Heritage Large Fowl - Phase II

[hellbender]

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If I remember the old books correctly this kind of sand also helps keep bugs down because they don't like the lime in the limestone.
Best,
Karen

I honestly don't know but we will have this as a topper in the SOP pens. The plan is to have three segments...first an 8 inch base of one inch stone then 8 inches of pea gravel then finally 6 inches of slag. Each part will be 'walked', then rolled in. It should be as solid as concrete but have drainage. This will obviously have to be done before pens can be set up.

 

[Lacy Blues]

I honestly don't know but we will have this as a topper in the SOP pens. The plan is to have three segments...first an 8 inch base of one inch stone then 8 inches of pea gravel then finally 6 inches of slag. Each part will be 'walked', then rolled in. It should be as solid as concrete but have drainage. This will obviously have to be done before pens can be set up.

Ron, how high will your perches be? Those 8 pound birds coming down off a high perch onto a floor that's as hard as concrete can cause structural damage to the foot. Just sayin'

 

[hellbender]

Ron, how high will your perches be? Those 8 pound birds coming down off a high perch onto a floor that's as hard as concrete can cause structural damage to the foot. Just sayin'

Sorry, didn't make myself clear. This is for the outside runs. The SOP birds will not be allowed to run with the laying flock.


I'm converting an old but excellent wooden building for SOP and the floors will be dirt so we can use 'deep-litter' inside. Don't want any mud on the outside. All roosts will be 4.5 feet and 3 feet from the ground...just like in the layer barns. The 3' roosts extend 3' from the wall and the 4.5 roosts extends 2' from the wall...just above the first...

 

[gjensen]

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If I remember the old books correctly this kind of sand also helps keep bugs down because they don't like the lime in the limestone.
Best,
Karen

Karen it would be useless for that reason. Lice live on the birds as fowl mites do. Ride mites on the structure. Worms passed along through the worm eggs which is pretty tough are in the droppings.

You get what I am saying. I have read similar stuff to.

It would not be a inhabitable place for earthworms etc., but if the conditions are right for them in the house and run . . .well, that would not be good anyways.

 

[Vamvakas]

Adding on the sand question, is it ok to put sand in the coop also? Not the whole coop flooring but just like first half of coop. My problem is that the house is on a small hill and coops are on bottom of the hill so that why it's an issue with mud. Also how much space can a 50 lbs bag of sand cover if I want about 4" thick?

 

[3riverschick]

Karen it would be useless for that reason. Lice live on the birds as fowl mites do. Ride mites on the structure. Worms passed along through the worm eggs which is pretty tough are in the droppings.

You get what I am saying. I have read similar stuff to.

It would not be a inhabitable place for earthworms etc., but if the conditions are right for them in the house and run . . .well, that would not be good anyways.

Ok.
Thanks,
Karen

 

[gjensen]

Adding on the sand question, is it ok to put sand in the coop also? Not the whole coop flooring but just like first half of coop. My problem is that the house is on a small hill and coops are on bottom of the hill so that why it's an issue with mud. Also how much space can a 50 lbs bag of sand cover if I want about 4" thick?

I know a couple people that use sand exclusively. it seams most beneficial to southerners with open enclosures.

Sounds like some modifications to the exterior grade would help. Just keep in mind, water does not go up. If the base is higher than the surroundings, the base will be dryer.

When I was in the service we had what we called shelter halves. You and your buddy had half of a tent. it did not take us long to learn to dig a little trench on three sides of the shelter. This caught the water and directed it away, instead of letting it "sheet" through. Digging a swell to collect it and re direct it helps to. A little can make a big difference.

You never want your base to be equal to or lower than the surroundings. This makes for a wet house.

 

[Vamvakas]

I know a couple people that use sand exclusively. it seams most beneficial to southerners with open enclosures.

Sounds like some modifications to the exterior grade would help. Just keep in mind, water does not go up. If the base is higher than the surroundings, the base will be dryer.

When I was in the service we had what we called shelter halves. You and your buddy had half of a tent. it did not take us long to learn to dig a little trench on three sides of the shelter. This caught the water and directed it away, instead of letting it "sheet" through. Digging a swell to collect it and re direct it helps to. A little can make a big difference.

You never want your base to be equal to or lower than the surroundings. This makes for a wet house.

My coops is in the near woods forest lines and it's not portable coops and it's permanent coops there.. Few year back it was never a issue but untill recent it has been.

 

[Wisher1000]

Not to change the subject too quickly, but I would like some input on selection. I know that it is something that will develop over time, but I am just wanting to come up with a general plan that I can follow until I gain more experience. So far, I know that detailed records are a must. Next, I know that I have to cull all birds with DQs as soon as the DQ is detected. After that is where I am not sure. I know that I must compare birds of the same age, and that the emphasis should be put on type before other things (color, size, etc.) Here is my question, can you determine which areas are more important to get/keep "right" before others? Am I right in my suspicion that I need to look at 1) back, 2) breast, and 3) underline? In your opinion, are there other things that are so hard to maintain that they should be equally weighted? I am aware that exceptional qualities in other areas need to be preserved along the way, it's just that if I have a general guide on selection, I can keep it straight in my head better. Help?!

 

[neopolitancrazy]

Not to change the subject too quickly, but I would like some input on selection. I know that it is something that will develop over time, but I am just wanting to come up with a general plan that I can follow until I gain more experience. So far, I know that detailed records are a must. Next, I know that I have to cull all birds with DQs as soon as the DQ is detected. After that is where I am not sure. I know that I must compare birds of the same age, and that the emphasis should be put on type before other things (color, size, etc.) Here is my question, can you determine which areas are more important to get/keep "right" before others? Am I right in my suspicion that I need to look at 1) back, 2) breast, and 3) underline? In your opinion, are there other things that are so hard to maintain that they should be equally weighted? I am aware that exceptional qualities in other areas need to be preserved along the way, it's just that if I have a general guide on selection, I can keep it straight in my head better. Help?!

In addition to culling DQs as soon as they appear, I would add culling birds with any signs of illness or poor vigor as soon as they appear. Then add size (also indicative of vigor!) into your "cull for type" and stick to those things (vigor/size and type) for 2-3 years until your records indicate your birds' offspring are fairly uniform and predictable. If you have more than one bird with similar size and type, use the other points as listed in the SOP to choose which bird is most fit to reproduce.

As I understand it, the overall "shape" of the bird is a combination of the back, breast and underline and shape=type.

I am not sure which variety has captured your heart, but I think color is one of the last things you are supposed to worry about, at least it is in my chickens.

If any of you "seasoned" chicken fanciers think I got it wrong- please jump in and correct me.

Best wishes,
Angela