First Run of Cornish Cross Meat Birds and Super Excited!

[duluthralphie]

Ug. With the warm up, the opposite of what I had hoped would happen, happened.

The bedding in the coop has not dried out... and is now emitting an AWFUL ammonia smell.

Sigh. I just shoveled over 2/3 of the bedding out. At the very bottom it was soaking wet... not just damp. I am obviously not doing a thorough enough job "mixing" every day.
I think while we were out of town over New Years, the neighbor kid spilled the chickens water while he was filling it or something. That is the only reason I can see for it to be so wet.
I am hopeful what I left in there will dry out today and tomorrow (there is only a couple of inches now) and then I can add new bedding. I just hate to do a total clean out and lose all the hard working microbes and be starting from ground zero.

Anyone else use deep litter method? Suggestions?

Vodka?
Beer or other spirits is your only chance to survive this.


I will be doing a complete clean out and starting from scratch again.

 

[mountain mom]

Vodka. Check.

Scratch? Why are you starting over? Moisture? Smell?
I really want to figure out what the heck I did wrong. I do think it was the water. I do blame the 11 year old.

I think I may need to just take advantage of the good weather. Shovel all bedding out, power wash (that smell is serious and I fear imbedded) and start over. But I really don't want to. I really want to whine about it, too.

On a funny topic, my chickens have found a new place to hang out. There is a pretty small pine tree in the yard. I am taller than this tree... at a whopping 5'4"
They like the branches. It is hilarious. I hope to catch a pic tomorrow for your entertainment...

 

[lazy gardener]

Can you get some compost? Garden soil? Forest litter? I had an ammonia episode, and put down a layer of compost and soil under the perches after a partial clean out. Then covered with litter from the front end of the coop. It's been ok since then... or perhaps the stench is just frozen.

 

[mountain mom]

Can you get some compost? Garden soil? Forest litter? I had an ammonia episode, and put down a layer of compost and soil under the perches after a partial clean out. Then covered with litter from the front end of the coop. It's been ok since then... or perhaps the stench is just frozen.

the stench in our coop was frozen... and sealed up quite nicely... until the warm weather. We didn't have a problem at all over the summer, but hot and dry does not lend itself to ammonia.

I have plenty of compost and leaves, maybe I will add them. Thanks for the suggestion!

Hopefully your stench is gone and not just frozen!

 

[holm25]

RIP my little Heidi. It will never be the same without you. I maybe cried a little...

 

[Turkeytruff]

You sound like a very reasonable person, however, there is one question I need to ask...



WHY would a reasonable sane person have a goose?


Sorry, that slipped out, my experience with geese only served to allow me to tolerate my guineas...

Haha I know! On the plus side, I am pretty sure our pair of geese have stopped the eagles and hawks from attacking our chickens.

And we always know when a post/ parcel person is arriving.
When I was very young and green in my care and training of poultry (them training me of course) my husband and I naively thought that a pair of geese would be a great addition to our flock. We obtained a pair from 90 minutes drive away and I brought them back in the dark. I left them in the crate overnight. The next morning I was worried that my turkeys would persecute them - ha! I didn't think about quarantining at the time (my bad

) so with fear and trembling I opened the crate and stood by to protect them from the big bad turkeys. Woah! Stanley came marching out trumpeting like a banshee. I mean I have listened to trains whistles that were not as loud. The flock were so shocked by the volume of the noise and the apparition that came at them that they scattered as fast as possible, It was funny to see the alpha rooster, Mr. R, scrambling backwards, tootling away to his girls to get the hillock out of there.
Put it this way, if they die, I will not replace them - but they do add to overall atmosphere of the flock.
Right about now, they have started getting frisky again and there are daily tussles in the small swimming pool we have set up for them.

Glad you found your flock. They do like to keep us guessing don't they? One of my meatie hens did a runner today, and I had to get her back from the old place. Big Mac had a lot to say to her when I released her into the upper field again.

 

[duluthralphie]

RIP my little Heidi. It will never be the same without you. I maybe cried a little...

I am sorry, you have my condolences, and crying is allowed. Can you tell us what happened?

 

[duluthralphie]

Haha I know! On the plus side, I am pretty sure our pair of geese have stopped the eagles and hawks from attacking our chickens.

And we always know when a post/ parcel person is arriving.
When I was very young and green in my care and training of poultry (them training me of course) my husband and I naively thought that a pair of geese would be a great addition to our flock. We obtained a pair from 90 minutes drive away and I brought them back in the dark. I left them in the crate overnight. The next morning I was worried that my turkeys would persecute them - ha! I didn't think about quarantining at the time (my bad

) so with fear and trembling I opened the crate and stood by to protect them from the big bad turkeys. Woah! Stanley came marching out trumpeting like a banshee. I mean I have listened to trains whistles that were not as loud. The flock were so shocked by the volume of the noise and the apparition that came at them that they scattered as fast as possible, It was funny to see the alpha rooster, Mr. R, scrambling backwards, tootling away to his girls to get the hillock out of there.
Put it this way, if they die, I will not replace them - but they do add to overall atmosphere of the flock.
Right about now, they have started getting frisky again and there are daily tussles in the small swimming pool we have set up for them.

Glad you found your flock. They do like to keep us guessing don't they? One of my meatie hens did a runner today, and I had to get her back from the old place. Big Mac had a lot to say to her when I released her into the upper field again.

Please do not post lines like the highlighted one on this site again, doing so make me reconsider my decision to never have a goose around again. Do you think one gander alone would keep BoPs away?


I could probably handle one goose, I had 8 that was my problem.

 

[holm25]

I am sorry, you have my condolences, and crying is allowed. Can you tell us what happened?

She never had much for feather's and I accidently forgot to check in the turkeys hut that night. She and some others slept out that night the next morning I came out and she was cold so I put her under the heat lamp. She ended up moving to a corner with her best chicken friend and died there because I was stupid.

 

[duluthralphie]

She never had much for feather's and I accidently forgot to check in the turkeys hut that night. She and some others slept out that night the next morning I came out and she was cold so I put her under the heat lamp. She ended up moving to a corner with her best chicken friend and died there because I was stupid.

You cannot blame yourself for that, She chose to sleep outside.

Do you use supplemental heat regularly?