servant_of_fluffs
In the Brooder
- Jan 9, 2025
- 21
- 17
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These are just overall questions I have about chicken keeping. Let me know if I put it in the wrong subforum.
Where I live it can get to the negative 20's or lower in winter. The lighting in winter is 4-6 hours long so we put a LED light in since they were not eating enough to keep themselves warm. What are some of the best foods for mixed flocks that are high in calories and protein percentage so my birds are able to eat enough? I was thinking about feeding them some frozen meat or some other high fat treats. We do feed them freeze dried black soldier fly larvae and leftovers as snacks. My chickens also cannot go outside in the winter because there are loose dogs and our 6 ft high fence gets buried in snow. (The chickens also hate the snow
It is common in the winter for there to be blizzards and whiteouts a few times a month. This summer I was planning on renovating their coop and maybe adding sand as a bedding. I normally use straw, but sand seems like it would be better for them as long as I scooped it regularly. I was hoping it would also help reduce bumblefoot and bacteria in their coop. Any experiences with sand? Could I go out to the beach and gather some grittier/pebblier sand or fine gravel? Some of my girls (Stormpuff, I'm looking at you) also do not like roosting and would much rather sleep on the ground or nest boxes. Any ideas on reducing that? I can make their perches be lower down, but the one hen who sleeps on the ground can't really jump very well. If sand is too cold for her to sleep on I could add a heated perch or heating pad of some sort for her? Or I could just have a pile of clean straw in the spot she sleeps.
I was thinking about this and I was curious whether chickens would be healthier with a basking spot (deep heat projector or something similar) and a UVB light over that basking spot in winter. I'm pretty sure some people use UVB lights for caged birds to help them have healthier feathers(?) I just figured that since they are inside more often than I wish they were that could help simulate natural sunlight.
I'm hatching chicks and am going to try to find the friendly/chill roosters good homes. Any aggressive ones I will probably eat because they're too dangerous to be around little kids and house sitters (one of our house sitters was super scared of going into the coop because of how aggressive our last rooster was.) What is the best way to humanely harvest them? Would using a 22 be less painful and stressful for the roo than an axe? I want to try to make sure they feel little pain and stress.
Where I live it can get to the negative 20's or lower in winter. The lighting in winter is 4-6 hours long so we put a LED light in since they were not eating enough to keep themselves warm. What are some of the best foods for mixed flocks that are high in calories and protein percentage so my birds are able to eat enough? I was thinking about feeding them some frozen meat or some other high fat treats. We do feed them freeze dried black soldier fly larvae and leftovers as snacks. My chickens also cannot go outside in the winter because there are loose dogs and our 6 ft high fence gets buried in snow. (The chickens also hate the snow
It is common in the winter for there to be blizzards and whiteouts a few times a month. This summer I was planning on renovating their coop and maybe adding sand as a bedding. I normally use straw, but sand seems like it would be better for them as long as I scooped it regularly. I was hoping it would also help reduce bumblefoot and bacteria in their coop. Any experiences with sand? Could I go out to the beach and gather some grittier/pebblier sand or fine gravel? Some of my girls (Stormpuff, I'm looking at you) also do not like roosting and would much rather sleep on the ground or nest boxes. Any ideas on reducing that? I can make their perches be lower down, but the one hen who sleeps on the ground can't really jump very well. If sand is too cold for her to sleep on I could add a heated perch or heating pad of some sort for her? Or I could just have a pile of clean straw in the spot she sleeps. I was thinking about this and I was curious whether chickens would be healthier with a basking spot (deep heat projector or something similar) and a UVB light over that basking spot in winter. I'm pretty sure some people use UVB lights for caged birds to help them have healthier feathers(?) I just figured that since they are inside more often than I wish they were that could help simulate natural sunlight.
I'm hatching chicks and am going to try to find the friendly/chill roosters good homes. Any aggressive ones I will probably eat because they're too dangerous to be around little kids and house sitters (one of our house sitters was super scared of going into the coop because of how aggressive our last rooster was.) What is the best way to humanely harvest them? Would using a 22 be less painful and stressful for the roo than an axe? I want to try to make sure they feel little pain and stress.
