Bob Blosl's Heritage Large Fowl Thread

[3riverschick]

Hi,
The rains came yesterday and dumped about 3 inches here in the last 24 hrs. My covered runs are sticky brown mud, sigh. I need to dry them out and sand isn't an option. It was suggested I use wood chips. I was also thinking maybe triple turned mulch. I raised Marans on it years ago. I need to raise the run floor about 3 inches. The one yard is 6x30. The other 2 are 4x8.
I also considered a stall dryer like Equine Fresh but they are in pellet form and I worry the birds will eat it.
Thanks for suggestions,
Karen in super soggy western PA

 

[thedragonlady]

Hi,
The rains came yesterday and dumped about 3 inches here in the last 24 hrs. My covered runs are sticky brown mud, sigh. I need to dry them out and sand isn't an option. It was suggested I use wood chips. I was also thinking maybe triple turned mulch. I raised Marans on it years ago. I need to raise the run floor about 3 inches. The one yard is 6x30. The other 2 are 4x8.
I also considered a stall dryer like Equine Fresh but they are in pellet form and I worry the birds will eat it.
Thanks for suggestions,
Karen in super soggy western PA

If you add wood chips, you'll never dry those runs out ! Can you get marble dust , crusher run, or sand. Those work. Nothing organic will.

 

[3riverschick]

Quote: what if I put stall dry or equine fresh (same type of thing) under the chips?
Karen

 

[fowlman01]

Don't be sorry this is a educational site. We are all learning even if you been around a long time just part of life.

You can buy the filter and add it to the cheaper box but its labor intensive. I done it. It coast about four or five dollars more for them to do it.

Biggest problem I have is finding the roll of fiber to glue the fiber on the box. If you have time then go ahead in do it or if not this is a option.

Next we had a good run on the worming lesson many many pages and post.

I don't know what to do. My Mentor Mr. E W Reese of Ga said to me 25 years ago. Robert I DONT DOPE MY CHICKENS. Now he had a heard of Register Jersey Dairy Cattle maybe he did them I don't know. But he used the Fit of the Fittest Principle on all his large fowl and bantam Rhode Island Reds. So I have to.

Only the strong survive and are all-round in the breeding pens.

Many do the same. Some help the chicks out of the eggs and raise them and breed from them.


I will think about it. That's all I can do.

I guess if you take your stool samples to a Vet and there are no worms Mission Success what ever you do. bob

I do it the same way you do Bob and I don't have worm problems. It could very well be a location/management situation where another location a person would have to use some kind of worming program. It works for me here in this location with my management system, so I don't add chemicals of any kind and I don't try to save sick chickens. As a result my birds don't get sick and they last many, many years. I have too many birds and I'm also lazy, so the birds here have to be strong. the weak ones died many years ago.

Walt

 

[fowlman01]

Hi,
The rains came yesterday and dumped about 3 inches here in the last 24 hrs. My covered runs are sticky brown mud, sigh. I need to dry them out and sand isn't an option. It was suggested I use wood chips. I was also thinking maybe triple turned mulch. I raised Marans on it years ago. I need to raise the run floor about 3 inches. The one yard is 6x30. The other 2 are 4x8.
I also considered a stall dryer like Equine Fresh but they are in pellet form and I worry the birds will eat it.
Thanks for suggestions,
Karen in super soggy western PA

I have clay soil here with no drainge in elevation or substrate. When the ground is full, the water lays on top and we get lots of rain here in Norcal. The only thing that has worked for me is to create a dry area for the birds, so I pile on straw. People have issues with straw, but that is the only thing that works here. If I add sand, gravel etc, it lasts for about a year and it is on it's way to China to be never seen again. I have had no adverse effects after 50 years of doing this. The ground pushes up large rocks and sucks down the stuff under 2" and it is never seen again.

Walt

 

[3riverschick]

Quote: What kind of straw should I use? Alfalfa, wheat , hay? Never done this before. I need to fix this right away. The birds look like they got off the Ark a day early, even tho they had a dry cozy coop during the storm. My yards are back in the dappled shade of oak and pine trees.
Thanks,
Karen

 

[3riverschick]

How about this? I found it on another BYC thread.

