Minnesota!

[jbenson]

Had my first "tire kicker" for chick sales tonight. He'd clearly either not read my ad or he'd read and responded to so many ads he had no idea what ad he was having a conversation about. And he may have been chicken illiterate as well (asked if I knew which ones were layers and I said it was near impossible at this age to know which were hens and he then asked if any that were hens, would they be layers when they grew up

) Never had someone leave without buying chicks before. DH got all conspiracy theory for a second about it, wondering who the guy might be spying on us for (I still think the guy is mis-informed - he said he thought I had some sort of "Austrailian chicks" or something like that - anyone know of any Australian breeds?)

 

[Bogtown Chick]

Black Australorps? Developed in Australia. I just love my hen

Tire kicker... LOL

Foodie maybe?

I'm a self proclaimed foodie myself...but I did a little research and had the coop built before I was chicken shoppin'. LOL

It's kind of cute...

 

[joyfulkeeper]

Did everyone survive the storms yesterday?
We had really bad stuff skirt all around us, but thankfully, it missed our place.

I was worried that we might lose power so I had a plan for the incubator all ready to go. If that didn't work I have 2 more broody hens waiting for eggs.

 

[Triplell]

We did get a lot of rain and some bad thunderstorms. Nothing really serious so no damage. I too put all my incubator eggs under broody's. My RIR banana hen managed to hatch two chicks wed night during the storms.

 

[joyfulkeeper]

We just found one of the broody's eggs smashed under her. I'm so surprised because she has been so careful and attentive. I wonder if she was freaked out by the storms yesterday. She only came off the eggs for a couple minutes today. Hopefully all the rest will hatch for her. She has been on the eggs for 14 days now. I'm starting to get anxious and excited.

 

[jbenson]

Moved my Easter HAL babies into a larger brooder in our shed (which is also part chicken coop) today. They were getting way too big for the small brooders in the basement and I was having a hard time getting them a cool spot, since my basement brooders are set up to go down to about 85 and that's about it. They must have liked it cause they quickly settled down for the night on the warm side in a cozy chicken pile. Now I've got just 3 babies (and a few more hatching now) in the basement brooders. I've really liked using plastic totes for my brooders. They are so easy to get spotlessly clean. For my larger chicks, I just put chicken wire over the top to keep them from exploring the shed unsupervised.

 

[joyfulkeeper]

Moved my Easter HAL babies into a larger brooder in our shed (which is also part chicken coop) today. They were getting way too big for the small brooders in the basement and I was having a hard time getting them a cool spot, since my basement brooders are set up to go down to about 85 and that's about it. They must have liked it cause they quickly settled down for the night on the warm side in a cozy chicken pile. Now I've got just 3 babies (and a few more hatching now) in the basement brooders. I've really liked using plastic totes for my brooders. They are so easy to get spotlessly clean. For my larger chicks, I just put chicken wire over the top to keep them from exploring the shed unsupervised.

Nice, I'm glad they settled in quickly. What are you using for bedding in the brooders?

 

[jbenson]

Nice, I'm glad they settled in quickly. What are you using for bedding in the brooders?

I have been using wood shavings, generally. I buy a large compressed bag of horse bedding shavings (aspen) and use those in both brooders and coop. They're pretty easy to change out and absorb moisture well without getting soggy.

 

[joyfulkeeper]

I have been using wood shavings, generally. I buy a large compressed bag of horse bedding shavings (aspen) and use those in both brooders and coop.  They're pretty easy to change out and absorb moisture well without getting soggy.

Is that better and more cost effective than pine shavings?

We used a ton of shavings over the winter and it was a frozen slimy mess. I'm wondering if there is a better way to go.

Anyone used a Sweet PDZ/sand mix on the floor of the coop?

 

[jbenson]

Is that better and more cost effective than pine shavings?

We used a ton of shavings over the winter and it was a frozen slimy mess. I'm wondering if there is a better way to go.

Anyone used a Sweet PDZ/sand mix on the floor of the coop?

I like the aspen horse bedding better than pine because I can use it for my bunnies too (bunnies are really sensitive to anything with smell). With the chickens I find I start with a layer of shavings after a full muck out, then add more after a week ( if they kick a lot of them out of the nest boxes faster than that, I refill the nests) and after 2 weeks I gauge how it's doing by my nose. If it starts to smell, I muck it out and start over. I generally muck the entire thing out every 2-3 weeks (more in the summer and winter due to heat and cooped-up-ness respectively). In the spring and fall, more like 3-4 weeks cause they are running outside a lot. I have a smaller pen built into the coop that I use for breeding and then later in the season for grow-out. That must be spot scooped every week at the least and fully mucked every 2 weeks. The only complaints I have about the horse bedding is that unless I hang or elevate my waterers, they kick a lot in and clog them. So right now, mine are elevated on bricks to keep them clean. So far, so good. I tried sand in the coop this winter and it froze into a solid rock and was worthless. I scooped it out and went back to horse bedding. I tried sand in my breeding pen this spring and I will be scooping it out soon. I just hate it. It's supposed to allow you to sift out the droppings like kitty litter in a sense. Not so in my experience. Maybe it's because I have a concrete floor, but it stays damp and gets nasty. I find it holds ammonia smells and the droppings get stuck in it. I tried scooping them out every day, it didn't really help. I'm going back to what I know how to manage.