Run Floor

[Ponypoor]

After the DE is mixed with a whole lot of sand, the DE attaches to the courser sand. The dust level decreases and doesn’t hurt the lungs if mixed. Mixed it’s still effective against lice and mites.

Its true you have to be very careful if you apply it pure. The advice is not to inhale dust clouds of DE.

I make a yoghurt thick kind of paint from the DE too and apply it on the roosts and the walls the chickens can touch with their feathers. It helps at lot against the red mite. Red mites are often a plague for many chicken keepers where I live.

Even the industrial farmers use it. Many farmers spray all the walls and objects in the chicken stables after cleaning and before the new pullets are brought in.

Here (in the past, not so much now) spray lime was used, I would mix the lime (yee gads don’t get that stuff in your eyes!!), with water to make a thick sloppy mixture and paint it on the stall walls, some people would use a sprayer to apply it. It makes everything bright white and helps control odours.

Gosh I had forgotten all about this! Maybe I’ll do the Hen Houses in the summer

 

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

It’s this evil white stuff that happens around here, I had about 10’ of it this winter so far…..

View attachment 4308593

Normally these guys avoid it like the plague but I threw down some horse bedding when I mucked out, it’s mild today so they decided it was tolerable. In short amts of time…. My OEGB bantam really suffers in the cold so I am surprised she is outside. Earlier she tried to hitch a ride back to the barn
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great pic!

 

[Three Stents]

It’s this evil white stuff that happens around here, I had about 10’ of it this winter so far…..

View attachment 4308593

Normally these guys avoid it like the plague but I threw down some horse bedding when I mucked out, it’s mild today so they decided it was tolerable. In short amts of time…. My OEGB bantam really suffers in the cold so I am surprised she is outside. Earlier she tried to hitch a ride back to the barn
View attachment 4308594

that white stuff in your pic does not look evil to me

 

[Ponypoor]

that white stuff in your pic does not look evil to me

I’ll send you some!

But it does highlight a really important consideration when building a coop and run. Any extremes in temperature for any area need to be taken into consideration. Snow, ice, rain, heat & humidity, extreme cold, wind.

Having a plan on how one will mitigate these issues first thing will go a long way towards ensuring not only the chooks are safe, but us Hoomans also. For instance building a coop on a slope could be a slip/fall hazard for a Hooman, how will one deal with this? (FYI simple wood shavings are great).

I would start by listing what the extremes in temp and weather are and how I would deal with these.