Illinois...

[WhyDoILikeChickens]

Have you considered poop shelves under roost, with a layer of Sweet PDZ. I will be building a new coop this Spring, and do intend to make those shelves to catch those gumdrops. Use a cat litter scooper to clean out. Easy Peasy

Right now they roost in what used to be neighbor's daughter's play house. I threw some plywood and coat hanger pole together. The old hen has coop all to herself and the pullets only go in to lay.
I work too much so I'm always behind the ball. Likely this summer they will get a new coop and run. First time hearing about pdz. I'll probably just do plywood poop boards. I'll shy away from reoccurring expenses if possible.

 

[Faraday40]

Right now they roost in what used to be neighbor's daughter's play house. I threw some plywood and coat hanger pole together. The old hen has coop all to herself and the pullets only go in to lay.
I work too much so I'm always behind the ball. Likely this summer they will get a new coop and run. First time hearing about pdz. I'll probably just do plywood poop boards. I'll shy away from reoccurring expenses if possible.

Poop boards under the roosts help a lot with easy clean up. If you don't want to sift sand or Sweet PDZ, you could cut a feed bag flat and place it under the roost. Roll the tarp up in the morning and scrape poop into your compost. Now is a great this time of year when frozen poopsicles just pop right off. In summer we hose off the tarps as needed. You likely have feed bags around and over the years, I've found many uses for them. I even fill the feed bags with manure and give it away. (Nice sturdy bags that can hold a decent amount. Don't have to worry about neighbors returning your buckets.)

 

[BReeder!]

Right now they roost in what used to be neighbor's daughter's play house. I threw some plywood and coat hanger pole together. The old hen has coop all to herself and the pullets only go in to lay.
I work too much so I'm always behind the ball. Likely this summer they will get a new coop and run. First time hearing about pdz. I'll probably just do plywood poop boards. I'll shy away from reoccurring expenses if possible.

I don't pay for PDZ and haven't had luck finding the horse sized bulk bag that's a better deal. I use sand. A bag of "tube sand" costs just a few dollars and fills my 4'x4' poop board and lasts at least 6 months with regular litter scooping with my 8 chickens and 2 turkeys. I am just changing the sand for the 1st time and we'll continue to as part of every Spring and Fall clean out. As a bonus, the sands is coarse so it helps to loosen my garden soil after it gets composted.

 

[homeschoolin momma]

Is your "Puppy" the boy from me?

He is the boy from you. Im beginning to wonder if he looks better than Taji. Hes got the same sweetness.

definitely would like some of Taj's genes. Breeding him to a nice female should make incredible offspring.

You know, he can always come visit Crystal for a few weeks for a conjugal visit. Hes not as loud as Jake! He never crows!

 

[Faraday40]

He is the boy from you. Im beginning to wonder if he looks better than Taji. Hes got the same sweetness.


You know, he can always come visit Crystal for a few weeks for a conjugal visit. Hes not as loud as Jake! He never crows!

Awesome may end up looking better than Mr Wonderful, so he's going to stick around for a while. I remember Mr Wonderful took a very, very long time before he fathered any chicks. I saw him mating and the laced girls were laying, but I think he was 14-16 months before any of his hens gave viable eggs. Since they get along, I think I'm going to try keeping a father-son team for a while. Awesome doesn't crow yet, and seems to be in no rush. Mr Wonderful doesn't crow often, but it's not a pleasant sound.

Mr Potential has a quiet, slightly deeper crow but likes to sound off. He got his 1st crow collar this morning. (He likes to respond to Teddy who sleeps in the house.) I've seen him mating a lot. He'll do fine. I think I'm going to separate him with 4 orp hens and let the laced boys have all the rest. Right now, the lav is trying with all the hens. Mr Wonderful is more discrete..... or not trying much.

 

[Molpet]

Had a successful turkey mating today.... grandma showed the kids how it's done
This is the earliest I have "seen" them mate. Of course the first year I never did see them, just had fertile eggs.
Maybe this is a sign of a early spring

 

[BReeder!]

