NY chicken lover!!!!

[Aria]

We always used hay for our Call Ducks and now we also use
Hay for our Silkie Chickens.

We clean the coop....wash all. Put down clean hay. And we keep adding
clean hay. Always stays dry. It is called deep system. Our coop is always
fine.

We use the old hay for our compost. And the Silkies do well with this system.
Regards, Aria

 

[boskelli1571]

This is a screen shot of someone else's screen shot that they just shared on FB. This looks like a great waterer for winter but I notice it says "temporarily out of stock online" :-(

I have one and it's worth it's weight in gold! The electric cord is a bit short, so I ended up covering the plug in duck tape so the ladies couldn't peck at it. Bought it at a local farm store.

 

[LuvMyChicks1491]

Okay I need some advice......

...I have a constipated hen (Scarlet) . I brought her inside yesterday afternoon when I noticed she wasn't acting her normal self. She was eating and drinking yesterday, but nothing today. i have given her several warm baths from 20 minutes to 1 hour long. I don't think that she is egg bound. She hasn't been laying eggs for a few months now and seems that she can't decide if she wants to molt or not. She is one of my 1.5yr old sexlinks. I have checked her the best that I can to see if she has an egg in there, but can't feel anything. Her belly is swollen and soft. I haven't seen any blood in any poop anywhere so not sure what else to do. I have also given her some yogurt with a tum in it in case she is egg bound, I also gave her some applesauce with some olive oil. I forced fed her that a little while ago. I have managed to get a little poop to come out it was clear and white with green in it...

...Any suggestions that you have would be great...I don't want her to suffer any more then she has so hopefully I can help her...If not soon then I'll have to put her down...

 

[Lynzi777]

I have one and it's worth it's weight in gold! The electric cord is a bit short, so I ended up covering the plug in duck tape so the ladies couldn't peck at it. Bought it at a local farm store.

I think I'm going to get one of these for winter seeing as how my birds won't be right in my backyard.

 

[rancher hicks]

I have a question for everyone. How often do you clean your coops? Do you clean by appearance or smell? ( you know when you start to smell ammonia.) Or, do you clean on a set schedule?

Last time I cleaned things were basically dry but I could just smell the ammonia so I cleaned of course. For me a schedule may mean cleaning a basically clean coop since the number of birds ebbs and flows.

Right now the Del coop will need cleaning before winter, since there is an increase of birds.

Thanks for the advice, I only act like I know everything.

Rancher

 

[rancher hicks]

So I have another question. What do you mean when you use your exclamation point?

Thank you! Interjections Schoolhouse Rock. (cool video)

Is it Thank you! humph!

or is it , Thank you! Wow!!

?

It's very hard read your facial expression on the internet. I think we need more emoticons. Perhaps then folks won't get offended when you mean, Thank you!

and they think you mean, Thank you!

Rancher!

 

[LuvMyChicks1491]

I have a question for everyone. How often do you clean your coops? Do you clean by appearance or smell? ( you know when you start to smell ammonia.) Or, do you clean on a set schedule?

Last time I cleaned things were basically dry but I could just smell the ammonia so I cleaned of course. For me a schedule may mean cleaning a basically clean coop since the number of birds ebbs and flows.

Right now the Del coop will need cleaning before winter, since there is an increase of birds.

Thanks for the advice, I only act like I know everything.

Rancher

I clean by look. When it starts look like there is more poop then shavings it is way past time to clean...

 

[why do birds]

I never know when it's "time" to clean the coop but with it being in the back hall I try to get it cleaned about once a week. I used cardboard boxes on the very bottom, the floor is marble. On top of the cardboard I have the wood shavings. The coop is elevated on flat stones. I clean often too because the area is enclosed and requires leaving the back hall door open for ventilation. The upper coop area I only clean about once every 3 weeks because it doesn't seem to get as messy. Since everything's on cardboard, I roll it up, take it out, and put down a new flat piece of cardboard.

 

[armorfirelady]

I have a question for everyone. How often do you clean your coops?  Do you clean by appearance or smell?  ( you know when you start to smell ammonia.)  Or, do you clean on a set schedule?  

Last time I cleaned things were basically dry but I could just smell the ammonia so I cleaned of course.  For me a schedule may mean cleaning a basically clean coop since the number of birds ebbs and flows.  

Right now the Del coop will need cleaning before winter, since there is an increase of birds.  

Thanks for the advice, I only act like I know everything. 

Rancher 

I clean in the spring once the snow is mostly gone since there is about 6 months of deep litter in coop. I usually keep coop floor low in litter for the summer so I'll take the little in there with e pop and toss in the garden in the fall as well

 

[Lynzi777]

I clean by appearance and smell. I try not to use a whole lot of shavings so that I can keep throwing new ones in there from time to time to freshen it up. Once it starts getting musky and smells of ammonia I remove everything and lay new shavings down.