I was thinking about attending, but at over 3 hrs away, i don't think I am going to make it. Maybe in the spring. I close on my house today, so will be spending the next week+ moving and unpacking.
I HATE it!! All those boxes. And I have to have a duck coop built before I can move my ducks in. And a chicken coop for when I move my chickies out of the brooder. Anybody in the area with good coop building skills?
congratulations on you move,,, hope you have a nice area for your critters. moving is definitely a pain but once done it is usually SOO nice
I have very heavy clay soil and rocky. So with the mud and the amount of bumblefoot I have had this summer I decided to fill it with chips, a thick layer of chips. These are very coarse chips. My DH works for the county and they have a large pile from all the wood, brush they chip, so there was no cost. It has made a huge difference in how clean my birds are. They love them and are scratching around all the time. I think the earwigs also like it and they like the earwigs. I plan on leaving them through the winter and depending on the break down either just add new or clear out and add new in the spring. I wouldn't use sawdust or shavings because they would absorb too much and just get nasty.
Thanks Tap, I knew someone had a pic of the finished run. I guess I should have said shredded bark,,, so as not to get confused with pine shavings. some use leaves, but we don't have trees that we rake leaves from, last year I used leaves I got off the st. from people disposing of them but they tend to blow into the corners get wet and moldy, Not so nice to rake out
FEED WITH BUGS
Any one have trouble with wheat beetles? I have bought Hamilton feed which I like very much, but I had to bring it back it was full of bugs,,,, I know chickens like bugs. but I don't like the fact that they are eating the nourishment from the feed. Then last week I saw a few on a bag of Dumore at
TSC.... wondering if they are a bigger problem this yr.? I bought the Purina and today needed to buy more so I got the Dumor, didn't see any bugs today..... the Hamilton was FULL they oozed out of the bag when it was in the sun,,,,,should be OK when we get a freeze that should kill them