Utah!

[Sphinx]

Those chicks are so cute! I like the chipmunk one best. As far as bedding, I use pine shavings. I get a HUGE bag (like, it'll more than fill up a garbage can) at the feed store, and it lasts a good long time. One of my friends has a great paper shredder, and she shreds all of her junk mail, newspapers, etc and uses that for her chicken bedding. It seems really nice.

Red, bummer that you didn't catch the raccoon. Hopefully you'll get it next time. Glad your chicken finally started laying again- patience can pay off.

I was talking to my daughter's first grade teacher today, and they are all soooooo excited to hatch chicks in class. We'll start them the beginning of April, and I'll give them all kinds of handouts on how the develop, etc. I may even try to candle an egg for the class, but odds are, I'll just have them watch a video of it. In their school, they have this overhead projector thing, but it's more like a webcam, so we'll have that focus on the incubator when the eggs are hatching, so that way, it'll be on a HUGE screen so all the kids can see.

I'm just trying to decide what kind to hatch. FBCM? Polish? EE/Ameraucana? So many choices.

 

[the-bird-man]

Forgot to ask the question I was really posting for. What do most of you use in your nest boxes for nesting materal?
Just thinking for when I move them out side. I want to be ready for everything and I know I wont see any laying til Sept-Oct time.
The litter question seem to have a lot of questions more then answers. So I would like the local take on this.
Thanks everyone.

i buy the big bales of pine shavings at cal ranch or in the past i got them at ifa. i use it in the nest boxes, the coop floor, the poop board. they work great and are easy to compost. i store the new shavings in a cheap plastic roll trash can i got at lowes for i think $10, its the perfect size and shape and will hold a little more than one of the big bales of shavings. i just open the bale and dump it in the can. hey red congrats on the news of seeing the predator! hope you get it soon! what do you plan on doing with it after you catch it? i have ideas of easy ways to kill it if you can not use a gun....

 

[RedIII]

We use hay or straw in our box. The girls seem to take it just fine.

Forgot to ask the question I was really posting for. What do most of you use in your nest boxes for nesting materal?
Just thinking for when I move them out side. I want to be ready for everything and I know I wont see any laying til Sept-Oct time.
The litter question seem to have a lot of questions more then answers. So I would like the local take on this.
Thanks everyone.

Sphinx, do you know what the class will be doing with the chicks after they've hatched? Or how long they will have them around?

 

[UtahChickenDad]

Inspector was just here and said everything looks good YEAH we get our permit. Legal to have our chickens

.
couldnt ask for more than that. Now come the hard part watching then grow.
Thanks for the answers to my question. I had sort of planed on pine chip for the nest boxes and the inside of the coop and some hay to help with the run area. Has any one used DE and is there a good place to get it locally( SLC and north). Was thinking about is for their dust bath bin.

 

[the-bird-man]

Inspector was just here and said everything looks good YEAH we get our permit. Legal to have our chickens

.
couldnt ask for more than that. Now come the hard part watching then grow.
Thanks for the answers to my question. I had sort of planed on pine chip for the nest boxes and the inside of the coop and some hay to help with the run area. Has any one used DE and is there a good place to get it locally( SLC and north). Was thinking about is for their dust bath bin.

i also use straw in the run and its been good. i use de and love it! best place to get it is at steve reagan company. its food grade and it looks like it is at $37 for a 50lb bag. they are local and are very good to deal with! here is the info on the stores
http://www.steveregan.com/Stores.html
and here is the page for the de http://www.steveregan.com/FOSSIL-SHELL-FLOUR-DIATOMACEOUS-EARTH-FOOD-GRADE-50-LB.html

they have a slc store i have done business with them for years and love them

 

