is there a Chicken SHRINK in the house?

[JennsPeeps]

Oh and getting parakeet grit from the grocery or pet store is perfect for them. You'll be shocked how excited they'll get over... dirt.

 

[WildBurroShirts.com]

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What a GREAT idea, mixing them up now and then! Maybe they'll be too confused by the revolving chicken thing that they won't fight as much? Thanks!

They do flick it on the floor but seem to eat most of it eventually...someone else said no paper towels and I'm thrilled to stop that....although it seems like they might be easier then dumping all the shavings once a day?

Heh heh ha: monster hand. Yep. That's me. I guess I have to let them fight then but the ones that have the black line by their eye seemed like they were getting pecked at a LOT and I got so worried...I'd have to start buying the blind ones little seeing eye chihuahua dogs and carving them little tiny canes...

Thank you~!

 

[WildBurroShirts.com]

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This arrangement sounds fine.

I'd ditch the paper towels now. They're old enough that spraddle leg isn't as much a threat (that's what the paper towels are for: traction).

Congrats on joining the crowd and welcome to BYC.

Thank you! This board is amazing. I read somewhere that someone had to put little band-aid 'splints' on their chicks and I thought...heck, I can keep buying paper towels as long as it takes. But if they're ready...they're ready.

 

[ibpboo]

Chickies do poo a lot!! And they also like to peck at everything. Once they get bigger, and are in a larger environment, with a lot of other stuff to peck, they will probably peck at one another a lot less. Just make sure they have plenty of space so they can run from one another. Keep on picking them up. That's so cool one jumps on your hand.

Pecking is just something chickens do. And when they are babies they squawk a lot, like they think they are dying when they get pecked.
I don't know what your feed bags are like, but I used that for cage liner, and then I could hose it off. Well, that's the bigger 50# sacks and they are sort of a plasticky stuff, like fake burlap or something.
Sounds like you are doing a great job so far! So glad we all enabled you!!
Post pics, thanks for your entertaining post!!

 

[WildBurroShirts.com]

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OK, thank you. I have only given them a few treats so far: the yogurt, and various whole grain breads, which they treat more like toys or roosting pads. Oh, and I ground up some multigrain cereal very fine and gave them that one day.

I notice the organic feed has bigger pieces and actually a few pellets mixed in so I thought they needed grit.

 

[WildBurroShirts.com]

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I would do that. Except I got a little carried away and ordered two starter packages and then a ten pound bag of grit from Meyer.

So I've got about 14 pounds of 'starter' grit sitting here at my feet. Oops.

I've got 15.3 acres of 'dirt'...as soon as the snow leaves and they get some feathers I plan on hiking their little butts over it.

I'm a little worried as the previous owners left a lot of glass and misc parts in the soil but I keep trying to pick all that up. Their run will be pristine and huge...and has a real live roosting tree in it.

I've got a guy coming next week to do the framework for me and I'm going to do the rest, hopefully.

 

[WildBurroShirts.com]

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I love your avatar with the horse just standing there with the bird on it! Hope my burros will do that, although I doubt the gelding will...he's pretty ornery.

The big feedbag is paper but I'm thinking I'll use that and newspaper UNDER the chips? And then dump it once every coupla days?

The nice thing about the paper towels is the smell hasn't been too bad so far since I'm changing them so often. Sometimes a noon change helps too.

I might do it for a few more days since I've got about twenty rolls left. At least for the transition to the rabbit cages for a bit so they don't freak out.

I just love their little faces! The one cranes her neck and just looks at me like "look, here comes the monster hand food woman!".

Yep...'enabled', big time! I don't know about the post being entertaining but the babies sure are! My dogs hate them since I'm in there so much...I've spent some time talking to them about chickens not being squeaky toys but don't think it's sinking in...

 

[Wildsky]

Shavings don't get as nasty as fast as papertowels.

I didn't change my shvings daily - but I would kinda scoop out parts of it where the pooped more than in other places.

Shavings can be difficult to keep dry around the waterer. You might need to start putting a piece of wood or something under the waterer to raise it up a little bit at a time. Keep it around chicken chest height.

 

[WildBurroShirts.com]

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They do have places in the stock tank that they especially...enjoy. Plus I made them an itty bitty roost (two inches off the floor) and they all pile onto that and poop their little hearts out.

I plan on raising the waterer.

And someone on here had a wonderful idea to keep that one off the top of the waterer: an inverted funnel. I'm buying one tomorrow!

 

[Wildsky]

WildBurroShirts.com :

They do have places in the stock tank that they especially...enjoy. Plus I made them an itty bitty roost (two inches off the floor) and they all pile onto that and poop their little hearts out.

Fantastic, then you know the area to clean daily, I use a little dust pan, scoop up the poopy area's, add some new shavings and you're good to go!​