Chicken Mama from Tennessee!

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Thomas Hatchery said:
I am also raising chickens in Tennesse. I have always been around chickens but got my own this april for easter from tractor supply and some from Meyer Hatchery.
I have 14 hens and two roosters(on accident ) , I have 3 barred rock hens and 1 rooster, 3 Isa brown hens and one rooster, one olive egger, one mystery pullet I think is a jersey Giant, two white rocks, and two exhequer leghorns. I am a student in highschool
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My rooster was an accident too! You have quite the diversity of babies as well :)
 
humblehillsfarm said:
Welcome!! Have you gotten your first eggs yet? At least you have a pretty solid hen to rooster ratio :) The girls should be able to put up with his antics.
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I started getting eggs last month! It is so rewarding to provide for them and them provide for you in return! I am just trying to put up with Barry's antics, he's always trying to get me and my husband, so I try to pick him up and walk around with him. I'm going to make him love me if it's the last thing I do! hahaha
 
angelinagreena said:
I started getting eggs last month! It is so rewarding to provide for them and them provide for you in return! I am just trying to put up with Barry's antics, he's always trying to get me and my husband, so I try to pick him up and walk around with him. I'm going to make him love me if it's the last thing I do! hahaha
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Roosters can calm down eventually. I have a naughty rooster toon that I'm hoping will calm down. I have two actually, one is an ideal rooster, the other one no so much. I have four babies that look like maybe three are roosters :(

angelinagreena said:
Can you tell me more about coffee grounds as coop litter? I currently use hemp bedding, which I love, and am exploring rice hulls as an option.
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If you go to the link in my signature, I've written about it. I LOVED using coffee grounds, but I'm building a larger coop and it will no longer be feasible for me to collect and dry the amount of grounds needed for a 10X20 coop. With a 4X6 coop, I was able to collect enough, but had to pick up coffee from Starbucks and dry it. I swung buy every 2-3 days after work. it took about 2-3 days to thoroughly dry each batch and store it away until I needed it. I could scoop the poop every day and it was always so fresh and clean looking. I am back to using pine shavings now and sorely miss the grounds.
 
humblehillsfarm said:
Roosters can calm down eventually. I have a naughty rooster toon that I'm hoping will calm down. I have two actually, one is an ideal rooster, the other one no so much. I have four babies that look like maybe three are roosters :(



If you go to the link in my signature, I've written about it. I LOVED using coffee grounds, but I'm building a larger coop and it will no longer be feasible for me to collect and dry the amount of grounds needed for a 10X20 coop. With a 4X6 coop, I was able to collect enough, but had to pick up coffee from Starbucks and dry it. I swung buy every 2-3 days after work. it took about 2-3 days to thoroughly dry each batch and store it away until I needed it. I could scoop the poop every day and it was always so fresh and clean looking. I am back to using pine shavings now and sorely miss the grounds.
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I wonder if it would be good as a mix with other bedding? Can you use grounds that have been filtered for coffee and just dry those? Seems like if anything it would help with the smell, I'm definitely going to explore that more. Have you tried hemp bedding? It is absolutely amazing! I use a deep litter method and scoop everything out with a cat scoop. It's also better for their respiratory system than pine shavings because it has less dust (mine were allergic to pine shavings or something because they wouldn't stop sneezing when I had it, and then switched bedding, no sneezing!).
 
angelinagreena said:
I wonder if it would be good as a mix with other bedding? Can you use grounds that have been filtered for coffee and just dry those? Seems like if anything it would help with the smell, I'm definitely going to explore that more. Have you tried hemp bedding? It is absolutely amazing! I use a deep litter method and scoop everything out with a cat scoop. It's also better for their respiratory system than pine shavings because it has less dust (mine were allergic to pine shavings or something because they wouldn't stop sneezing when I had it, and then switched bedding, no sneezing!).
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I've never tried hemp, because it isn't available near me. I scooped the coffee with a litter scoop. I currently have pine shavings added to the coffee, but you can't scoop it anymore. The coffee was 100% dust free, another reason I loved it. Other than the need to constantly collect and dry coffee, there were no negatives to the coffee.

I did save and dry my morning coffee, but I could get 10-20 pounds of used grounds from Starkbucks in one trip. I still have two enormous boxes of dried grounds. I thought if I could save enough for a 200 sq foot coop, I would eventually switch back.
 
humblehillsfarm said:
I've never tried hemp, because it isn't available near me. I scooped the coffee with a litter scoop. I currently have pine shavings added to the coffee, but you can't scoop it anymore. The coffee was 100% dust free, another reason I loved it. Other than the need to constantly collect and dry coffee, there were no negatives to the coffee.

I did save and dry my morning coffee, but I could get 10-20 pounds of used grounds from Starkbucks in one trip. I still have two enormous boxes of dried grounds. I thought if I could save enough for a 200 sq foot coop, I would eventually switch back.
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Awesome! I love that you were finding a new use for old coffee grounds, aside from a body scrub! I hope you can switch back. Did your chickens try to peck at it or did they seem unphased?

Here's a link to Old Dominion Hemp Bedding if you are interested in reading about it- you can purchase from various sources online. A bit expensive ($50 for a 30-pound bag) but it distributes well and lasts a long time! I haven't changed mine out of the coop in months, I just keep scooping and adding more when needed. https://www.odhemp.com/hemp-bedding-chicken-coops/
 
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