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

[delisha]

6 inches huh? That is a lot of work. I am not Bee, however if I were you I would stop stressing. Think of deep litter as making lasagna. One layer at a time. I would not take it all out and start over. I might consider piling most of it in a corner and layering it through the winter, adding a layer of chips once a week. Just a suggestion. Right now mine is a bit dry and I am not adding anything but poop to get some moisture. As winter approaches the hens will be adding more from poop and breathing. I do not put water or food in my coop however if it continues to be dry and cold I might change my mind. The weather here is usually high humidity. I am not starting over just because I have to much dry, I just tweak it and push back dry to add wet.

 

[jlynnet]

Thanks Bee! I loved that horse! I have two rescue cats too. Some of my chickens are rescues. They need love too!

 

[Leahs Mom]

How much netting to you have set out there (length)? (I know you let them out of the net to range. I'm just curious as to how much I'm seeing there...)

I'm thinking of getting more to block off some areas rather than to keep them in. I'm using the one that has the smaller openings (for poultry) toward the bottom and right now only have a small amount. I wanted to see if I liked it before getting more. I think in the spring they'll be able to go free, but I do want to divide off part of the property until it can be made safer.

In that case, they don't look too bad for their ages. I can show you what my last batch of CX looked like at 3 wks if that would help? These were a slow growing type of CX and I slowed them down even further with layer mash and whole grains, fermented, and free ranging, so they were approx. a week behind the hatchery recommended growth schedule~which was right where I wanted them to be.

 

[Beekissed]

6 inches huh? That is a lot of work. I am not Bee, however if I were you I would stop stressing. Think of deep litter as making lasagna. One layer at a time. I would not take it all out and start over. I might consider piling most of it in a corner and layering it through the winter, adding a layer of chips once a week. Just a suggestion. Right now mine is a bit dry and I am not adding anything but poop to get some moisture. As winter approaches the hens will be adding more from poop and breathing. I do not put water or food in my coop however if it continues to be dry and cold I might change my mind. The weather here is usually high humidity. I am not starting over just because I have to much dry, I just tweak it and push back dry to add wet.

I agree! Just start layering in some good things...some good soil from the forest floor and the manure and bedding. Just bury that last layer and don't stir it into the mix. Time will cancel it all out. I wouldn't put any ashes in your bedding at all...just bedding, manure, time. It will all get better as time goes along.

How much netting to you have set out there (length)? (I know you let them out of the net to range. I'm just curious as to how much I'm seeing there...)

I'm thinking of getting more to block off some areas rather than to keep them in. I'm using the one that has the smaller openings (for poultry) toward the bottom and right now only have a small amount. I wanted to see if I liked it before getting more. I think in the spring they'll be able to go free, but I do want to divide off part of the property until it can be made safer.

That fence was 164 ft. It was the wrong kind and didn't contain the smaller birds..it was sheep fencing. My mistake on that one and it has since been sold. I'm convinced that the electric poultry netting is the way to go for suburban chicken flocks, though. It's great for keeping out predators of all four footed varieties and is so very versatile and mobile. I wish I had found out how affordable it was years ago when I was setting up paddocks for pasture rotation for my sheep....

 

[Bulldogma]

Hi everyone! I need to ask a BIG favor of everybody. I'm working on getting sponsors for the blog but having worked in marketing in the past, I know that companies will want to see that the blog has a following prior to committing to offering their products up for giveaways. I need as many people as possible to go to the blog and become followers. There are 3 ways to do this - On the right hand side there are options to "Join This Site," "Subscribe to this Blog," or "Follow by Email." The "Join This Site" option is the most visible to sponsors, but any of the options will help!!

Tell all your friends, too!

With luck, we can start hosting giveaways for Bee-approved products, incubators and other goodies! How cool would that be??

So pleeeeese click HERE now and sign up to follow the blog. I'm going to start making phone calls and putting out emails to various potential sponsors today! I've already sent an email to the NuStock folks, but I'll probably call later today and harass them a little.

Then we have to get Mumsy to host a giveaway soon! Mumsy - you need to get an online store up so we can generate some business for you.

 

[Beekissed]

I tried that but I don't have an account for any of the three options...is there a way to join without being a member of Google, AIM or Yahoo?

 

[Bulldogma]

I tried that but I don't have an account for any of the three options...is there a way to join without being a member of Google, AIM or Yahoo?

Bee - if you have an email address, you should be able to use the "Follow by Email" option. Let me know if it won't and I'll see what else I can find.

 

[maryhysong]

Hi everyone! I need to ask a BIG favor of everybody. I'm working on getting sponsors for the blog but having worked in marketing in the past, I know that companies will want to see that the blog has a following prior to committing to offering their products up for giveaways. I need as many people as possible to go to the blog and become followers. There are 3 ways to do this - On the right hand side there are options to "Join This Site," "Subscribe to this Blog," or "Follow by Email." The "Join This Site" option is the most visible to sponsors, but any of the options will help!!

Tell all your friends, too!

With luck, we can start hosting giveaways for Bee-approved products, incubators and other goodies! How cool would that be??

So pleeeeese click HERE now and sign up to follow the blog. I'm going to start making phone calls and putting out emails to various potential sponsors today! I've already sent an email to the NuStock folks, but I'll probably call later today and harass them a little.

Then we have to get Mumsy to host a giveaway soon! Mumsy - you need to get an online store up so we can generate some business for you.

Another thing is to make good comments on the different posts; it shows that people are actually reading them and are interested in them. You might even make a FB & G+ page for the website; many folks do. There are soooo many, Chicken Chick, the Chicken Fountain people and many others.

 

[Mtn Laurel]

Yes, I've also noticed that my yolks are huge. DH and I were just talking about how their feathers seem brighter and glisten in the sun. Another thing I've noticed is a change in comb color since beginning the FF. Seems deeper, brighter. A few pics to show the difference in my gal, Lucy. She's the "leader of the pack" and #1 egg layer.



Lucy - shortly after I got her, probably end of June.



Lucy - This morning.



Louise - This morning



My small flock of egg layers - Thelma, Louise and Lucy. Don't ask what happened to Ethel. It's a sad story . . .

 

[armorfirelady]

I signed up for them all