INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[racinchickins]

I can not wait until I can move the chickens back outside! 2am and I think every rooster in the garage is crowing! And my bedroom is next to the garage! Second night in a row they are doing this!

Agreed. 4 Roos in the basement serenading the sunrise that won't happen for another two hours is pretty annoying. So glad it's going to warm up.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Quote: wood shavings and wood trimmings ~ mainly pine but a touch of cherry, much more trimmings than shavings. There is a wheel barrel or two of dirt tossed in for good measure too. The bedding is about 6-8 inches deep right now. I was hoping to add more to it Sat. or Sun. But DH and I need to get a net fixed first and that will take some time simply because DH is not looking forward to it. He is not against fixing it, he just does not enjoy netting. And of course our tree trimming pile needs some time to dry out before being added to the coop since it is currently covered in snow.

 

[Leahs Mom]

I have been using the shavings inside and the wood chips in the outside run. So...what I'm going to say works for wood shavings but may not work for the mix.

I found a couple of things. When I just left it alone like I do in spring/summer/fall, there is way too much poo in there since they spend most of their time inside. The poo freezes solid and if there is any moisture at all in the dirt (which there is) the whole mess began to freeze.

So...I started doing 2 things.
-As soon as the temps start to go down to about 25 I try to rake it all the way down to the floor to be sure things stay loose enough that the birds can scratch and turn it. Basically I'm just turning it to be sure it's loose. I do that in the morning.

Due to the restricted quarters, I bought a child-size garden rake with good construction from Menards. Use it all the time and it's short handle makes it easy to work with in a coop. Rake pole is about 3 ft. long or so. http://www.menards.com/main/outdoor...ing-tools/kids-bow-rake/p-1495038-c-13241.htm After the temps go lower, it will stay separated without having to rake every day, but when it's warmer in there I have to keep it broken up.

-First thing in the morning (before doing the above) I started taking a wide shovel in and using it like a dust pan. Using the rake, I lightly rake the droppings from the prior night that are under the roost into the shovel. I do leave some, but I try to skim off the predominance of them and toss them out. Then I do a quick deep raking as above to be sure things are loose. The birds will do the rest.

And I don't do this every day. But I do it enough to keep it from becoming a solid mass.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

I have been using the shavings inside and the wood chips in the outside run. So...what I'm going to say works for wood shavings but may not work for the mix.

I found a couple of things. When I just left it alone like I do in spring/summer/fall, there is way too much poo in there since they spend most of their time inside. The poo freezes solid and if there is any moisture at all in the dirt (which there is) the whole mess began to freeze.

So...I started doing 2 things.
-As soon as the temps start to go down to about 25 I try to rake it all the way down to the floor to be sure things stay loose enough that the birds can scratch and turn it. Basically I'm just turning it to be sure it's loose. I do that in the morning.

Due to the restricted quarters, I bought a child-size garden rake with good construction from Menards. Use it all the time and it's short handle makes it easy to work with in a coop. Rake pole is about 3 ft. long or so. http://www.menards.com/main/outdoor...ing-tools/kids-bow-rake/p-1495038-c-13241.htm After the temps go lower, it will stay separated without having to rake every day, but when it's warmer in there I have to keep it broken up.

-First thing in the morning (before doing the above) I started taking a wide shovel in and using it like a dust pan. Using the rake, I lightly rake the droppings from the prior night that are under the roost into the shovel. I do leave some, but I try to skim off the predominance of them and toss them out. Then I do a quick deep raking as above to be sure things are loose. The birds will do the rest.

And I don't do this every day. But I do it enough to keep it from becoming a solid mass.

We had been using a garden hoe and shovel. I would use the hoe as it could not lift nearly as much as the garden shovel DH used. Most times I would use the hoe during the day around the noon - 3 pm check for eggs. I never seem to get out there exactly the same time. Then Dh would use the shovel around 6-7 pm. It was working ok, not great but ok until this last freeze. I have water in the coop, maybe I need to rethink that but temps are just too low for my youngest to be outside. I'm hoping they all get out this weekend and give DH a chance to stir the litter if it thaws. I would offer to help but it is beyond the point I want to be in the coop once the thaw starts.

 

[Leahs Mom]

I have 2 waterers in the hen shed too. Are yours getting spilled into the litter? So far I'm having the best luck with the ones in the small dog bowls and now spillage.

 

[pginsber]

Due to the restricted quarters, I bought a child-size garden rake with good construction from Menards.

I use a kids rake, too--that's pretty funny. I didn't even know they were still sold anywhere.

We have about 4-6" of large pine shavings. In the cold, the girls stay in the coop more and fluff the pine shavings up themselves. I don't know why they do this, but instead of scratching a little bit here and a little bit there, they scratch down to the floor in a certain place before moving on to the next. Sometimes there are mountains of chips around the edges and naked cement in the middle.

We have a 'litterbox' under the droppings board. The litterbox is about 3" deep filled with PDZ. We use a cat litter scooper and scoop the droppings off the top. The temperature in the coop is below freezing, so when we scoop, we're actually lifting small sheets of frozen business. It uses up more PDZ, but allows me to get much more of their business than when it's not frozen.

With our setup, we capture the majority of their droppings. We're also able to keep the humidity at about 40-50%, and no ammonia smell. There is the still lovely poo fragrance though--WOW!

 

[pginsber]

So if this pic comes thru' he's an idea for those frost bit combs!!

Okay crafty BYCers--who's making these? Put me down for several!

 

[SallyinIndiana]

I have 2 waterers in the hen shed too. Are yours getting spilled into the litter? So far I'm having the best luck with the ones in the small dog bowls and now spillage.

Spilled might not be the right word. It is the ducks. They get their heads wet and shake like a dog. They need water about 2 inches deep and an opening they can get their heads in. But the duck eggs are great. At first the water issue was just by the waterer, but now that you mention spillage, maybe they are spreading out their shaking. I'll see if I can spend some time in the coop this afternoon before the thaw starts to see if the ducks are the main problem. If so they might be getting moved this weekend once the net is fixed. But it would mean another pen to feed and water. Maybe the rest of our winter will be closer to the averages.

And as for the stairs leading out of my coop, the snow has drifted onto the lowest one till the snow is higher than the top covering 24 inches above the step. but at least i have the coop chicken door open letting in air. But no one is getting into the run until I find a way to move 2 feet of compact drifted snow from inside a stair tunnel.

 

[bradselig]

Agreed. 4 Roos in the basement serenading the sunrise that won't happen for another two hours is pretty annoying. So glad it's going to warm up.

Haha I have my moderns in the basement, so I have the three Roos down there crowing and then all the Roos in the garage!

I'm glad they are happy! I'm not worried about predators in the garage. I would have had to leave a door open for anything to get in it, but I never thought about that being a reason for the noise! Thanks!

 

[HappyHappyHappy]

Yep , Happy Happy Happy

Hey Brad, during your travel next weekend How close will you be to Lafayette If the weather is not too bad I may want to get some quail eggs.. If you will be on I65 near the SR 28 or SR38 exit I would love to get about 6 dozen. If not I will just wait and have you ship them when it is warmer outside. Also do you know anyone on this thread that has a different bloodline so I could get a second batch for males?