I completely forgot about your position on the globe, Pete. When do they normally molt in your neck of the woods?
I used DE because I dont have access to wood ash. Dont have a wood stove nor does anyone on my block so I will put an add on Freecycle and see if someone wants to donate to the cause. I will stop giving the birds the leftovers (that will make the dogs happy) and just do the scratch and layer and I will fermant the scratch. I will switch over from straw to hay in the nest boxes. The twice a year cleaning of the walls and nest boxes will stop. Just to be clear the birds have access to the coop at all times in all weather and are only locked in it each night to protect from the local coons and even if I dont let them out of the chicken run they have 100 sq feet of sheltered dry pen for 9 birds .The coop itself is only 16 square feet but again they only sleep and lay there and I do have the smaller coop that will accomadate 2 birds. The birds never stay in the coop during the day even during extreme cold by their own choice. The silkies feed and go back to either the main coop or the smaller one during cold but the rest seem to prefer being outside even in rain and snow. I created a kind of dead air space in the run by tarping the north and west walls of the run leaving the south and east open to the light. The run only gets snow on the ground in there during extreme blizzard conditions and since I live in Colorado near Denver those bizzards arent an every winter event. In fact we never got snow again after the second week of January this past year.. The top of the run has a metal roof so rain and snow do not fall directly into the run. I do understand that the coop is really only big enough for 4 birds if they were shut up in it all the time but since they are only confined to it overnights do I still need to get rid of birds? If I do then I will. Besides freecycle where else could I look for a source of wood ash? Isnt that a strange question? Who knew that raising chickens in the burbs would be impeded by having a furnace instead of a wood stove?. Dang I wish I could move to a rural setting. My mom keeps telling me I cant turn city into country guess she was right lol.
Edited because I forgot to thank you for your help. appreciate your wisdom and will do the changes as suggested. Your awesome!
Free access to grit and oyster shell. I doubt I have a perfect setup, there are many things I would love to improve, but we make due with what we have.
shawn i can tell you on them meat birds feed . i save at the moment i save roughly 25%-30% on feed . that is feeding 2x per day . now that the babies are old enough to run with the free range big birds i will drop the feeding to 1 x a day. the fermented feed i use about 35 lbs on the 31 cx chicks. i use 15 lbs on the layers per week.
Breezy, do you have a spot in your yard for a small, portable outdoor fireplace? If burning wood is allowed where you are you can make your own wood ashes in a small chiminea (terra cotta free-standing fireplace). I use a portable fire pit - it's a metal bowl with a screen lid, on a low stand. I've seen them at hardware stores and garden centers and sometimes at Walmart or Target. They tend to be seasonal store items, so keep an eye out. You could also improvise with an inexpensive charcoal grill and some metal screening for spark prevention.I used DE because I dont have access to wood ash. Dont have a wood stove nor does anyone on my block so I will put an add on Freecycle and see if someone wants to donate to the cause. I will stop giving the birds the leftovers (that will make the dogs happy) and just do the scratch and layer and I will fermant the scratch. I will switch over from straw to hay in the nest boxes. The twice a year cleaning of the walls and nest boxes will stop. Just to be clear the birds have access to the coop at all times in all weather and are only locked in it each night to protect from the local coons and even if I dont let them out of the chicken run they have 100 sq feet of sheltered dry pen for 9 birds .The coop itself is only 16 square feet but again they only sleep and lay there and I do have the smaller coop that will accomadate 2 birds. The birds never stay in the coop during the day even during extreme cold by their own choice. The silkies feed and go back to either the main coop or the smaller one during cold but the rest seem to prefer being outside even in rain and snow. I created a kind of dead air space in the run by tarping the north and west walls of the run leaving the south and east open to the light. The run only gets snow on the ground in there during extreme blizzard conditions and since I live in Colorado near Denver those bizzards arent an every winter event. In fact we never got snow again after the second week of January this past year.. The top of the run has a metal roof so rain and snow do not fall directly into the run. I do understand that the coop is really only big enough for 4 birds if they were shut up in it all the time but since they are only confined to it overnights do I still need to get rid of birds? If I do then I will. Besides freecycle where else could I look for a source of wood ash? Isnt that a strange question? Who knew that raising chickens in the burbs would be impeded by having a furnace instead of a wood stove?. Dang I wish I could move to a rural setting. My mom keeps telling me I cant turn city into country guess she was right lol.
Edited because I forgot to thank you for your help. appreciate your wisdom and will do the changes as suggested. Your awesome!