Had a successful turkey mating today.... grandma showed the kids how it's done
This is the earliest I have "seen" them mate. Of course the first year I never did see them, just had fertile eggs.
Maybe this is a sign of a early spring

 

[homeschoolin momma]

Maybe this is a sign of a early spring

Yeah, with 3 inches of snow coming at us tomorrow! But really maybe we'll actually HAVE a spring this year. No 20s one day and 80s the next. That was no fun!

But maybe it is in the air......this little girl decided she wanted to go broody. So I gave her 3 of Pippins eggs.

So now i have extras (just in case) in here.

So 18 days from now, I'll have a bunch of itty bitties.

Other news:
We have a neighbor that is a jerk. Seriously. His house is back in the woods off to the side of ours. Cant really see the house in spring, but you can in winter. Hes been getting upset that my spitzies have been walking the "his" woods. I have about 10 feet into said woods. The spitzies usually hang out just on the inside of it, usually on my property, but occasionally wandering into a few feet of his. While i wasnt working, id keep an eye out and scoot them back when i felt they had gotten into his side. Even now when i look out, I never see them far away. But today he texted my husband and threatened legal action if our "uncontrollable animals" wandered into his yard. So now we have to move our spitz coop to the back pasture until we can get a fence up. I dont know that it will stop them though. They can easily fly over if they feel like it, even with clipped wings.
My other neighbor, who just lost his wife last year is sad about this too. Jake and Jack always lead the girls to his house in the morning for treats. He likes to watch them while drinking coffee. His kitties like to sit and watch with him.
My dad has suggested running the fence down the side of the property as close to the woods as possible, rounding the corner, going down the back line of my good neighbors yard and attaching it to his fence. It would keep them out of "his" woods, let them visit my neighbor, and be "fun"to watch them still get close to his house. Gotta love my dad. I was thinking it, but he said it! My good neighbor just said "works for me."

 

[BReeder!]

Yeah, with 3 inches of snow coming at us tomorrow! But really maybe we'll actually HAVE a spring this year. No 20s one day and 80s the next. That was no fun!

But maybe it is in the air......this little girl decided she wanted to go broody. So I gave her 3 of Pippins eggs.
View attachment 2021726

So now i have extras (just in case) in here.
View attachment 2021731

So 18 days from now, I'll have a bunch of itty bitties.

Other news:
We have a neighbor that is a jerk. Seriously. His house is back in the woods off to the side of ours. Cant really see the house in spring, but you can in winter. Hes been getting upset that my spitzies have been walking the "his" woods. I have about 10 feet into said woods. The spitzies usually hang out just on the inside of it, usually on my property, but occasionally wandering into a few feet of his. While i wasnt working, id keep an eye out and scoot them back when i felt they had gotten into his side. Even now when i look out, I never see them far away. But today he texted my husband and threatened legal action if our "uncontrollable animals" wandered into his yard. So now we have to move our spitz coop to the back pasture until we can get a fence up. I dont know that it will stop them though. They can easily fly over if they feel like it, even with clipped wings.
My other neighbor, who just lost his wife last year is sad about this too. Jake and Jack always lead the girls to his house in the morning for treats. He likes to watch them while drinking coffee. His kitties like to sit and watch with him.
My dad has suggested running the fence down the side of the property as close to the woods as possible, rounding the corner, going down the back line of my good neighbors yard and attaching it to his fence. It would keep them out of "his" woods, let them visit my neighbor, and be "fun"to watch them still get close to his house. Gotta love my dad. I was thinking it, but he said it! My good neighbor just said "works for me."

I don't understand such people... What harm are a few chickens going to do in the woods?

 

[cavemanrich]

haven't had luck finding the horse sized bulk bag

Blain's Farm and Fleet, is where I buy mine. I just recently (5 years) found out about PDZ. I use it as a base layer under my hay that is on coop floor. Same in loft area. It absorbs well. Keeps things from smelling unpleasant. In my new coop, that will have poop drawers, (under roosts) PDZ will be my choice.
I may experiment with a mix of sand and PDZ.