Consolidated Kansas

Any ammonia smell would indicate moisture. Do you use shavings or straw? When i put straw in the coop for them to mess with, it seems to attract moisture and cause that sort of trouble. (that is in with shavings) I also put some DE in the shavings when I add new ones. not sure that is relevant, though.
I have aDLM question. I stir up my litter almost daily but keep getting an ammonia smell when I do so. It isnt too strong but it is there. I know that I need some moisture to get it decomposing but how much is too much?
Friday is my lockdown date on my first hatch. I am so excited. I am going to put a shallow pan in teh bottom with a couple of wet rags so I can hike up humidity.
All my other chicks should be here this week sometime I am also excited about that too. So many good things this week, I hope good news is coming for everyone else as well. I will post pics when new babies arrive, and when new babies hatch. I am excited to begin hatching for people who have already asked for chicks. I am hatching mixed chicks right now if anyone wants any let me know.
 
Any ammonia smell would indicate moisture. Do you use shavings or straw? When i put straw in the coop for them to mess with, it seems to attract moisture and cause that sort of trouble. (that is in with shavings) I also put some DE in the shavings when I add new ones. not sure that is relevant, though.
I use straw. I am going to try opening up some more vents and see if that helps. Should I take out all the bedding or try drying it out? I dont have any DE but want some, maybe I can get some this weekend. How about stall dry can that work the same way? Any tips for me?
 
I do a modification of DLM. I pick up the poop on the top of the shavings (under the roosts) in the mornings and put it in the compost pile. The shavings are almost a foot deep, and I keep adding as the winter progresses. I have 11 chickens in a 6x8 coop. This afternoon it is really NASTY since they haven't been outside for 2 days (wimps!).

I'll leave the stall dri question to someone else, but I sort of remember someone losing a chicken who ate the stall dry in some quantity.

I use straw. I am going to try opening up some more vents and see if that helps. Should I take out all the bedding or try drying it out? I dont have any DE but want some, maybe I can get some this weekend. How about stall dry can that work the same way? Any tips for me?
 
Don't use stall dry. It can cause respiratory problems. Medawinks lost a precious bird due to stall dry. You don't want moisture in your bedding... especially straw cause it can mold. Using DLM the poo actually breaks down the rest of the stuff. Also if you are getting ammonia you need more ventilation. And it seems it works best the higher in the coop it is. I have problems with the younger birds when they have their waterers in the coop itself. When the water is outside. the bedding composts much better. If you can come up with about $4 you can get some of those wood stove pellets. Get the kind that doesn't contain ceder. Most are just oak. Put those in with your straw. They will break down when they get wet and absorb the excess moisture. In a wetter atmosphere they can't be beat.
I spent a few hours out feeding and watering. I moved my lavender guineas to a different pen. I was trying to sex them but it was the only time they've been silent since they hatched this summer. I had one bird escape and it was a girl. I guess she'll find a place to sleep. I finally gave up on the last two cause they weren't making any noise. I really wanted to put all of them in one pen but the existing breeders immediately started beating up the new guys. So I had to go to plan B. I needed some Kennel panels from their pen to build a pen for the puppies. No matter how many of those panels I buy I never have enough.
Mammahen's DH saw the lavenders yesterday and loved them. Said he wanted to get some keats this spring to keep bugs out of his garden. Woot! A score for spring all ready.
I'm ready to wrap myself up in some warm blankets and chill for the evening.
 
I do a modification of DLM. I pick up the poop on the top of the shavings (under the roosts) in the mornings and put it in the compost pile. The shavings are almost a foot deep, and I keep adding as the winter progresses. I have 11 chickens in a 6x8 coop. This afternoon it is really NASTY since they haven't been outside for 2 days (wimps!).

I'll leave the stall dri question to someone else, but I sort of remember someone losing a chicken who ate the stall dry in some quantity.
That is what I used to do and then I stopped so I could save more straw.I dont like that since I have stopped doing that, the ammonia smell started up. I think I will try drying it and if no progress in 2 days I will pull it all out and start over. I added wood ashes to see if that would help by morning
 
Happy New Year to everyone-- I know Mustang and a few others I didn't multi have posted their greetings. :)


Happy New Year to everyone! I always enjoy having a "new year" and think of it as possibly "my best year ever"! I, too, am really glad to be a part of this group. Friendships made and the support given through the best and worst times are a real blessing. I've learned so much from each of you, chicken related and otherwise.

Hawkeye, I sure hope you get well soon. It is so hard to cover all the bases when we aren't at full steam. It's even hard to make the silliest decisions. Sigh.

medawinks, the thought of hatching really made me perk up and I love all the breeds you've chosen. That will be so much fun!

Tweety, just a note to say I'm thinking about you.

