NY chicken lover!!!!

[marquisella]

Quote: Green tomato pickles, very good...I'm going out tomorrow to pick last of my tomatoes. Even if they have just a tiny bit of yellow, are starting to ripen, they will continue to ripen it you pick them.

 

[marquisella]

Quote: Too young yet for streamers, and they are not a sure sign anyhow. Not all of them have streamers.

 

[Sweetpea3829]

Too young yet for streamers, and they are not a sure sign anyhow. Not all of them have streamers.

Ok, that's good to know. I'm really hoping this is a hen, because if not, I have to choose a roo to go...either this one, or the blue one. Then I have to find another female silkie for my kiddo's 4H bird.

 

[AQHAchick22]

Good Morning!
Been a very busy summer...ugh lots going on and a few bumble foot issues keeping me busy...grrr
Anyway, I was just wondering if anyone uses sand in their coops? I have a large coop so I'm thinking of just using sand under the roosts for the winter so it's easier to scoop out daily to keep some of the moisture out of the coop. If you do use sand where do you get it? I could get it at home depot I'm sure but the cheaper the better.

 

[rancher hicks]

Good Morning!
Been a very busy summer...ugh lots going on and a few bumble foot issues keeping me busy...grrr
Anyway, I was just wondering if anyone uses sand in their coops? I have a large coop so I'm thinking of just using sand under the roosts for the winter so it's easier to scoop out daily to keep some of the moisture out of the coop. If you do use sand where do you get it? I could get it at home depot I'm sure but the cheaper the better.

I've been considering sand and probably will get some to dump in the chicken runs. Sand won't hold the moisture like you think but rather let it sink to the floor.

Take a glass of sand and pour in some water you'll see.

IMO nothing works better than big shavings that absorb the moisture. Better than "saw dusty" shavings in that chickens are less likely to be swallowing them.

If you have a dirt floor peat moss will absorb the moisture better. If I had that I'd mix sand, peat moss and shavings. Cleanouts would go into the compost pile and break down nicely.

I use DE in with the large chips. It is dusty but it does keep things dry.

If you are finding things too wet, check your ventilation. Hang a hygrometer inside the coop that will tell you the humidity/moisture level. A lot of moisture in your coop is coming from the chickens themselves. They exhale and don't sweat. Just like dogs.

In my case I noticed that the snow piles up higher on the East side of these bales of hay while underneath remains pretty much snow free. Therefore I think the wind blows from the East and that ventilation E. to W. would be best on my wooden coop.

Normally there are four bales two on each side. The chickens find clear soil and shelter when they come out.

This is the best pic I could find. The idea is to have the breeze come across the top of your coop and "draw" the warm moist air out and away from the coop.

Hope some of this helps.

rancher

 

[Lynzi777]

Well it's a GO! I can GO get my chickens whenever I want and bring them down the road from where I'm living!! I'm so excited!!! I just have to figure out a date. Hopefully I can put something together by next weekend. I miss my little fluff balls!


AQHAChick - I've gone back and forth on the idea of sand too. Let me know what you figure out. That's my thinking as well - easier to scoop and keeps the dampness out in the winter. Although I've read both pros and cons on it so I'm on the fence.

 

[AQHAchick22]

Thanks Rancher!
I've been using shavings with DE the past 2 winters and I find the poo just freezes and gets really hard to scoop and my chickens do a terrible job of mixing it up so the humidity gets out of control (I do have tons of ventilation but I may need to make some more). So my thought is that over the winter I will use sand (only under the roosts) and just clean it daily or every other day to try and keep it down.

I am going to hang a hydrometer in there and see but I'm pretty sure with two windows and a couple of inches of space around the entire top of the coop that's not the problem.

I'm also going to try moving some of the hens into the other coop to balance out numbers. I hate that I'm already having to worry about winter...

Lynzi I'll let you know!! I'm glad you get to pick up your chickens and have them so close, that's great news!!

 

[Cass]

Good Morning!
Been a very busy summer...ugh lots going on and a few bumble foot issues keeping me busy...grrr
Anyway, I was just wondering if anyone uses sand in their coops? I have a large coop so I'm thinking of just using sand under the roosts for the winter so it's easier to scoop out daily to keep some of the moisture out of the coop. If you do use sand where do you get it? I could get it at home depot I'm sure but the cheaper the better.

