NY chicken lover!!!!

[Lapeerian]

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Long time no post but life has been in the way. I have a couple of chicken questions.

1: Something is digging in my coop. Has been for quite some time. It's large, makes large holes and shoves all kinds of rocks, debris etc out of its way. Sometime ago, my husband locked down both of our feeders to help cut down pong the mice, and it has, but this critter is still around.

Any idea what it might be? It isn't bothering the chickens or anything, but it's tunneling is making a right mess o of my coop floor,

2: We switched from a sand floor to wood shavings (deep litter) this year. But my hens seem to have no interest in scratching around, digging up and over turning the shavings. This means I have to go in there every other day and turn it myself. I don't think I'm doing this right, as we have a pretty strong ammonia smell. It might be due to having too many birds, but I culled the flock down a little over a week ago to remedy that. Any suggestions/thoughts on what I might be doing wrong?

3: Pretty much all of my hens have stopped laying completely, for almost a month and a half now. My Silkies and bantam sebright are laying like champs. And my two OE pullets are laying. But none of my other big girls are laying and they haven't for a long time. I know they slow down in the winter, but I have never experienced a complete cessation like this. Any ideas? Or is this normal for a non-lighted coop?

Again, I hope you all have had a wonderful chickeny year, wonderful holidays and best wishes for a terrific 2016! Many thanks for any advice you guys can share.

1. Is it something other than dust bathing holes? Chickens wreck my dirt horse barn floor with dust bathing holes. I have covered 3/4 of the floor with rubber mats (merry xmas to me!), but they leave craters in the remaining dirt floor. I even have a shallow water tank for dust bathing mix that they have never touched.

2. Toss treats onto the shavings. Something like sunflowers would be good. They will scratch and dig for the treats, turning it in process. Too many birds was likely a problem. May also be too damp underneath due to floor type and this wet weather. Do you have good ventilation? Too high ammonia will cause breathing problems. Get some Sweet PDZ or Stall Dry to mix in the bedding, this is found in the horse section of TSC or CountryMax in 40# bags. I use it in the chick brooder to help keep things dry and cut down on ammonia smells.

3. Ours were slacking pretty badly too. 2 eggs from 20 hens, but I have several older hens too and no light. We just set up a timer with my plant grow light in the coop, so they are now getting supplemental light. But my coop is only where they sleep and eat, they free range in the dim-light horse barn all day. We've had a couple days with 7 eggs, but this is only the first week. Remember, days are getting longer now!

 

[myfivegirls]

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Long time no post but life has been in the way. I have a couple of chicken questions.

1: Something is digging in my coop.
Any idea what it might be?

3: Pretty much all of my hens have stopped laying completely, for almost a month and a half now. Any ideas? Or is this normal for a non-lighted coop?
.

I've had the same thing with two coops with dirt floors - not sure what it is either. Though I have seen a huge gray squirrel. I want to put a rat trap out, don't know where to put it so I don't catch any chickens!

As for them not laying, with shorter daylight hours, adult hens usually molt & stop laying until they're done molting or daylight hours increase again. Some add light & timer, others let them go thru the cycle. I've done both and my take is to do whatever is your preference.
This year I decided to let them cycle naturally, just reduced the time the light stays on in the coop. Most of the adults are taking a break but the pullets are laying enough to still have eggs.

Somehow my broody hen got herself another egg at some point yesterday. She's now almost a week in. Is that extra week too much for her? Should I take it away after the other one hatches? I have the incubator going so finishing it off it there is an option. Please some advice this way, don't want my chicken going longer than is healthy for her.

Usually a hen will leave the nest to take care of the first ones hatched after her "inner clock" says it's take to feed the chicks. Generally, that's 3 days, give or take. One time, I had a staggered hatch, so took the chicks as they hatched & returned them to the broody once they all hatched. But, with some broodies that won't work, and won't accept the chicks back, seems to be different with each hen.

