Consolidated Kansas

[Mandilynn]

Marc: Your set up is so creative, kudos!! I love the 2 connected boxes idea. I will most likely try to steal your idea tomorrow. I have a few chicks also trying to fly to coop. Or box, rather.

My little dog does a good job of scaring anyone sitting on the rim back into the box. She's a little wiener mutt we never let have pups so she tends to think everything smaller than her is her baby, including the chicks. She is very gentle, but they do NOT appreciate her giving them a "bath" so they take off for the box when they see her coming.

Danz: Your roost/toy idea sounds great! I've been racking my brain for entertainment ideas, maybe I've been over-thinking things... or just making excuses to let them out of the box to "exercise".

 

[MarcAustin]

Marc: Your set up is so creative, kudos!! I love the 2 connected boxes idea. I will most likely try to steal your idea tomorrow.

Well this is the 1st one i've made so i'm not sure about it. My chicks were playing a game where one of the bigger ones would grab a random piece of litter and shake it violently, long enough to get everyones attention and then take off running like an idiot causing the rest to give chase. A few times my smallest was mowed down in the melee so i decided to extend by adding that 2nd box as an area of retreat or at least make them slow down to make the corner. I'm trying not to micro manage, but i'd feel so crappy to lose one on my first go around due to an avoidable mishap. Good luck with yours and post pics!

 

[chicken danz]

KarenS, I guess you know that mites can kill chickens rather quickly. I'm wondering why you don't just put some Sevin powder or some diatomaceous earth in your brooder insted of removing all the shavings and eveything? Those heat bulbs can break so easily. I've had chicks jump up and break them or just found them broken at the base. Sometimes I think if the heat builds up in the reflector and there is a weak area they will just crack at the base. I've found several like that and had to take the metal part out with a pair of needle nose pliers.
I think it is great you are getting the kids involved. It has to create a little excitement on their part.
Marc those chicks will keep playing keep away. My adults will even do that. Just wait until they get older and one of them finds a bug! It's all a part of chicken TV; one of the reasons I sit and just watch mine after all this time.
I meant to mention the chicken tunnels. That might be an idea I can build and incorporate into my garden. Sure beats pulling weeds! I'm ready for some warm weather now. I hope I can get a lot done this week. Too bad we are supposed to get rain too.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Karen, wow all those broken heat lamps! And they aren't cheap either! Yikes! You did GREAT holding in your temper and showing patience. I just don't think by that time, I would have had it in me. I think the kids would have been yelled at for sure. And all the chicks had mites! Wow, I feel sorry for you! I'd just be dumping in Seven or DE into their brooder. Put it in a litter box or a little plastic wash tub. When they go to roll in it and bathe in it-- it will de-louse them.

Marc, good idea on the roost. That'll make them pretty happy. When my chicks were only 4 weeks, they were catching moths that were attracted to their heat lamp at night. They would grab a moth, go run around in their brooder and the others would make a mad dash to steal it from them. More often than not, the silkies would end up with the moth since they are such fiesty birds.

Danz, I've been thinking about putting up a temporary chicken fence around my garden and letting my silkies in there to scratch around (when it's grown up). The only down side I can see is that it's in the blazing sun in the summer... AND the hawks are BAD around here! I still think that's what got Seymore. They sit up in the trees and watch my birds, and they swoop down near my coop. If you have any cheap ideas on how to hawk proof my back yard, I'm all ears! I'd be up for buying reflecting balls or mirrors or whatever. But I don't want to tie up tons of streamers-- not sure that they'd care anyway.

 

[chicken danz]

I've been told if you run rope or strips of cloth or whatever every foot or so lengthwise across the area you want protected it will keep the hawks out. They can't spread their wings and land if there is something in their way. I visited a vet's place once where she had her entire back yard with strips of whatever she could find from fence to fence. It looked like she had just used anything she could put up from rope to cloth to plastic strips.
She said she had lost a lot of birds to Hawks until she did that and hadn't lost any since. Seems like a very workable solution to me although time consuming to put up. Also you can buy those huge rolls of bird netting or deer netting or pond netting. It is all the same stuff packaged with various labels. Much of it is 25 feet or more wide by whatever length you buy. It isn't strong but would work as a deterrent. I wouldn't depend on it working over a long period of time but for day use it might work. If you are going to do your whole backyard I really don't know what would work other than a .22 rifle.
You could make a PVC pen like I have and move it to the spot you want them to work. Then you would also have built in shade. That is what I intended to do with mine originally but have used it for so many other things that I've never used it for chickens. It is so easy to move around. Yep that is what I would do personally. I guess it might be hard to get over your plants. I normally just pull mine where I want it to go. But maybe if you made it a little narrower you and Jon could just lift it into place when you wanted to move it. Sure wish I could figure out what I did with all those plans and list of fittings and pipe I had drawn up. If you look at the on line plans for one of them you could probably fairly well figure it out. The plans I saw on line had some stuff in the middle for a feeder. I found that unnecessary and it would be difficult to get to. I think they also put a door on top of theirs and I put the door in the side so I could herd my birds in rather than pick them up and drop them in. Plus I used pieces of pvc conduit over the roof and secured it with wire to give the roof a rounder shape to shed water.
Here is a link to the plan: http://ucanr.org/sites/placernevadasmallfarms/files/102987.pdf
I used 1 1/2 inch PVC for strength. 1 inch PVC is tiny and weak. I used a schedule 40 pipe so it wouldn't break so easily. If you put the money and time into this thing you want it to last. I also put an extension and a cap at one top corner and and an extension and a cap at one lower corner to use as a drain so I could fill the bottom section with water to hold it down in the wind. I have only used that once. It stays down pretty well on it's own. I bought my fittings from U. S. Plastics (cheapest). Redraw the plans to make your changes before you order fittings. Mine were much different than the ones in this drawing. I also ordered a few extra of the 4 way and 5 way fittings which was a blessing when I put it together because I made some slight changes from my own drawing.

