The road less traveled...back to good health! They have lice, mites, scale mites, worms, anemia, gl

[armorfirelady]

When you crack that egg you will see a little dot, like a bull's eye on the yolk. It will be a little lighter gold in the center with a darker ring around it...about the size of a small BB in the early stages.

Here's a thread done by SpeckledHen, a great contributor on this forum, that shows a good series of pics on this : https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/16008/how-to-tell-a-fertile-vs-infertile-egg-pictures

This is one of the pics of a fertile egg:

Thanks for the pic. My new chicken knowledge for the day

 

[Leahs Mom]

The dog's water is in a heated bucket and the chickens have a large heated dog bowl which is kept in the coop..if not, the dog will drink it all..darn dog..

Another question (or 2) on this...

-Can you find a link to show one similar (or the same one) that you use?
-How do you keep them from dumping it into the litter from the bowl?

 

[Leahs Mom]

It really takes time to break down the deep litter, especially if you have a small flock. I wouldn't clean out deep litter...some people don't clean it all out for years and that is the smartest way to do it. They take out some of the litter to use for their gardens but they never really clean it all out.

And another question...

I have been using "deep litter" but I'm of the impression it composts and breaks down better when your coop floor is dirt rather than cement or vinyl that many of us have. Am I correct?

I have vinyl down on the floor in the hen house. One thing I did was to get some dirt from the garden and throw it down on the bottom. I didn't put very much in there, but it seems that some real dirt may be needed for the composting to work...and i"m not 100% sure it will ever work correctly when you don't have a dirt floor.

Your thoughts?

 

[Beekissed]

Mine isn't lined with stainless steel and is a bit heavier built than this one but you get the idea. It was cheaper than this one also.

I keep any watering receptacles up on a platform and at a level that the chickens don't feel the need to put their feet on the edge of the bowl to get a drink. It's up about chest level to the smallest chicken. They just politely dip in their beaks and drink...they never even spill droplets from this, it seems. When scratching up bedding, they do tend to flip chips into the water at times but not often.

For warm months I use nipple bucket systems that are much cleaner and more versatile, while saving water and waste, keeping the water much cleaner.

 

[Beekissed]

And another question...

I have been using "deep litter" but I'm of the impression it composts and breaks down better when your coop floor is dirt rather than cement or vinyl that many of us have. Am I correct?

I have vinyl down on the floor in the hen house. One thing I did was to get some dirt from the garden and throw it down on the bottom. I didn't put very much in there, but it seems that some real dirt may be needed for the composting to work...and i"m not 100% sure it will ever work correctly when you don't have a dirt floor.

Your thoughts?

Decomposing does not need soil to happen. Many composting bins are not on soil, some are even suspended into the air. Having a soil floor definitely helps because it invites bugs and other creatures to help in the composting and the soil also helps regulate the moisture levels better. Yes, it can work and the bugs and nematodes will show up if you leave your litter long enough and develop it properly...no matter what surface you use. My last coop had a hard, old oak floor and my litter was beautifully decomposed and composted at the end of each season.

Soil flooring is great, but really not necessary.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Decomposing does not need soil to happen. Many composting bins are not on soil, some are even suspended into the air. Having a soil floor definitely helps because it invites bugs and other creatures to help in the composting and the soil also helps regulate the moisture levels better. Yes, it can work and the bugs and nematodes will show up if you leave your litter long enough and develop it properly...no matter what surface you use. My last coop had a hard, old oak floor and my litter was beautifully decomposed and composted at the end of each season.

Soil flooring is great, but really not necessary.

I'm really glad to hear that. I've been wondering if it was really going to work without the dirt floor! I love the idea of the dirt floor and the bugs and proper humidity coming up from below. But, alas mine is not dirt.

I DID notice a renewed interest in the hens in scratching around in the litter when I added the dirt below. (I had already had litter in for awhile when I decided to add some dirt so I just raked it aside and put some dirt down, then raked it back over.) Boy did they "go to town" on it when I did that!

 

[Beekissed]

It's a great idea and is sort of like when folks jump start FF with the ACV...adding the soil is like jump starting the level of nematodes in your litter composition. I might have to steal that idea one day...for now, I have a soil floor in my coop.

 

[7L Farm]

I have a question ? I live where the soil is just like going to the beach its sand. When it rains it never puddles the rain is filtered immediately. It seems like the ultimate environment to raise birds.It rains & everything is cleansed by the rain. Also, their poop drys out very fast. I do clean it but how often is this really necessary? I'm not trying to get away from cleaning it it just seems unnecessary.

 

[Beekissed]

It sounds lovely! I'm assuming you are speaking of the soils in your run area, so I'm thinking that, even with that good filtration going on, this is something I'd watch when wanting to avoid overloading the soils with nitrogen. I'm not familiar with the climate of Texas and can't speak knowledgeably on how the soils disperse or bind to nitrogen but I'd be careful of overloading the soils of any confined penning space.

I would think that only time would tell on that one...no smell is good and a dry footing underneath is also good. How has it worked for you so far...all chickens in excellent health?

 

[huckleberry acres]

I really and truly have no experience with fowl pox or any other poultry disease or illness, so I can't really give advice on treatment.  I guess my only advice is building good immune systems from day one

If I had a chicken with fowl pox, to be honest, I'd cull it at the first signs of disease. 

 

Only on page 13 so I don't know if this has been addresses yet, but fowl pox is spread by mosquitoes and make scabs on the combs. It is only contagious if a mosquito bites an infected chicken then bites another chicken. Once it has run its course, the chicken is immune for the rest of its life, liike chicken pox in humans. Just watch them, give them plenty of food and water, leave it alone a few days and it will clear up. You can put Vaseline on the spots if you want to. I did not.

No need to cull unless the chicken gets real sick but it ran through part of my flock, 10 out of 28 birds, and everyone is fine now, combs on hens and roos are back to normal, no additional spreading and no chickens culled.