The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[lazy gardener]

Leah's Mom: The lower level of my coop has 2 sections: so I can shut them in the secure area at night and put my bucket out in the not so secure area, and remove it in the morning before I let them out. Obviously, in our returned arctic blast, I'd have to forgo the water in the bottom. but, if it's deep enough, they shouldn't be able to get out anyway. The other option would be to put a baffle on it. I was thinking about using metal or plastic, kind of like a dome over 3/4 of it, with some wire over the entry area where the mice would be invited in. that way, if they got thrown off balance and were able to jump high enough to jump out, they'd hit the baffle and fall in. Perhaps if it's warm enough, i'll go out and work on it this weekend.

Oh, Spring, where fore art thou???

 

[lalaland]

Gol darned it! Everyone was asleep on their roosts last night, but sure enough, at 3:30 am the front half of the coop was deserted except for my 5 yr old hen who was pacing on the roost. All 8 other hens were in the back corner of the other half of the coop, and Buster, who is supposed to be protecting them, was up on the roost with the others in the second half of the coop.

Good news was no dead chickens.
Bad news is something is bothering them.

I will set the rat zapper tonight. Live traps are buried under 4-5' drifts of snow, and I'm not ready to shovel them out. Hope I don't regret that decision - but it will be Sat before I could get that done.

 

[Jewelwing]

I haven't caught up on all my reading, but I have a question to ask that's a bit urgent. My mom is visiting for a week (just arrived yesterday), and it turns out she's sick. She's been having cold symptoms for about a week, and she thought she was getting better, but then this morning she's feeling worse. She ate some leftover spaghetti sauce for breakfast this morning (don't ask, that's just her!), but felt so bad she didn't eat very much, so there's a lot left.

She then proceeded to the bathroom, where she emptied her gut contents out of both ends. So I'm wondering if it's OK to let the chickens eat her spaghetti sauce leftovers? They would love it - it's mostly ground beef with some tomato sauce holding it together. Of course I don't want to get them sick, but it doesn't seem very likely that they would be susceptible to most human viruses.

 

[CrittersParents]

Could you please tell me what SPDZ stands for in the chicken poop hammock article, I can see it looks possibly like sand? from the pictures... my chicks will be moving to their outdoor home once the weather breaks and I love the idea, just want to make certain I am using safe materials... Thanks

 

[armorfirelady]

Since I don't want to be outside in polar vortex 3 decided to make some more homemade suet for the girls. I don't think I can burn enough candles to deter the smell lol. Bit I'm guessing the girls will be happy with the results

 

[lazy gardener]

RE: SPDZ it's sweet zeolite. I don't know what the p and d stand for, but it's a product that is used in aquariums, cat litter,and also agriculturally. It's primary purpose is to bind nitrogen to decrease ammonia toxicity. It then will release it over time. When used on a poop board or in a litter box, horse stall, etc, it also quickly absorbs liquids, thus eliminating odor, and making the poo easier to clean up. From the reading that I've done, it would be a good product for the compost or the garden.

 

[aoxa]

RE: SPDZ it's sweet zeolite. I don't know what the p and d stand for, but it's a product that is used in aquariums, cat litter,and also agriculturally. It's primary purpose is to bind nitrogen to decrease ammonia toxicity. It then will release it over time. When used on a poop board or in a litter box, horse stall, etc, it also quickly absorbs liquids, thus eliminating odor, and making the poo easier to clean up. From the reading that I've done, it would be a good product for the compost or the garden.

It's called Sweet PDZ. It's a brand name

http://www.sweetpdz.com/

 

[CrittersParents]

Thanks!

 

[CrittersParents]

Great thanks for the reply

 

[TeaChick]

The pullet I've been waiting on to start laying...is a cockerel.

I kind of needed her to start laying so I could hatch, but that's not going to happen. Oh, well.

Still waiting on Snoodle to start laying; IDK whether to get pullets or cockerels to put with her (I'm still holding out hope that she's a she, but I don't know.) I checked Snoodle's vent a couple months ago, it was tight and dry; when I checked it over a week ago, it was "open" and moist (not technically open, but kind of "open). Anyway, what does that mean?