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

[HiddenChicken]

Ok...the thread has beaten me.... *sigh*..... I gave up on #1041. I just can't catch ya!!

So....I'll just stay here at the end & keep reading. When it's a slow post day on the thread (hahaha...does that ever happen??), I'll go back & do a little more catch-up. Who knows? In 10 years or so, I may finish the back posts!

 

[TeacherDude]

That's how I did it as well. Still took me over a month to get really caught up. Still work hard everyday to stay that way!

 

[HiddenChicken]

That's how I did it as well.  Still took me over a month to get really caught up.  Still work hard everyday to stay that way!

Yeah, I know! Last night, it was at 805 pages! I thought, "At this rate....there's no way." :/

I'll persevere, tho! Thanks for letting me know it *can* be done! LOL

 

[Justahannah]

Ok I'm not an old timer and I'm not a newbie. I have had chickens for almost 20 years. An old lady that owns a ranch down the way puts oyster shells in her water troughs. She says it adds the calcium to the water so the chickens drink it. Is this true? Is it worth it?

Calcium carbonate (oyster shell) isn't very water soluble, though higher acidity will break it down if you have soft/low pH water. I used to use it to harden the water in my fishtanks, since harder water keeps a more stable pH, and it always balanced out around pH 7.5-8.0 no matter how much I had mixed in with my gravel, so it hits an equilibrium (only 47mg per liter of pure water, and none of us are on a pure DI system so I'm sure our water has interfering factors). If you already have really hard water, it won't dissolve or make a difference, but it can't hurt anything if you have soft water and want to try...my mom attributes the fact that none of us kids ever had cavities to the fact we grew up on nice hard well water, plenty of minerals to keep our teeth strong. I'd still leave the shell out free choice and wouldn't depend on it for their sole calcium source since I don't know how that equilibrium or an individual chicken's drinking habits would factor into them actually getting enough.

 

[Mountain Momma]

I'll have what Walt's having!

I wish I could find a color that makes me feel pretty!

 

[Mountain Momma]

Ok...the thread has beaten me.... *sigh*..... I gave up on #1041. I just can't catch ya!!

So....I'll just stay here at the end & keep reading. When it's a slow post day on the thread (hahaha...does that ever happen??), I'll go back & do a little more catch-up. Who knows? In 10 years or so, I may finish the back posts!

I am right there with ya! Also thanks to everyone for the pics. You both certainly have the perfect layout. BeeKissed I really am curious about your coop....Mine seems cluttered to me now though after seeing the minimalist look. I have alot going on. Horixontal roosters, ladder roost, antique nester, old crate nester and plastic bin nester, two feeders hanging and a 5 gal waterer on a crate.

I think I need to get rid of some of that so there is more air flow. They use the ladder to reach the top roosts, then the lower ranks roost on the laddertoo. All the nesters are getting used but the crate. Maybe I can just take the crate out or something. mmmmm. Got me thinking.

 

[Beekissed]

Having open spaces on the floors of the coop come in real handy for many reasons....more airflow at chicken level, more space for winter confinement days when they can't get out in the deep snow, more ease in working in the coop while filling feeders and waterers. And it all just looks neater and cleaner when the floor is an open area.

That comes in handy in a person's home as well....a house can look cleaner when there is very little clutter~ without actually being clean. I'm all about a minimalist approach.

 

[bruceh]

okay al walt and bee leave my crossbeak alone. she is right here with me under my covers so she can keep warm,. after all she has special needs and i want her to feel loved.

 

[Gargoyle]

Well, through the magic of Youtube, we can arrange a bit of a tour.

Fred, I'm curious about your experience with the straw; we've tried it a little, the chickens don't really chew it or break it up, it just sits there, and with our garden if we compost it takes a long time to break down. However, when we throw fresh grass clippings in there they love it, they spend lots of time scratching and playing in it, and then it turns into compost easily. We use wood chips inside the coop, change them out twice a year, it seems to compost ok, but very slowly as you mention.

Is there an advantage to hay over grass clippings? Looking at your setup, the grass might turn to mess and dust too quickly.

 

[fowlman01]

Having open spaces on the floors of the coop come in real handy for many reasons....more airflow at chicken level, more space for winter confinement days when they can't get out in the deep snow, more ease in working in the coop while filling feeders and waterers. And it all just looks neater and cleaner when the floor is an open area.

That comes in handy in a person's home as well....a house can look cleaner when there is very little clutter~ without actually being clean. I'm all about a minimalist approach.

This is before I painted it, but it has plenty of airflow. maybe you can help me make it more efficient........seems like I might have some wasted space here.



Walt