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

[Erin~TheChickenLover]

There are some that do that with their rabbits. I don't know that I would do it, though. The rabbits would be existing/living on top of chicken feces at all times(furry feet and soft foot pads do not do well in sticky manure and their noses would be so close to the ammonia of the combined urine of two species) and the two species aren't really similar in their living/eating/moving habits so I don't know for sure if it would be sustainable.

Good points. With that in mind, I'll probably section part of the run off for the rabbits. Now to research and find some rabbits for sale.

 

[mississippifarmboy]

What do the OT's think about housing chickens and rabbits together? I am not talking letting the rabbits run loose with the chickens, but having indoor hutches raised up off the floor a ways with connecting raised hutches to the outside. The chickens and rabbits would not be able to get to each other. I currently have one building and are looking into meat rabbits to raise and sell.

While I don't house my rabbits and chickens together, the things Bee said work for me too. All our rabbit hutches are raised about three feet off the ground in a row out under some mature oak trees and underneath them is clean and dry. The free range chickens and growing birds are constantly under the coops, eating anything the rabbits drop, stirring the droppings and soil, and I've never had any problems at all with it. I rake the composted soil out from under the coops a few times a year and add to the garden. A win-win situation.

Never going to have a worm bed under the hutches though. The chickens eat the worms too fast.

 

[Beekissed]

Those who incorporate worm bins under chickens or rabbits usually have a wire barrier over the bin to keep chickens from eating all the inhabitants.

 

[Leahs Mom]

I want to figure out the best way to do INDOOR composting with redworms that will give me the largest amount of worms to be able to FEED a good amount to my chickens.

I need to start indoors rather than in a greenhouse situation but I'm thinking the stacking "Worm Factory" type composter would be too small. I DO LIKE THE DRAINAGE in the worm factory however...

Anyone raising redworms in a creative way indoors for feed? What are you finding the best way to accomplish the largest number of worms?

 

[Parrmom]

Thank you all for the replies!!! I have some good ideas now! Off to the drawing board to plan and show the husband what he has to build. LOL!!!! I just thank God every day that he has a sense of humor!!

 

[Lazarus718]

Quick ? if anyone feels like chiming in....is there any difference between FEED grade and FOOD grade diatomaceous earth? I'm guessing they are one in the same but was wondering if I could also use one labeled feed grade on my garden in addition to the chickens.

 

[Kansas Prairie]

Parmom
We've raised rabbits inside and outside, I will never raise rabbits inside a building again. Tried raising them in elevated cages above cement, they produce more urine than you can believe. They need more ventilation than we could provide in that building. If we ever raise rabbits again they will be outside in an elevated cage, under a tree or under a pole barn without sides/car port and they will be located over dirt not cement. They chew everything, they are like little beavers... Good luck!

 

[Beekissed]

Quick ? if anyone feels like chiming in....is there any difference between FEED grade and FOOD grade diatomaceous earth? I'm guessing they are one in the same but was wondering if I could also use one labeled feed grade on my garden in addition to the chickens.

Never used DE on livestock or garden, so not sure what to tell you. If I were wanting to make that use and was reading those packages, I'd say they were one and the same.

 

[Kansas Prairie]

We raised worms in a barn in an old bathtub, and outside in a buried refrigerator at the same time. The worms in the buried refrigerator did much better than the worms in the barn in the bathtub that sat on the dirt floor of the barn. We assume the worms in the burried refrigerator had better temperature for their living environment.

 

[Lazarus718]

Never used DE on livestock or garden, so not sure what to tell you. If I were wanting to make that use and was reading those packages, I'd say they were one and the same.

We got a nasty case of squash bugs this year, I had noticed the eggs on the bottoms of some of our leaves back at the beginning of June and hand crushed everything I saw. It's my wife's garden so left it to her after that and they got out of control so we had to dust the garden with a pesticide. I think the DE would have done the job though and if I'm already adding it to the chicken litter I thought I might as well use it in the garden as well. Thanks for the response, I'm guessing the same.