So... I think I missed the answer to my BOSS questions. How much should you give them? and how? I'm still trying to integrate better feeding & watering methods into my coop. Please chime in: Do you have more than one feeder? One with feed & one with scratch/etc? What about oyster shells & grits? How do you all incorporate that? I've been thinking, if I have a feeder with feed & grains, a feeder with scratch & BOSS, and some smaller feeders of grit & oyster shells. Does that sound about right?
Also, who uses poultry nipples for their waterers? Does anyone use bedding pellets? And that PDZ (??) stuff, is that like granules or pellets or what does it look like? I was kinda thinking of mixing some of my lavender and herbs in with it to make the coop smell pretty.
Will someone take me chicken shopping!? I have NO idea what I am doing!!!!
Everyone has their own way, and I'm sure your way will be fine.
Can't tell you about BOSS, I've never used it. I plan to pick some up soon and try it.
This is what I do. It may not be the right way, but it is my way...
In the summer, when the ground was dry, I just threw the grit and oyster shells on the ground. It worked great. In the wet weather the dirt is wet and kind of gross, so now I have a small bowl attached to the run that has oyster shells, and a small bowl that has grit.
I rarely give them scratch. My 3 big girls tend to not eat feed - they prefer grass and bugs, so I want them eating feed over scratch. I only give them meal worms when I'm trying to get them back into the run. Works like a charm. As soon as I shake the bag, they come flying (well, Drama comes waddling) and happily go in.
I use poultry nipples - both in the coop and in the brooder. LOVE, love, love them! Can't say enough good things about them.
Feeders are expensive, buy only what you need. Right now I'm integrating older chicks into the coop, so I have a feeder with Layer feed, and I borrowed a feeder and have non-medicated chick feed in it. Both are in the run. Everyone eats both - but it is non-medicated, so I think we're good. Normally, I only have 1 feeder in the coop with Layer feed with my tiny flock. Get the number of feeders you need to feed the size of flock you have - make sure everyone gets to eat - even the lowest on the pecking order.
In the brooder I use medicated feed. I don't want the big girls into the medicated stuff, so it stays in the brooder.
Left over table scraps are treats - but not very often right now as we have recently caught 3 rats near the coop and we're trying to get that under control.
I use pine shavings in the coop. The floor of the run is dirt - but I scrape the run clean every single day. I use a hoe and a cat scoop to scrape it. If I didn't clean it daily, I would use something on the floor of the run. I don't want the extra expense, and I'm totally fine with scraping every day. My coop and run rarely has any smell.
I have never used PDZ, pellets, granules - not even sure what that is.
I don't use lavender because I'm allergic to it. I have thrown home-grown herbs in the coop during the summer, but only because I grew it. I'm too cheap to buy a bag of it. The bagged stuff has lavender in it anyway. Poop is cat-scooped daily in my coop and it has a pine-shaving odor. I don't see the need for smelly stuff.
I keep a fly trap bag with YELLOW plastic top near the coop. Works GREAT. I don't recommend the one with a black plastic top - the flies don't go in the black one. I have no idea why Coastal switched to the black one. Lowes carries the yellow one.
You'll find your own way. Keeping chickens is pretty easy.
