thinking it would be easy to sex them after hatch. But it wasn’t.

Reading more about sexing Bantam Amrocks I learned that these are harder to distinguish than the normal sized Amrocks.

I can definitely see that. I've got 2 bantam chicks that I believe to be buff brahmas. When I was looking up these chicks, I found that they are an autosexing breed (or so I read), but I'm not sure for how many days after hatch you're supposed to be able to tell. Mine would've been 4 days old when I bought them. I have no clue what sex they are.

But I also realized that bantam buff brahmas don't always look as much like their standard counterparts as I expected.

 

[MROO]

An easy way to add some enrichment is to make one of your new roosts a swing. A simple 2X4about as long as two of your chickens and a few inches of "sharing room," wide side up and suspended by nylon rope. Chain can catch toes and the nylon is washable and bleachable to combat mites and other yuckies. When they move back outside, you'll probably need to move the swing, too. Mine LOVE theirs!

 

[AnneGirlGG]

An easy way to add some enrichment is to make one of your new roosts a swing. A simple 2X4about as long as two of your chickens and a few inches of "sharing room," wide side up and suspended by nylon rope. Chain can catch toes and the nylon is washable and bleachable to combat mites and other yuckies. When they move back outside, you'll probably need to move the swing, too. Mine LOVE theirs!

This is a great idea!

 

[thecatumbrella]

An easy way to add some enrichment is to make one of your new roosts a swing. A simple 2X4about as long as two of your chickens and a few inches of "sharing room," wide side up and suspended by nylon rope. Chain can catch toes and the nylon is washable and bleachable to combat mites and other yuckies. When they move back outside, you'll probably need to move the swing, too. Mine LOVE theirs!

I haven’t tried a swing with this group yet, but I’m intrigued! Thanks for the idea!

 

[thecatumbrella]

~ A CHILD'S DRAWING ~​

Today's goal is to remodel the basement brooder. We'll start by converting the partition wall to a nest box wall, complete with privacy shiplap. I'll remove some of the sand on the other side and top with shavings. Towel over the roof to make it dark and cozy. Will they use it? Ummm... my guess is they'll just scream whenever they have to lay an egg, wanting to head back outside, then just drop it wherever. I'm sorry, girls. We're trying here.

I'm also upgrading their basic "plank on floor" to a deluxe handrail roost. They spend most of their time in the brooder just chillaxing. The furnishings should reflect that and make it as comfortable as possible.

The handrail roost will also serve as a barrier for Poppy's toy box. All the chickens love rotating peck toys, but Poppy NEEDS it. She'll tap for hours. Not hyperbole; actual hours. The roost will help hold any rolly-polly toys in, like their empty Poland Springs bottle. A flock favorite. I'm also going to print out some photos and put them in magnetic frames on the walls. They already have colorful magnets, but I figured it would be even more fun to peck at the faces of their former flockmates.

I picked up a battery camera on sale that I'll mount to the nest box wall. Much like my coop cams, I need to know if tensions start to boil over. That would spell the end of muppet flock. I love my girls so much, but they need to endure this if they want to stay. The neighbor's been working from about 1-5PM, almost daily. And that's good! Get it over with, please! Fingers crossed we can hold out until then.

In the meantime, enjoy my artist's rendering of the new changes.

 

[AnneGirlGG]

~ A CHILD'S DRAWING ~​

Today's goal is to remodel the basement brooder. We'll start by converting the partition wall to a nest box wall, complete with privacy shiplap. I'll remove some of the sand on the other side and top with shavings. Towel over the roof to make it dark and cozy. Will they use it? Ummm... my guess is they'll just scream whenever they have to lay an egg, wanting to head back outside, then just drop it wherever. I'm sorry, girls. We're trying here.

I'm also upgrading their basic "plank on floor" to a deluxe handrail roost. They spend most of their time in the brooder just chillaxing. The furnishings should reflect that and make it as comfortable as possible.

The handrail roost will also serve as a barrier for Poppy's toy box. All the chickens love rotating peck toys, but Poppy NEEDS it. She'll tap for hours. Not hyperbole; actual hours. The roost will help hold any rolly-polly toys in, like their empty Poland Springs bottle. A flock favorite. I'm also going to print out some photos and put them in magnetic frames on the walls. They already have colorful magnets, but I figured it would be even more fun to peck at the faces of their former flockmates.

I picked up a battery camera on sale that I'll mount to the nest box wall. Much like my coop cams, I need to know if tensions start to boil over. That would spell the end of muppet flock. I love my girls so much, but they need to endure this if they want to stay. The neighbor's been working from about 1-5PM, almost daily. And that's good! Get it over with, please! Fingers crossed we can hold out until then.

In the meantime, enjoy my artist's rendering of the new changes.

View attachment 4215831

I hope it all goes well for you, and your girls will settle in!

 

[thecatumbrella]

~ BASEMENT HANGOUT ON STANDBY ~​

The basement brooder changes are (mostly) complete, and today was their first excursion. Of course, the excavator guy showed up, got inside it, immediately got back out, then left. So the muppets have been sitting in my basement for 3 hours because you know the second I bring them back out, he'll start work.

This got me thinking...

That excavator is still sitting up on the hill, over their pen. I have no clue when work will resume. What if it's over a month? I'm wondering if I should bring them in at least once a week or so to get into a routine. I want the basement brooder to be a familiar place, especially now that I have TWO layers (). Is this a stupid idea? Maybe. But they certainly don't seem to mind being down there. Everyone just kind of hangs out, preens, and plays with the peck toys while listening to Christmas music.

Something to think about, anyway. Not sure how adaptable chickens can be in the end. Maybe they'll surprise me!

Camera is mounted on the nest box wall. I have a piece of cardboard that I lay over the cover to keep that area dark and cozy. It certainly generated a lot of interest, but no eggs. The design is overly elaborate to prevent them from carrying out wood shavings for their friends to eat.

 

[AnneGirlGG]

~ BASEMENT HANGOUT ON STANDBY ~​

The basement brooder changes are (mostly) complete, and today was their first excursion. Of course, the excavator guy showed up, got inside it, immediately got back out, then left. So the muppets have been sitting in my basement for 3 hours because you know the second I bring them back out, he'll start work.

This got me thinking...

That excavator is still sitting up on the hill, over their pen. I have no clue when work will resume. What if it's over a month? I'm wondering if I should bring them in at least once a week or so to get into a routine. I want the basement brooder to be a familiar place, especially now that I have TWO layers (). Is this a stupid idea? Maybe. But they certainly don't seem to mind being down there. Everyone just kind of hangs out, preens, and plays with the peck toys while listening to Christmas music.

Something to think about, anyway. Not sure how adaptable chickens can be in the end. Maybe they'll surprise me!

Camera is mounted on the nest box wall. I have a piece of cardboard that I lay over the cover to keep that area dark and cozy. It certainly generated a lot of interest, but no eggs. The design is overly elaborate to prevent them from carrying out wood shavings for their friends to eat.

View attachment 4217758
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I would definitely think that bringing them in to get them used to things would be a good idea. I brought my littles outside for the first time today. Their reactions showed me that I need to be doing that more often.

I love your setup!