The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Leahs Mom]

My Current Favorite Hen House Tool

I had a narrow plastic "leaf rake" that I was using in the hen house to stir/turn litter from time time. Even though the plastic was fairly rigid, it wasn't strong enough to really get down in there and a couple of the tines broke off.

So...I was looking for something else and quite by mistake, I was in a Menards a few weeks ago and saw child-size garden rakes. Not a toy, a real rake but just child size.

I took a chance and bought one. Oddly enough, it has worked GREAT. I love that thing. Shorter handle helps maneuver into strange spaces that are often found in hen house spaces, and the smaller rake head is perfect for the same reason.

So...there you have it. A "tool review" Only $5.99. Tell 'em Leah's Mom sent you.

http://www.menards.com/main/outdoor...ing-tools/kids-bow-rake/p-1495038-c-13241.htm

 

[BlueMouse]

Aoxa, Thanks so much for the advice for the flea free, I did find it in the states, and sent a link to my friend. Looks great. I may start using it on my dog. I hate to put the frontline on him but his ruff is so thick that it' almost impossible to really flea comb him for ticks. Not to mention not having the time to completely flea comb the dog every time he goes outside

I totally have a bottle on order!

Leah's mom, you can order in bulk directly from frontier for a lot of things, I don't know about oregano. Probably cheaper than the natural food store? although there's the issue of shippng, and having a whole pound or whatever of oregano. I've started to order a lot our staples in bulk now that we go through stuff so much more quickly.

 

[lalaland]

Ticks.. Yuck.. I hate tick season.



http://www.fleafree.ca/documents/flea_free_information_pages.pdf

It is safe for use on livestock. In their water. Ingredients are listed, so you could make your own:


I recommend this stuff all the time. I have found it works SO well. Ticks are not bothering my dogs at all, and last year not even the vet expensive stuff worked!

I think I am going to get some and dose myself! worse year for ticks ever - in the meantime, gonna make the garlic -iest guacamole you ever ate, and a big vinegary salad. Heading over to my neighbors to pick nettles, then picking dandelions here for salad. I only like dandelion greens early early in the spring, they just started blooming yesterday so I might be too late already.

 

[Bulldogma]

Just when I thought I was going to slide through Spring into Summer without much incident to discuss, found a dead turkey poult this afternoon.

With the help of my very tall best friend I put a roof vent (salvaged from when they replaced my house roof yesterday, on the hoop coop
Here is looking at it from the outside. We just attached it with zip ties
And here is looking up at it from inside the coop. When I cut e tape out from the inside I could instantly feel the cool air and it felt like the temp in the coop dropped
I'm just hoping the rain doesn't get in.......since its raining now I guess I will find out

Totally love this idea! I'm going to try this on my own hoop coop as soon as I can afford a vent. I'm also thinking about doing an article on constructing hoop coops on the thing. If I do, may I use your photos?

finally finished the chick cupboard in my demolishing and redoing the storage end of the trailer coop. white washing is soo messy but I like the result. Used stony's recipe on the thing.
this shows one of the windows I uncovered -there is another one on the wall opposite the brooder cupboard.
I ended up using hardware cloth instead of chicken wire because of weasels - the trailer door is a bit cattywampus and doesn't have a solid close.
when they outgrow the cupboard, they will go to the floor. There is a chicken wire wall between this area and the existing coop, so the two groups will be able to see each other to help with integration.
am waiting for the phone call to go pick up the chicks. maybe tomorrow?

Looks great!!!!

Thanks for a great thread, all!

Welcome! And your welcome - LOL! We have such an amazing group of people here. Please feel free to ask any questions you have!


The barn looks AMAZING!

 

[Quailsong]

BEARS!!!

This morning as always my husband opened the pop door at 5 am. I get up at 5:45 and the girls are just starting to come out.

6am they were all out milling around. 6:45 I got out of the shower and looked out the window to see no chickens and lots of feathers. Ran out and one bird came flying out of the brush clearly terrified. Carried her inside and saw another running around the yard.(outside the run). Went to go pick her up, dog went balistic, turned around to face 2 black bears. About 20 feet from me, I was about 30 feet from the coop and 60 from the house.

