Chicken Questions

[dirkandlorie]

Before you build your run, look up GTaus article on composting in the run. He is brilliant and has figured out a way to make chicken keeping and composting much easier. That article is here on byc somewhere, i would link it for you if I knew how. Maybe someone here could help with that?

 

[Krugerrand]

Before you build your run, look up GTaus article on composting in the run. He is brilliant and has figured out a way to make chicken keeping and composting much easier. That article is here on byc somewhere, i would link it for you if I knew how. Maybe someone here could help with that?

I'm not finding an article, but with some searching dug up some good posts:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...n-run-compost-be-sifted.1422680/post-23391121
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/composting-advice-needed.1507216/post-25763464
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/composting-chicken-run-material.1524325/post-25791368
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...rom-coop-and-composting.1529662/post-25820814

@gtaus - it would be great if you get a chance to put together a composting article! You have a wealth of knowledge there.

 

[gtaus]

Before you build your run, look up GTaus article on composting in the run.

@gtaus - it would be great if you get a chance to put together a composting article! You have a wealth of knowledge there.

Thanks for the shout out. Here is a link to the thread I started on Harvesting my Chicken Run Compost - Black Gold!

 

[gtaus]

I don't know why this thread dropped off my radar, but there are a few comments I would like to add my 2 cents worth on...

+ could be nice to have some pet chickens!

For me, it was helpful to consider my chickens more like livestock than pets. If you ever want to sell eggs, pet chickens will be expensive. To keep costs down, you have to be your own vet and know when to cull a sick or aging hen. That's hard for some people. But a non-laying chicken eats as much food as a laying hen. A sick hen can be replaced with a $3.00 young healthy chick, but a $90 vet visit will set your finances back considerably. Something to consider before you get your flock.

I planned to buy others and probably cull them when they don't lay.

I have come to realize that I need to cull out my aging hens before their third winter. If you are mainly concerned about egg production, I have seen a tremendous drop in egg production that third winter and they eat much more food than you get back in eggs.

I was thinking of getting a covered run specifically due to the snow/rain we get!

My chickens won't go outside into the run when it is covered with snow. So, I would like to build a partially covered run for them for the winter. However, I converted my entire run to a chicken run composting system and that actually benefits from not being covered. I love when it rains and the snow cover over the winter also helps with the composting. A dry chicken run is not going to make much compost.

My problem is building a covered run that is strong enough to withstand our expected snow load while at the same time not breaking the bank. Anyways, I have not found what I want in a partial covered run yet.

You may also want to look into is what you are going to use for litter in your coop and run. I suggest that you look into using sand, as it is so easy to keep clean.

Some people have good luck with sand. I live on a lake. Sand does not work for me. First of all, it soaks up the manure and urine and smells even when cleaned. When I used sand, I was constantly cleaning it and it still smelled bad. The only way I could use sand was to constantly replace it with fresh sand. That was too much work for me. I have all the free sand in the world right in my front yard, but it just did not work for me.

In the second place, if you want to make compost, sand is not optimal. I have much better luck with using leaves, grass clippings, wood chips, etc... as deep litter in the run which will compost.

Also, I never have to clean my chicken run because the chickens are constantly scratching and pecking in the compost/litter looking for fresh worms and bugs to eat. The chicken poo automagically disappears into the litter and becomes part of the composting process. My composting chicken run never smells bad. After a heavy rain, it smells like the forest floor, which I find refreshing. When the litter is dry, I can't smell anything.

The chickens break down the compost much faster than I can make in my pallet compost bins. I have more chicken run compost than I can use in my gardens. So, I build more raised beds to use more compost. Since I started making chicken run compost, I have doubled the amount of garden beds I grow food in. That's a big win for me.

I plan on building another 2 or 4 raised beds this spring. I can harvest some black gold chicken run compost anytime I want to fill the beds. Like I tell people, I have composting chickens and get eggs as a bonus!

 

[Cryss]

By now you know you’ve come to the right place for advice. I started out ignorant and didn’t know just how ignorant I actually was! I learned so much from everyone here! Now 5+ years later I hope to be as helpful to newcomers as everyone was for me. Welcome!
I have a flock of 20 ladies of various ages because I started slowly and added yearly (ok, sometimes twice yearly it’s an addiction ) at least half of those ladies are currently laying. Remember they do not lay every single day! So my average has been maybe 7 a day. I have a family of 4. I would save every egg and give a dozen or so every week to my local church pantry. I ended up often having as many as 175 eggs in my fridge! I started pickling them, hard boiling for snacks, making quiches, breakfast for dinner once a week, everything I could come up with. I started selling a few dozen, maybe 3 a week. I give to the church, to my granddaughter, her boyfriend, and occasionally to acquaintances or visiting distant relatives. I currently have about 6 dozen eggs in my fridge. We eat a lot of eggs. I guess I’m sharing this to give a perspective of how many eggs a flock of 10 can give a family of 4. Remember also different breeds lay a different amount of eggs. Som 6 a week, some 3 a week, and anything in between.
As for coop build, a shed conversion is a great way to go. I built mine (son in law actually built, I designed after stealing ideas from people on here) using mostly pallets and some lumber. Coops should be 4sqft/bird indoors not including nests, run should be 10sqft/bird. Bigger than those measurements is always better but those are minimums. I love poop boards covered in PDZ to keep things clean and odor free.
For some reason I can’t copy a link to my coop video. You can see it on YouTube. I’m Crystal Bern and the title is “Inside my door”.
Can’t wait to see pictures of your setup and your flock!

 

[Krugerrand]

By now you know you’ve come to the right place for advice. I started out ignorant and didn’t know just how ignorant I actually was! I learned so much from everyone here! Now 5+ years later I hope to be as helpful to newcomers as everyone was for me. Welcome!
I have a flock of 20 ladies of various ages because I started slowly and added yearly (ok, sometimes twice yearly it’s an addiction ) at least half of those ladies are currently laying. Remember they do not lay every single day! So my average has been maybe 7 a day. I have a family of 4. I would save every egg and give a dozen or so every week to my local church pantry. I ended up often having as many as 175 eggs in my fridge! I started pickling them, hard boiling for snacks, making quiches, breakfast for dinner once a week, everything I could come up with. I started selling a few dozen, maybe 3 a week. I give to the church, to my granddaughter, her boyfriend, and occasionally to acquaintances or visiting distant relatives. I currently have about 6 dozen eggs in my fridge. We eat a lot of eggs. I guess I’m sharing this to give a perspective of how many eggs a flock of 10 can give a family of 4. Remember also different breeds lay a different amount of eggs. Som 6 a week, some 3 a week, and anything in between.
As for coop build, a shed conversion is a great way to go. I built mine (son in law actually built, I designed after stealing ideas from people on here) using mostly pallets and some lumber. Coops should be 4sqft/bird indoors not including nests, run should be 10sqft/bird. Bigger than those measurements is always better but those are minimums. I love poop boards covered in PDZ to keep things clean and odor free.
For some reason I can’t copy a link to my coop video. You can see it on YouTube. I’m Crystal Bern and the title is “Inside my door”.
Can’t wait to see pictures of your setup and your flock!

Is this it:

 

[Cryss]

Is this it:

Yup, that’s me

 

[Cryss]

. I’m Crystal Bern and the title is “Inside my door”.

OOPS!!!’ Autocorrect !!!!
It should say inside my COOP!