Silly Questions from a newbie???

[Le Mitzer]

Hello

so being new to rasing back yard chickens, i have a few question about feeding and watering.....

First question has to do with watering... i have a large plastic bin that catches the rain water, it is clean; minus the little bugs that live in there, i have been using this to water my two birds, is this a bad idea? i personally wouldnt drink the water, but my dog has no issues with it.

Secondly, about feeding i have an open food policies, i leave the feeder full and it will last, month i would imagine; i've had the chickens just over a week and the haven't made a dent. but they have a very large run for two chickens; 30m2 ( ahhh there are 3 something feet to a meter, so i guessing that 30 meters square is something like 90 feet square, i think, i'm no mathatician) So with that amount of area they have a lot of bugs and bamboo to eat, so they are much more interested in those iteams; as well as all the Veggie scraps. the farmer told me that i should only feed Them wheat cause corn bloats them and they stop laying....

and, Lastly In my coop i use wood shaving and DE [thats right im a DE believer, i bought 25KG (55lBS) for two chickens] and i have a little scoop that i use to clean out the poop, but im finding my self just throwing their business randomly through out the Run, is this going to give me a problem is a couple weeks?

Mitzer

giving a shout out from France.......

 

[Le Mitzer]

And, after i have been handling my birds, it says to always wash your hands; does a squirt of hand sani work just as well?

 

[mulewagon]

That sounds like a lovely set-up! Absolute chicken paradise. Just make sure that the long fence is sturdy enough to keep your local predators out - chicken wire is too flimsy to resist dogs and other animals.

I try to remember to wash my hands when I come in from handling the animals. I may not always remember (Ssssh! Don't tell my husband!), but we're not dead yet!

 

[AlienChick]

Sounds like your birds are very lucky!

And I do wash my hands after handling animals.

 

[Love my Critters!]

Sounds great, a lot of people here use the runoff water system. You should always keep the feed available so when the chooks get hungry it's there, and I too am a DE believer! Sounds like you are doing great!

Edited to add that I wash my hands before preparing meals and eating, not necessarily after touching any of my chicken stuff and my family and myself are still here...

 

[Le Mitzer]

Quote:
you know my wife is exactly the same, but im a bit OCD and i wash my hands before, during , and after handling my birds. and i wash (with water) all eggs before i put them away.

 

[barefootfarmers]

Once a week we go in and sweep it all up and then let the girls spread it all out again. They love it. If there are spots that are stuck on the floor we just use a dust pan. But then again we put a scrap of linoleum down to make clean up easier.

 

[Ridgerunner]

First question has to do with watering... i have a large plastic bin that catches the rain water, it is clean; minus the little bugs that live in there, i have been using this to water my two birds, is this a bad idea? i personally wouldnt drink the water, but my dog has no issues with it.

If it is fairly clean, I don't see a lot of problems with it. If it turns green from algae, I would not use it.


Secondly, about feeding i have an open food policies, i leave the feeder full and it will last, month i would imagine; i've had the chickens just over a week and the haven't made a dent.

My concern with this is if it gets damp it can mold. Mold can be deadly to chickens. I let mine run out of feed about once a week, more often if it is wet and rainy, so they clean everything up to prevent this problem.

the farmer told me that i should only feed Them wheat cause corn bloats them and they stop laying....

It is not a bloat problem. Different grains have different amounts of the separate nutrients. Corn is fairly low in protein and high in things that cause fat, so it is not a great feed exclusively for chickens. In proper proportions, it is OK mixed in feed but not as the exclusive feed. Feeding them corn exclusively does not so much cause them to stop laying as it can cause the eggs to be a little smaller because of the reduced protein they eat and it can lead to excessive fat, which is unhealthy. They may lay a little less frequently, but they should not totally stop.

and, Lastly In my coop i use wood shaving and DE [thats right im a DE believer, i bought 25KG (55lBS) for two chickens] and i have a little scoop that i use to clean out the poop, but im finding my self just throwing their business randomly through out the Run, is this going to give me a problem is a couple weeks?

In a run that size for only two, I would not worry at all about what you are doing. I would not expect the poop to get thick enough to cause any problems.

30 square meters ( maybe 3 meters by 10 meters) is about 270 square feet. That is huge for two chickens.