Chickens for 10-20 years or more? Pull up a rockin' chair and lay some wisdom on us!

[Mountain Momma]

Our dog Red is great with his chickens, whining like your dog when he thinks I'm hurting one when I check it. He lays down for the chicks to climb all over him and he charges the retail hawk that flies over once in a while. Good chicken dogs are hard to find

I need a retail hawk. Bad. It would save me months of wheeling and dealing!

 

[stonykill]

Another benefit for the deep litter composter system is that the formation of compost actually produces heat which helps balance the frigid weather outside. I have birds that will "roost" on the floor because the floor is warm. Before I add new material like bags of leaves or dry mower grass, I pitchfork the floor tossing the top layer under the dirt or compost. This brings beneficials and the essentials to the top layer. When the chickens throughly scratch thru the added materials, they are mixing the leaves and grass with the compost. This innoculates the new layer and speeds the process. When the girls are finished, the next morning I send them outside and will lightly spray the surface with the hose. Proper compost has the moisture content of a nicely squeezed sponge. The smell is earthy like a wood forest floor. Spraying early in the morning allows the area to dry enough that there is not high moisture content in the air by the evening when the layers return to the coop to roost at night..


For a dusting bath, I have a 28 x 36 inch box set aside in the floor of the coop that has fine sand, sifted pond dirt, wood ash and sulphur poultry dust. The girls go to town in that box. I refill it about every two months. I have one in each of my larger coop areas. There can be four or five in there at one time. I read about these in a Poultry magazine many moons ago and immediately built one. For a single duster I've recycled beehive bodies when they get a little -Nanakat


I just noticed my deep litter is very deep. Almost up to the waterer which is on a crate. Might have to hang the waterer huh? It smells fresh though and has a good consistency to it. The alfalfa is still green and all mixed in, makes it look nice and I cant tell there is even poo in it on the floor area. There is of course because my flock are olympic pooers. I reached in for an egg today.......you guessed it. I saw the egg shadow and just knew it was there so I reached back and grabbed it. It was spongy but kinda firm. It bounced back like a muffin top. I was thinking huh, I got some kind of weird egg here. Yep. Thanks to dial with such a clean smell it will help overcome the pschology issues and simple brain friek associated with grabbing a muffin sized poo you thought was a smooth warm egg.

Stonykill, What kind of chickens are the ones in your top photo?


Lisa

Sumatra's. Here are pics from last week.

 

[Mountain Momma]

Sumatra's. Here are pics from last week.

They are so regal looking and such cool colors! Some one offered me 4 silkies today.....I said no thanks!!!!!! Im not gonna be a chicken hoarder! Yeah! (you never know until you know).

 

[stonykill]

They are so regal looking and such cool colors! Some one offered me 4 silkies today.....I said no thanks!!!!!! Im not gonna be a chicken hoarder! Yeah! (you never know until you know).

lol. I would also turn down silkies!

Thanks! I love all of my birds for different reasons. The Sumatra's not only look so cool, but the hens are incredible broody's and lay a lot of medium sized eggs. And I barely feed them. They forage forage forage

 

[NanaKat]

Our dog Red is great with his chickens, whining like your dog when he thinks I'm hurting one when I check it. He lays down for the chicks to climb all over him and he charges the retail hawk that flies over once in a while. Good chicken dogs are hard to find

I need a retail hawk. Bad. It would save me months of wheeling and dealing!

Dang iPad..techno toy likes to spell for me. Lol
Big redtail even landed on the pipe fence near the Cochin cockerels and Red almost caught as it took off.

Al good to see you back! Glad to hear the wife is doing great

Can't get the images of chickens in fuzzy house shoes and snowshoes outta my head.

Love Simone...guess that shows my age...ah...taste in music.

 

[Bobby Basham]

Hot fermented cider maybe....

Chicken little version of Lil Red Riding Hood- what a big pecker you have...... The better to peck you with you old creep! Don't think you'll get to use them spurs on me neither!

Dang! Gotta go play the piano now, Bee quoted a tune!

You would be too if it happened to you!

You found me out.... all my chickens are really all kicked back by the wood stove today and I'm reading them Chicken Little stories while they sip some hot cider(NOT ACV like I usually claim, merely apple cider). We don't care what you think, it's our party and we'll cry if we want to.

Who did those songs? I got about 3,000 LP's, 78's, 45's, 8-tracks, cassettes, CD's up in the camp running the whole genres of music. You name it and it's probably here up in here somewhere.

Lionwizard, stop by and check out my piano(s) and Hammond Organ sometime. --BB

Bobby Basham
Tucson, Arizona

 

[kathyinmo]

Amazon is the cheapest place for Nustock....I LOVE Amazon! http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B000HHSIYQ/ref=sr_1_1_olp?ie=UTF8&qid=1351524506&sr=8-1&keywords=nustock+ointment&condition=new I also found cheap sulfur powder on Amazon with which to make my own Nustock. No more finding and paying for a 12 oz. tube...I'm going to make myself a big ol' bunch of it. Cheap and effective stuff after you get to making your own.

That is $12.09 for 12 ounces.
I found it HERE for $8.99 for 12 ounces.

 

[Beekissed]

Good to know....I'll do the price breakdown when I make my own and we'll see how cheap it is to make it vs. buying it premade.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Amazon is the cheapest place for Nustock....I LOVE Amazon! http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325&tag=backyardchickens-20&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fgp%2Foffer-listing%2FB000HHSIYQ%2Fref%3Dsr_1_1_olp%3Fie%3DUTF8%26qid%3D1351524506%26sr%3D8-1%26keywords%3Dnustock%2Bointment%26condition%3Dnew]http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B000HHSIYQ/ref=sr_1_1_olp?ie=UTF8&qid=1351524506&sr=8-1&keywords=nustock+ointment&condition=new [/URL]

I also found cheap sulfur powder on Amazon with which to make my own Nustock. No more finding and paying for a 12 oz. tube...I'm going to make myself a big ol' bunch of it. Cheap and effective stuff after you get to making your own.

That is $12.09 for 12 ounces.
I found it HERE for $8.99 for 12 ounces.

 

[kathyinmo]

How do the prices compare ADDING SHIPPING to the totals?


Quote:

You'll have to figure that out yourself. Shipping costs are often dependent on the amount of $$ you spend.