 

[HEChicken]

KarenS, I agree - you showed a lot of restraint for what sounds like a very frustrating day. When I had my Coturnix, I used to put DE in a shallow plastic tray and put it out for them. They lost no time racing to be the first one to start bathing in it. I was always astonished how many of them managed to fit in that tray at one time - way more than you would guess a tray could hold

That reminds me....I should put some out for the Silkies - I'm sure they'd enjoy dustbathing in it too.

Well, I have a question for all you more experienced chicken folks. I have a hen who is having a mishap in her egg-laying factory. I doubt if there is anything I need to do for her (although if there is, please let me know) but mostly I'm curious if anyone else has experienced something like this. Okay, here's the situation: She is a Cuckoo Marans, hatchery quality. I got her from Atwoods during Chick Days last year and they get them from Ideal. Until last Spring, ALL of my chickens laid a light-brown egg - so similar in color that I never knew for sure who was laying. I decided to try to get some hens that lay some different colored eggs because I like to know who is laying and who isn't. So I got some BCM eggs online and hatched a single chick (luckily turned out to be a girl) and so she wouldn't be alone, I went to Atwoods and got her two companions - the Cuckoo Marans and a Sultan. So...skip forward 6 months and both Marans started laying. There was an obvious difference in their eggs from the very first one. The BCM lays eggs that probably qualify on the Marans scale - very dark brown, and speckled. Super pretty eggs. The Cuckoo eggs are a darker brown than any of my other hens lay but not nearly as dark as the BCM. I liked that they were both so easily distinguishable so I knew for sure what days they each laid. So far so good.

So the Cuckoo laid for about 2 months and then our so-called winter started, and she quit. For a good two months I got nothing from her which was a little disappointing since she was a new pullet laying but que sera sera. In February she resumed laying - sort of. Both the two months she laid in the Fall and in the 6 weeks or so since she resumed, her laying was sporadic at best. She might lay 2 days and then take 3-4 off. Or lay 1 every other day for a week. In addition, its almost like she can't tell the difference between an egg and a poop because none of her eggs has been found in a nest box. All of her eggs have been found in one of 3 places - the middle of the coop floor, the roof of the coop, or next to the deck stairs.

We're getting to it, I promise. On Saturday morning I had to run out to the coop at 8am to check my humane mouse trap. There was one light brown egg in the nest box already so I brought it in. At 11am, I wandered back out there and found a Cuckoo egg in the middle of the coop floor. And another egg on the roost, and a third egg on the coop floor about 2' from the first. None of these eggs was there during my 8am visit. Strange, I say, and gather them up to carry them inside. Once inside, I did a double take - they were all quite clearly Cuckoo eggs. Exact same size, shape and color - so identical you couldn't tell one from another. At 1pm, I went back out there and next to the deck stairs - another Cuckoo egg. So I'm telling myself its impossible at the same time I am 100% convinced the same hen laid all four eggs.

Sunday I go to collect eggs and find 1 Cuckoo egg in the middle of the coop floor and one next to the deck stairs.

She laid an egg a day on Thursday and Friday. So now the total count is 1 Thur, 1 Fri, 4 Sat & 2 Sun. I showed them to the family, begging them to tell me the eggs were NOT all the same color, size and shape but they agreed - these eggs were all clearly laid by the same hen. I know I didn't miss them from previous days - where they were lying it would have been all but impossible for them to have lain there since early last week without being seen.

So I am left with the conclusion that this hen's egg factory has gone wacko and don't know if there's something I need to watch for or do for her. Has anyone had a similar experience?

 

[Deerfield Acres]

KarenS, I guess you know that mites can kill chickens rather quickly. I'm wondering why you don't just put some Sevin powder or some diatomaceous earth in your brooder insted of removing all the shavings and eveything? Those heat bulbs can break so easily. I've had chicks jump up and break them or just found them broken at the base. Sometimes I think if the heat builds up in the reflector and there is a weak area they will just crack at the base. I've found several like that and had to take the metal part out with a pair of needle nose pliers.

That's good to know about the heatlamp bulbs. Most of my kids are really good about confessing so that may have been what happened with the last one. I'm also making note of needle nose pliers to keep in my emergencies kit! Thanks for the info.