[La Casa de Pollo]

i also use straw in the run and its been good. i use de and love it! best place to get it is at steve reagan company. its food grade and it looks like it is at $37 for a 50lb bag. they are local and are very good to deal with! here is the info on the stores
http://www.steveregan.com/Stores.html
and here is the page for the de http://www.steveregan.com/FOSSIL-SHELL-FLOUR-DIATOMACEOUS-EARTH-FOOD-GRADE-50-LB.html

they have a slc store i have done business with them for years and love them

I saw on there a Logan store---did not even know it existed! I called and they quoted me $24.39 for 50# of food grade DE. Wondering if that is right??I am going down at 5 to pick some up will let you know if that is really what is cost. Thanks for the link birdman! Congrats Chicken Dad! I use pine shavings in the coop and nests, straw in the run during the winter, just dry dirt in the summer dryer months, I rake it now and then and add DE to the soil to keep it dry and the it keeps the odor great. I throw some DE around the nests and coop every time I change the shavings. I use a window washer (squeegee) to reach in the coop and pull all lthe old shavings out the door (it sits off the ground) into a big long rubbermaid box I put under the coop door to catch the nasties. . There is vinyl on the coop floor so if any poo gets stuck in one spot the squeegee works great to get it off. Then I throw the dirty shavings in the garden to be tilled in the spring. So far it seems to be working. I have to be careful with young chicks on that vinyl floor, so their legs do not do splits but so far no problems. I put shelf liner pieces out there over the vinyl in the high traffic spots when I have young 'uns in the coop. I also pat down my girls with a sock filled with DE if I worry they have critters. So far I have not seen any, but when people on here talk about it I get the heebie jeebies and go pat them down lol! And I buy mite/lice spray at Petsmart (for parakeets, it is cheaper than the chicken version) and spray my roosts, and cracks around the walls/floor of coop about every 3rd time I change shavings.

Happy Valentines's Day Chicken Friends!

 

[the-bird-man]

I saw on there a Logan store---did not even know it existed! I called and they quoted me $24.39 for 50# of food grade DE. Wondering if that is right??I am going down at 5 to pick some up will let you know if that is really what is cost. Thanks for the link birdman! Congrats Chicken Dad! I use pine shavings in the coop and nests, straw in the run during the winter, just dry dirt in the summer dryer months, I rake it now and then and add DE to the soil to keep it dry and the it keeps the odor great. I throw some DE around the nests and coop every time I change the shavings. I use a window washer (squeegee) to reach in the coop and pull all lthe old shavings out the door (it sits off the ground) into a big long rubbermaid box I put under the coop door to catch the nasties. . There is vinyl on the coop floor so if any poo gets stuck in one spot the squeegee works great to get it off. Then I throw the dirty shavings in the garden to be tilled in the spring. So far it seems to be working. I have to be careful with young chicks on that vinyl floor, so their legs do not do splits but so far no problems. I put shelf liner pieces out there over the vinyl in the high traffic spots when I have young 'uns in the coop. I also pat down my girls with a sock filled with DE if I worry they have critters. So far I have not seen any, but when people on here talk about it I get the heebie jeebies and go pat them down lol! And I buy mite/lice spray at Petsmart (for parakeets, it is cheaper than the chicken version) and spray my roosts, and cracks around the walls/floor of coop about every 3rd time I change shavings.
Happy Valentines's Day Chicken Friends!

you are welcome. that was the price online and it takes time to update it so i am sure the price you got is right i am going to go get more soon

 

[sdwarren]

I'll be submitting our application and coop/run plans to T'ville city tomorrow. Hopefully, we'll be able to get our chicks in a couple of weeks. Our 4 year old daughter is so excited... she's already got breeds and names picked.

Keep your fingers crossed for us.

 

[Cynthia12]

Inspector was just here and said everything looks good YEAH we get our permit. Legal to have our chickens

.
couldnt ask for more than that. Now come the hard part watching then grow.
Thanks for the answers to my question. I had sort of planed on pine chip for the nest boxes and the inside of the coop and some hay to help with the run area. Has any one used DE and is there a good place to get it locally( SLC and north). Was thinking about is for their dust bath bin.

Love DE!!

 

[Cynthia12]

I'll be submitting our application and coop/run plans to T'ville city tomorrow. Hopefully, we'll be able to get our chicks in a couple of weeks. Our 4 year old daughter is so excited... she's already got breeds and names picked.

Keep your fingers crossed for us.

Oh man...crossing fingers!

Sayin a little prayer.