 

[Chicken girl 15]

With this horrible up and down weather the dirt holes could be moles, rats, mice or anything else that is cold. Your coops are naturally warmer than outside with the hot blooded chickens in them. So anything cold will migrate there for heat. Keep water and feed elevated, or hanging, to keep critters out. I have a plywood floor with bricks covering the edges to keep critters out. It helps but they still find ways in somehow. I'm going to try putting traps under the plywood, which is over pallets, to try and stop the problem.

 

[Sweetpea3829]

I asked one of my Mennonite neighbors and he thinks the holes are probably rats. They are only being dug at night, and they are in a spot that is difficult for the chickens to reach. Well partly.

I'll have to do some work on that deep litter. Maybe shovel some out (but not all), and spread more shavings. Primarily, we've only been throwing down the wood shavings. It's about 10" deep at this point.

And I expected a bit of a slow down in the laying, but they've completely stopped! A couple of them are definitely molting, but most of them don't appear to be. Some are 2014 hens, and some are this year's. I hope they pick back up soon! I have a few egg clients, lol!

 

[Beer can]

I've had the same thing with two coops with dirt floors - not sure what it is either. Though I have seen a huge gray squirrel. I want to put a rat trap out, don't know where to put it so I don't catch any chickens!

As for them not laying, with shorter daylight hours, adult hens usually molt & stop laying until they're done molting or daylight hours increase again. Some add light & timer, others let them go thru the cycle. I've done both and my take is to do whatever is your preference.
This year I decided to let them cycle naturally, just reduced the time the light stays on in the coop. Most of the adults are taking a break but the pullets are laying enough to still have eggs.
Usually a hen will leave the nest to take care of the first ones hatched after her "inner clock" says it's take to feed the chicks. Generally, that's 3 days, give or take. One time, I had a staggered hatch, so took the chicks as they hatched & returned them to the broody once they all hatched. But, with some broodies that won't work, and won't accept the chicks back, seems to be different with each hen.

X2 on that @Lady Loveall broody EE hatched 2 out of five, wife got another one to hatch a few days later. We waited too long to put it with the hen. Mom wanted it but the chick wouldn't have anything to do with her. It ended up a house chicken for way too long.

 

[Chicken girl 15]

I asked one of my Mennonite neighbors and he thinks the holes are probably rats. They are only being dug at night, and they are in a spot that is difficult for the chickens to reach. Well partly.

I'll have to do some work on that deep litter. Maybe shovel some out (but not all), and spread more shavings. Primarily, we've only been throwing down the wood shavings. It's about 10" deep at this point.

And I expected a bit of a slow down in the laying, but they've completely stopped! A couple of them are definitely molting, but most of them don't appear to be. Some are 2014 hens, and some are this year's. I hope they pick back up soon! I have a few egg clients, lol!

Maybe try feather fixer feed or give tuna. Extra protien may encourage laying.

 

[Chicken girl 15]

How many egg sandwiches can a kid eat before getting tired of them? Seriously though. My kids have had them every single day of vacation and every Saturday and Sunday since September for lunch. I'm not talking 1 egg on 2 pieces of bread, they want 2 eggs per sandwich and 2-3 sandwiches per kid.. granted it's a super cheap lunch but is it healthy for them to eat that many eggs?

 

[Chicken girl 15]

http://authoritynutrition.com/how-many-eggs-should-you-eat/ not sure how correct this is bit this page says eat as many as you want.

 

[Beer can]

They say feeding cayenne pepper in their feed will get them to lay. I hear it works.
Wonder if it doesn't if you should try bhut jolohkia aka ghost pepper? Hmm...

 

[Chicken girl 15]

They say feeding cayenne pepper in their feed will get them to lay. I hear it works.
Wonder if it doesn't if you should try bhut jolohkia aka ghost pepper? Hmm...

the only problem I see with inducing laying with hot stuff would be the funky taste to the eggs. Don't onions and garlic affect egg taste?