The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[aoxa]

Thanks for the reply!!

Darn, I was hoping one of those would be fine... What I'm looking for in bedding is something fairly inexpensive, natural, and preferably very little dust as my dad's lungs aren't the strongest and dust makes him get a super bad cough. Any help or advice would be awesome!!

Hay and straw is very dusty. I find it more dusty than the shavings.

I have no experience with sand just yet, but it seems like the least dust free option.. But you can't compost it.. That's why I don't use it.

Good ventilation is your friend.

 

[loanwizard]

I have used hay instead of shavings, straw, etc.....

I paid $2.00 a bale for hay which seems like a lot less than $6.00 for a big bag of shavings.

I have a leaky barn, so I get lots of wetness. My floor is dirt. It doesn't smell often, but when it does, I add another layer of hay. I have not cleaned it out since last April and it is packed like a brick. I am dreading the job. I also used a lot of shredded leaves this winter. I may switch to shavings simply because I discovered that grass clippings are nitrogen, not carbon, and to compost with 100 chickens, I need carbon which shavings satisfy..... Dreading the cleanout of those two stalls..... Wonder if I should move some feeders in there to root it?

 

[Star Flock]

Thanks everyone! I had heard hay can be dusty but that's why I was planning on getting this particular kind that is heat treated (reduces mold) and dust free (mostly). Here's a link:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/683176/experiment-with-bedding

I considered sand but we live in Texas so it gets very hot and humid. Plus, we want to compost, too, making sand not the best option. The coop is going to be in our shed. As far as I know we'll be fixing up the roof to prevent leaks. This bedding issue has been the hardest to decide...

 

[AVintageLife]

Thanks for the reply!!

Darn, I was hoping one of those would be fine... What I'm looking for in bedding is something fairly inexpensive, natural, and preferably very little dust as my dad's lungs aren't the strongest and dust makes him get a super bad cough. Any help or advice would be awesome!!

I can't tolerate dust either and switched to Lucerne Gold and love it, it smells so good and the chickies love it in their nest boxes. It's not inexpensive though and not all places carry it. You could do a combination of wood shavings and the Lucerne. I use a ratio of one bag of wood shavings / two bags LG.

 

[aoxa]

Thanks everyone! I had heard hay can be dusty but that's why I was planning on getting this particular kind that is heat treated (reduces mold) and dust free (mostly). Here's a link:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/683176/experiment-with-bedding

I considered sand but we live in Texas so it gets very hot and humid. Plus, we want to compost, too, making sand not the best option. The coop is going to be in our shed. As far as I know we'll be fixing up the roof to prevent leaks. This bedding issue has been the hardest to decide...

At the feed store, hay is more expensive than shavings. I can get a huge bale of shavings for $5.99 and the small bales of hay are $6, but do not last like the shavings, and that is just regular feeding hay, not this special stuff you are talking about. How much would you be saving?

 

[Star Flock]

I can't tolerate dust either and switched to Lucerne Gold and love it, it smells so good and the chickies love it in their nest boxes. It's not inexpensive though and not all places carry it. You could do a combination of wood shavings and the Lucerne. I use a ratio of one bag of wood shavings / two bags LG.

Thank you, thank you! I'm not for positive, but when I went to the website it says our tack store has Lucerne products, which is only twenty minutes away (same distance to our grocery store so really great!) I know it's more expensive than I was hoping, but the low dust is worth a lot to me. I'll do some research on wood shavings and get it figure out. And I need to make a run to the tack shop anyway so I'll make sure they have what I'm looking for (fingers crossed!)

How big is your coop and how often do you change out bedding? I've heard it can last several months and still smell nice with minimal dust..? Any more information is much appreciated!

 

[Leahs Mom]

Quote:

http://www.cornerstone-farm.com/equipment/poultry-float-valve-226

http://naturalchickenkeeping.blogspot.com/2013/01/comparison-of-poultry-cup-drinkers.html


I also have the right drill bit measurement now....have to go look it up and get that post updated too.

 

[Leahs Mom]

On the nipple waterers - it wasn't that they were leaking around where they attach to the bucket. It was that when the chickens drank, the nipples dropped a lot of water while they were drinking. I actually put a pan under it and it would fill up the pan!

Then I tried a different kind, and they didn't release enough water

.

I finally just came to the conclusion that it wasn't a natural way for a chicken to drink to reach up for a nipple. I guess I could have made them work if I kept trying at it, but I just wanted something that they could drink from that was more in the natural position.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Oh..AFL - just noticed you are using a pvc pipe. Scroll down in that blog post and you can see the videos. They're really designed to be on a pvc pipe. I just put it on a bucket.

And you can get them all set up and on the pipe if you want them that way. There are several places that sell the setup.

Here is ONE of the places that sells set-ups:

http://www.beaktime.com/water.php




ETA: And here's a more expensive one
http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/poultry_cup_waterer.html

 

[OohLaLa]

Some pictures from today. Henry enjoying the water. Makes me want to build a pond so he can swim with the geese and ducks

Wow he's gotten big and so lovable looking