The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[jendodd79]

O & jendod - am curious - what's a whoodle? -- poodle + ?? wire hair terrier?? - how does it do with the chicks??

It's a half poodle, half wheaten terrier. Lol! It almost went crazy whining when we were raising the chicks in the house, but didn't try and eat them. She goes out in the morning and runs back and forth along the chicken run whining, but has never had the chance to be with them. I don't know what she'd do!!!



This is her as a pup


and at about 7 months old

She's 2 now and has grown longer, more like a poodle. She felts in this weather so I had to spend 4 hours cutting all her hair off before Christmas! She doesn't shed though

 

[Mumsy]

Oh my gosh you guys! 3 days I'm gone and I'm behind 62 pages!!

LOL!

I'm getting frustrated with my deep litter, I keep stirring and adding some "brown" stuff and I can't get the ammonia smell balanced. It's so darn damp here with our humidity and weather that I'm not sure I can get it dry enough at this time of year. I have probably a 12-16 inch base going of shavings, I put "dry stall" stuff down last week - I'm stirring it up. What am I doing wrong? It's an 8X4' coop and I have 8 hens. They have access to a run during the day, but hang out most of the day inside right now because we're hitting close to freezing and it's also been raining forever!

Your 8x4 coop is the same size as my roosting pen for five large chickens. I don't know what "dry stall" stuff is. I have to turn the poo under the roost on top of the deep litter everyday without fail or I start to smell ammonia too. I added three big fork fulls of DL from the barn isle and mixed it into the pen DL to get that earthy smell going again. My weather has been exactly like yours. Because of the extra dampness here is the reason I now add Sphagum peat moss to mine. It takes up a lot of that extra moisture

 

[aoxa]

It's a half poodle, half wheaten terrier. Lol! It almost went crazy whining when we were raising the chicks in the house, but didn't try and eat them. She goes out in the morning and runs back and forth along the chicken run whining, but has never had the chance to be with them. I don't know what she'd do!!!



This is her as a pup


and at about 7 months old

She's 2 now and has grown longer, more like a poodle. She felts in this weather so I had to spend 4 hours cutting all her hair off before Christmas! She doesn't shed though

She's half poodle. She wants to mother the chicks

My poodle girl will whine until I let her at them. Then she licks them and offers her 'milk'

 

[Bulldogma]

It's a half poodle, half wheaten terrier. Lol! It almost went crazy whining when we were raising the chicks in the house, but didn't try and eat them. She goes out in the morning and runs back and forth along the chicken run whining, but has never had the chance to be with them. I don't know what she'd do!!!
This is her as a pup

and at about 7 months old
She's 2 now and has grown longer, more like a poodle. She felts in this weather so I had to spend 4 hours cutting all her hair off before Christmas! She doesn't shed though

Beautiful picture! Teach her the "leave it!" command with food and other interesting things and then introduce her to the chicks when she obeys "leave it" well.

 

[Bulldogma]

She's half poodle. She wants to mother the chicks
My poodle girl will whine until I let her at them. Then she licks them and offers her 'milk'

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww! That's precious!!

 

[jendodd79]

Your 8x4 coop is the same size as my roosting pen for five large chickens. I don't know what "dry stall" stuff is. I have to turn the poo under the roost on top of the deep litter everyday without fail or I start to smell ammonia too. I added three big fork fulls of DL from the barn isle and mixed it into the pen DL to get that earthy smell going again. My weather has been exactly like yours. Because of the extra dampness here is the reason I now add Sphagum peat moss to mine. It takes up a lot of that extra moisture

Ah shoot ! I thought I had the math figured out to be able to have 8. I'll have to expand it when the weather gets nicer out. Since it's so tall, will adding a "split level" shelf about 4 feet up on the one side help for now? I can't wait until the weather is nicer and they start spending some more time outside!

 

[jendodd79]

She's half poodle. She wants to mother the chicks

My poodle girl will whine until I let her at them. Then she licks them and offers her 'milk'

Awwww - so cute!

 

[JeffOeuf]

Jen,

Just to let you know, there are other options to deep litter. I have a slightly smaller coop than yours for five birds. I keep the floor about 2 inches deep with rice hulls and throw in two tuna cans full of DE. I screen out the larger droppings every couple of weeks or so, add more rice hulls and DE when it seems like it needs it, and replace it all every couple of months. No odor, no moisture, nada. From what I've read from you over the last few weeks, that sounds like a lot less work than you're going through now.

 

[JeffOeuf]

It's a half poodle, half wheaten terrier. Lol! It almost went crazy whining when we were raising the chicks in the house, but didn't try and eat them. She goes out in the morning and runs back and forth along the chicken run whining, but has never had the chance to be with them. I don't know what she'd do!!!



and at about 7 months old

She's 2 now and has grown longer, more like a poodle. She felts in this weather so I had to spend 4 hours cutting all her hair off before Christmas! She doesn't shed though

Did anyone else see the LabraDoodle that was cut to look like a lion on the news? CUTE! Looks like you could carry that off with her, too.

 

[Ashdoes]

Jen,

Just to let you know, there are other options to deep litter. I have a slightly smaller coop than yours for five birds. I keep the floor about 2 inches deep with rice hulls and throw in two tuna cans full of DE. I screen out the larger droppings every couple of weeks or so, add more rice hulls and DE when it seems like it needs it, and replace it all every couple of months. No odor, no moisture, nada. From what I've read from you over the last few weeks, that sounds like a lot less work than you're going through now.

I've been wanting to try rice hulls since before I got chickens, but cannot find them. Where do you get yours?