Perch, Deep Litter Method, Diatomaceous Earth, Salmonella.

[nappy501]

Diatomaceous Earth, see here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=1560-Food_Grade_DE

Regards

 

[nappy501]

Hi Everyone,

Just posting an update.

I obtained Diatomaceous Earth online from Ebay.

We tried putting them on the perch, but they jumped off and it tipped over. So I then added two lengths of wood at right angles to balance it. It stopped tipping over, but still they didn't want to use it.

I noticed that the dropping are all on the right hand side. So this evening we moved the nesting box to the far wall opposite the door and turned the perch through a right angle to the wall on the right.

When we went back to check, 3 of the chickens were still on the perch. I wonder if it was too draughty, opposite the door?

So if they are now going to use the perch, I will have to rig up a droppings board.

So glad we are all sorted for the winter. Over the past week the temperature has dropped, winter is definitely on the way.

Regards

 

[CityChook]

My chicks wouldn't use the roost either. So my kids decided it was their job to "teach" them. Haa Haa. I'm sure they would have done it eventually, but the girls got a kick out of showing them how...

And I think you are right - they might have been bummed out about the draft. Mine don't like to sleep in front of the window on chilly nights when I forget to close it.

 

[Beekissed]

You might want to really stabilize your perch so there is no wobble or tipping. Also, they may like to have a small ladder to the perch, if they are standard breeds. Easier access for the fat hens!

What I've read on the DLM states one could build on it all winter and clean out in the spring. I've just started it and have noticed the big difference in the smell in my coop. Now that I have more birds in this coop, it was starting to get a little bit of an odor, but now I've got hay on the floor and it just smells good in there. The hay has been down for a week now.

 

[dragonchild]

We got 4 rescue laying chickens at the beginning of August.

I read somewhere that you have to teach rescue hens how to perch: how to get on it, and put them up there at dusk. They've been either battery-cage raised or "cage-free" or "free-range" raised, which only mean they aren't in little cages--rather many, MANY chickens in a big building, with no roosts. They don't know HOW to roost! If you were to be able to get a few hens that DO know how, that might teach them how to use the roost, even though you may still have to put them up there at first.

How sad is that? Not knowing how to do something that should be so natural to them, because of the inhumane ways they were raised.

 

[nappy501]

Quote:
I read somewhere that you have to teach rescue hens how to perch: how to get on it, and put them up there at dusk. They've been either battery-cage raised or "cage-free" or "free-range" raised, which only mean they aren't in little cages--rather many, MANY chickens in a big building, with no roosts. They don't know HOW to roost! If you were to be able to get a few hens that DO know how, that might teach them how to use the roost, even though you may still have to put them up there at first.

How sad is that? Not knowing how to do something that should be so natural to them, because of the inhumane ways they were raised.

Hiya!

I'd forgotten all about this post.

We are still sticking them on the perch at night. A hen died and we got a new one and she sometimes is on the perch or the nesting box. The other bully her a bit, so she likes to get up out of the way, but the other don't follow her.

In the morning, when we open the hatch they are still there on the perch. They jump down once there is light from the hatch. So all in all we have had them 2 years now and still sticking them on the perch.

Regards

 

[elmo]

Quote:
This is one avenue for contamination. The other avenue is surface contamination.

Most of the salmonella infections in commercial poultry operations comes from rodent droppings contaminating chicken feed (the chickens then consume the contaminated feed and the infection is passed on internally to the egg in formation). So...make sure your feed is stored securely, so rats can't get into it, and try to make sure your feeders themselves are secure.

 

[turbo13]

Hi Uk.just Today Put My 4 Chickens In Their New Coop.they Are 15 Weeks Old.they Have Been In A Wadding Kiddies Pool,all That Time.no Roost.i Now Have 2 Roosts,one For Sleeping, Its 38'' High,the Other Is 32''high Under The Window.i Placed Each Bird On Each Roost.just Before Dark I Looked In On Them.all 4 Are Side By Side On The Sleeping Roost Yea. Give Yours Time.poor Things Don't Know About Upgrades.now They Are Living. Welcome. Jim