Sanitation!!

[Quackter]

@Ridgerunner (great post, by the way) Kinda a "yeh, what he said", if I wash an egg, it goes to the front of the rotation.


I'm going to throw this out there. Is anyone else as lazy as me? No floor in the coop, drag it every couple of days in the summer. Over the garden in the winter, move it every couple of weeks, with a little strategy as to not "burn" any plants up.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Is anyone else as lazy as me? No floor in the coop, drag it every couple of days in the summer. Over the garden in the winter, move it every couple of weeks, with a little strategy as to not "burn" any plants up.

I tried that one summer and do not consider it lazy. Having to move it every couple of days really ties you down. Hard to go visit relatives, go on vacation with the kids, or to a wedding if you don't have someone to move it for you. Tractors can be built so they are not that hard to move but you still have to get out there and do it. It was work.

What happens in winter kind of depends on what your winter is like. Tractors don't usually have much room so how much weather protection can you give them? If you have a lot of snow it can be hard to move them. My plan was always to keep them in the main coop and run during winter. That is also how I handled trips.

I didn't worry about burning plants up. It was grass and would grow back fairly fast. My problem was that the area would start to stink in a few days, even in a tractor with 8 square feet per bird. If it rained so it was wet two days was the maximum it could stay in one place. Once I moved it then it would clean up pretty quickly and I had enough room that it was far from the house and not in an area that the public could view.

If you can move it when you need to you can keep the area sanitary. A lot of people do it that way. In the right circumstances having it in the garden in the winter can work well. Some people have 4' x 8' raised beds and a 4x8 tractor that fits on top. Whatever works for them. But to me and the way I approached it, a tractor was way too much work.

 

[aart]

She Shed was taken. We call it the Flock Shop

Flock Shop is great for the chickens....She Shed is all human you

 

[jeepgrrl]

Hi there! I also use sand in my run. My run isn't huge (probably 8 ft x 4 ft) but my girls free range from sun up to sun down and aren't confined to it, although it is where the "indoor" feeder and waterer are located so they do spend some time in there if they are too lazy to walk over to the feeding station. I usually end up removing/replacing the top few inches of sand every spring but I also add fresh sand (1-2 40 lb bags) to it every other month or so throughout the year. I do clean my coop and run daily, scraping/scooping up what I can (I use pine shavings in the coop). My run is covered with a metal roof so it does stay somewhat dry. I live in Ohio and I have never had an issue with the sand freezing. We put up plexiglas and plastic sheeting around the bottom 3/4 of the run to help keep the snow out and keep it dry, and to give the girls a draft-free area to hang out in if they want to get out of the cold. For me, sand was an ideal option for the run. Having just dirt in there would often get muddy, especially during the spring time, and it was a nightmare. Since changing over to sand, there have been times when water would seep in from the ground below from excessive rainfall, so I would just add another bag of sand and that would take care of any dampness. There are a lot of great suggestions on what kind of run flooring works best, the hard part is finding the one that will work best for your situation. Good luck!

 

[Quackter]

I tried that one summer and do not consider it lazy. Having to move it every couple of days really ties you down. Hard to go visit relatives, go on vacation with the kids, or to a wedding if you don't have someone to move it for you. Tractors can be built so they are not that hard to move but you still have to get out there and do it. It was work.

What happens in winter kind of depends on what your winter is like. Tractors don't usually have much room so how much weather protection can you give them? If you have a lot of snow it can be hard to move them. My plan was always to keep them in the main coop and run during winter. That is also how I handled trips.

I didn't worry about burning plants up. It was grass and would grow back fairly fast. My problem was that the area would start to stink in a few days, even in a tractor with 8 square feet per bird. If it rained so it was wet two days was the maximum it could stay in one place. Once I moved it then it would clean up pretty quickly and I had enough room that it was far from the house and not in an area that the public could view.

If you can move it when you need to you can keep the area sanitary. A lot of people do it that way. In the right circumstances having it in the garden in the winter can work well. Some people have 4' x 8' raised beds and a 4x8 tractor that fits on top. Whatever works for them. But to me and the way I approached it, a tractor was way too much work.

The way I wrote that it seemed like I was asking you in particular, kinda meant it general. Don't get me wrong I do enjoy and appreciate your conversation. Talk to you anytime brother. (That Jam tastes great by the way, I have an Asian lady teaching me the Thai version of Kim Chi, she loved it.)

Tractors are kinda what I have, I keep them really light from the get go, and put slime filled 10" pneumatic tires on them. I have done some horse trading recently, sold my good ones, (smart lol), I'll get some pictures once I get the new ones to presentable.

Sounds like you have really good ground with a lot of biological in it?
It did really surprise me at first, I figure would need to move them when dry, here the rain is when they'd need scooted sooner. I'm like 90% where my peppers were this spring, either had just a little much manure or didn't have enough time to compost. They still did good, but they yellowed and had a hard time rooting at first, then grew like mad. It look like what I grew up hearing as "burnt up" with nitrogen. Could have been the mulch tilled under with the manure hadn't decomposed enough too.

