The Old Folks Home

[superchemicalgirl]

What does everyone here do?

I have a large nesting box that is broken down into 3 tiers. The bottom tier has 2 boxes that are 24 inches across. The middle section has 3 boxes, about 16 inches across. The uppermost is 4 boxes of 12. Each bird has a box they prefer. We also keep golf balls and old wooden eggs in the boxes to encourage. I have a few that lay under the boxes, but not many. I also have 2 covered cat litter boxes that some prefer to lay in, they're on the floor. I use pine shavings in every nest and then all but a few have hay over top of the shavings. The girls love that.

The rest of the coop just has pine shavings (and poop/feathers). The outside of the run is dirt/leaves/etc. In winter when I need to do a coop clean I'll just toss the shavings out onto the snow. It makes the birds want to go out more, and it soaks up some of the mud in spring when things thaw. I've been doing that for years and the run still looks dirt, so you can't really tell. I do have a larger size run than most people do, though.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Latestarter and SCG, thanks for the bee hive info.

I have a big day shocking and flushing my water barrels that I use for automatic water.
I was getting ready to finish all the plumbing and on a whim I drained one of the systems into a white pickle bucket and was shocked at what I saw. The water was green with algae growth. These are blue vinegar barrels. I don't know how the algae grew in them. I have to disassemble all the connected piping, drop the barrels, fill them with city water and chlorine bleach. Then flush them well and run some chlorine through the pipes. The barrels lay on tall stands about 6' high.
I've already replaced the nipples with plugs so the chickens don't drink bleach.
Winter is coming in two weeks and I have so much to do. I don't want to carry water again this winter.
I still have my electric trench to finish. We have about 70 feet 18" deep complete but have run into a couple glitches. My son hit a boulder on his end and I broke the pipe from the garage drain. I thought it was deeper. I don't have time to repair the drain pipe so I'm going to run a conduit saddle under the pipe so I can come back later to repair the DWV pipe.
The next 20' past the boulder only has to be 12" deep.
This may be pie in the sky hope but I want to get the conduit run and covered before all the rain hits starting Monday evening.
I can do most of the plumbing while it's raining since most of it is under roof.
I have a lot of incubator work to do when I can't work outside.

 

[Wisher1000]

CC - I put 2 cups of bleach in my (2) 300 gallon containers when I fill them. They are the opaque, white plastic, metal reinforced, cubes you see around. I can smell it a little when I first start using water from it, but not the whole time. It keeps the algae and slime growth down and has no apparent effect on the birds. Just FYI...

 

[Wisher1000]

SCG - How about a basic list of yearly maintenance requirements for goats? I have done nothing but feed (daily) and worm (once) these two of mine since I've had them. I keep a watch on their hooves, but they seem to keep them worn down on their own. What else do they need?

 

[superchemicalgirl]

SCG - How about a basic list of yearly maintenance requirements for goats? I have done nothing but feed (daily) and worm (once) these two of mine since I've had them. I keep a watch on their hooves, but they seem to keep them worn down on their own. What else do they need?

Not sure. I'm certain you can call a vet and get vaccines, but all I do is a monthly hoof trim (except in winter) and the monthly worming.

 

[Wisher1000]

That tells me that all I read about they need this shot and that shot, certain supplements specific to goats, etc. is not critically necessary. That is what I wanted to know. I have been researching basic goat care, but have gotten way too many suggestions to actually do. If I took all the goat care books and article to heart, I would spend all my time and money on goat care. I guess my two are doing okay, I just hope there is not something IMPORTANT that I'm not doing.

You mentioned once giving them baking soda. I did but they only dumped it out and ignored it. I tried to keep some out for them and it was never touched. I stopped trying. What is it for? Should I sprinkle some on their food occasionally?

 

[superchemicalgirl]

So in the grain (which is something optional, hay is necessary), I put a scoop of goat mineral in it (once daily). They do need the vitamins. If I can find a sweetlix goat lick, they get that instead of the scoop in their grain.

I always keep baking soda out in a small feeder in their house. Baking soda neutralizes acid. They will eat the baking soda when their rumen doesn't feel so good. I have one goat that is an oral explorer, and she's the main one that eats the baking soda. The other goat rarely touches it but she's much more picky about what she eats. I end up refilling it every other week or so. If it gets crunchy and nasty or they poop in it, they won't touch it, so I take it out and just throw it on the floor to help neutralize odors, then refill it.

Other than the two above things and hay, I don't give them anything.

