NY chicken lover!!!!

[Chicken girl 15]

Yes I do the DLM . Mine isn't as established as others though.

 

[BakerzDozen]

good afternoon all. just stopping in to catch up.

 

[Chicken girl 15]

Thank you for your feedback. I'm going to check into the book you recommended.  I totally forgot about Mother Earth New Website. Thanks for the reminder! Does anyone also read MaryJane's Farm?  have had her magazines for years and have DREAMED of this for as long as I can remember. It's time to get my back issues out!  You sparked my interest on the environmental impact from using DE. Especially since I love using it in my garden. I'm going to have to do a bit more research on the use of it. hm. 

Thank you for the encouragement! We're trying our best.  I've been checking out Youtube, looking at articles on Pintrest, I've found several articles here that got me interested in this forum which has been such a blessing. I'm glad you all share this love and passion with other newbies. 

Hi there Tao Chick! 

Chicken Girl, I'd really be interested in seeing it. If you think about taking pictures, please post them! It sounds very neat but i worry about too much moisture though you have said it dries up. Since I'm using the deep litter method I want to find the right mix.  Did I read before that you are doing the same method? I can't remember.


Sorry Rancher, I'm looking for the similar. Where are you putting all those bales? How do you keep them from getting moist in the winter?

Hey there Gramma, how are you doing today?


Well, I have a sick 3 year old. I can't seem to get her fever down. I called the pediatrics office yesterday and there is something going around but we decided to give it a couple of days and then take her in if we need to. Her fever is stubborn though. I've been alternating Tylenol and Motrin and it's been sticking to 101.2, I checked her at midnight and it was 98 and now she's up again at 3am and she feels HOT.   I've been washing her with cold compresses and continuing the meds as well as giving her pedialyte freezer pops. Hopefully we'll get the rest of the cook finished if not completed at least mostly done.   Game night tomorrow too! Lots of fun times.  

Hoping everyone had a great week so far!

as soon as I get my coop adjusted I will take pics and give you a quick run down of how we got it there. Tomorrow we will have everything we need , we think, to start the DLM wet the pellets. So by Monday I should have it set.
Hey a light bulb just went on in my head. If you have a lumber mill around you they might sell the sawdust for cheap. That would give the same effect without having to wet it down.

 

[bakingintherain]

My handsome boy Jasper made the front page

 

[rancher hicks]

Glasshen, that is a lovely idea. I can smell the pine shavings now! Where do you get your pine shavings?

Chicken Girl, When I think of pellets I think it must look like the pellets you feed animals. Round and long? It doesn't sound like it's very comfortable at all. Obviously I must be wrong if people are using it. Where do you find the pellets from? I'm assuming many of these things mentioned can be found at a farm supply store right? We compost just about everything. It has amazed me since we started a year ago how much less trash we have to take out.

Everyone here, youtube and friends, keep talking about good ventilation. Cross ventilation. We have two windows one across from the other that we opened and added hardware wire to and left them both open a quarter of the way but I wonder about the frigid air come winter. We're in Phoenix in/close to the snow belt. There are two air vents on the top back and front of the shed but I don't notice any difference with air ventilation. I think this is my worry. Never having had chickens and wondering if what we really do have good ventilation. lol I may have a friend come out to check the ventilation just to be safe.

Rancher, I am familiar with DE as I used the food grade form in our yard, on our dogs coats and on our veggies in our garden. You sparked my interest when you said you use it in a lot of your daily chicken tasks. Do you also use it in their nesting as well? I love your chicken coop. It looks like you have sliding doors for them. I really love seeing everyones coops and hearing the wisdom that come from each of you. Thanks so much for being opened to share!

Not my daily tasks but when I clean the coop is use it liberally. I toss some on top of the shavings or hay I put in the nest boxes since the hens dust themselves this way. I know the debate of "does it work or not", but I'm of the mindset it does. Keeping the coop dry is key and DE helps to do that.

 

[rancher hicks]

Sorry Rancher, I'm looking for the similar. Where are you putting all those bales? How do you keep them from getting moist in the winter?

In the winter I cover the runs with clean plastic. Which reminds me Runnings has it on sale. If things get wet or messy I just break open a bale and let the chickens spread it around. Dry feet, happy chickens and happy me. I do toss a bale of shavings into the mix from time to time. I'm going to start cleaning the coop and dumping the stuff into the run and see how that works out.

Snow just slides off the hoops with a bit of a shake.

I sometimes open the doors and let the girls walk on the snow.

 

[rancher hicks]

Hope everyone has a good week end. Busy this week volunteering at school and my back hurts. I've lots to do mowing grass and cleaning up the tree that was hanging over the hoop. My SIL climbed up with a ladder and we managed to just miss the coop. Of course the grass has been cut since this pic was taken. The tree dropped just in front of the coop. Doofus gets up there on a ladder with a chain saw! I was like "hey if you're crazy enough, what can I do?"

 

[Sstewart]

I hatched 4 roosters in June and one just started to crow...so they gotta go (no rooster zoning). I have places for them twice....and twice it fell through. They are all unique, so if anyone can take one I would be very appreciative. I am so frustrated that both homes fell through and now I hate to think what the next phase might be. If anyone knows of any friends or farms looking for some gorgeous boys...please message me or let me know. One is a Dominque....one naked neck (the crower) ...one Blue Favacuana...one barred cochin. All are friendly and calm. I wish I could keep them, but cannot. They are 12 weeks.

 

[rancher hicks]

I hatched 4 roosters in June and one just started to crow...so they gotta go (no rooster zoning). I have places for them twice....and twice it fell through. They are all unique, so if anyone can take one I would be very appreciative. I am so frustrated that both homes fell through and now I hate to think what the next phase might be. If anyone knows of any friends or farms looking for some gorgeous boys...please message me or let me know. One is a Dominque....one naked neck (the crower) ...one Blue Favacuana...one barred cochin. All are friendly and calm. I wish I could keep them, but cannot. They are 12 weeks.

Yours is a plight anyone who hatches will see. You might find an auction or someone who will take them and yes perhaps eat them. I've not found many who will pay for a rooster.

I thought I could avoid this situation when I first started by ordering all pullet chicks. However in order to get the Frizzles I had to order those straight run and ended up with two bantam frizzle roosters.

Of course now I hatch my own and have nine roosters. They are not as noisy as you might think. At least not so much during the day. They do start to crow around 4 - 5 am. One has a horrible crow too, sounds more like Peacock. Not all crowers are created equal.

 

[PhoredaBurds]

Yep. Bringing 5 roosters to be processed tomorrow. One of the challenges of hatching ur own, and the curse of being hatched a rooster. Chances are pretty darn good they had a life that was a million times better than any chicken available in the grocery store. And they taste better too.

Meanwhile, the remaining hens & pullets seem to breath a huge sigh of relief when the rooster/cockerel population is reduced.