Well it's a GO! I can GO get my chickens whenever I want and bring them down the road from where I'm living!! I'm so excited!!! I just have to figure out a date. Hopefully I can put something together by next weekend. I miss my little fluff balls!


AQHAChick - I've gone back and forth on the idea of sand too. Let me know what you figure out. That's my thinking as well - easier to scoop and keeps the dampness out in the winter. Although I've read both pros and cons on it so I'm on the fence.

Sand. Been there, done that. It was WONDERFUL while I had 6 birds. Not so wonderful at 12 birds and totally unreasonable at 20 birds.

A downside of sand is it doesn't make the wonderful compost that wood shavings make. A second downside is all the scooping. Seriously, my back would ache and ache and ache stooping to scoop. I finally taped a kitty litter scoop to the end of a broken rake handle....that worked til the tape got loose.... And it still stinks....the sand got wet and didn't dry out until spring so the ammonia still smelled in the winter.

I finally got rid of the sand. I built my coop with sand in mind and now I am using shavings. Not ideal, but works.

I bought my sand near the cement in Lowes. not cheap, but since you are scooping it, it doesn't need to be replaced as much as shavings. (However 40 pounds of sand is VERY VERY heavy, so consider the distance to your coop before switching from bales of shavings you can literally roll over to the coop if you can't carry them that far. Sand HAS to be carted in some way, if you buy it in bags)

 

[rancher hicks]

Thanks Rancher!
I've been using shavings with DE the past 2 winters and I find the poo just freezes and gets really hard to scoop and my chickens do a terrible job of mixing it up so the humidity gets out of control (I do have tons of ventilation but I may need to make some more). So my thought is that over the winter I will use sand (only under the roosts) and just clean it daily or every other day to try and keep it down.

I am going to hang a hydrometer in there and see but I'm pretty sure with two windows and a couple of inches of space around the entire top of the coop that's not the problem.

I'm also going to try moving some of the hens into the other coop to balance out numbers. I hate that I'm already having to worry about winter...

Lynzi I'll let you know!! I'm glad you get to pick up your chickens and have them so close, that's great news!!

I'm not worried about the snow cuz I can get to the coops with my snowblower, but it's dragging gallons of water to the coops each morning. I could use a few more cat little jugs. My DD doesn't buy hers in the jugs anymore. A squirrel got in and ruined one. I've thought of posting to CL for empty jugs.

If I had only a dozen birds I'd def. put in a poop board.

 

[rancher hicks]

Sand. Been there, done that. It was WONDERFUL while I had 6 birds. Not so wonderful at 12 birds and totally unreasonable at 20 birds.

A downside of sand is it doesn't make the wonderful compost that wood shavings make. A second downside is all the scooping. Seriously, my back would ache and ache and ache stooping to scoop. I finally taped a kitty litter scoop to the end of a broken rake handle....that worked til the tape got loose.... And it still stinks....the sand got wet and didn't dry out until spring so the ammonia still smelled in the winter.

I finally got rid of the sand. I built my coop with sand in mind and now I am using shavings. Not ideal, but works.

I bought my sand near the cement in Lowes. not cheap, but since you are scooping it, it doesn't need to be replaced as much as shavings. (However 40 pounds of sand is VERY VERY heavy, so consider the distance to your coop before switching from bales of shavings you can literally roll over to the coop if you can't carry them that far. Sand HAS to be carted in some way, if you buy it in bags)

I screwed a fish net to the end of a board to snag chicks that got out.

I would have so screwed a cat litter scoop to one if I was sifting chicken poop.

I would have thought the sand would be good in the compost mixed with all the other stuff. I do add garden soil, grass clipping and peat moss to mine. When fall comes I don't rake but mow them up and dump those in there too. Plus I toss scratch so the chickens work it. I had some nice stuff this year. With two going one should be ready next year. OH and I got some horse manure this year and dumped some in the mix too. I've discovered another use for those feed bags. Just the right amount that I can lift.

Lowes has the sand 4 for $10. Not to bad I think.