Daily routine with your flock

[U_Stormcrow]

When I think they are ready I put zip ties on their legs so I can identify them.

Can you expand on this some??? This is my first year of doing this, I've read a fair bit, even seen push together colored bands (possibly re-usable) of various sizes at the local farm store, but this is the first I can recall someone zip tie-ing the legs to ID them. Do you number them, color code them, what? and how do you safely remove them from the leg when they start to outgrow their band? (DO THEY start to outgrow their band? or is this something you only do when they are full grown and producing eggs?)

Thanks in advance!

 

[Acre4Me]

Thanks! I will have to look into a heated base for waterer too as the winters here in upstate NY can be brutal and long.

Yes, they can! Depending on how your coop is ventilated, you may need to put up baffles or similar to block winter winds from being an issue. We have all around ventilation bc we put the roof up on 2x4's, so there is a 3.5" gap all around, completely above the roosts and the bird's heads. The North and South walls have a big triangle above the main wall due to the roof angle - it is all HWC, so lots of summer ventilation. In the winter, we made a triangular piece to fit into the north side, to block the north winds. We leave the South side open - there is 6' of roof extending on that side and the winds are not coming from the south. However, the main point is to think about your winter winds and weather and where the snow/wind/sleet/ice will be coming from and if it will need to be covered. Plastic can work very well too. You want and need ventilation, bc too much moisture will cause frostbite on the birds, they can handle cold, as long as they are dry. But you want the ventilation not to cause drafts on their roost area, but to keep the inside of the coop humidity no higher than outside humidity. So, if you tighten up the coop too much, the heated waterer and poop and breathing from the birds can raise the humidity higher than the outside. You have plenty of time to figure all this out, though!

 

[DougB]

The girls get 1st attention in the morning, usually get up with the Sun coming in the window (early riser) go out and tell the girls hello, clean the roost, check water and feed and give them a little treat. Then there out free ranging the rest of the day (backyard). As it turns dusk I go check on them in the roost, collect eggs and wish them a good night, closing pen doors as I leave. If I'm not out working and happen to be in the yard they follow me around to see if they can entice a treat or two.

 

[Mrs. K]

Well it changes, now, I go down, feed the meat birds, water them. Go farther to the layers, feed and water them. Sometimes I lock them up at night, but not always. Sometimes I check twice a day, sometimes not.

When things need freshening up, I do a broom out, or take a pitch fork and pile up the bedding into mini haystacks, they will re-scatter it. Breaks it down for better mulch for my garden. Sometimes rearrange the clutter to give things a bit of change up.

I do line my nest boxes with a piece of cardboard, then add nesting material, makes tipping out a dirty nest box pretty easy. I feed out in the run in several places.

Sometimes I let them out, sometimes I don't. If I do, I definitely make it down again at night to lock up the run.

Mrs K

 

[Ridgerunner]

Can you expand on this some??? zip tie-ing the legs to ID them.

@aart has a link to how she does it. It's pretty good.

I use 7" zip ties, Aart uses 4" Personal preference. I use different colored zip ties. The color on the left leg tells me which year they were hatched. I use one or two colors on the right leg to identify individuals. A green band is one hen, a yellow one is a different one, a green plus a yellow is a third hen. Or red, blue or orange. You need to come up with your own system depending on what information you want to track.

I put the zip tie on the leg and cut off the excess. You want it loose enough it can move up and down but tight enough it doesn't come off over the foot. The legs do continue to grow even after you think they are pretty much grown so you need to check the legs regularly. I use wire cutters to remove them when I need to.

 

[aart]

@aart has a link to how she does it. It's pretty good.

I like the 4" because they fit chicks right out of the hatcher...and seem fine for the older birds too.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/leg-banding-with-zipties.68075/

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Thank you @Ridgerunner . I've been eagerly awaiting your response. Now I'll eagerly await @aart , too.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

and already a response. You two are FANTASTIC!

 

[FluffyBottomBantams]

Lately I wake up at six o’clock and walk down to the coop with my mom. We give two of her birds their antibiotics shot. (It’s twice a day so we have to do it before she goes to work and giving the shots is definitely a two person job. I open up the window in my d’Uccle pen (it has a metal grate over it so nothing gets in or out, it’s just for air flow) and we give everyone meal worms because they go wild until we feed them treats.

After my mom comes home from work we get changed immediately and go down to let all the birds outside into their respective pens. They stay outside for a bit while we fill waterers, feeders, and fluff and clean shavings as needed. Sometimes I let them out during the day but our area has a lot of hawks other predators and I don’t feel comfortable with them being outside if someone isn’t close by to keep an eye on them.

 

[Kaesi2020]

Lately I wake up at six o’clock and walk down to the coop with my mom. We give two of her birds their antibiotics shot. (It’s twice a day so we have to do it before she goes to work and giving the shots is definitely a two person job. I open up the window in my d’Uccle pen (it has a metal grate over it so nothing gets in or out, it’s just for air flow) and we give everyone meal worms because they go wild until we feed them treats.

After my mom comes home from work we get changed immediately and go down to let all the birds outside into their respective pens. They stay outside for a bit while we fill waterers, feeders, and fluff and clean shavings as needed. Sometimes I let them out during the day but our area has a lot of hawks other predators and I don’t feel comfortable with them being outside if someone isn’t close by to keep an eye on them.

You and your mom have a nice system! I feel the same about the hawks, I supervise when they free range but I know even with supervision things can happen.