Just call me "chicken"....I chickened out and had John hold each of the girls in the cove, while I smeared vasiline on their legs and feet. Henrietta was a nightmare to catch as always, but Abby super EZ! I'm going to stop now and wait and see what happens over the winter months using the pure wood ash, DE, sand and spraying their roosting area & perches with Permethrin as they are not using the roosting area during the day...only when it's bed time!
Their legs/feet are looking really good but I guess it will take many months before all those new scales come back in.
It is easier if you have a helper for sure. For my most flighty/hard to catch girls if I need to do something with them, I take them off the roost first thing in the morning before they have a chance to flee. Some people aren't early risers, so that may not work for you, but I have to go unlock, water, feed, let mine out, so not too much trouble to just grab a roosting hen and go.
You have a great plan in place. I hope all goes well for you.
We've got a 2-story chicken coop but the ONLY access I have to it is when I open the 2nd story nesting box or the lower level! They do great in it with the sand in the bottom, a 14-foot run off the back AND the huge cove to free roam in and now I let them free roam in our fenced in yard a few times each week for at least one hour WHILE WE ARE OUT THERE WITH THEM! (watching over our FLOCK...lol!)
Check these out! Linda
This piece of wood over the vent prevents wind, rain, sleet, snow, etc., from blowing into their roosting area. It's made of treated lumber and is sealed/stained.
They even have their own sandbox with DE & wood ash! (chicken-safe sand)
In fall & winter I keep run 100% covered so they have a place to hang out when it's windy and rainy outside! They also dust bath in it. These are from 2016 - I put a ton more weather-proof cordage over the cove top AND
added a lot of green, vinyl fencing material 3-4 feet in from the top edges of the 5" privacy fencing too. The end of the run (right) is also different and more secure now
as well, but it does show the protective spaces they have to roam around in!
The end is now open when I need it to be, but when it's closed, it's very secure! Here you see the opening for them to eat out of the feeding bin I made. Next to it is now the BriteTap so they can access the cooler behind
the coop that is full of fresh, clean iced water or warm water - depending on season!
Have you seen this BriteTap thing, yet? It's AWESOME!
I clean it inside and out once a month - especially tap" part! It was EZPZ training them to use "nipples" from the old, unsanitary method!
Let me know what you think of all this WHEN you have time! Linda 9/26
Thanks for taking time to peek at my pics...lol! I spoiled my daughter, then my dog, now I only have John and my girls left to ruin! My grandson is in Vegas, so there's not much chance I'll get to spoil him rotten, however.
Have a beautiful day in our gorgeous NC mountains, although the "southern" part has me confused...lol!
