The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[potagergirl]

like the number of chickens you tell yourself you are going to have/keep.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

The first company I worked with brought a little load but the company I called this fall brought and brought and brought some more wood chips. I'm set for 2 years or more most likely. now I'm thinking of other things to use the wood chips for. The garden video posted earlier is a great idea. The video itself was very preachy and long but the wood chip as a weed barrier and ground protection for the garden is great.

 

[Amberjem]

 

[sunflower4you]

Can I spread my old deep litter pine shaving bedding from the coop out in the run? I know it sounds like a silly question, but with all the poo in there is that just going to spread more poo in the run and make a mess? Should I just compost the pine shavings instead? The temp is going to actually crack 30 degrees on Saturday (gasp!) and I figured it would be a nice warm day to clean out the poopy coop. I got chickens in July and I have never cleaned out the bedding, but for some reason my deep litter doesn't actually break down. Maybe because I have a plastic screen/pallet floor in the coop instead of a dirt floor? In the summer/fall I had a poop board that I scraped every morning, but in the winter I have just been turning the bedding since the poo is frozen anyway. It's starting to get a little thick in there now, though.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Can I spread my old deep litter pine shaving bedding from the coop out in the run? I know it sounds like a silly question, but with all the poo in there is that just going to spread more poo in the run and make a mess? Should I just compost the pine shavings instead? The temp is going to actually crack 30 degrees on Saturday (gasp!) and I figured it would be a nice warm day to clean out the poopy coop. I got chickens in July and I have never cleaned out the bedding, but for some reason my deep litter doesn't actually break down. Maybe because I have a plastic screen/pallet floor in the coop instead of a dirt floor? In the summer/fall I had a poop board that I scraped every morning, but in the winter I have just been turning the bedding since the poo is frozen anyway. It's starting to get a little thick in there now, though.

YES! That's exactly what I do. But I don't spread it...I just put it in a pile and let the chickens spread it. I put the piles in the area I want it to go. Sometimes several of them, and then they go to work. They love doing it! You won't even know there was a pile there before.

 

[Leahs Mom]

PS: It will break down nicely out there in the run. My little hen shed is raised and not a dirt floor. But boy does that make the best, healthiest soil out there in the run. That goes out and I also put wood chips on the run from the tree trimmers too.

No smell. And I had no flies in the summer either.

 

[COChix]

YES!  That's exactly what I do.  But I don't spread it...I just put it in a pile and let the chickens spread it.  I put the piles in the area I want it to go.  Sometimes several of them, and then they go to work.  They love doing it!  You won't even know there was a pile there before.

Ditto, I pushed all the dirty bedding out of the coop around the outside towards their free range area and they just spread it nicely around and now most of the area around the coop and run has a nice layer of straw. They loved it! I out a bale in their run and tossed chunks of straw around in strategic spots and let the gang go to town.

Can anyone give me suggestions to deter mice? We are in a very rural area and next to an open space so we are getting more and more. I am pulling their food from the run each night, will be working on PVC Gravity feeders that we can just cap/cover at night. Our girls are mousers so when a nest is found they make quick work of it. Any suggestions? I was thinking a barn cat, but would haven t be strictly a barn cat as boyfriend is allergic. We also have an active coon and coyote population In our area. I need of course something natural.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

A barn cat will work IF he can get everywhere. If he is locked out of the chicken area then the mice will hide there. After all the food and water are in the chicken area and the cat is not.
I now try to lock a cat in the chicken area at night at least once a week. I have 3 cats so it is just a matter of getting one into the coop or run before dark and latching the gate.

 

[lazy gardener]

Have you tried the 5 gal bucket/water trap? You'd have to put it somewhere the chickens couldn't access it.

 

[konachicks]

Mine is mostly sprout vs. the fodder (to grass stage).  Mine love the sprouted seeds!

My girls also prefer the sprouts more. I kept reading people saying the longer you let it grow it can be dangerous or a choking hazard. No clue if that's true, but since they love the sprouts I just grow them about 3/4 days and give it to them here they are going crazy over them