Illinois...

[Molpet]

Where is everybody? Hope you are enjoying this warmer weather - I'll hate myself for saying that 20s-40s is warmer weather come July.
I'm dealing with mud! The dogs paws are muddy, the chickens feet are wuddy, our shoes are muddy... lot's of mud! I think I'm going to surface the run this year with leaf litter and mulch. I have a gas powered mulcher... I would love to be able to drop sand but the level of clay our soil makes sand a poor choice. I'm hoping that the mulcher will shred sticks/branches enough that there's not a bunch of sharp edges and I'm thinking that mixing mulch and leaves together plus and droppings the chickens leave in the run should result in a fluffy compost that drains well. In the fall we put loads of leaves in the old run and the chickens make quick work of breaking them down. The problem is that the leaves matted in some areas and held water rather than drained it. I'm hoping the mulch with help with preventing that.
Any thoughts? Your experience?

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/dying-chickens.1129854/page-3

 

[BReeder!]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/dying-chickens.1129854/page-3

Looks like a thread about chickens dying due to mulch added that contained a chemical to prevent weeds.
I don't apply anything but a fertilizer once in the fall and once in the Spring, and I toss the grass clippings in the trash for about a month after treating the lawn with fertilizer.
By mulch, I meant tree and shrub trimmings that I will cut from my own yard and put through a mulcher and there's no chemicals added to these - not even my apple tree since it is close to my koi pond.

 

[Molpet]

Looks like a thread about chickens dying due to mulch added that contained a chemical to prevent weeds.
I don't apply anything but a fertilizer once in the fall and once in the Spring, and I toss the grass clippings in the trash for about a month after treating the lawn with fertilizer.
By mulch, I meant tree and shrub trimmings that I will cut from my own yard and put through a mulcher and there's no chemicals added to these - not even my apple tree since it is close to my koi pond.

Not chemical.. a type of mold

 

[BReeder!]

Not chemical.. a type of mold

Ah, interesting... Mold and fungus are certainly things to consider. I will have to think this through and do some research. I'm thinking that seeding the mulch and leaf litter layer with active compost will assist with getting things to break down and provide a culture of good bacteria and critters to out compete nasty mold and fungus.

 

[Faraday40]

Kids, puppy, & weather have all been crazy lately.

..... The puppy gets neutered tomorrow. Can't do much about the rest. LOL


Of course we STILL have the turkeys & I even got 2 unbroken eggs from them today. Too bad they're not fertile, but at least they taste good & are sizable. The hens are also starting to lay more. We got 6 chicken eggs today, but 3 were from my "useless bantams" so it's really more like 4 chicken eggs.

Both Orp roosters & our Leghorn, Tillie, got some frostbite on their comb tips last week. Mr Wonderful made it through all last winter without incident, but this year's weather is especially harsh. I'll try to take some pics to share the healing process as we go. Tillie is a trooper. Even with the cold snap & now frostbite, she hasn't missed a day since she started laying in early fall. Because she's so incredible, I decided to hatch some more White Leghorns again this spring. (via my classroom programs) If anyone local wants a few classroom chicks let me know.

 

[Molpet]

Sunday a hawk swooped at hens... I spent the rest of the day and Monday out in the poultry yard...Tuesday the coop by the house wanted out in the garden. They were standing at the gate pleading. That garden is against the house up to the poultry yard. No Hawks had been around... So I let them out and went in the house with the dog to feed the dog.
10 mins later I heard an alert, dog and I ran out the door. 10 ft from the house a hawk flew up. Twisted body laying there. I figured she was dead. Went to grab her leg and she opened her eyes. I put her in the hospital crate in the basement. She could stand so I gave her food and water. Just sitting there at night, still with the shock look in her face.... but this morning she had eaten and I put her back with the flock. She seems ok.
Bugger must have been watching me to make his move.

 

[Faraday40]

I've been pretty busy with our puppy. He was neutered on Thurs & also had a stomach tack (to prevent bloat which big dogs are more prone to). The surgery went OK but he was miserable Thurs night. Poor guy couldn't lay down due to pain - even with pain meds, so no sleep. I picked up some stronger pain meds yesterday and he finally laid down & slept yesterday afternoon. Fri night was much better and today he's already getting back into mischief.

His front legs are shaved from the IVs and his entire stomach 1/2 way to his back is shaved. The stomach incision is pretty long, but mostly we notice his giant cone. Yes, he's running into everything, knocking things over, and generally a walking hazard. He's already learned how to use the cone to hide his naughtiness. He can now use it as a shield to obstruct our view of what he's chewing on. (This morning it gave him the privacy to eat an empty egg carton undisturbed without a human taking it away!) He also used the cone as a shovel to scoop up some wood shavings from the floor. Yet another forbidden doggie snack!

 

[Faraday40]

Sunday a hawk swooped at hens... I spent the rest of the day and Monday out in the poultry yard...Tuesday the coop by the house wanted out in the garden. They were standing at the gate pleading. That garden is against the house up to the poultry yard. No Hawks had been around... So I let them out and went in the house with the dog to feed the dog.
10 mins later I heard an alert, dog and I ran out the door. 10 ft from the house a hawk flew up. Twisted body laying there. I figured she was dead. Went to grab her leg and she opened her eyes. I put her in the hospital crate in the basement. She could stand so I gave her food and water. Just sitting there at night, still with the shock look in her face.... but this morning she had eaten and I put her back with the flock. She seems ok.
Bugger must have been watching me to make his move.

Close call. Glad you heard the alert cries for help. Did your hen make it?

 

[Faraday40]

Is anyone else flooded?

We often have standing water in areas of the grass. The 2 connected chicken runs are higher ground and both sand. Although it can occasionally get very wet during spring rains, it usually drains within a couple hours after a heavy rain. The last week has been an exception. There were 3 large puddles that never drained inside the run. (This has never happened in my 6 years with chickens. Like I said, the water usually drains then dries out quickly. The ground below the sand must still be frozen.) After the flooding, the temp went down to 5'F (but felt like -14'F) before the water could drain. The flock woke up to some ice rinks. ICK! Sadly, we won't be back above freezing anytime soon, so the normally soft, fluffy, sift-able, dry sand is like concrete. The poop is freezing to the hard ground & too solid to chip away. What a mess! I'm tempted to let the flock free range just to get them off of the icky sand. If I hadn't seen 2-3 hawks daily, I would have.

 

[Molpet]

Close call. Glad you heard the alert cries for help. Did your hen make it?

Hen seems fine TY
I haven't seen a hawk since, but I didn't see one tuesday either... Usually there is a pair of resident red tails that hunt the fields by me. They keep the other hawks away and SO FAR haven't shown an interest in my chickens. I haven't seen them either...
a couple of the cold days the birds went out and right back in so I left them locked in. Otherwise the dog and I take turns staying out in the cold...Today they wanted out, dog is currently on duty. however he gets board by himself and takes a nap. Not sure if a sleeping dog in the garden is much of a deterrent.
I have 3 cockerels in the bachelor pen .... 2 were due to be harvested the end of jan ish. I had planned on moving some hens over with the one I was keeping ... incase something happened and I wanted to keep the birds locked up. 20 birds in an 8x8 coop all day is too cramped for my liking.