 

[Peep_Show]

What do you use as bedding in the coop and boxes?
I have one set of girls that are very good at laying in the boxes, only one girl will lay her egg in the coop, just on the other side of the 2x4 outside the boxes.
Another set of girls, one prefers the corner of the coop, while others lay in the boxes. Another set are always in the box. Crazy birds lol.
I've read that different materials in the boxes vs. material in the coop is a good idea, that they like the variation. The first 2 sets I mentioned have straw in the boxes and coops, but the 3rd set has pine shaving in the nest box and straw in their coop.
What does everyone here do?

My nest boxes are set at ground level, but to access them the girls have to climb over a 4" tall partition board. There is a curtain up top, so there's about a 4" tall gap between top of partition and bottom of curtain. They seem to enjoy the privacy.
The base of the nest boxes has an excelsior pad and then shavings on top of that. One box seems to get stirred up more than the other, probably by the one bird that likes to put nesting material on her back as she's laying (wonky chicken, eh?) There's also a ceramic egg in each nest box. First-time layers haven't missed yet! I do have one bird (Pat the OE) that seems to sometimes lay in her sleep because on occasion there'll be an egg up in the roost sand. During daylight hours she hits the nest box, though.... I just think that's a timing aberration and not anything willful.

- - -

SCG --

Goats are pretty easy. Assuming they were properly vaccinated at birth for tetanus (vital if they're dehorned), they can get by with the Sweetlicks Goat Block and regular worming. Hooray that your goats are naturally wearing their hooves! Brush them occasionally to check for critters. If they're thin, add some 3-in-1 (molasses hay) or sweet feed to their diet. If you're breeding them, then there's a whole 'nother set of care required (timing of wormings, vaccinations, feeding)

It has been awhile since I had goats, but at the height I had 52 ( I ran a show goat midwifery) and I do not recall having to round the whole herd up for vaccinations; it was just as needed.

Above all, enjoy! Goats are a hoot and really personable.

 

[perchie.girl]

SCG - How about a basic list of yearly maintenance requirements for goats? I have done nothing but feed (daily) and worm (once) these two of mine since I've had them. I keep a watch on their hooves, but they seem to keep them worn down on their own. What else do they need?

Boy goats need Ammonium Chloroide to keep down Calculi. You can add it to loose minerals it is ok for the girls too. there is a percentage to feed I dont know it. There are alot of sites that discuss this online.

Free choice Goat mineral block or loose minerals. They need copper Sheep cant have copper. so if you have a mineral block that is good for both goats and sheep they arent getting copper. This may or may not have salt.

Salt lick.

As far as worming I never did it. I had Nigerian Dwarfs and one Pygmy. they were pretty dang healty. Fat as pigs on free choice Alfalfa.
I would wheel in a bale of alfalfa about once every two weeks. one of those garden wagons. Did not snap the strings and they would disassemble it over time.

deb

 

[ronott1]

Tomorrow is pedicure day for all my chickens. Middle daughter is coming to help. Sunday, Dh is going to mow around the coop. I'm going to rake it out, and Dh is going to help me haul the stuff I rake up to the trash heap. I will also scrub water, and feed buckets on Sunday.

I've been giving a lot of thought to nest boxes. I think I am going to get some medium storage totes, cut an opening in one side, cut a bit off the top, put some hay in, and see if they like it. I've had trouble getting them to like, or stick to a nesting box. I started them with milk crates. I changed the hay fairly regular to keep it fresh, and I always changed it if it got soiled. That worked for awhile, then all of a sudden, they started laying on the ground. Thinking maybe it was something with the milk crates that I wasn't seeing, I washed them thoroughly, put fresh hay in, and they refused to use the milk crates. They would dump the crates, move the hay to a corner of the coop, make a nest, and lay in that nest. My next though was that maybe they had gotten too big for the milk crates, and were too cramped in them. I got larger crates. Nope, they wouldn't have anything to do with them. It got really hot here this summer, and yes I have fans in my coop(s), so I thought maybe they were preferring to lay on the ground because it was cooler there, but I didn't really want them laying on the ground, so I went to Home Depot and got those flat black tubs used for mixing concrete, and put the nests they had built, in them. When they all went into molt, and weren't laying anyway, I rearranged the flock. The storage totes looked like a nice idea, being large enough, giving them privacy, and easy to collect the eggs, and keep clean. More monsters for the coop....LOL!

These are expensive but they are so easy to clean and etc. They can also be set up as roll out nest boxes. The hens like them too and ignore the other nest boxes.

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