Texas

[bnjrob]

Na, just use that shavings fork without any wire. I'm telling you, it is a real skill to work a fork and a rake the way the racetrack grooms do. You don't dig into the sand--just take what's on top. Give it a couple of little flips, sort of like a chef flipping food in a saute pan. The sand will fall out. Then, gently rake the remaining bits into a pile, put the pile onto the upside-down rake and flip that a bit. You can get every bit of straw and manure off the sand and leave all the sand behind. It takes practice.

All joking aside (although I would never joke about the skill of a racetrack groom!), you don't have to get it perfectly clean. These are livestock.

LOL. You probably just freaked someone out with that "you don't have to get it perfectly clean" part. Some people freak out if they see just one little smear of dirt somewhere that they think might be poop.

 

[jajeanpierre]

LOL. You probably just freaked someone out with that "you don't have to get it perfectly clean" part. Some people freak out if they see just one little smear of dirt somewhere that they think might be poop.

Oh, my, I wonder what they think about my kitchen chicken!

I thought they might have thought I was a completely crazy person for the detail I gave on using a pitch fork, lol! Dust, ammonia, damp and poor ventilation the biggies to worry about, not disinfectant.

 

[gameandmore]

I bought a Minorca/WFBS 3 days ago and all 3 days I have been getting an egg, very excited.

 

[lovingmyhens]

As a kid we used to catch red ears and the epoxy bottle caps or pennies on their shells and let them go. You could identify them for years! Had one in a pond behind the house that was "tagged" when I was about 8 or 9 years old...I caught him again while I was on college! He was at least 10 years old.

As a kid we used to catch red ears and the epoxy bottle caps or pennies on their shells and let them go. You could identify them for years! Had one in a pond behind the house that was "tagged" when I was about 8 or 9 years old...I caught him again while I was on college! He was at least 10 years old.

That's hysterical!!

 

[Ms Jellybean]

Oh, my, I wonder what they think about my kitchen chicken!

I thought they might have thought I was a completely crazy person for the detail I gave on using a pitch fork, lol! Dust, ammonia, damp and poor ventilation the biggies to worry about, not disinfectant.

You mean keeping a featherless chicken in the house is not a normal thing to do?

I never saw anything wrong with that. Then again, my mom used to tell me I should live at the zoo. I love animals a lot.

 

[ChelseysChicken]

BB RED OEGB Rooster. 2013 hatch flock protective,fertile. IF anyone needs wants or knows someone who does IM YOUR GIRL!! North Texas,Cook county area

 

[hungnguyen]

wow, that is a beatiful Red stag.

 

[mi2bugz]

Hmmmmm, do you think if you got a little bit larger mesh that the sand would sift through faster but still catch the straw?  How big of a space are you having to do this with?

I used 1/2" hardware cloth and still have a problem getting some of the poops because they fall through the hole lol. I am doing an 8x8 area.

 

[hensfortherapy]

I am so eggcited!!!!!!
Miss Priss is definitely broody. First time in her life of 3 years. Wow. I have to find chicks. I will call Callahan's. They are in SE Austin. That's where I got my 4 BO pullets, my very first girls.

She is still on the nest hours after I took the egg she had layed away. She let me hand feed her sprouted oats while she was on the nest. I may give her a week and then get her some chicks. Light Sussex real Lace Wyandotte? More Buffs???

 

[jajeanpierre]

You mean keeping a featherless chicken in the house is not a normal thing to do?

I never saw anything wrong with that. Then again, my mom used to tell me I should live at the zoo. I love animals a lot.

Imagine the surprise of my non-animal loving house guest's surprise when he came for the Christmas holidays. He was very shocked to prepare eggs for breakfast that were still warm from being laid--laid in my kitchen.

My husband is starting to build my two little coops for the poor double-copy frizzles I have. I'm in the process of buying a couple of show quality Cochin pullets for the little cockerel. The three of them will live safely in one of my big parrot aviaries with my African Greys who think chickens are really funny. They'll be safe from predators and other chickens. The little kitchen chicken will live in another big aviary I have that is without parrots. I'll give her some chicks from the other Cochins to raise so that she can have a couple of girlfriends grow up with her thinking she is mama, then they won't hurt her and she can have friends. Without any cockerels and not having to wear an apron, she should grow her feathers back and I hope with two other normal frizzle birds, she won't have to come into my kitchen next winter. We'll build a special little coop for her and for the cockerel and his girls to make sure it will be warm, but have enough ventilation.