Deep litter method

[Lacy Blues]

you are such a hoot!

you ALWAYS bring a smile to my face or a huge laugh.
Am sick AGAIN! Daughter got sick and now I have it and hubby got it yesterday. This crud is going around here and I mean everyone that gets around it seems to get it. Upper Respiratory infection and bronchitis. He went to the Dr. yesterday but is going back in the a.m to see if they will give him a steriod shot so he can get over it faster since it's taking us, me one week and still going strong and daughter going on 2 weeks now but slowly getting better. It's hit my chest now and am coughing so much my whole body is hurting. I got me some whiskey and am using that with some honey, lemon and peppermint and THAT is the ONLY thing that seems to calm this cough.

I am so tired of being sick. I was sick with something like this last month to so I think now I should get well and not have NOTHING else for a whole year! LOL I think I have had my share and 2-3 other peoples.

got me a bag of oranges awhile ago to start eating. Not that I;m not taking C's like thy're going out of style.

doing EVERY THING in my power to get better and also praying for healing to. Anyway hubby /someone needs to be well here to tend to things since I have little air and it wears me out to do much. I WOULD take a steroid shot to but I can't because of my thyroids.

Anyway all that to say, you always lift my spirits up sis!!! I love you! God richly blessed me yesterday to with some precepts women conference tapes for under 2 bucks. 1/2 price day. lol (had to run hubby to the Dr. and went to the thrift store close by while I waited) it's a really large thing of cassettes. I have had trouble with my eyes for the past few days and couldn't do my bible study so this has been a blessing so far. Enjoying it so far. Only listened to one cassette, front n back but awesome stuff. Kay Arthur was the first one. Just gets me how He ALWAYS encourages me when I am my lowest. ALWAYS!

Vitamin B5 is supposed to help your kidneys produce the steroids and antihistamines that your body needs during bouts of illness.

 

[Arielle]

Vitamin B5 is supposed to help your kidneys produce the steroids and antihistamines that your body needs during bouts of illness.

Recently Dr Furman or Fulrman , or some such on PBS recommended eating lots of vegies-- so we eat lots of organic green leafy salad greens for any meal of the day. THough I'm not sure how much the B's are covered by the greens--- juicy red beef keeps popping into my mind.

As for commercial meats: I think there must be MSG in the sausages I ate recently-- no listing on the packaging though-- I just couldn't stop eating, reaching for another and another and another. WHen several hours passed my cravings stopped and I will never eat those sausages again. I think it's getting time to try making my own sausages again . . . .

Is the key to dairy orgainic or raw? OR not at all?? THough if not at all, that must mean eliminating all commercial meats, right??

 

[Beekissed]

Yep...pretty much. We've noticed what happens when one of us goes back to eating that kind of stuff, even briefly, and the results are lowered immune system response in the form of repeated upper respiratory infections. Usually I see this happen in my boys who are out on their own and inhaling the junk food...and then get sick and want me to fix it. I always tell them, "Junk in, junk out....you know what to do to fix it."

I can't seem to make folks understand that eating my own birds is an important part of our nutrition here...it's not just a choice made lightly. It's our B12 source, along with eggs and seasonal harvests of deer meat. It's so I can avoid having to resort to that garbage from the store to get all my nutrients.


That's also one of the reasons I have to chuckle when people go to a raw diet for their dogs because it's healthier...and then they feed them commercially raised meats. That's like spending time rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

 

[RoseMarie1]

Vitamin B5 is supposed to help your kidneys produce the steroids and antihistamines that your body needs during bouts of illness.

THANK YOU! Will have to check and see IF my B vitamin I am taking has that in it. Its a mega does of B so I'm sure it does.

 

[RoseMarie1]

Yep...pretty much. We've noticed what happens when one of us goes back to eating that kind of stuff, even briefly, and the results are lowered immune system response in the form of repeated upper respiratory infections. Usually I see this happen in my boys who are out on their own and inhaling the junk food...and then get sick and want me to fix it. I always tell them, "Junk in, junk out....you know what to do to fix it."