Danz,
hugs.gif
Karen, I am soooo sick, I can not even read, knit or crochet, etc-- nothing. I have been sitting up long enough to check on here from time to time and then go take long naps in bed. I wish I was feeling good enough to work on my yarn projects or at least read a book. I'm a big reader. Usually I can read no matter how sick I am. But this is so bad, to keep my eyes open causes me pain behind them. My youngest now has 103.+ degree temps today. Been giving her Tylenol to keep it down. She went to the Dr with me the other day, so she is on antibiotics, but whatever it is we have isn't really being helped by the medication. I can NOT remember the last time I was this sick... oh actually, I can. When I was a kid and had some kind of horrible disease where I spent time in the hospital because I could not eat for days nor would my temps go down. I remember it was the dead of summer and I felt like I was a skeleton I had lost so much weight and moving hurt so bad. Anyway, I don't feel quite that bad, but this is ranking on my worst list.


Happy New Year to everyone! Our internet was down for most of the day & I thought it might come back up, but I had to call before they got it up again, so it just got back online.

Let's make the resolution for 2013 to be nicer to our birds, nicer weather conditions for them & less sickness & loss.

Well I'm off to go have some girl time, boy I'll be glad when my DH goes back to work tomorrow. He gets on my nerves when he's underfoot for so long. I hope you all have a good rest of the day & try to stay warm, it's cold out there, BRRRR!
I'm voting for the nicer weather, more rain and less sickness part and loss part! Let's bring the rain this year! HOpe you are enjoying your girl time. I've missed out on all the great holiday parties we had planned. Totally sucks. Totally bummed about that.


I use straw. I am going to try opening up some more vents and see if that helps. Should I take out all the bedding or try drying it out? I dont have any DE but want some, maybe I can get some this weekend. How about stall dry can that work the same way? Any tips for me?
Straw is not a great medium. Having grown up with animals near all of my life-- straw is the quickest to mold, and it can do that in just about 3 days when it gets wet. Straw is miserable in winter, it's miserable when it rains... thumbs down for straw. It IS great for making wind breaks, though. We have made "houses" out of straw bales and set them up as "walls" to break the wind, keep sun off pens and make houses. They do okay until they melt in the weather. Then it's time to toss and get new. When we were foaling horses the first time, we used straw (waaay back when) and what a mess!!!! Switched to the chip bedding and it stays cleaner, dryer, and holds up better. Same with chickens. I added sand to the run over the summer and LOVE it. So clean.

Danz, so much bad going on for you right now. I'm just so sorry and wanted you to know you are in my thoughts and I'll keep praying for you.
 
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Straw is not a great medium. Having grown up with animals near all of my life-- straw is the quickest to mold, and it can do that in just about 3 days when it gets wet. Straw is miserable in winter, it's miserable when it rains... thumbs down for straw. It IS great for making wind breaks, though. We have made "houses" out of straw bales and set them up as "walls" to break the wind, keep sun off pens and make houses. They do okay until they melt in the weather. Then it's time to toss and get new. When we were foaling horses the first time, we used straw (waaay back when) and what a mess!!!! Switched to the chip bedding and it stays cleaner, dryer, and holds up better. Same with chickens. I added sand to the run over the summer and LOVE it. So clean.
Hawkeye and Karen, I am SO sorry about how bad you have both been feeling. I really hope you are feeling better soon.

On the straw, this is one time where I would have to disagree as I have had such a great experience with the straw. I had a straw bale coop at my old house so when we moved and tore it down I had about 30 bales of straw (still clean and dry) that we moved over here. So, rather than leave it stacked in storage and go out and buy shavings, I decided to try it as bedding. I couldn't be more thrilled with it.

I started by carrying a bale down, separating the flakes and placing them around the coop. Within 3-4 hours, the chooks had separated the flakes into an even layer of straw throughout the coop. As they continued to work it in the next few weeks, they broke it down and soon the layer was quite thin so I carried another bale down and repeated. They really love to dig through it looking for the seed heads and I'm sometimes astonished how fast they can break it down. I encourage them to keep digging by throwing a handful of scratch in there from time to time. They love to scratch through it to find morsels that fell through the cracks and they turn it over so thoroughly that although the bedding layer is now about 8" thick, at times they have scratched through to the concrete below. I just recently added another bale and they have finished distributing it now and I love how the floor of the coop has a slightly spongy feel when you walk on it, as it seems like a better landing for them jumping down off the roosts (to prevent bumblefoot) than what they had originally when my roosts were higher and the bedding layer was thinner.

I don't provide water in the coop and the coop itself is watertight so the bedding layer has stayed 100% dry - no mold whatsoever. If anything, it is a little dusty. A few months ago I did shovel a couple of wheelbarrow fulls out to the compost and it was really breaking down beautifully - and fast! - into compost, before the freezing weather slowed that process. I suspect that straw breaks down in the compost faster than shavings.

I have never used shavings and may end up switching to them when I run out of straw since they are easier to come by, but if I can find another good source of straw, I would probably prefer to stick with it.
 