I use wheat straw. I just make sure to add DE all over the straw to kill whatever lives in the hollow parts. No buggies allowed!!

Any of ya'll got an opinion? Extra Java RattlesnakeRidgeWV
RedRidge Yard full o' rocks ocap

 

[Extra Java]

It all depends on what you need to work on. Many large fowl do have issues with being undersized, in this case it'd be a bad idea to use a smaller bird. If your birds are over the standard weight but lacking type, then a smaller bird with good type is the way to go. You want to avoid doubling up problems in breeding as it will only make it worse. I will say as someone who has spent time with breeds that tend to be on the small side it is a pain in the rear to try and get their size up.

OK so if I use the trio. One hen rotated to 2 males. Could I create 2 separate lines this way...breeding the pullets back to their Sires. Keeping all new pullets within the same pens they came out of?

Edited to add: The only problem I can see is the wait time in between pens.

Any other problems with this idea?

Thanks

 

[Chickens Naturally]

How about this? I found it on another BYC thread.

I use wheat straw. I just make sure to add DE all over the straw to kill whatever lives in the hollow parts. No buggies allowed!!

Any of ya'll got an opinion? Extra Java RattlesnakeRidgeWV
RedRidge Yard full o' rocks ocap

You have to be cautious with Diatomaceous earth. It is reported to kill fleas and other pests by drying them out and internal parasites by cutting them up like shards of glass. Although it is supposed to be safe internally in the host’s digestive tract, the danger is in inhaling it as it can be very bad in lungs and eyes etc. Some people dust birds with it and throw is around like you would seven dust and that may be ok if you don’t inhale it or get it in your eyes, but I’m a little leery of that. Since Chickens don’t have the same kind of lungs as mammals I’m not sure how it might affect them, but I would be concerned about throwing it into straw for them to scratch and stir up.

I have always raised chickens on dirt with straw and nothing else, but they are covered from rain. I add fresh straw occasionally throughout the year. Once a year when the straw is almost gone I remove the chickens, spread lime and run a tiller around, spread another thin layer of lime. I put in fresh straw before returning the chickens to the pen. I have had chickens in the same pen for about the last 18 years with no known issues.

Edit: My chickens have always had straw, but never had mites. I rarely brought new chickens in. When I did a gave them a good dusting of seven dust. That may not be a good thing to do, or even work, I don’t know, but never had mites.

 

[maryhysong]

You have to be cautious with Diatomaceous earth. It is reported to kill fleas and other pests by drying them out and internal parasites by cutting them up like shards of glass. Although it is supposed to be safe internally in the host’s digestive tract, the danger is in inhaling it as it can be very bad in lungs and eyes etc. Some people dust birds with it and throw is around like you would seven dust and that may be ok if you don’t inhale it or get it in your eyes, but I’m a little leery of that. Since Chickens don’t have the same kind of lungs as mammals I’m not sure how it might affect them, but I would be concerned about throwing it into straw for them to scratch and stir up.

I have always raised chickens on dirt with straw and nothing else, but they are covered from rain. I add fresh straw occasionally throughout the year. Once a year when the straw is almost gone I remove the chickens, spread lime and run a tiller around, spread another thin layer of lime. I put in fresh straw before returning the chickens to the pen. I have had chickens in the same pen for about the last 18 years with no known issues.

How about this? I found it on another BYC thread.

I use wheat straw. I just make sure to add DE all over the straw to kill whatever lives in the hollow parts. No buggies allowed!!

Any of ya'll got an opinion? Extra Java RattlesnakeRidgeWV
RedRidge Yard full o' rocks ocap

I have not found DE to kill much of anything, it certainly has done nothing at all against the mites I have here. Not even when I dusted every bird, the coop and literally covered the ground a quarter inch deep. And everything I have read says that once it is wet it does not work anyway. I have come to the conclusion that it's probable I have been bringing the mites in on the straw. So instead of straw I am switching to wood shavings. A little more costly, but if it fixes the mite problem then actually cheaper in the long run in time and money.