Master question thread

[ShrekDawg]

Now the stupid walls keep coming undone. My mom woke up early this morning near like 7 or something and told me the wall was down and a chick was loose but she put it back. Then just now a wall down again and she claimed to hurry up "they're running all over" but they were all in the brooder.. But I put the wall back. Now, granted, I used the same pieces of tape instead of new (actually, I think I did put new on, can't remember) but I would think duct tape would stick though. But a brief update since I started typing, my dad called and he said it's best to have it stick to itself (true, it does stick really well to itself) and that cardboard has some coating on it that prevents it from sticking well. Or like clay or something. I don't know what he's talking about. And that the pillow case is bad too. But that it should stick to the pool. Also true I think. But I would have thought duct tape would stick. Sooo annoying and dangerous. Maybe will try the outdoor one or buy extra strength. Thankfully though they're hopefully moving out soon. Also, I put paper bedding in the pool yesterday ad it smells so bad like as bad or worse as the other stuff did after not changing it for a while so I have no clue what's wrong. Maybe it's the pillow case, that's gross, but it smelled fine last night. Will have to switch back to shavings. That can't be healthy. Opening a window though. They claim it's more absorbent and.odor controlling but clearly not

 

[ShrekDawg]

I think the stuff accidentally has deodorizer in it though (thought i got the one that didn't but they didn't have bigger sizes of the stuff I KNEW didn't) so maybe it's reacting to the ammonia. Need to go back to shavings but we're out. Put some mixed with this in the new brooder though so will move them out ASAP and ride the bus down tomorrow ( they don't run on Sundays) and get a big bag of shavings or two

 

[mcbrown7513]

The joys of raising chickens. I use a mixture of hay and sand for brood bedding. The hay makes cleaning the solid waste easy. The sand captures the liquids pretty well. You may want to try that. And it's cheap. At least here it is.

 

[ShrekDawg]

The joys of raising chickens. I use a mixture of hay and sand for brood bedding. The hay makes cleaning the solid waste easy. The sand captures the liquids pretty well. You may want to try that. And it's cheap. At least here it is.

That sounds like a really good idea! I thought about sand but then I've heard mixed things about it plus I wasn't sure how easy it was to get. Definitely cheap though. I remember I looked it up once at the local rock place we got some gravel from once and it was surprisingly cheap but I figured we didn't need that much. Hay is definitely cheap too, especially at our local store. I will try that. Although someone suggested putting like an inch of shavings down then adding more as needed and fully changing it when it gets to like 3"-4" so every few days or week theoretically and I did like that idea too and seems easy enough but it does seem like a lot of shavings to go through. Plus sand seems like it would be really easy to find the droppings. But my issue actually right now appears to be the pillow case. Has stains on it (some seem to be real runny/diarrhea but no pasty butt and all act perfectly healthy? And others have normal dry. But also seem to have big poops. Wondering if all this is a result of being too warm? Or from wet shavings? I would check it and currently is dry but sometimes I would change water, food, everything else, and forget to check shavings as it was under bricks so a few times it got real wet for a day or two until I started checking regularly but again it's dry now and I would always remove when i found it. Wondering if they're just too warm) and gets gross. And even without the stains they like to sleep on top sometimes or hang out during the day and a huge pile of dry poo pieces forms (I have the pillow case then a smaller towel in back as pillow case doesn't cover the rear opening so it collects) and they do seem to peck it, I guess cause it looks like food, but don't touch the actual wet or big poo. I wonder if them eating it is causing issues? I don't know, I'm just so concerned I'm doing everything wrong but again all act fine, ridiculously lively even. Running and flying all over

 

[mcbrown7513]

I have one rooster that consistently has runny poop. I tried changing his diet, but no success. As long as they are looking and acting healthy, just keep their area as clean as possible and put in a makeshift roost bar. I don't normally deal with chicks. Keep reading and asking questions. A couple of threads on here have people that raise chicks.

 

[ShrekDawg]

I have one rooster that consistently has runny poop. I tried changing his diet, but no success. As long as they are looking and acting healthy, just keep their area as clean as possible and put in a makeshift roost bar. I don't normally deal with chicks. Keep reading and asking questions. A couple of threads on here have people that raise chicks.