I'm not that shy, I walk my turkeys out to the street to pick up acorns. Kinda feel bad making buddies with them, knowing one is getting invited in for Thanksgiving, and another for Christmas.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'm not that shy, I walk my turkeys out to the street to pick up acorns. Kinda feel bad making buddies with them, knowing one is getting invited in for Thanksgiving, and another for Christmas.

The only bird I ever named was a turkey I hatched and raised for Thanksgiving. I called him Pilgrim. Part of that as for his special day. The other part was because of the way he was strutting around. John Wayne fans may understand that.

I would have probably responded to that even if you had not mentioned me. To be very clear, if it is wet you need to move it more often. I totally agree with you on that.

I empty my coop on the garden in the fall and till it in. By planting time it has broken down enough so the high nitrogen is not a problem. Sounds like yours did not have enough time.

 

[jojorose8]

I wash my waterer once a week with Dr Bronners soap and the feeder with every new bag of feed. I sterilize each about monthly with PureGreen24. In the summer, I sprinkle Sweet PDZ on the floor of my coop and clean it out daily. In the winter I do the deep litter method with pine shavings for added insulation and heat. Twice a year, when I switch bedding types, I vacuum and wash the inside of the coop with Dr Bronners. We put a floor in my run because we had standing water in the Spring. This year, for the warmer months, I put sand on the floor, and would sift out the poops a few times a week. I don’t like it and plan to try something else next Spring. It was smelly every time it got wet which tells me bacteria is living in it. In the winter, I have plastic panels around my run and once those are up, I use pine shavings in there as well. I’ve never had any illnesses or smells except with the sand this year. I think cleanliness is important, but they do need some bacteria to build up good immune systems. I just don’t let it get ahead of me or become an overwhelming breeding ground of bad bacteria.

 

[Angileen]

The DE is to help with mites/lice. I’ve never seen them but if I understand correctly DE can help with that. It also seems to help dry up the poop imo. The herbs may be just for me, but the girls seem to like them too. I don’t think they do harm and they may help in some small way with keeping flies and other critters away.

We save the bedding for compost for our garden.

The coop is 8x8x10. It has a sealed wood floor, a full size storm door on the south side, floor to ceiling roost bars on the west side, and three nesting boxes on the north side. To add to the overkill, it is painted and decorated. It has chicken related paintings on the walls, coordinating fabric curtains on the windows, and matching bows over the nest boxes. We have eight chickens.

Yes, I see the eye rolls. I know the girls don’t care, but I do. I spend a lot of time in and around my home. I like nice things. It may be silly, but it makes me smile and it doesn’t harm the girls.

No eyes rolling here. Would love to see pictures of your coop. I just converted a corrugated metal shed with a cement floor into a coop. It's 15x25 feet. Had to add 2 chicken doors 3 windows a new garage door for easy clean out, a human walk in door, roosts, 8 nest boxes and a small room area covered with wire and a door just in case I want to separate some chickens. I don't think there is anything wrong with adding herbs to your bedding. I buy Power Hen for my chickens water, I also plant a herb garden, pumpkins and corn for my chickens, they get the cucumbers out of my garden that get too large, I also have picked them alfalfa and dandelion greens, I buy watermelon and cantaloupe for them in the store, they also get meal worms on occasion and I always look for special treats for them on sale at Tractor Supply. I also have a small plastic pool I have inside their coop that I use for their indoor dust bath and I also add food grade DE to it. I also add it to their chicken feed once a month to act as a dewormer. My chickens eat heathier than I do. No spoiled or old food and no leftovers of my supper time meals. I don't want them eating too much salt or fat. I only clean my coop once a month and use straw on the floor and wood pet bedding in the nest boxes. I have only had my chickens for 17 weeks so I have not gone through a winter with them yet. But I may try the deep litter method this winter. Yes I wash my hands when I come in the house after handling my chickens but I don't really worry about germs that much, I have snuggled with my chickens and have wiped my hands on my face after cleaning the coop and have never gotten sick. Some germs are good they make you stronger, I never use antibacterial soap. I do clean out my chicken waters once a month with bleach, they don't get that dirty because I change the water every day. If I see algae I will wipe it off. Someday I may add window boxes on the outside and plant flowers in them. Next year I am going to plant a lot of marigolds, I here they help make the egg yolks a deep yellow color. Nothing wrong with loving your chickens! PS I do feed them a balanced chicken feed also.

 

[FireGal]

We have a kiddie pool for their dust bath, and they have a garden with marigolds, lavender, spearmint, veggies, and about half a dozen herbs in it for them. If they eat something down too much I replant or replace it.
They also have a mirror which they love to look in, a xylophone to peck on, and a playground area. We took a wooden table frame (no top) and piled logs and branches around it. They can run in, around and under it or they can roost on the different levels. Sometimes I hide treats for them to find in the playground. They love it.

 

[trumpeting_angel]

@FireGal @Angileen

It’s a shame that the DE myth hangs in, and the feed stores continue to carry it. The dust from DE is an irritant to chickens’ (and humans’) respiratory systems. It can harm them. Most packages of DE include a warning to wear a respirator if you’re spreading it.

This is what the research shows, but people continue to promote it as “natural.” Which it is, but high-risk.