The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Leahs Mom]

I use red rubber shoes for one coop and yellow ones for the other coop. They go into the dishwasher and clean really nice.

I wonder if I could find something like this that goes OVER A SHOE so I can still wear my regular shoes but just put the overshoe on. Maybe that would be too much of a hassle.

What I'm really thinking about is my boots. Like you, I only have one pair. I wear them winter and summer when it's wet. Maybe I should just get some of the colored rubber shoes and try that out. Where do you get 'em?

 

[aoxa]

I wonder if I could find something like this that goes OVER A SHOE so I can still wear my regular shoes but just put the overshoe on. Maybe that would be too much of a hassle.

What I'm really thinking about is my boots. Like you, I only have one pair. I wear them winter and summer when it's wet. Maybe I should just get some of the colored rubber shoes and try that out. Where do you get 'em?

My feed store is a drive through, so I can wear whatever footwear I want.

However, my boots are also bright in colour and I never wear them out. I do however occasionally wear my regular shoes to the barn, but it would be a rare instance, as I hate having chicken poo on my every-day shoes.

 

[stonykill]

I dont know why I never started, but I am starting my own FF today. Yes I am a slacker. I have been reading on it for awhile. I think I will put my own together today. Thanks for the info guys and the links. And the biosecurity,, if you have a neighbor who lives close enough and has chickens whom may visit your yard, even though you have asked not to, PLEASE have them read up and get educated too. Trust me it would be worth burning afew bridges over.

I don't do FF and as of right now have no plans to. Maybe in the spring...but I just don't think so. I'm quite happy with what I am doing.

 

[Bulldogma]

I use red rubber shoes for one coop and yellow ones for the other coop. They go into the dishwasher and clean really nice. I do not change cloths when I go from coop to coop, just the shoes. I do not ware my shoes off the property. I specifically chose shoes that practically glow in the dark so I would not be tempted to *just* run to the store. These shoes are pretty gross colored. During the winter I have one pair of barn boots. Those do not leave the property. I have hand sanitizer in each coop. I do not handle a chicken with out it. I have the kind that you rip open the package and have a wipe for winter. I do not handle eggs that I am going to hatch with bare hands, I use gloves. For eating it does not matter. During winter months I always had one barn, this year I have two and I have not practiced bio security since the first freeze. i am taking a calculated risk. Same shoes. No one is allowed with out shoe booties or spray to be with the chickens if they have chickens.

LOL - I put up the new blog post, and then you posted this... so I went back and edited it in! Great information!

Delisha is our guest poster today for the blog - Here's The Link!

And Delisha - I tend to edit for grammar and content... but if anything seems amiss to you, please let me know so I can correct it!!

 

[delisha]

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to answer our many questions! You all are greatly appreciated!

I know there are lots of threads about raising chicks, but I'd love your perspective in terms of natural practices to use in a brooder.
I obviously am not using the most natural...a broody hen, because I don't have one yet. I should have chicks hatching on Christmas. I have a large dog kennel to use as an inside brooder. I also have the Brinsea Ecoglow 20 (well it's in the box as it's my Chirstmas present from DH

). I'll use the panels that come with the Ecoglow brooder set to block drafts and provide a safe area inside the kennel to start, then wrap hardware cloth around the sides to keep the chicks in once they're large enough to play around. I plan on using the same water with UACV and a couple drops of Dawn I use with the other chickens. What about FF? Can I use that from the start? And I've heard great things about both DL wood chips and gravel being used in the brooder. Thoughts? Advice? TIA

What a wonderful christmas present! I would start the FF the day hatch is expected. They do not need to eat for a few days, so it will give your FF time to get perfect.
Dawn is not needed for new chicks. It certainly will not hurt. They have not been exposed to chicken poo and worms yet, or when you start to acclimate them for outdoors you can add the dawn than. Aoxia has a few pictures of her sod inside her brooder and she would be perfect to ask about that. Chicks peck at every thing and eat every thing. Keeping a clean brooder for a few weeks and gradually going to deep litter is a great idea. Have you thought about sand and using a cat scoop to keep it clean? The sand is a small grit for them and it is easy to clean. That might work better for a dog kennel. Just a few ideas. Your would work fine! welcome to the group and glad you posted..
You must post pictures as soon as possible! We love new chicks!
I am sure your ideas will work great too!

 

[aoxa]

LOL - I put up the new blog post, and then you posted this... so I went back and edited it in! Great information!

Delisha is our guest poster today for the blog - Here's The Link!

And Delisha - I tend to edit for grammar and content... but if anything seems amiss to you, please let me know so I can correct it!!

Very good topic!

 

[Miss Lydia]

ok, I read the thread about biosecurity.

Made me nervous! I've always heard horror stories about showing your birds and bringing them home with all sorts of horrible things.

I don't currently practice biosecurity unless I am visiting someone else's flock. It never occurred to me not to wear the same boots I wear to the feed mill in the coop or chicken runs. And I went to a swap last spring - and brought home a few chickens who were quarantined for a month. But I sure didn't think about my shoes!

How about the rest of you? What are you doing?

I have gone to a few shows and this is what i did, I have Oxine ah I mixed some up in a spray bottle and when I got to the parking lot where my car was [thank goodness i didn't drive] I would have had to take it through the car wash if i had of. I sprayed myself top to bottom with the oxine /water spray. it won't turn your clothes like bleach will. I changed my shoes and sprayed the ones I wore down with the spray. When I got home I changed my clothes right way and put them in the washer. Last summer I took care of a friends chickens for her while they went to the beach. I did the same thing there too. but sprayed in her driveway before getting in the car. I have also used oxine and water in a foot tub and had my friend and her children step in it before entering our yard. Needless to say they don't visit often since she will bring birds home and stick them with her flock, she has lost some that way too. Alot of folks don't understand how important it is to keep your birds safe.

 

[maidenwolfx80]

I don't do FF and as of right now have no plans to. Maybe in the spring...but I just don't think so. I'm quite happy with what I am doing.

I have seen so many people talk about the less waste and that means less money. I am afraid to start it because if they dont eat it that is a waste too. I decided I am going to make a small batch and see how they take it. It would be good for them in the cold months,,, hopefully

 

[delisha]

As always..great job Leigh..you are one in a million!

 

[JeffOeuf]

...We all know we are not suppose to use it. It can be toxic for the birds. Chickens have sensitive respiratory systems and the fumes alone can be harmful....

So, I guess my girls should be dead by now. Their coop is constructed completely from aromatic eastern red cedar. If left to their own devices around here, chickens would live in cedar trees. In fact, I have one who does. The entire flock spends the vast majority of their day foraging under a grove of cedar trees, pecking through a hundred years worth of needle litter, broken branches and stripped bark. This when they have 10 acres of mixed hardwood and open grassland to choose from. I would like to see an authoritative reference to your statement above, that cedar has any harmful effect on chickens. I might buy into the idea that commercially available cedar shavings aren't a good choice of bedding for young chicks, since it is highly aromatic, but other than that I need some proof that cedar poses any sort of hazard.