Colorado

[aim0474]

Nice ride! We went to Yellowstone this July and loved it! Seeing it on a bike will be amazing!

 

[21hens-incharge]

My run is basically bare dirt these days. I do use some straw in there on occasion to give them something to dig around in. I turn the dirt once a month lately. I used to do it once a week but got to busy and it turned into once a month. The only time my run has an odor is when it rains a lot in the spring. Other then that time it is without odor.

The straw takes forever to break down and I think the wood chips (pine shavings) in my compost bin take a long time too.

The real key to having a run that does not smell for me was to get it so there is shade in part that transitions to sun that way the run gets a proper drying.
Not sure if that made sense how I said it..... The sun as it moves across hits every part of the run just not all at the same time so the hens always have a shaded zone. The air has to be able to move through there as well and the wire allows that to happen nicely.


samsr,
I meant to mention that those chicks are some of the cutest little ones ever! Amazing to have so many hatch under such a small hen! Congrats on the tiny ones.

OH and the bike ride to Yellowstone is hopefully just one of many bike trips. Getting to old and feeble to ride the two wheeled ones lol.

 

[lomine]

@samsr Cute chickies! Oh that little face.
@21hens-incharge Nice ride. Hope you have fun. Looks like your little one is doing great as a mama.

My run is 2/3rds deep litter and 1/3rd pea gravel. The pea gravel is around the ducks' little pool. I really like the deep litter. It will only get a smell if it gets really wet. The run is covered so that doesn't happen often. It is basically a giant compost bin that the chickens turn for me.

 

[COChix]

Our run is dirt and straw in Bouler and is covered, so things stay fairly dry. Same in Englewood but it's uncovered and is a mess and smells when wet. Need to change it to wood chips as they help with drainage and help cut down with mud. Check out the Natural Chicken Keeping thread, if you search wood chips you will find more details.

 

[COChix]

So we have taken the first steps towards our selection of a replacement roo. Colonel White is now blocked off from the rest of the flock. He had been exhibiting some roughish roo behaviors and they will not be tolerated. He will be fattened up and processed before October. He is merciously chasing our broody girl all over and is very rough. Lots of feathers lost on her, so his fate is sealed. The other two are still being gentleman, tidbiting now and the grey one is starting to do the wing drop with the ladies.

He grey one is a ham every time I come to take pictures he shows off.

 

[Auntie Moose]

Has anyone here had experience with the excelsior nesting box pads? Yay or Nay? If not, what do you use?

 

[Mtn Margie]

hay or straw

 

[lomine]

Has anyone here had experience with the excelsior nesting box pads? Yay or Nay? If not, what do you use?

I remember reading on a thread about a duck dying from an impacted crop (or something like that, it's been a while). Did a necropsy, turns out the owner used those pads and the duck had eaten part of it. That's my only knowledge of those pads. I just use straw.

 

[coop410silkies]

Has anyone here had experience with the excelsior nesting box pads? Yay or Nay?  If not, what do you use?

I purchased a pack of these, 13" I believe, from Amazon, and have used them in some of the pet carriers my hens use as nesting boxes. My hens seem to love them for nesting, and I like them, too. For reasons not obvious to me, the excelsior stays clean, and the eggs I collect from these carriers are clean. I have yet to find a broken egg or goopy mess in the excelsior. Although the pads look well constructed, they don't stay in a nice little oblong compressed shape, as the hens scratch them around and rearrange the pads to their own preference within a few minutes of discovering them; they do hold together, though, and the eggs are kept off the bottom of the box/carrier. The pads are easy to cut with stout heavy duty shears. I think the pads are kind of pricey, but they don't need replacing often, so I can easily recommend them to the budget-minded. I buy the cheapest version, and they work just fine.To be fair, I haven't used many different kinds of nesting mediums. My hens like dried grass and hay, and the grass is at least free. I can see myself shaking out the excelsior pad, putting it back, and putting dried grass on top. I can also see myself putting some of the spongy shelf liner on top; it has to be cleaned often, though. I haven't tried this stuff in my coops, but I think my house hen likes it. Pine shavings are at the bottom of my list: they foul easily, my hens don't like them for nesting, they scratch through the shavings exposing the box bottom, they scratch it out of the box, and they have to be replaced. The excelsior pads beat all of these options, no contest. Plus they are soooo easy to use, easy enough for a lazy flockster like me.

 

[lomine]

So we have taken the first steps towards our selection of a replacement roo. Colonel White is now blocked off from the rest of the flock. He had been exhibiting some roughish roo behaviors and they will not be tolerated. He will be fattened up and processed before October. He is merciously chasing our broody girl all over and is very rough. Lots of feathers lost on her, so his fate is sealed. The other two are still being gentleman, tidbiting now and the grey one is starting to do the wing drop with the ladies.

He grey one is a ham every time I come to take pictures he shows off.

Was it the white one that was working with your older roo giving the warning signal? Or was it one of the others? That's too bad for him. He should have behaved himself.