Chicks, Brooder, Coops oh m...

[AnnikasMommy]

It is super easy to clean and for some reason they only want to be in either the bathtub or on the top bunk.

Well when we have a hurricane I'm either in the bed or if the barometric pressure drops too quickly we get in the tub

That's an excellent idea. we do have neighbors and we have an 8' privacy fence all the way around. We have had some opossums in our yard before and from what I understand they will go after chickens at night? I know we have a couple foxes in our backyard along the creek but that is beyond the fenced yard and I don't think they have been inside the fence. The dogs haven't indicated as much but something I can watch for. Ok so no clipping.

 

[foreverlearning]

Yup,i also bring mine in with severe cold winter weather,so basically i have house chickens who are in during the severe heat of summer and the severe cold of winter(with wind chills of -52 C,too cold for my birds). This works for me,never have to worry about frostbite or pecking at each other b/c of being cooped up. I highly recommend chicken diapers,as my daughters usually have some chicken in their room watching movies with them.Lol. In fact one of my roosters loves to sleep on the cat tree outside of one daughters room.

No i never clip wings,they might need to be able to fly from a predator. Yes,when mine are outside,they are penned,i have too many predators and quite frankly do not trust my dog(black lab).

Probably the majority of chickens free range,but for me this is not an option.

How are the diapers? Does the poop stick to their butt? I have wanted to try them so the chickens can come into the main house in bad weather but couldn't find much on how well they worked and if they needed their butts cleaned afterwords.

 

[foreverlearning]

Well when we have a hurricane I'm either in the bed or if the barometric pressure drops too quickly we get in the tub

That's an excellent idea. we do have neighbors and we have an 8' privacy fence all the way around. We have had some opossums in our yard before and from what I understand they will go after chickens at night? I know we have a couple foxes in our backyard along the creek but that is beyond the fenced yard and I don't think they have been inside the fence. The dogs haven't indicated as much but something I can watch for. Ok so no clipping.

Opossums are just as bad and just as sneaky as raccoons. For your pen make sure it is 1/2" hardware cloth not chicken wire and that will keep them out. Raccoons can cut threw chicken wire like a hot knife threw butter and I have seen opossums squeeze threw 1" chicken wire.

 

[AnnikasMommy]

How are the diapers? Does the poop stick to their butt? I have wanted to try them so the chickens can come into the main house in bad weather but couldn't find much on how well they worked and if they needed their butts cleaned afterwords.

Ok I just totally had to go look up chicken diapers!!! I cloth diapered my daughter why not. maybe I can find a pattern and make my own like I did for her.

OK
Quote: Ok thank you for that info as well. So have to keep everything in mind when building our featherchildren's bedroom. Once they are in their roost for the night, do you close them up to where they are protected in a solid home or just leave it open to the run?

 

[ten chicks]

For the diapers,i do clean/change the liners often during the day when my birds have them on,so no my birds do not have poopy butts(diapers are designed to catch droppings,they hang away from body). I put diapers on after my girls have laid eggs(mine lay in the morning,consistently).

 

[foreverlearning]

It depends on the construction of your run. If you have a protected bottom (proper certain to keep diggers out) you can leave it open. If you have something like a tractor style coop (not advised for your area because they are so light weight) it wouldn't be safe to leave the door open because something could easily dig under or lift up and get in. I prefer to have the door closed and locked because it helps me sleep better at night knowing for sure that they are safe. All my windows on my coop are covered in hardware cloth as well so I can open windows on all sides in the hot months. That brings me to another thing, with the heat you will have try to put in as many windows as you can fit. Draft over the roost doesn't hurt them in the summer so all my windows are big (4'x2') and lined up on all 4 sides with the roost. I also have a shop fan in there that blows on the roost on the hottest nights to keep them cool.

 

[foreverlearning]

For the diapers,i do clean/change the liners often during the day when my birds have them on,so no my birds do not have poopy butts(diapers are designed to catch droppings,they hang away from body). I put diapers on after my girls have laid eggs(mine lay in the morning,consistently).

Cool, thanks! Now I am going to order some. I wouldn't mind cleaning them often, but poopy butt did worry me.