I haven't had any moisture issues but I have hardware cloth vents running the entire top of the coop, the pop door open and the big coop door open during the day. I also throw scratch in their coops every morning so they scratch all around in the bedding and mix it all up for me.
I have aDLM question. I stir up my litter almost daily but keep getting an ammonia smell when I do so. It isnt too strong but it is there. I know that I need some moisture to get it decomposing but how much is too much?
I use straw. I am going to try opening up some more vents and see if that helps. Should I take out all the bedding or try drying it out? I dont have any DE but want some, maybe I can get some this weekend. How about stall dry can that work the same way? Any tips for me?
Oh you poor thing!! I hope you and your little one are on the mend very soon. Maybe you will wake up tomorrow and feel better. I hate being sick and it sounds like you caught a doozy!
Happy New Year to everyone-- I know Mustang and a few others I didn't multi have posted their greetings. :)


Karen, I am soooo sick, I can not even read, knit or crochet, etc-- nothing. I have been sitting up long enough to check on here from time to time and then go take long naps in bed. I wish I was feeling good enough to work on my yarn projects or at least read a book. I'm a big reader. Usually I can read no matter how sick I am. But this is so bad, to keep my eyes open causes me pain behind them. My youngest now has 103.+ degree temps today. Been giving her Tylenol to keep it down. She went to the Dr with me the other day, so she is on antibiotics, but whatever it is we have isn't really being helped by the medication. I can NOT remember the last time I was this sick... oh actually, I can. When I was a kid and had some kind of horrible disease where I spent time in the hospital because I could not eat for days nor would my temps go down. I remember it was the dead of summer and I felt like I was a skeleton I had lost so much weight and moving hurt so bad. Anyway, I don't feel quite that bad, but this is ranking on my worst list.


I'm voting for the nicer weather, more rain and less sickness part and loss part! Let's bring the rain this year! HOpe you are enjoying your girl time. I've missed out on all the great holiday parties we had planned. Totally sucks. Totally bummed about that.
It is cold. And snowy. Yuck. I will be so glad to have bigger, open coops for the birds so when it is crummy out they have more dry floor space. I think about half my birds just gave up and ventured out into the snow and the other half stayed inside for the day! Wimps. Been trying to make lots of appointments for the house and get stuff done as quickly as possible. The in laws are out of town for 2 1/2 weeks and I really want to get the big projects going so when they get back they can't complain that we didn't get anything done! Hoping the weekend will warm up enough to make outside work bearable. And now DH is leaving for Baltimore next week. I am so over the business trip stuff, hoping this is his last for a while but just remembered he has a conference in March.

Baby has been very busy and growing! She loves to kick me, it is getting good and hard now and my belly is getting big enough now that I can't sit cross legged very comfortably! So funny.
 
Josie, I was going to take pics of Millie for you today but poor thing, it didn't work out. When I went to the coop she raced over, jumped up on my boots and sat down on my feet - definitely uncharacteristic of her. On closer inspection I found her eyes practically sealed shut with goop. Ewwww. She has been fine until now. I think she took cover with me because she was practically blind and saw me as a refuge. So, I brought her up to the house and cleaned her eyes with Vetericyn, until I was satisfied she was able to open them (though at this point she was still choosing to keep them closed). I then took her back to the coop and dosed her with VetRx, figuring the goopy eyes probably stem from congestion. I checked on her throughout the day and realized the poor thing is being terrorized by the older birds. She is a very placid little girl who cowers down in terror if another bird steps in her direction. This is normally not a big deal because they have a huge area to roam so she can always find personal space but today they were all hanging out in the coop, because of the snow and she couldn't find a place in the coop that wasn't close to other birds. She wound up too afraid to even eat or drink so I took her and put her IN the feed bin. As soon as she realized she was on her own with no competition she found she liked that a lot and ate her fill. It was gratifying to pick her up 10 minutes later and be able to tell a difference in her crop. I then placed her in front of the water but she was too terrified to drink since other birds were also drinking so I grabbed a bowl, took her out of the chicken area and with her own personal water bowl, she was able to drink her fill. I then redosed with VetRx and put her away for the night with the rest of the silchins and silkies. Hopefully the snow will melt in the next day or so so her life can return to normal, the goopy eyes don't turn out to be a big deal. Once she is feeling better, I'll get some pics of her for you.
 
Hawkeye, that's exactly the flu I had the first time. I couldn't even read I was in so much pain. I know what you're going through and I'm so sorry. I have another flu victim today -- our youngest had 102 fever and just wilted like a daisy. Our son had 103.8 -- he's the highest energy kid in the family and was still on his feet! I couldn't believe it when I took his temp. He was pretty grateful when I made him go to bed though. This crap is really vicious and the thing is it just seems to keep coming back. All of my kids who had it the first time are getting it again. It's weird like it lays low for awhile and then springs again. Ours is mostly the respiratory flu stuff but a couple of the kids have had stomach stuff on top of it. I've really struggled with dehydration all day and feel like I've swallowed a river trying to keep on top of it. Hope we get this behind us soon.

maidenwolf I've used DE in mine also but you still need to be careful of the dust when you put it in there. I second the suggestion for throwing treat stuff in the bedding so the birds stir it up for you. We "top off" our birds when they go in for the night with a scratch mixed with BOSS. Just toss it in there and they get busy and really move that stuff around. I use pine shavings so don't have any experience with straw. I don't put water inside the coop either. It made a huge difference when I stopped leaving water in the coop overnight.

Oh gosh. I wanted to say more but this flu just has me exhausted and fuzzy headed. Good night all. Stay warm!
 

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