I raised my arms(yeah right I'm going to look huge with my spindly arms over my 5'2" self), yelled like heck and they did nothing but drool. Needless to say I ran for the coop, slammed my way in and tried to breathe. Waited 15 minutes and they just stared and moved a bit closer.

So I stepped onto the porch of the coop armed with a dull knife and a garbage can lid, threw everything in reach at them. Surprised myself by hitting them a few times but they still did not move.

I ended up waiting them out. Once I could see them through the opposite end of the building I ran to the house, loaded 2 buckshots and a slug and called my husband.

They never came back. Me and my FIL put the fences back up and repaired where we could. Hoping all missing birds will come back but guessing a few met their fate. The others won't let me near them

going to have to wait until they are roosting to check everyone out.

A couple things are resulting from this. Firstly, bear hunting tonight (yes they are in season and tags have been bought) these are 3 yr old cubs whose mom used to visit. I hate to kill anything but you killed my livestock and would have had me too. Secondly, we are building gun safes in each of the outbuildings and will be storing loaded shot guns in each. Turns out this is legal even without safes.

Other than removing the threat, there is nothing I can do. Bears can not be stopped by fencing or even walls. If they had decided to come in the coop they would have. I have never felt that kind of adrenaline, these guys were so close I could smell them.

Something has changed with the bears here. They don't run like they used to. I'm wondering whether they are just running out of food and hungrier or if they have gotten used to us.

Sorry for the super long story! Had to share.

Shan, that is an amazing story & glad you came out of it safely. I'm glad you're also taking future preventatives/protections by having guns available.

I learned a few things about bears while growing up: Brown bears you can play dead & may live. Black bears will gladly eat you while you're down. The only way to stop them is to scare the hell out of them (by being bigger, louder, etc) and/or injure them deeply.

I haven't caught up to the rest of the thread yet but I hope your hunting trip went well.

 

[Quailsong]

Quote: Your haven will come again. You knew that they were there the past year & they'd likely grow up to be a problem. When you get that last troublemaker it should be quiet for the summer at least. Your dogs will also watch out for you, so just keep calm, enjoy your day, play with your dogs, etc.

 

[kynewbchickie]

I've been reading along and thought I'd offer another flea/fly/tick/itchy-scratchy remedy that we're going to try here, that was highly recommended and pretty natural...

Wormwood and garlic, grown and then dried and braided together to hang in a coop loft is said to work WONDERS to keep most bugs/pests/bloodsuckers out of the coop. Everyone around here swears by it. I've got seeds sown now and am waiting for the first batch to grow. Anyone else had luck with this?

 

[SallyinIndiana]

I've been looking at a small rake at TSC Leah's Mom. it is nice to see a good review.

the link above for the thing is going right back to this thread.

 

[Shan30]

Your haven will come again. You knew that they were there the past year & they'd likely grow up to be a problem. When you get that last troublemaker it should be quiet for the summer at least. Your dogs will also watch out for you, so just keep calm, enjoy your day, play with your dogs, etc.

Thank you for this turns out they are not the same bears. Our neighbor saw mama and her cubs yesterday. These guys did seem too big. The other also returned yesterday...

Tried to open the windows of the coop, scratched on the rabbit hutch and ate half a beer can. Glad someone is enjoying themselves.

 

[Quailsong]

Can I ask some of you OT'ers to give me an idea of how to work w/ a cement pad (old shed) & deep litter method?

I know the two don't generally mix well due to moisture, but I don't want to just tear up the cement. I like the thought it's critter-proof and the cement was poured years ago. It will also be a non-leak shed w/ good ventilation (at least, that's my plan!). Thinking of going pine shavings w/ sun-dried grass sprinkled in. I will not water the litter to keep the dust down as I figure the cement seepage will probably do that for me. I will try to rake it around weekly & refresh yearly or every 6 months if it needs that.

NOTE: I've not yet moved into the new house w/ the shed I'm converting into a coop. I do want to get it ready (at least, on paper) so that I'm not cleaning up mistakes after the fact. If you've any tips for cement & DL I'm all ears. I also respect the fact it's your opinions & know you've all something to share in your own way. Thank you kindly!

(also a partial pic of the shed is in my signature if you're a visual type like me)