WyncoopFlockMom
Chirping
Hi there! My family and I recently moved from Idaho to Arkansas. You can understand how excited I was to move in because my beau full home came with chickens!! I was so excited until I started unraveling a nightmare.
I did ask some basic questions but wasn’t sure what to ask and was given short and sweet answers. I was just excited and jumped in with both feet!
When we looked at the house in July, there were 2 roosters and 4 hens. When we moved in we had 2 roosters and 2 hens. A week after we moved in one of our hens died.Well the hens death spurred me into action. I checked the coop to see their living conditions and was just appalled at the site of the coop. Cute on the outside and didn’t stink but was so disgusting on the inside.
An acquaintance through a friend gave me some advice on cleaning and the things I needed to buy. I also watched a YouTube video on coop cleaning and headed to the local feed store.
It took me and my daughter 6 hours to completely clean the coop. There was 4-6 inches of poop which had composted into dirt. So I hosed it down and let it sit overnight.
The next day I put down DE and pine shavings (after cleaning up the overnight poop). My acquaintance said he could get me some egg layers. I was stoked. He dropped them off and they started mingling with my current flock. 2 roosters and one hen. 6 new girls.
Then I started doing some research on the internet and binge watching YouTube videos. The next day one of the hens flew out of the open pen we have (it’s 20x30) and I clipped their flying feathers. Oh I haven’t mentioned my dogs! I have 2 boxers, Neeka-10 yrs and Champ- 2 yr old, and a 6 lb Morkie-Zeke. Well because we just moved in we didn’t really pay attention to Champ and thought he was just excited about the chickens and wanted to play with them. Although I didn’t trust him, I didn’t think his prey drive had kicked in.
Back to the hen that flew the coop...we named her Connie. Well Champ ended up killing her and bringing her to my back door. The whole house went into chaos! I am just giving you the whole picture here So please don’t tell me to rehome Champ. We rescued him a year ago and I’m trying to make everything work. I’m here for chicken help. Anyways, back to the 6 new hens...they came from the commercial world and apparently didn’t “roost” and only went into the nesting box to lay eggs. So I had to physically pick them up and gently toss them into the coop at sundown for “bedtime”. I’ve officially had them a week and I’ve gotten 4 eggs a day from 5 egg layers. My hopes are renewed.
Let’s circle around to the 2 roosters and hen. They looked rough. They looked sick. So we got a layer feed-pellets are ok key offered in my area, and scratch. We’ve been in the house for about a month and our original hen-Gloria, has not layed any eggs. She needs to get healthy. I start researching chickens because the alpha, Duke really bully’s the beta, Pimp Limp. Pimp has a deformed foot and limps around. I’m not sure if it’s bumblefoot. I haven’t researched that yet.During this whole time we have been wondering if Pimp is sick. Should we put him out of his misery? Should we re-home him? Should we section off some of the pen because we suspect there are too many roosters for the amount of hens we have? Well yesterday before running errands we notice Pimp is still in the coop so I give him some food and think he just needs extra time because it’s getting colder at night (this week we’ve had some chilly nights...fall is here...winter is coming). We get back and see that Pimp is still in the coop with no access to food or water (it’s outside and not in the coop) and Duke May have been bullying him. We confirm this becauseThe back of Pimps neck is pecked and the poor baby barely has feathers. He looks like he’s molting and his feathers are trying to come back in—so we think. We make the command decision to fixup the shelter coop for him. We refused plywood from the garage for the sides and the tin roof. We made ventilation holes (I hope enough ventilation for him) and even a door to protect him. We also use the left over Fencing to make a section for him. We give him food and water which he devoured immediately.Poor guy was terrified when I had to physically pick him up and put him in his new home. The coop is on a platform so it’s not directly on the Ground but the door has a gap (which I do believe I need to predator proof this coop and close the gap.) He put himself to bed tonight and I just closed the door.
Well I bought a few books so I can educate myself and my suspicions were confirmed. Nesting boxes are for laying eggs not for any of them to sleep in because chickens poop when they sleep and nesting boxes are supposed to be clean for the egg laying. So I do my Sunday coop cleaning and decide to board up the nesting boxes and open them in the morning for the girls to do their thing. I have noticed the girls prefer 2 of the boxes and plan on opening those boxes when I let them out. I also kept the pine shavings in all the nesting boxes for added insulation because I have a sneaky suspicion that the gaps in the nesting boxes are “drafts” that need to be dealt with.i checked out the current roosts and I’m not even sure they have ever been used. Not that I would know. I’m just winging it...literally... I had my husband make a standing roost so we could try to get the chickens on the right track. It’s about 6 inches from the ground. Well Duke was extremely annoyed, I dare say angry, that he couldn’t roost on his nesting box ledge and then go into the nesting box to sleep. I strongly believe that all of the chickens have been sleeping on the floor of the coop or in nesting boxes. There is no way for Pimp to get to a roost because of his foot. I don’t think there is proper ventilation at the top of the roof but we have 3 windows...which I think I need to put Somewhat plastic over to prevent the draft. Especially now that the roost puts them at eye level with the window.
so here is my introduction. Hi, I’m a new chicken mama. I have 2 roosters, Duke-A Buff Orpington and Pimp-a Blue Laced Red Wyandotte. 6 hens, Gloria- a Cinnamon Queen and 5 Rhode Island Reds. No clue what I’m doing but I feel like I’m putting out fire after fire because of the issues at hand.
