No Nonsense, chickens are livestock, advise. Tell me like it is.

[mamaKate]

dsqard wrote "Chickens only smell if you don't clean the pen." Have to disagree. I'm very attached to my birds-actually love some of them (ouch!).They do, however, stink.The poop stinks and there is a vague odor that doesn't go away even after bathing. My smelliest is a SOFT little Bantam Brahma hen. She can poop within seconds of a clean cage and fresh, thick layer of shavings and fill the room with poop-pouri.
I completely agree about chicken math and getting the coop first. I planned two birds about three years ago. I had 9 until attrition reduced the flock to six and I'm still working on the final coop while the birds stay in temporary (safe &clean) shelter.

 

[speckledhen]

Then, why do most of mine smell like they just came out of the dryer? I'm dead serious. I love to bury my nose in their hackles. Could be what you're feeding them maybe? None of my birds are smelly at all unless they have been pooped on or have it stuck to their feet.

Bit of wisdom: The molt makes every problem multiplied tenfold. Make sure the birds are in great shape as they go into the molt. If there is a health issue, the depletion from the molt makes it so much worse. It's a huge drag on their systems.

 

[mamaKate]

Maybe it is the food. They get Orscheln store brand pellets,oats and whatever they find in the yard. What do you feed?

 

[Ducks and Banny hens]

Quote:
X2!

I've learned hatching eggs in an artificial incubator is futile.

 

[loanwizard]

Last time I introduced there was quite a bit of pecking, but not too bad (no blood) That time was 10, this time 21 young ones. Maybe it is because coop is open and they all free range. I don't know. I will take luck over skill any day lol! I do know that the newest additions take about a week before they venture out. Feeding in the morning can be a zoo because they run to me and get underfoot. The adults meet me at the garage door if I am not feeding while they are still on the roost. I have impatient animals.... The goats HAVE to be fed first or they rob everyone else. I have to put the cats food on a shelf lest the goats steal it. My chickens case me down and will even jump in the feed bin and bucket til they get fed, and the hogs are out waiting.

Next year, everyone will be away from the house. I have a 75' barn but didn't use it because of the neglect before I bought the farm. Getting power to it this spring and getting the roof back on it..... anyhow.... I am rambling....


While I am rambling..... SpeckledHen, you crack me up! I don't sniff my chickens lol! I DO know that when I go to the coop, it is not unpleasant, and I Deep Litter.

You are right on about the molt. I suspect mine are/were wormier than normal as my molt seemed to go on from August til about early December. Still not getting as many eggs but it IS winter. They were bedraggled and thin for a LONG time.

 

[speckledhen]

Well, I'm sorry, loanwizard, but I have one hen in particular who insists that she is a purse. She loves to be picked up and will not be denied and she's been that way her entire 4 years. She smells so clean and fresh, it's amazing. Most every other hen I pick up is pretty much the same. In fact, while blunting the roosters' spurs, I am the designated holder. Those boys smell nice, too. Chickens are just not that dirty, IMO.

As far as feed goes, MamaKate, I don't know about Orschlens since we don't have them in this part of the country. I feed Tucker Milling layer pellets and use Knockout Game Bird feed for my scratch--it is an 11 grain mix with very little corn. They get whatever they can find in the woods when they free range, but they don't get kitchen scraps since those are known as tomorrow's lunch supper around here.

 

[bkbkbk]

You want chicken TV? Take them some hummus. They dive in with gusto and get it all over their beaks and faces. Then they run around wiping their face and beak on the other chickens. For which they get pecked and harrassed. Then when the hummus runs out, they spot the hummus on each other's beaks, faces, wings, feet, backsides, etc. And they go for it. For which they get pecked and harrassed. A couple of tablespoons of hummus for 6 hens can give you several minutes of humor therapy.

 

[SagebrushMama]

Put a little Mugwort in your egg boxes as a preventive for lice/mites!

 

[bairo]

Quote:
x 2. I dont have bantams but all my big girls and boys smell great. Last week for the first time I did start getting some ammonia smell from the bedding (very unusual for our set up) all I did was change my bedding a bit early. My hens still smell great though. It was just the bedding. The best way I can describe it is "they smell like the earth" in a clean way.

 

[JMidJr]

Mugwort?