Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[catface]

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Yeah, my coops are exposed on one side. At least you don't have the mud I do right now.

 

[catface]

Quote:
Yeah, my coops are exposed on one side. At least you don't have the mud I do right now.

We're at the base of Mt Baker and we definitely get some freezing. We've got a ski resort not too far from us.

 

[catface]

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If you have a dry area, my favorite is coarse sand. Super inexpensive, easy to clean, doesn't absorb moisture, cleans the birds feet as they walk thru it to get to the nest box, no excessive bulk to dispose of, the dirty sand sticks to the poop and gets tossed out with it, and it's good for the garden. I use a long handled litter box scoop every morning, other folks with larger areas put quarter inch mesh onto a pitch fork like this picture. Combined with a poop board cleanup is maybe 5 min. a day and smell is almost nothing.



I used it at my last place where I had a dry area. Worked very well. Like a litter box.

 

[catface]

Quote:
If you have a dry area, my favorite is coarse sand. Super inexpensive, easy to clean, doesn't absorb moisture, cleans the birds feet as they walk thru it to get to the nest box, no excessive bulk to dispose of, the dirty sand sticks to the poop and gets tossed out with it, and it's good for the garden. I use a long handled litter box scoop every morning, other folks with larger areas put quarter inch mesh onto a pitch fork like this picture. Combined with a poop board cleanup is maybe 5 min. a day and smell is almost nothing.



I used it at my last place where I had a dry area. Worked very well. Like a litter box.

It does need to be Coarse sand though. Not fine playground sand.

 

[ochochicas]

My experience with the deep litter has been the same. It gets slimy and I've even found mold growing in the wetter parts. In the summer the flies were horrible as well. It works better for me to clean every week and compost it all outside the coop. We have a pile about 100 feet from the barn where it will compost all winter.

The entire coop is covered with a roof so no water is getting in that way. The wind still blows the rain in, and wet chickens make the bedding damp after they come in from free ranging. I just think it is better to offer them clean, dry bedding than trying to do deep litter.

 

[Bridebeliever]

I just went to Hohl's and got sweet PDZ and pine shavings. Gonna get rid of those leaves!

 

[catface]

I had blue Isbar eggs delivered today and the post man from the office didn't want them to get bounced around on the old mail truck so he brought them out to me on his lunch break! I love small towns.

 

[nuklee0]

I had blue Isbar eggs delivered today and the post man from the office didn't want them to get bounced around on the old mail truck so he brought them out to me on his lunch break! I love small towns.

Wow that's awesome and so nice of him! Good luck on the hatch!

 

[Tytyvyllus]

I hatched out four healthy little hedemora chicks last month, but unfortunately three of them are roosters! Is anyone interested in a super rare viking roo (or two) built for cold weather? They're a calm friendly breed that descended from chickens the norse brought across to Sweden in the Viking Age.

As a result, I ordered some new eggs from another ancient norse breed. My 12+ icelandic hen eggs from whipperwill farms are going to show up on friday and go into the 'bator as soon as they settle! I am already impatient for them to hatch and they're not even here yet.

My starter hens for my flock are a RIR and a Welsummer I raised from day old, and the rhodie just squatted for me today. I could sing the egg song myself I'm so excited! I hope to see that first pullet egg soon. How long has it taken for your hens to lay after squatting?

 

[Cockatrice6420]

I hatched out four healthy little hedemora chicks last month, but unfortunately three of them are roosters!  Is anyone interested in a super rare viking roo (or two) built for cold weather?  They're a calm friendly breed that descended from chickens the norse brought across to Sweden in the Viking Age.

As a result, I ordered some new eggs from another ancient norse breed.  My 12+ icelandic hen eggs from whipperwill farms are going to show up on friday and go into the 'bator as soon as they settle!  I am already impatient for them to hatch and they're not even here yet.  


My starter hens for my flock are a RIR and a Welsummer I raised from day old, and the rhodie just squatted for me today.  I could sing the egg song myself I'm so excited!  I hope to see that first pullet egg soon.  How long has it taken for your hens to lay after squatting?

Is he the wooly kind?