Please help!!
I did ask some basic questions but wasn’t sure what to ask and was given short and sweet answers. I was just excited and jumped in with both feet!
When we looked at the house in July, there were 2 roosters and 4 hens. When we moved in we had 2 roosters and 2 hens. A week after we moved in one of our hens died.Well the hens death spurred me into action. I checked the coop to see their living conditions and was just appalled at the site of the coop. Cute on the outside and didn’t stink but was so disgusting on the inside.
An acquaintance through a friend gave me some advice on cleaning and the things I needed to buy. I also watched a YouTube video on coop cleaning and headed to the local feed store.
It took me and my daughter 6 hours to completely clean the coop. There was 4-6 inches of poop which had composted into dirt. So I hosed it down and let it sit overnight.
The next day I put down DE and pine shavings (after cleaning up the overnight poop). My acquaintance said he could get me some egg layers. I was stoked. He dropped them off and they started mingling with my current flock. 2 roosters and one hen. 6 new girls.
Then I started doing some research on the internet and binge watching YouTube videos. The next day one of the hens flew out of the open pen we have (it’s 20x30) and I clipped their flying feathers. Oh I haven’t mentioned my dogs! I have 2 boxers, Neeka-10 yrs and Champ- 2 yr old, and a 6 lb Morkie-Zeke. Well because we just moved in we didn’t really pay attention to Champ and thought he was just excited about the chickens and wanted to play with them. Although I didn’t trust him, I didn’t think his prey drive had kicked in.
Back to the hen that flew the coop...we named her Connie. Well Champ ended up killing her and bringing her to my back door. The whole house went into chaos! I am just giving you the whole picture here So please don’t tell me to rehome Champ. We rescued him a year ago and I’m trying to make everything work. I’m here for chicken help. Anyways, back to the 6 new hens...they came from the commercial world and apparently didn’t “roost” and only went into the nesting box to lay eggs. So I had to physically pick them up and gently toss them into the coop at sundown for “bedtime”. I’ve officially had them a week and I’ve gotten 4 eggs a day from 5 egg layers. My hopes are renewed.
Let’s circle around to the 2 roosters and hen. They looked rough. They looked sick. So we got a layer feed-pellets are ok key offered in my area, and scratch. We’ve been in the house for about a month and our original hen-Gloria, has not layed any eggs. She needs to get healthy. I start researching chickens because the alpha, Duke really bully’s the beta, Pimp Limp. Pimp has a deformed foot and limps around. I’m not sure if it’s bumblefoot. I haven’t researched that yet.During this whole time we have been wondering if Pimp is sick. Should we put him out of his misery? Should we re-home him? Should we section off some of the pen because we suspect there are too many roosters for the amount of hens we have? Well yesterday before running errands we notice Pimp is still in the coop so I give him some food and think he just needs extra time because it’s getting colder at night (this week we’ve had some chilly nights...fall is here...winter is coming). We get back and see that Pimp is still in the coop with no access to food or water (it’s outside and not in the coop) and Duke May have been bullying him. We confirm this becauseThe back of Pimps neck is pecked and the poor baby barely has feathers. He looks like he’s molting and his feathers are trying to come back in—so we think. We make the command decision to fixup the shelter coop for him. We refused plywood from the garage for the sides and the tin roof. We made ventilation holes (I hope enough ventilation for him) and even a door to protect him. We also use the left over Fencing to make a section for him. We give him food and water which he devoured immediately.Poor guy was terrified when I had to physically pick him up and put him in his new home. The coop is on a platform so it’s not directly on the Ground but the door has a gap (which I do believe I need to predator proof this coop and close the gap.) He put himself to bed tonight and I just closed the door.
Well I bought a few books so I can educate myself and my suspicions were confirmed. Nesting boxes are for laying eggs not for any of them to sleep in because chickens poop when they sleep and nesting boxes are supposed to be clean for the egg laying. So I do my Sunday coop cleaning and decide to board up the nesting boxes and open them in the morning for the girls to do their thing. I have noticed the girls prefer 2 of the boxes and plan on opening those boxes when I let them out. I also kept the pine shavings in all the nesting boxes for added insulation because I have a sneaky suspicion that the gaps in the nesting boxes are “drafts” that need to be dealt with.i checked out the current roosts and I’m not even sure they have ever been used. Not that I would know. I’m just winging it...literally... I had my husband make a standing roost so we could try to get the chickens on the right track. It’s about 6 inches from the ground. Well Duke was extremely annoyed, I dare say angry, that he couldn’t roost on his nesting box ledge and then go into the nesting box to sleep. I strongly believe that all of the chickens have been sleeping on the floor of the coop or in nesting boxes. There is no way for Pimp to get to a roost because of his foot. I don’t think there is proper ventilation at the top of the roof but we have 3 windows...which I think I need to put Somewhat plastic over to prevent the draft. Especially now that the roost puts them at eye level with the window.
so here is my introduction. Hi, I’m a new chicken mama. I have 2 roosters, Duke-A Buff Orpington and Pimp-a Blue Laced Red Wyandotte. 6 hens, Gloria- a Cinnamon Queen and 5 Rhode Island Reds. No clue what I’m doing but I feel like I’m putting out fire after fire because of the issues at hand.
Please help!!
Glad you joined.
