The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[vpatt]

Production reds aren't a mix,well not all.

I have done  a lot of research and the only possible thing in a Tractor Supply hatchery,a production Red would be  likely bred with Red Jungle fowl.
The Production Red is bred of RIRXNewHampshire(The "Proper" way to say the breed)X(Sometimes,often) Leghorn to make the PR's egg production 100% better.
After having the Production Red with every flock,they lay well,an d surprisingly can't be sexed at age.

Great egg layers laying X large eggs,although I've never got a "Double" yolker from my 3 or 4 PR hens.

as for the Red sexlink,nah,never gettin' another 1.too bossy and aggressive,and from my experience,small eggs,horrible layers.:/

I am not arguing...I have very little experience. But I have had a Red sex link for about 3-4 months now. She is the best layer...an egg every day. She is friendly and curious....not bossy at all. She is on the lower end of the pecking order. I want more like her. Had several double yolkers and huge eggs while she was adjusting to laying. I hope there are more like her and she is not a fluke.

 

[NanaLynn]

armorfirelady
I see you are using the deep littler method. I've been trying it, but my hens aren't interesting in scratching it EVER. I pasture them as well so maybe it's just not necessary?

I would like it to work so that I can use it on the farm. What mix of stuff are you putting in your coop?

Of course anyone else with success please chime in.

I use the deep litter method and do the same as some of the others and toss some in the run every now and then to continue decomposing. I have misted my coop floor before with the mist setting on one of our hose sprayers and that does seem to help it break down more. I also added dirt, compost and recently started adding a little Sweet PDZ too. The variety of items added seems to help. It is all on a linoleum floor too. It does seem pretty dry in there at times and that's why I mist it with water.

Just this weekend I opened up there coop windows and doors and added a lot of leaves too to freshen it up for them. Mine will take dust baths in it and seem to enjoy digging through it with each load of stuff that I add. Plus I throw scratch in there every few days too. So far it is working for me, but I plan on always putting it in the run first for awhile before trying to use it in the garden. I have never used DE.

 

[sunflower4you]

I have exactly the same thing going. Deep pine shavings on a linoleum floor, no composting happening, and they don't dig much in it.

I do shovel the used litter from the coop into the runs, and let the chickens spread it around for me. Once the litter and poop are outside on the ground, it composts down into the dirt pretty nicely, and it keeps the runs from getting muddy.

That was my thought with putting the pine shavings in the run for the spring thaw - to keep it from getting too muddy. Right now the run looks like a giant hamster cage.

 

[armorfirelady]

sigh. I'ld surely like to win the lottery.

PM'ing with a woman who raises 300 broilers a year plus her own egg flock....she and others share processing so she has had a ton of opportunity to see what happens internally with different feeds. She is feeding soy free, corn free, alfalfa free for her own birds because of the internal tumors, yellow or spotty livers, etc that she has observed in flocks.

If I understood her right, access to pasture versus a run makes the biggest difference, followed by eliminating the gmo issues of soy corn alfalfa - at least in our region, there isn't really such a thing as non gmo soy corn alfalfa. so, conventional feed and access to fresh pasture was better than organic feed in a run or with limited access or no access to pasture. best of all = non soy/gmo and access to pasture.

I just interrupted two big black dogs chasing deer . These are the two that I am pretty sure took out my entire flock a couple of years ago by digging under the fences.

If I won the lottery I would be buying land with several acres in the middle of nowhere. And I would def have more hens and a rooster. Of course I need to play the lottery if I want to win it

And I hope those dogs stay away from your hens

armorfirelady
I see you are using the deep littler method. I've been trying it, but my hens aren't interesting in scratching it EVER. I pasture them as well so maybe it's just not necessary?

I would like it to work so that I can use it on the farm. What mix of stuff are you putting in your coop?

Of course anyone else with success please chime in.

During the winter I use wood shavings, leaves & a little hay. I also add some peat moss. And when I change out their dust bath the wood ashes and peat moss get dumped in the DL. I turn it with a pitch fork a few times during the winter so the broke down stuff on the bottom gets on the stuff on the top to help it break down. Especially the hay which takes longer to break down. And while the girls do scratch through it if I throw some seed into it its so deep (probably close to 2 ft now) they never get down to the ground. ANd I only add it when the other stuff looks pretty much broken down. I figure that way it has time to break down before adding more on top.

In the spring I empty it out completely and dump it in the garden. Add some wood chips and don't really touch it again. The girls are only in there to roost. When it gets dusty I spray some water on it. The DL really needs some moisture to break down whether its winter or summer. I also think good ventilation helps also. I certainly don't lack that in my coop. And during the spring/summer I do add weeds, grass clippings, pine needles. Whatever I can get for free. I found a guy via craig's list who gives me free wood shavings every few months. I surely can't complain that I pay nothing for their bedding

My girls cant pasture hear during the winter. They use the veggie garden as their winter area but I don't shovel it. We get to much snow for that. But I do shovel a path to their old run where they like to spend their days. (It also has DL in it) And a path to a lean to I have in the garden. The peepers like to venture out there and see what they can find. Once the snow melts the electric netting goes up until the first snow.

