Transitioning feeding to the run at the Chicken McMansion

[Chieftain]

I'm amazed that we are coming up on a month with the chooks, and how fast they have grown and feathered up. The oldest is about 6 weeks old and the youngest about a month and a few days. Everyone continues healthy and happy.

One of them has been having a blast learning how to use her wings. I sprinkle scratch and a little sand on the ramp to coax them out into the run. She comes pecking down the ramp, where she turns around and goes frantically flapping up the ramp as fast as she can run....all feathers and big feet, and a couple of minutes later she starts all over again.

I tried raising the feeder in the coop last night and it is up so high it's unstable, so it is time to transition them to feeding in the run. I made a hanging feeder out of a bucket some time ago, and all it needed was a short length of chain and a hook under then nestbox to hang it from.

Pretty simple, and the bottom of the holes are the same height as the feeder in the coop was.

As you can see they look a bit bewildered, but they will find the new feeder shortly and all will be well. I'll see how well they eat today and will probably put food back in the coop at night for a while yet, but during the day I want them to start coming out to eat in the run. They have all been using the outside water dish for several days now and they accepted it with no problem. I'm trying to spread the changes out so they don't get too flustered and stressed, and all seems to be going well so far.

Still no clear idea about who could be a roo, but the one chick that got here with a pasty butt (I had a thread up about giving it a shower...) is decidedly feistier than the rest, and may have some fancy tail feathers coming in. At the same time, "it" has a distinct dark stripe on it's head, which depending on who you talk to about sexing Rhode Island Reds, is definitive proof of both hen and roo, and there are plenty of people willing to debate both points, at length. Nobody is crowing yet, but they are young....

Everything continues as before...almost boringly normal with no problems noted...

Cheers!

 

[txchickie]

I really like your feeder!

The chick in the middle pic, standing on the wooden blocks...is a roo.

 

[Chieftain]

That's the one that is 9 days older than the rest, and was from a separate clutch. The littlest ones snuggle up under her wings in the coop. Care to clue me in to what makes up your mind txc? That big one looked just like the little ones do now a couple of weeks ago, and they all have a near identical feathering pattern.

I think the most likely candidate is the middle chick in that same pic. Look at the difference in the tail feathers. The other two have tails that are rounding down, while the one in the middle is definitely growing more pointed tail plumage and may have the start of a couple of wild top feathers too. I haven't examined any vents, 'cuz I don't know what to look for anyway, so your guess is as good as mine.

 

[pacetruckguy]

Hey Chieftain,
Your RIR's are looking quite different. They are growing nicely. You'll find out who the roos are soon enough. I'm just glad to see you getting some chicken poo in that fancy coop of yours. Way to go!

 

[Chieftain]

Hey PTG! We're finally getting some of your rain here too. My water barrel is up three more inches just today. I'm sure you guys need a break down there...

I do love it when a plan comes together. The crew spent all day today out in the run. Moving the food is all it took to get them outside. It's cool and rainy today and they have spent more time in the run today than they did on any of the nice days we had.

As for the poo in the run, the sand is really dry now, and before I let them out last week I dusted a good quart container of DE all over the sand and raked it in a bit so it wouldn't blow away. It's mixed in pretty well now and that seems to be helping to dessicate the poop pretty well. We'll see what it looks like in a few days, but right now there is no smell and nothing accumulating to speak of. They are still eating chick crumbles too, and once they transition to an adult diet, the "through put" should increase proportionally...

Dusk is coming on and I just put their food back in the coop for the night, and they all trotted in for the evening. I still have the brooder lamp on in there, but I have stepped it down to a 75 watt bulb.

So it goes...we'll do it all again tomorrow...

 

[pacetruckguy]

Hell, My coop is only 3X5 with 8 adult hens, and I only scrape it out about once a week. I can let it go longer but the job gets a little difficult. I have wire under the roosts and most of it falls through to the wheel barrel under the coop. A scrapper and a wire brush need to be applied every now and then. For a couple of days there I was getting 7 eggs out of 8 hens. They slacked off the last couple of days and only gave me 4. I seem to have more eggs now than I can give away. Sure is fun though!

 

[pacetruckguy]

By the way, What's DE?

 

[write2caroline]

DE is Diathemacious (SP??) earth. It is used for many things - Non food grade is used for the things that keep pool water cleaned. It feels like fine powder and you can add it to your feed to rid animals of parasites. Chickens like it for dust baths.

It has a lot of good uses.

Caroline

 

[Chieftain]

Quote:
Right you are Caroline, and since it only comes in a 40 pound bag here, you can be certain the I'm looking for as many uses as possible for DE...

While they were out yesterday, 2 of the younger ones (including the one in the middle of the middle picture...) were out chasing each other around the run, and periodically the two of them would rear up, breast to breast with their heads up high, stare at each other for a moment, then back down and run around some more. I saw them do it at least 3 times yesterday which means they are doing it a lot more often.

The question is, is that roo v roo, hen v hen (peck order discussion) or early roo v hen dating moves..??

 

[pacetruckguy]

OK Thanks for clearing up th DE question. I used to use DE in a pool filter years ago. I didn't know about food grade DE though. I learned something. I hate acromims, there are so many now it makes my old brain spin.