Now here's the thing. I had food grade DE mixed in the top layer of sand (that's where they dust bathe) because I'd tried some in a tub and they wouldn't touch it. So, I'm going to run get some Sevin powder. I really, really don't want to remove everything if I don't have to. All the chicks are doing well this morning, to my great relief!

Karen, wow all those broken heat lamps! And they aren't cheap either! Yikes! You did GREAT holding in your temper and showing patience. I just don't think by that time, I would have had it in me. I think the kids would have been yelled at for sure. And all the chicks had mites! Wow, I feel sorry for you! I'd just be dumping in Seven or DE into their brooder. Put it in a litter box or a little plastic wash tub. When they go to roll in it and bathe in it-- it will de-louse them.

I've worked really, really hard on the patience thing because I'm not a patient person and because I've been wrong enough times. The language is something I've worked really hard on too, because my kids tell me they hear it enough at school, they don't want to hear it from their mother. I try very hard to respect their wishes when at all possible because, as kids, it's just not possible for them to have much control over things in general. When I can give them a choice, I do.

You and Danz are in agreement that I won't have to take out all the wood shavings. Like I said before, I have DE in the sand so I was pretty shocked to find lice/mites. They all had varying degrees of mites/lice, some hardly anything to nothing, but I thought I better treat them all. Newbie overkill?

I'm going to run and get some Sevin powder and powder up the wood shavings and give that a try. I'll still spray the chipboard.

Danz & Hawkeye: For the second treatment, though, could I use Frontline, even though the birds will be layers/meat birds? Or do I need to do a second treatment after powdering up the joint?


Trish44: The Aloha eggs arrived safe and sound and Tazcat and I have them in our respective incubators. I'm one obsessive chick about hatching.

What humidity % do all you guys use when incubating?

Thanks everyone!

 

[HEChicken]

What humidity % do all you guys use when incubating?

I am a long way from being an experienced hatcher. I did one batch of local barnyard mixes to test my home-built incubator, 1 batch of shipped BCM eggs and 2 batches of shipped Coturnix eggs and that is it for me so take this for what its worth....

One thing I DO do (similar to you, I suspect) is research the heck out of things. Prior to setting my first eggs, I read a really long thread - 70+ pages, if I recall correctly - on "dry" hatching. What I gleaned from that made a lot of sense to me. Now, you will find plenty of people who scorn the idea, but for ME what I learned made sense. I did that for the first hatch and then started second guessing myself and for the BCM and Coturnix eggs I incubated with some water to get humidity around the 35-40% mark.

Since then I've read some more about it and decided to go back to dry hatching for the eggs Renee gave me. I set them Friday night. They are in a Styrofoam incubator, still air, temp holding steady about 100.5, and no water in the incubator. I calibrated my hygrometer since it hadn't been used a year so feel confident it is ready correctly. It varies throughout the day from 25-30%. I'm happy with that. My plan is to keep with status quo (unless humidity drops under 20%) for the first 18 days and then add water and damp towels for lockdown, to try to get humidity up to 65-70% for those last 3 days.

On a side note....I broke my own rule today and candled about half of the eggs. I think I see light veining in some of them even though its only been 2 1/2 days so its way too early to candle!!! I know what you're going to say Hawkeye - I told you I don't candle until day 10. What can I say? I'm really excited about these guys and hoping so much for a good hatch.

 

[chicken danz]

Karen, put the Sevin in again in about 2 weeks, and then again in another 2 weeks or so. You need to break the life cycle of the mites. They recycle around every 2 weeks or so. It's just tons easier than treating each bird. I am guessing the mites were in the sand and probably got there from wild birds. A couple more treatments should end it once and for all. I'm surprised the DE didn't work. There must have been a load of eggs in there. I've never had to treat over a couple times with sevin but it's always a good measure to make sure all the eggs they have laid are killed at an early stage.
It is kind of dangerous to treat chicks with chemicals liek frontline simply because they absorb them and it could be pretty harmful. The same reason you don't treat baby kittens or puppies. I have ivermectin to treat my adult birds but even with them I am very careful.
HEchicken, chickens are pretty crazy. The bird has had a break and that is when their egg production goes way up. She is ready for spring. Four eggs in a day is pretty excessive but in the spring 2 eggs a day is pretty common. She will slow back down I am sure, especially when the weather gets hot. I think it is a gift. Just make sure she has plenty of calcium and let her produce them. Marans are great layers. Some lay more eggs and some lay HUGE eggs and often double yokers. Enjoy the bounty. I have lots of hens that prefer to choose their own places to lay. Add some more bedding in the nest boxes and put a few fake eggs or balls in there and she will probably go back to laying there.

 

[HEChicken]

Thanks Danz - okay, I won't worry about her. She has actually NEVER laid in a nest box, so I don't know what goes on in her little brain. She is fairly low in the pecking order so it could be that the next boxes are always occupied when she wants them and she doesn't want to squeeze in, or, because she lays these 3 different places, sometimes it really looks like she just didn't know THAT was going to happen - she thought she was just going to poop. Hopefully as she gets older she'll get the hang of it and figure out how to get them in the nest boxes. Maybe after we move to the new place....