 

[Leahs Mom]

sigh. I'ld surely like to win the lottery.

PM'ing with a woman who raises 300 broilers a year plus her own egg flock....she and others share processing so she has had a ton of opportunity to see what happens internally with different feeds. She is feeding soy free, corn free, alfalfa free for her own birds because of the internal tumors, yellow or spotty livers, etc that she has observed in flocks.

If I understood her right, access to pasture versus a run makes the biggest difference, followed by eliminating the gmo issues of soy corn alfalfa - at least in our region, there isn't really such a thing as non gmo soy corn alfalfa. so, conventional feed and access to fresh pasture was better than organic feed in a run or with limited access or no access to pasture. best of all = non soy/gmo and access to pasture.

I just interrupted two big black dogs chasing deer . These are the two that I am pretty sure took out my entire flock a couple of years ago by digging under the fences.

Very interesting to have someone be able to see the difference.

I'm glad I'm able to get my feed from the mill so I can have it made the way I want it.

Quote: Putting it in the run is the best way to keep the run healthy! Keeps it from becoming a slick, muddy, unhealthy, "bad bacteria" breeding ground!


One thing you always have to ask someone when they talk about their deep litter is if they have a dirt floor inside the coop. If they do, it will do a bit better at composting indoors that if the floor isn't dirt.

I also have vinyl on mine and I do use the deep litter in there. I put a little dirt in when I get it started so that there is some level of ability to breed some good bacteria from the addition of the garden dirt. But I put it out on the run whenever it gets on the deep side which is more in the winter than summer, of course. It makes very healthy soil out there.

 

[Leahs Mom]

My "red" girl that brooded twice was from Townline Hatchery in Michigan. They sold them as "Rhode Island Reds".

 

[Shan30]

I am planning on cleaning out my coop next weekend. It's just too wet here right now and my DL is getting kinda gross. I'm starting to worry about mould and have a cockerel that I believe has botulism so I'm going to have to bite the bullet and start fresh. It's been such a weird winter. Only frozen a few times and no snow. Just more rain and more mud everyday. Thanks Mr. tropical ocean current that stole winter :/. I swear I haven't been properly dry in months.

 

[LindaB220]

what does isa brown mean....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISA_Brown

http://townlinehatchery.com/product/isa-browns/

They are so different from red sexlinks. Do a little research. I'm buying from Townline and under 25 the price is $3.50 BUT over 25 and the price decreases to $2.48. Townline is the only supplier in America. They sell directly to people and feed stores etc.

 

[COChix]

So I use the deep litter method as well but haven't been adding soil, which is a great thing to add. So that will need to change. I use straw for my deep litter method. I began the deep litter method around End of October before our first cold snap. I have wooden floors as the coop was a repurposed shed. I cleaned out the coop last week, the first time since October and I would say it was about 1 - 1 1/2 feet deep. I sprinkled a good amount of DE and Sweet PDZ on the floor and let the coop completely air out and then put about 1 foot of straw bedding down. It is always a balancing act of adding more bedding/leaves/shavings or whatever you use for bedding when the waste accumulates. My daily (most of the time) routine was pretty much sprinkling DE on the wet droppings in the am and let it sit for a bit, then turn with a pitch fork. With 25 birds the poop accumulates fast and the reason I cleaned it out is it was starting to smell. I bought some Sweet PDZ and now I mix that with DE for my daily sprinkling of the poop . Since doing this method my humidity in the coop hasn't gone above 26% and we have had a lot of melting around here.

So I have this saved for reference and thought I would share.....

Carbon/Nitrogen Ratio
All compostable materials are either carbon or nitrogen-based, to varying degrees. The secret to a healthy compost pile is to maintain a working balance between these two elements.

Carbon - carbon-rich matter (like branches, stems, dried leaves, peels, bits of wood, bark dust or sawdust pellets, shredded brown paper bags, corn stalks, coffee filters, conifer needles, egg shells, straw, peat moss, wood ash) gives compost its light, fluffy body.

Nitrogen - nitrogen or protein-rich matter (manures, food scraps, green lawn clippings and green leaves) provides raw materials for making enzymes.

A healthy compost pile should have much more carbon than nitrogen. A simple rule of thumb is to use one-third green and two-thirds brown materials. The bulkiness of the brown materials allows oxygen to penetrate and nourish the organisms that reside there. Too much nitrogen makes for a dense, smelly, slowly decomposing anaerobic mass. Good composting hygiene means covering fresh nitrogen-rich material, which can release odors if exposed to open air, with carbon-rich material, which often exudes a fresh, wonderful smell. If in doubt, add more carbon!

Here is the website I got this from, there is a great chart on the site that shows what materials break down into carbon or nitrogen.


http://eartheasy.com/grow_compost.html

Also on a side note if anyone is using pine shavings they are acidic and don't break down well.

 

[COChix]

Ok so I ran to a local Farm and Garden store and bought a 50lb bag of oyster shells and I am e because they are exactly what I have been looking for. Here is at shot of the bag and the shells. The brand is Pacific Pearl and it was $14.00 for the bag which I thought was a good price.

I put it out in their containers around 2 and it is already gone. The girls love it.