The title says 22 hens and 1 rooster, so that makes 23 total.the total number of birds,(just saw 22 birds)
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The title says 22 hens and 1 rooster, so that makes 23 total.the total number of birds,(just saw 22 birds)
Poop boards are fantastic, as long as they work. Mine have a lip on them to keep the sweet PDZ on it, and they work very well. (PDZ, if you don't know, is sold at places like TSC; check the horse section and look for "stall refresher.") The PDZ really helps with the ammonia smell.You could also do poop boards (under their roost bars as they sleep).
Yes, the more, the better, with photos.Second, could we see more photos of the coop in and out? Especially photos of the ventilation?
Roofing the run will help a lot. Can you put up a tarp in the mean time? I did that last year, and it worked very well. I had raked up leaves in the run, and they stayed dry, for the most part.Please allow me to add the run is not covered, I plan to add roofing this spring, but the rain just soaks everything allowing the birds track in mud/poop/etc as well.
Yes, @NatJ ...you can see I corrected my post.The title says 22 hens and 1 rooster, so that makes 23 total.
You corrected "how many" to say there are 22.Yes, @NatJ ...you can see I corrected my post.
You corrected "how many" to say there are 22.
But you forgot the rooster, who makes 23.
This is a good note to make. I also don't feed or water inside the henhouse, so they don't poop much in there except overnight.Going to wait on more coop photos to see if I can make a better suggestion other than changing the layout in there (you have a good amount of actual floor space but it is cluttered in there!)
For the run, two things: see about improving the drainage if drainage is an issue at the location, and also consider switching to deep litter. My run is uncovered and I had a mud/odor issue when I first started, but I started using deep litter and it gradually fixed itself with no extra effort from me.
Start off with a base of chunky wood chips for drainage and aeration. Ideally you'd want aged chips but it's easier to get fresh ones and set aside for aging (though you can start building up thin layers of chips immediately to help with your mud issue). If you have room in the yard to hold onto a load of chips, tree companies (at least in my area) are always looking to offload chips and will do so for free/a small tip.
Now it's a little late in the season for gathering these, but if you have neighbors still putting out bags of dried leaves, those are a great add in on top of the chips. I store bags of dried leaves in my greenhouse each fall for use in the run. Non-toxic weeds and garden trimmings can also be added through the year. In summer, I add in short grass clippings left out a day or two to dry.
My uncovered run floor the morning after a night of heavy rain... it's surface dry even though there's standing puddles in the lawn surrounding the run.
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I also use wood chips as my main litter inside the coop, mainly because it's free and readily available, however my birds don't poop a lot inside the coop as I mostly feed and water outside (I keep 1 dry feeder inside the coop). As I do not use poop boards I buy hemp bedding for use under the roost so I can sift poop out for composting.
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Ditto on that too. I do have feed in there during daylight, but take it out at night. I don't keep any water in the coop; it adds to the humidity, and it can spill.This is a good note to make. I also don't feed or water inside the henhouse, so they don't poop much in there except overnight.
Wow. That's a LOT of poop!I cleaned it all day yesterday and cleaned off about 10 lbs of poop this morning off just the boards.