The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[lalaland]

Here is a link on venting your coop to give you an idea. I live in the dang blasted frozen mountains of Pa. I have windows on all four sides of my coop. I open and close them according to which way the wind is howling from.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/...-go-out-there-and-cut-more-holes-in-your-coop

zinia, thanks for the link - it was a really really good article.

 

[lalaland]

My original rainwater collection was a stock tank, I used Goldfish in the tank to prevent Mosquitoes. (skeeters is missouri speak) I have since switched to a 55gal plastic drum with a spigot for rainwater collection.





As for drip edge, all openings into the coop has something to divert rain from seeping in, the nest boxes outside doors have rubber strips cut from inner tubes stapled over the hinge, they have been in place keeping water & wind out for over twenty years.

the inner tubes are a great idea.
with the goldfish, do you have to feed them? I use rainbarrels with screening tied over them, but still worry about mosquitos. Think the goldfish idea is really interesting - does the water get too yucky for them?

I really loved the tilling pic with all the hens following you looking for goodies.

 

[stonykill]

Fresh red on all the white pretty must be shocking to look at.

shocking...no. Stark contrast...yes.

 

[lalaland]

deep litter report:

I have used what I called DL for more than a decade - clean it all out in the spring, start fresh with hay, keep adding layers of hay to cover poop. Sometimes use a poop board depending on coop setup. Come as late as I can do it in the fall or early winter, clean it all out and start again. My experience is poop never composts in the coop - too dry in the summer, and frozen in the winter.

from the gnarly bunch thread, THis fall I decided to give it a shot to do "true DL" even though I couldn't understand how it could compost frozen. THought, well, if it gets a good start maybe it can continue to compost, like the way a mulch pile gives off steam under the snow in the winter.

Nah. Dang stuff is still frozen, and now I'm dealing with frozen crap. It forms a sort of lid on top of the straw, and when the girls spend a couple of days in a row in the coop because of cold or fear of white stuff (their decision, not mine), it gets really nasty and they are all walking around with sh**t on their feet. They aren't stiring it, because it is too hard. WIll stir where I have lighted the load, but....Am cleaning it out for a belated fresh start as the moisture buildup is a little too much.

What I did do this fall that I want to keep on doing, was to add leaves, and a little dirt to the hay mix. I think I will do that next fall too, but this composting thing just isn't working in northern minnesota. Maybe if I had a dirt floor, but....

 

[Bulldogma]

There is a new thing in that place.

 

[Melabella]

just a random statement....

The thing I hate most about winter time is when
after a beautiful light, fluffy 6 inches of snow falls,
it is followed by a drizzle of rain
making the snow unbearable heavy
a mess when temperatures drop tonight.



URGG
​

On a lighter note,,,I got 5 eggs for the first time this morning! Maybe by 4pm I'll get one more!

MB

​

 

[stonykill]

2 of this mornings kills. These 2 will be Sundays dinner.

 

[aoxa]

4 inches of fresh snow this morning. Killed 3 roo's 1st thing in it. WOW is that messy

. Everyone is out and fed now. Water is hot. Time to get the yukky pants on and pluck. Only 3 this morning. 3 or 4 more head to freezer camp over the weekend. Maybe more. Too many young boys harrassing the pullets and hens.

2 of this mornings kills. These 2 will be Sundays dinner.

That looks bigger than I picture for sumatras. All in a hard days work!

 

[stonykill]

That looks bigger than I picture for sumatras. All in a hard days work!

these are 2 of the smallest roosters I've butchered. Young boys.... young randy boys. I'm hungry

I think I'll cook up a couple of eggs now.

Not that most Sumatra roo's are much bigger... but this size is more representative of hen size

 

[aoxa]

these are 2 of the smallest roosters I've butchered. Young boys.... young randy boys. I'm hungry

I think I'll cook up a couple of eggs now.

Not that most Sumatra roo's are much bigger... but this size is more representative of hen size

you must have picked a good angle. I guess if you take into consideration the plate.. yeah they are small. But a good size for a 2 person dinner