caring and caging of White and Feather Footed Birds

[Fancie]

I got my Silkie club stuff sent off and I am sure I will learn alot from there but untill than I have a few questions.

I want to show my birds, but I am pretty sure as pretty as my girl is... well... I am not caring for her right for her to contend at any show. You see she is white and she has dirt stains all over from playing in the mudd. Not only that but she really doesn't have much left when it comes to the feather on her feet.

I figured I need to change a few things about there coop. Right now it's bear ground. (It did have grass at one point....) To clean it we move it about once every month or two.

First should I just wire the bottom or make it concreate? or can I get away with just throwing something down for bedding. what should I use as bedding and how often does it need to be changed?

 

[AHappychick]

there was a great post where someone put a poop collection type box under the roosts. Basically under the roosts there was a frame with wire mesh on top. As the birds sat on their roosts and did their buisness it would fall through the grate onto pine shavings. Since it is boxed in the birds can not access the poopie area and stay cleaner. I plan to build them in all of my silkie coops and maybe in my others as well. The roosts were all in the back of the coop so that the freamed out box was only maybe a foot or 2 wide and the lenghts of the roost, leaving plenty of regular ground space for hanging out and eating and such in the front of the coop.

maybe someone will post a pic

oh and I would use some sort of clean bedding for sure

 

[tiki244]

In the pen you would need pine shavings and they could be gone through and pick out the nasties every other day. Maybe change once a week or two weeks. For outside I think sand might work well, but it would have to be about 3 inches deep. I think they can walk on grass, but not wet grass. And they do need some amount of shading over the pen, but also some sun.

 

[Fancie]

This is a standered playhouse coop.

So I can get the pine shaving stuff (like the white ones at walmart in the big bag for 10) and put a sandbase in there yard. How many silkies can I house in this set up? 3 - 5? I think the coop itself it cramped for the 3 of them, so I like to leave them out, but my hubby hates them poping on the sidwalk to we put in a temp fence for the winter.

 

[tiki244]

Yes you can get pine shavings elsewhere for cheaper. Farm and Fleet sells for about $5 huge bag. And some pet stores do to about $5-$6.

 

[tiki244]

You could always let them free range a bit when you are watching. For white birds its not a good idea to leave them alone (Hawks). I think 5 would do ok in there.

That looks like a nice setup

 

[Fancie]

Quote:
So you think I propably should enclose the run they have too? They don't use the box, so I consider the whole playhouse their coop. We fenced in the area right around the coop and let them room it all as they want mostly (I untied the back to let them room the yard when they are allowed). They are left to all of it from sun up to sundown most days. Or do you think if a hawk was to come around that they would escape to the coop quick enough.