I can't seem to make folks understand that eating my own birds is an important part of our nutrition here...it's not just a choice made lightly. It's our B12 source, along with eggs and seasonal harvests of deer meat. It's so I can avoid having to resort to that garbage from the store to get all my nutrients.


That's also one of the reasons I have to chuckle when people go to a raw diet for their dogs because it's healthier...and then they feed them commercially raised meats. That's like spending time rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

hack hack hack cough cough cough cough

I had to chuckle over that one! and you know with a chuckle comes a laugh.

you are such a hoot!

 

[Lacy Blues]

THANK YOU! Will have to check and see IF my B vitamin I am taking has that in it. Its a mega does of B so I'm sure it does.

Not everyone's requirements for various vitamins/minerals etc., are equal. My name is on that list. I seem to need extra vitamins B2, B5, B6 and E.

 

[Mtn Laurel]

Well, had a pleasant surprise this morning. We had a bit of snow yesterday and the temp - at 9:30 AM - is 16 degrees. The sun is now shining bright so I'm sure it was colder before the sun rose.

Went to the coop around 7:00 AM with fresh water for the girls and found the water in the coop WAS NOT frozen. We don't have a heater under the waterer and no heat in the coop. The coop is considerably warmer than the outside. There's plenty of ventilation going on, no condensation, no frostbite on combs.

I'm amazed that their water wasn't frozen. I have to think that the deep litter is helping keep the coop a bit warmer. I have 8 girls in an 8 x 10 coop and - while chickens do generate heat - I can't imagine them generating that much.

Anyone else noticing the deep litter helping to keep the coop warmer during this cold spell?

 

[Beekissed]

Yep! I noticed this back when I first started using it. I had opened up large ventilation at the bottom of the coop, even, and the coop was warmer, the water stayed liquid longer...several degrees difference between outside and the coop temps after using the DL.

I feed FF and the litter is very deep, so the trough is resting on the litter, though it's up on 2x6 feet, and the FF doesn't freeze before the chooks can eat it. We are having the same temps you are having right now and my birds are out in the snow,plowing around in it.

I put down fresh, dry leaves in the coop this morning to combat the subzero temps coming here in a couple of days...the litter is VERY deep right now, but moist underneath from all the rain we've been getting. The dry layer on top should keep the feet dry and warm.

 

[Mtn Laurel]

<snip>

I put down fresh, dry leaves in the coop this morning to combat the subzero temps coming here in a couple of days...the litter is VERY deep right now, but moist underneath from all the rain we've been getting. The dry layer on top should keep the feet dry and warm.

I've not looked ahead on the weather and your comment highlighted above made me do some checking. OH MY GOODNESS, you're right - we've got some really cold stuff coming in Mon night/Tue morning. I'm glad that the girls have had a taste of "good and cold" so they're prepared.

I added leaves last week and my litter is about 6 inches, if not higher. I have to step up to get into the coop door.



The coop gets southern sun in the afternoon and I'm sure that helps. Pretty sure it was you that made a suggestion last winter to cover straw bales with black plastic to absorb heat. Well, I took your suggestion and we slip a bag of pine shavings into a black plastic bag and have it situated in the coop so that the sun beats on it part of the day. I laid my hand on that black plastic at 9:AM when it was 16 degrees and it still felt warmer than the surrounding air. This is what the coop looks like at 2M with the southern sun coming in. Luckily, that same area is all woods and is shaded in the spring/summer so they don't get any sun then.



It amazes me how much difference deep litter, some black plastic, and sunshine can make.

 

[Beekissed]

That is some good looking litter!! And the coop does look cozy with all that sunshine.

My last coop had huge windows like that and got a lot of sun, but this current coop doesn't seem to get much, though one side to the southwest is clear plastic, because we are surrounded by woods. This spring I intend to remove the tarp from this coop and turn it into a greenhouse type hoop coop with some heavy duty clear plastic and then only use the tarps for shade in the summer, but in the winter expose it to all the sun I can get. I just don't like how dark it is in there in the winter months, though it's nice and shady for summer time.