Brand new to chickens

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nouveauchick

nouveauchick

In the Brooder
7 Years
May 9, 2012
18
1
22
Northern NJ
Hi there!

3 days ago, I got 3 hens for my backyard coop! I believe they are red sex links. I have been browsing these forums for months reading all about everyone's experience with their chickens. I felt relatively prepared when I got them and now as I suspected the real, applicable questions begin. I had a few questions and I am not sure where to post them yet so I guess I will post them here and hopefully someone can direct me to some answers.

First off, I found poop in their feeder today. Which means they actually perched on top of it to poop inside. How can I stop that from happening? Also, when it does happen do I have to throw out all the feed or scoop out the poop and top layer? Should I just cover the top of the feeder? Is it ok that (a hanging feeder) is sitting on the floor?

Another question I have (also regarding poop) is about their run. The coop has a small enclosed run attached to it so that they can hang out outside and eat some grass and bugs. In just three days there is so much poop in the grass. The run doesn't move as we had to bury hardware cloth 2 feet deep all around it to protect them from predators. What do I do? I can't really clean it and I feel badly that they are walking around in it.

And my third question (for now) is about water in their coop. I have a large waterer in the run but have been told to also have one in their coop for nighttime. It's pretty small in there and the feeder takes up a lot of space. I tried to place a small dish in there but they stepped in it and spilled it everywhere. Is there a way I can get water into the coop without taking up too much space?

Thank you so much for your help! I'm excited to join these forums and to learn as much as I can about my girls!
 
Welcome to BYC.

1, just scoop out the poop. Hang the feeder, OR, make a makeshift cover
2. Take a pistol hose to the run. Chicken poop washes away real easy. ALSO, if you can, give them more free-range time, OR, invest in a bigger run. You will have NO grass in a week or so. You need 10+ square feet of run space per bird, and even then, you will have no grass, or vegitation of any sort in that run.
3. Get a piglet water-er. They holder will screw right to the wall. It takes up less space than the conventional water-er, then water-er itself come out of the bracket very easy for refilling and cleaning. They have them at Family Farm and Home... If you need to use a dish, get one of those heavy rubber dishes that they have at TSC with a flat bottom. They will not tip. I use them for my ducks, who will make a mess of any water they get, and those are the only ones I find they can't tip.

Hope this helps. Enjoy those girls. Chickens are great!
 
Hi and welcome to BYC from northern Michigan
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Just scoop the poop out.
The grass in your run will be toast soon, as they will eat it and trample it down to nothing. When it starts getting worn down, you can add wood chips or hay. Some people use sand and scoop it like cat litter when it gets soiled.
If they are confined inside the coop for any length of time during daylight, they will need a waterer inside as well. I put mine on a few paver blocks. If they have free access to the run, outside water is fine.
 
welcome-byc.gif
from New Mexico!

I don't leave water or feed in the coop at night. The chickens are sleeping all night and nobody is up to need a drink or eat. And I am up early enough in the morning that I let everybody out and nobody needs to drink or eat inside. So unless you need to lock them in the coop during the day, don't bother with feed and water in there. They just make a mess you need to clean up. If they are out in a run all day, they tend to not go back in for food or water either.

As for your run...they are going to destroy all that grass in no time anyway and all you will have is a dirt pile. You could put some sand in the run or even grass hay. You will still have to clean, but sand might be more absorbant and they will have a drier place to roam.

As far as poop in water and feed....you will need to fashion something to keep them from perching on the tops. Even a bunch of newspaper stuffed in the top to discourage them from roosting on them. Hanging feeders if hung at chest height make it harder to poop in. If they are not the hanging type, and mine are not, I over turn a short pale or even a dog dish, just to get them off the ground, set the feeder on top and it keeps bedding and junk from being scratched into the feed.

If I do find a poop in my feed, I will scoop out the poop and any wet areas around that poop. I rarely pitch the entire thing unless it was a nasty poop.
sickbyc.gif


Enjoy the forums and glad you could join!
 
Hi and welcome to BYC from Central Texas!
I put my feeders and waterers on bricks when my birds were babies. Now I put the waterers on cinder half-blocks (6"x6"x6") and have a hanging feeder with a cone top to keep them from perching and pooping. If you hang your hanging feeder, make sure you have a rain guard of some kind - I forgot this part and got about half the feed soaking wet in the first rainstorm after installing it! I have mine hanging from a wild bird feeder pole. My buddy has his on a 4"x4" cedar post buried 1 foot in the ground and 3 feet above. He put a closet brace (looks like a triangle) to support the 50 pound hanging feeder.
If you don't hang it up, and don't think for a moment that you have to, raise it up to about chest or back level of your smallest chicken (like on top of a cinder block) - that will reduce the amount of feed they spill on the ground. They are messy eaters!
BTW - I clean the waterers every day or two, and usually only fill the feeder 1/2 way (in case the feed gets wet again!). I have 24 7-week old birds, and am using an 11-pound feeder (plus about 3 quart-jar baby feeders left over from when they were smaller.)
Best wishes!
 

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