Wow so maybe some birds just get it then? I feel like it might be the warmth maybe though because I had one chick get pasty butt and die. Hopefully being in the garage soon will help. I will definitely keep reading and asking though and maybe try asking elsewhere too but yeah, I thought it was weird it was runny yet all healthy acting. A roost thing seems like a good idea though but I may wait a bit. Cora while they liked to roost on top of MHP but when I added the new bedding yesterday I added two bricks to the front because the bedding is shallower so couldn't dig the back in as far plus they are growing so fast and that seemed to do the trick because now they're all going under at night so maybe was too low before. I think I will add a small roost soon though since I want them to get used to it and they do like it. But yeah, sorry, didn't realize you didn't have chicks/don't have many. These are my first but I've wanted them a while hah they're growing like weeds, especially the easter eggers. I can't wait until they start laying but I know that could be a while. I really need to finish the brooder in the garage though, didn't do anything on it today. And also hopefully getting started on the coop soon too. But first I should probably work on the brooder. I put the pool out there and green welded wire around that and started attaching hardware cloth to that so only have a bit left but I might just restart and get wood to attach the hardware cloth too instead, like making an actual frame, and making it bigger because I don't think the pool is big enough. It's bigger than the current pool but not by that much and even if it was, they'll out grow it anyway and I'm finding it to be a huge pain to tie them together, so I don't know. I actually might just clean the garage first. Should have done that today but oh well. There's a spot cleared but it's only big enough for the pool and maybe a little bit bigger so I'm thinking I'd really like to just clear more room and give them more room since they're flying around ha my mom says that we should just finish what we started and that they'll outgrow the pool so we shouldn't out wood in the garage but that makes no sense to me. I guess she's thinking they'll outgrow it shortly and then just go outside but that's not how that works and even if it was we don't even have the coop built so who knows what she's thinking haha plus my point is sort of exactly that: they'll outgrow the pool so what's the point of putting so much effort into something they'll outgrow rather than just make it bigger? I waa actually also thinking though that maybe we could put them out next to the garage. We weren't going to put the coop there since it's so close to the neighbors but could perhaps put a brooder there or something. The only thing with that though is even though they're growing so fast and actually pretty big now, they're still so itty bitty and I don't know, I'm a paranoid chickens parent and even if we secure it really well and/or put HC on the ground, I worry something will get in and get them and I worry putting them fully outside so young lol although.... It would be nice to have something built since I'm thinking of possibly building a cat enclosure over there anyway so if I build it or start something, I could reuse it, which would be nice. But that's more effort and time. I don't know hah sorry though, now I'm just rambling

 

[mcbrown7513]

There are many different ways of building modular system runs (tractors). One that I used was 3/4 inch PVC piping with plastic HC to cover it tunnel style. Don't glue the connectors, that way you can adjust the size of your run. I only hatched chicks when I was around my late teen years. Now 45. Going to start hatching in the spring. Helped a friend a while back brood his chicks.

 

[ShrekDawg]

There are many different ways of building modular system runs (tractors). One that I used was 3/4 inch PVC piping with plastic HC to cover it tunnel style. Don't glue the connectors, that way you can adjust the size of your run. I only hatched chicks when I was around my late teen years. Now 45. Going to start hatching in the spring. Helped a friend a while back brood his chicks.

Oh wow, that seems really simple! May have to try that instead. forgive the stupid question but how do you connect the PVC and the HC? But oh wow, that's a long time!! Hah so what do you do then? Just buy adults?

 

[mcbrown7513]

Yes, I bought my current flock all at about 4 months old. I use plastic zip ties to attach the PVC to the hc. Started with 4 hens and now have 2 roosters and14 hens. Lol chicken math.
You can buy plastic livestock fencing to use instead of metal hc. I am going to make some tunnel runs for the lavender Orpington I plan to breed.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Yes, I bought my current flock all at about 4 months old. I use plastic zip ties to attach the PVC to the hc. Started with 4 hens and now have 2 roosters and14 hens. Lol chicken math.
You can buy plastic livestock fencing to use instead of metal hc. I am going to make some tunnel runs for the lavender Orpington I plan to breed.

Oh wow so you really haven't had many little ones then. Out of curiosity, where did you get them? Just wondering because the only places I really know of for adults are started birds straight from the hatchery, Craigslist, or like a fair/swap/auction. And CL can be shady sometimes. But oh wow, that sounds easier. But oh boy! That's some chicken math! Lol that sounds much better. But stupid question but where do you get plastic fencing like that? I've heard of the metal panels but not those