Slave to a chicken?

[JennsPeeps]

I've recently pruned my plum and apples trees. I put the apple tree branches in the run to give the chickens something to do while I am at work. They scratch for bugs and strip the leaves off of the branches. The added advantage is that they turn the branches to mulch.

Yesterday I put a whole bunch of plum branches in there. My BR got freaked by them and wouldn't come out of the coop this morning (which explains why we found her in the carport - she wouldn't go into the coop, either).

Anyway, they'll have bugs and a few plums to find tomorrow and by the end of the week, I'll just have branches to give to my mom for kindling.

 

[cmom]

I use pine shavings and I sprinkle FOOD GRADE Diatomaceous Earth (DE) on the shavings. Also my roosts in my coop are over wire which allows the poop through and I sprinkle the DE over the poop too. The pine shavings are on the floor in the rest of the coop. Monthly I add some shavings until I have approx 4/6in, and weekly I add more DE. I clean my coop once a year. Once in awhile I throw some scratch on the shavings and let the chickens mix it up. They do a very good job. I have no problems with flies, stink and such. My pine shavings stay nice and dry easy to clean out. I put them in my compost pile. which every once in awhile I give a toss to keep it mixed up with the other stuff that goes in. sprinkle with water and let it cook. I move my coop and chicken yard about every 3 months approx, clean up the poop under the roost and it goes into the compost. I grow so much produce that I give most of it away. My soil is low in acid so I think the pine shavings are good for my soil. I usually buy the pine shavings at my local feed store. They were out before, so I have bought some in the pet department at Wal-Mart.

 

[horsejody]

Quote:
I wouldn't give them tomato branches. The green parts of the plant are toxic. You may have been fortunate so far, but the risk is there. Tomatoes are in the same family as deadly nightshade. The only part safe to eat is the fruit.

 

[jed1154]

It depends on the size. Its much like a fish tank, the bigger the better. IN my case, i havent cleaned out my coop in a couple of months. I use rice hulls, and it stays turned and the hulls are in thick. Also, the coop is very well ventilated. As for the run, its 25x50...there is no cleaning of anything in it, it sort of takes care of itself.