"Louisiana "La-yers" Peeps"

[noble]

hi,your not far from me.I'm in Louisiana too.

cool what do u raise.

 

[noble]

hello,your not far.what.kind of ducks

I have a barn yard special lol 23 total of my own and a few that come in from neighbors , they like the pond and free food. I have 4 peking 12 green head malaerd , some roein, and 4 brown ducks that I don't know what they are. We have them free range. I have a good size pond with an island in the middle . They love it. I will send pictures when I get better service it's poring down rain here now.

 

[Cody A]

Hey guys and gals, I'm back. As some of you know that I've taken time off since the death of my daughter Aimee to heal and deal. Ready for chickens now. Pam, I've been thinking of you. Hope you're doing great. We must talk. Trying to remember who of our buddies cut up the frozen turkey with the chain saw. Remember?

Hey Ms. Linda!

Good to see you back. Hope all is well and you have been doing good.

Glad to hear you may be getting back into keeping chooks. I'm interested to hear what breed/s you may be looking at.

Cody

 

[Cody A]

at least then you could say that you cooked your mother's goose. lol.

This reminds me of the old Arlo Guthrie song. "Me and My Goose".

 

[mire0042]

What type of brooder set up does everyone use? I am planning on building a brooder box, just looking for different ideas to maybe incorporate in the design. I have noticed some use wire bottoms with removable poop tray. And some say to not use wire bottoms. What do you recommend and why?

 

[Cody A]

Mire, I have part of the coop sectioned off that I use as the brooder. It's about 8x10' protected with hardware cloth on the interior walls.



If I build a brooder box in the future it will have a hinged top covered with hardware cloth along with the sides with the bottom being plywood. I would also build it so I could insert plywood sides to cut the draft if brooding chicks in colder months. Take the ply out in warmer weather.
I like the idea of chicks running around on shavings rather than wire. Plus, if it's cold the ply would keep them warmer rather than wire. For clean out it would have a hinged trap door in the plywood bottom.
Depending on the size of the brooder I would consider a removable partition for different aged chicks.


This thread has tons of ideas.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/6233/brooder-thread-post-pics-of-your-brooders

 

[mire0042]

Mire, I have part of the coop sectioned off that I use as the brooder. It's about 8x10' protected with hardware cloth on the interior walls. If I build a brooder box in the future it will have a hinged top covered with hardware cloth along with the sides with the bottom being plywood. I would also build it so I could insert plywood sides to cut the draft if brooding chicks in colder months. Take the ply out in warmer weather. I like the idea of chicks running around on shavings rather than wire. Plus, if it's cold the ply would keep them warmer rather than wire. For clean out it would have a hinged trap door in the plywood bottom. Depending on the size of the brooder I would consider a removable partition for different aged chicks. This thread has tons of ideas. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/6233/brooder-thread-post-pics-of-your-brooders

Ty Cody! I love the idea for a brooder box you have! If my was bigger than I would try putting them in the coop. I like your small room you have for your baby chicks. Do they sit on the roost that young?

 

[Cody A]

The pine poles attached to the walls I threw in for fun when I got my first batch of chicks. It's more or less a jungle jim for them to play on and be able to look out the windows. They love to climb and jump around on them.
The short perch/roost I built for fun and also to get them acquainted with using a roost. I can't remember at what age but when I set the little roost under the heat lamp they did use it to sleep on.
Some liked the roost and others liked being on top or under the chick warmer. They're probably between 3-4 weeks in these photos. This was my first batch of chicks. Hatchery stock Barred Rocks.


From the start I also give them a little dust box to dust and dig in the dirt. It's not such a sterile environment as the pine shavings. I'll bring in fresh dirt for them. It may have grubs/worms/roots and other good stuff for their immunity systems. Also the dirt is good for gizzard development along with chick grit. The dirt probably helps to prevent pasting up also. I usually give chicks dried meal worms as treats so I drop them in the dust box and the can dig around for them. They really "dig" the dust box. It's funny to see them all piled up in the box.

 

[mire0042]

The pine poles attached to the walls I threw in for fun when I got my first batch of chicks. It's more or less a jungle jim for them to play on and be able to look out the windows. They love to climb and jump around on them. The short perch/roost I built for fun and also to get them acquainted with using a roost. I can't remember at what age but when I set the little roost under the heat lamp they did use it to sleep on. Some liked the roost and others liked being on top or under the chick warmer. They're probably between 3-4 weeks in these photos. This was my first batch of chicks. Hatchery stock Barred Rocks. From the start I also give them a little dust box to dust and dig in the dirt. It's not such a sterile environment as the pine shavings. I'll bring in fresh dirt for them. It may have grubs/worms/roots and other good stuff for their immunity systems. Also the dirt is good for gizzard development along with chick grit. The dirt probably helps to prevent pasting up also. I usually give chicks dried meal worms as treats so I drop them in the dust box and the can dig around for them. They really "dig" the dust box. It's funny to see them all piled up in the box.

I bet all your chicks are happy happy You thought of everything for them!

 

[mire0042]