On Bedding and Cleaning

IF your water tank is kept out of the light, there is no reason to change the water at all, just add to it. I clean mine once a year in the fall. And yes you don't want it air tight like the gravity waterers. If THEY aren't air tight, all the water will run out. With nipples, there must be a way for air to replace the water that is being used.

Replace the leaking nipple.

My coop is a 10'x12' converted horse stall. Like @aart I don't change the bedding in my coop often, when I do I rake it out into the barn alley which is the girls' indoor run. Unlike @aart I don't have a poop board, I just rake through under the roosts every morning. I add some pine shavings on occasion, I use maybe 4 bales a year.
 
Yes, if bucket is air tight it will form a vacuum and water won't come out the nipples after awhile...but if it's constantly leaking<shrugs> I dunno.
No, its not constantly leaking. I moved it outside because I found it leaking a time or two from a nipple getting stuck at an angle, making the floor all wet (solid concrete with straw on top til I get the shavings). Usually it works fine. I'll make a wire mesh plug and replace the plug the waterer came with. Thanks again
 
I'm researching the best bedding and decided to get Pine shavings. My questions are: Do I lay it on thick inside the house and laying areas? (9 total roosting 4 - 6 month old mixed NN frizzle and turkins). No one is actually laying yet. Do I spread the shavings in the run areas as well?
I've spot cleaned their straw daily, is that something most do or am I working too hard? lol
Their waterer is a 5 gallon bucket with nipples, and a tight fitting lid. I change the water every other day, am I overdoing that? ALSO, that waterer is outside in the run as I've seen it dripping non stop from a stuck nipple, AND, I only have 1-2 gallons of water in it max. I guess I'm looking for a good maintenance routine for cleanliness. Their house is very Large. It's actually on top of our storm shelter which is the size of a studio apartment. Half that, we use the other half, blocked off for yard equipment. Their floor is concrete covered with lots of straw. Their house stays very dry, but the run areas stay soaked and muddy now for all the rain and storms. Should I add some sort of sand box inside? There is room for a small one and what should I use for the sand? Cat litter? sand?
Lots of questions. Thank you all in advance.
What are POOP BOARDS?
 
I use riversand in my coop and run..its more course than playground sand and use cedar in the boxes. When I started out I tried everything. Sand is amazing in so many ways, mainly 5 minute clean up daily and it cut down on flies by 95%. I repurposed an old snow shovel, drilled holes and use it to sift and clean. I change out the sand about every 8 or 9 months.
 
I use sand in my coop. It's really a personal preference. I have a full size shovel pooper scooper.....but I also have a droppings board under my roosts. Just scrape into a bucket.....easy peasy. If anything gets on the floor, I use the pooper scooper shovel. For my run I use a product called KoopClean. It's a kiln dried chopped hay with zeolite in it.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom