Stella's Social Club

[The Sheriff]

Frustrated this morning. I am contemplating a huge downsizing of my flocks. About half my birds don't roost, choosing to sleep in the nest boxes instead. Most of the boxes are unusable due to poop buildup. I have closed them off with chicken wire so they can't get in them. I added two of these plastic boxes in the big coop. Worked well for about a week until they figured out how to pop the little perch down at night after I flipped it up. This morning both boxes are full of poop and I have to unscrew them from the wall to clean them out. Plus they broke two eggs in there, adding to the poop. I give up. I am going to pull the offenders out next week and have my friend pick them up. Does no good to have chickens if the eggs are too poopy to eat or sell. We have sporadically had birds that didn't roost, but this is ridiculous. We have more than enough roost space in every coop without crowding.



Once I get rid of the non-roosting birds I'll clean all the nest boxes out and try it again. If they start sleeping in them again then they will be walled off permanently with plywood and they'll have to lay eggs on the floor. The eggs can't be any more disgusting that way than they are now. I think this is worse than trying to eradicate the egg eaters in the Isbars last year. I decimated my Isbar flock in the process.

 

[The Sheriff]

This time I really really mean it !

Hope Santa is following this thread.

 

[mlm Mike]

For WHAT?

The big breakout they have planned. (Shh, I wasn't supposed to say anything)

 

[mlm Mike]

Frustrated this morning. I am contemplating a huge downsizing of my flocks. About half my birds don't roost, choosing to sleep in the nest boxes instead. Most of the boxes are unusable due to poop buildup. I have closed them off with chicken wire so they can't get in them. I added two of these plastic boxes in the big coop. Worked well for about a week until they figured out how to pop the little perch down at night after I flipped it up. This morning both boxes are full of poop and I have to unscrew them from the wall to clean them out. Plus they broke two eggs in there, adding to the poop. I give up. I am going to pull the offenders out next week and have my friend pick them up. Does no good to have chickens if the eggs are too poopy to eat or sell. We have sporadically had birds that didn't roost, but this is ridiculous. We have more than enough roost space in every coop without crowding.



Once I get rid of the non-roosting birds I'll clean all the nest boxes out and try it again. If they start sleeping in them again then they will be walled off permanently with plywood and they'll have to lay eggs on the floor. The eggs can't be any more disgusting that way than they are now. I think this is worse than trying to eradicate the egg eaters in the Isbars last year. I decimated my Isbar flock in the process.

I hate when they do that, it is very frustrating!

 

[The Sheriff]

Speaking of nest boxes, I built two yesterday for the emus.








Now they just need to get busy! Chica and louis are inseparable now. Who knew whew would ever be good with a mate in her pasture? Not me! But I love it.

 

[1muttsfan]

Jake, if you were a little closer I would run down and do pics for you. We have a few feet of snow so far and the roads aren't great, unfortunately. I would like to see some Icelandics, I wonder if they could possibly be as cute as the Swedish Flower hens, they are really growing on me.

Got 10 eggs today - from 1 to 10 in about 10 days

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Frustrated this morning. I am contemplating a huge downsizing of my flocks. About half my birds don't roost, choosing to sleep in the nest boxes instead. Most of the boxes are unusable due to poop buildup. I have closed them off with chicken wire so they can't get in them. I added two of these plastic boxes in the big coop. Worked well for about a week until they figured out how to pop the little perch down at night after I flipped it up. This morning both boxes are full of poop and I have to unscrew them from the wall to clean them out. Plus they broke two eggs in there, adding to the poop. I give up. I am going to pull the offenders out next week and have my friend pick them up. Does no good to have chickens if the eggs are too poopy to eat or sell. We have sporadically had birds that didn't roost, but this is ridiculous. We have more than enough roost space in every coop without crowding.



Once I get rid of the non-roosting birds I'll clean all the nest boxes out and try it again. If they start sleeping in them again then they will be walled off permanently with plywood and they'll have to lay eggs on the floor. The eggs can't be any more disgusting that way than they are now. I think this is worse than trying to eradicate the egg eaters in the Isbars last year. I decimated my Isbar flock in the process.

I have switched to sand in the nest boxes (covered kitty litter pans) and love it. A little poo in there? No problem as I am out with the kitty litter scoop every day, raking the sand on the floor and scooping. So as my younger members of the flock "learn" where to roost, I clean up all the stray poo with my scoop. This saves me a ton of $ on shavings in the nest boxes.

If you try it, I'd go with just one box to see if you like it, as sand is very heavy.
Wear a mask when sifting sand! It is VERY dusty.

 

[The Sheriff]

Thanks for the suggestion but I can't use sand due to the dust. Tried it and my lung problems flared up. I have problems breathing through a mask but I wear one while shoveling shavings. Sand probably works well with a few chickens but I have almost 60 chickens in five coops. That's a lot of raking.

 

[Happy Chooks]

You think chickens are hard to photograph? Try bees! Holy heck. I was trying to get a good picture of one of my bees with her pollen sacs full, but every one is a blur because they are faster than I can click the button.

I did manage to get this picture today though.

 

[The Sheriff]

Nice pic Kelly!