New plan! (LOTS O PICS, adding them as I go)

[AlabamaChickenLady]

You could build a dust bath with the sand and some lice/mite powder mixed in. Just build a wooden box maybe 2ft by 2ft by 6-8 inches deep, (with a solid bottom) put the sand in and then some of the lice/mites powder (mine's outside so I don't know the name of it) in with it. They will find it and they will wriggle in it. Trust me.... mine are wriggling in the dirt all the time.... and loving it!! Drives me nuts that they enjoy rolling in the dirt, but they seem to love it.

 

[WhySayWhat]

After talking it over with my other half, we've decided the price tag on the "baby turtle sandbox" is worth it to save on a little effort. It'll hold three bags of sand, so plenty for my 3 chickens! It's $34.28 after taxes and shipping from Sears.com. I'm going to order it after April 10th (the day I get paid for doing my Mother's bookkeeping).

Today though, we went and got one bag of Play sand (natural) for $3.83 to give them something to dig around in as well as start bathing in something other than the pine shavings all the time. I was amazed at how wet the sand was when we got it home! No wonder I couldn't lift that little bag!

I now have several "cupfuls" (the glass was sitting next to the sink in the laundry room) sitting in a 12" skillet (that we got at Ross', used once, and the bottom of the pan warped so bad that it launched the pan, full of frying chicken, off the stove!) drying out over night. That stuff was really wet!

I also picked up a staple gun and staples so that I can get the hardware cloth up on the sides of the coop, then I can paint, and we can get the run put up! Woot! I might be done before the chicks are ready to go out there!

And here's the girls from this morning.

 

[WhySayWhat]

Oops! Sorry about the big pics! I'll try and fix it later, lol. I have to get off the comp now!

 

[WhySayWhat]

Dang rain....

Tommorow's supposed to be near 60 though, so rain or shine I'm going out side to work! Provided I can find a long enough extension cord to reach the coop from the outlet on the lther side of the deck, the big irange one is being used for the heat lamp (oops)!

 

[abChicken]

dang rain and dang cold too here tomorrrow also

Ive been working on
my coops and decided to try Lowes cull bin for a few boards

well guess
what they bundle it up in huge bundles sell it that way

so U folks that can
get boards etc. a piece at a time are lucky. Still lurking around -Say what u r
chicks are looking good -The pic is my 10 buff orphington bantams- My niece,
housekeeper did that I still can't do pictures

 

[WhySayWhat]

Yeah, Lowes sucks as far as cheap wood, lol. I actually live within 3 blocks of a Lowes and I go several miles down the road to Home Depot instead, lol. Lowes has good deals on paint that mis-colorded though...

I still haven't found an extension cord that I can use outside, lol. I may have to go buy one!

And thanks! My girls are growing so much each day! The new"fun" activity is trying to fly/jump to the top of the brooder when I'm sitting with them and have the lid off. My BR, Gertrude, figured out yesterday how to jump on top of the feeder, lol, I had to go see what all the ruckus was about...they were screaming like I'd put the cat in the brooder with them!

 

[AlabamaChickenLady]

Hello everyone!!

Glad to see AB is still lurking.

Your chicks are so cute!! Home Depot is the place for cheaper lumber. But I haven't found enough to build my whole coop with yet. I have only gotten enough to 'help' with the building expenses.

Whysaywhat - Your chicks are really adorable also. They do tend to skwawk alot everytime something is different. I went to my local feed store this morning to see if they had a feeder (which they didn't) and they had day old chicks!! RIR and balck sexlink's. Can you believe I made it out of there without any chicks? I was impressed and proud of myself for walking away and not buying any of them! But it was sure hard to do ~ little fuzzy butts are just soooo darn cute!

I have removed the heat lamp from my chicks about a week ago. They seemed like they really hated it. Now I cover them up at night time with a towel to simulate darkness, so they quiet down and sleep all night long. Getting this established now so they will be ready for the coop and nights in there.

 

[WhySayWhat]

Thanks!

I cleaned out the brooder today, once a week seems to be good enough with the three of them. They absolutely LOVE their sandbox! As soon as I put a few scoops of "fresh" sand in, all three hopped right in while I was still spreading it out! Normally they hide at the other end of the brooder hoping I don't decide to pick them up, lol. I got a pic or 3 to share, lol.

As for the heat lamp and light, I turn the overhead Flourescense (sp?) on during the day and off at night, it isn't pitch black, but it is much darker.

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
too Cute. ....

 

[WhySayWhat]

Thanks.

A few of my family members have given me a hard time for using a skillet, lol. But, I think it adds "charm", besides, it's the perfect size, lol.