Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[pennyJo1960]

I have 4 heat pads for plants from Amazon.
I bought a heat plate the legs decide the height.
You place it in brooder they can live under it if the choose.
Little by little as they grow they come out.
After they are older take it out place a piece of plywood
to replace the heat table.

 

[The Rinaest Rina]

Also want to know this. I bought hemp ($$$) for the coop to replace the pine shavings (best cost, but dusty!) but it came in giant plastic bags and im trying to find a truly sustainable plastic free bedding option. Plan to use the chips from the my felled apple tree for the run with DLM. Maybe will make a wood chip pile under a tarp and just keep using that forever? What condition/type do the chip need to be to go in the coop? 100% dry and aged? Do chickens get splinters?

Yeah, I'm wondering what options we really have... I'm not going to do sand because of the dampness and I like the deep-litter method, and I've heard that both pine and cedar are so strongly aromatic that it can hurt chickens' respiratory systems. I think I've gotten pine and cedar mixed up in my head, but one or both are supposed to be a definite no because of the aromatic oils.

Straw is supposed to be good, but it's more expensive. Hay is supposed to be a no-no because it will stink terribly with the manure. The advantage is that it grows anywhere you don't mow, you just have to cut it, dry it real good, and bale or store it in a shed. If it didn't stink it would be awesome.

 

[The Rinaest Rina]

I have 4 heat pads for plants from Amazon.
I bought a heat plate the legs decide the height.
You place it in brooder they can live under it if the choose.
Little by little as they grow they come out.
After they are older take it out place a piece of plywood
to replace the heat table.

You have seed starting mats? Have you tried brooding chicks under them?

 

[pennyJo1960]

I will pour ashes on floors helps with bugs has to be from wood.
Yes brood them under the heat plate not my plant heaters.

 

[Grandmas Coop]

Nice!
I ended up giving in and using a 52- watt bulb to keep the babies warmer. The wool hen worked to keep them warm, coupled with hot water in wool-covered jars, but I had to actually replace an attentive hen and the time commitment isn't something I can do as much as I would like to. The little ones would snuggle up to the others in the feed dish instead of heading for cover when they felt chilly, and I would have to scoop them up and gather them under the wool hen like a mama would. Plus, the wool hen method works better with 12-14 chicks, and I have only eight smaller ones. I was wayy too anxious that they would be chilled and die.
Hmm, I know where I can get a seedling mat... How warm did yours get? I'm going to need to give them a bigger brooding area in the next few days and I'd like to add a warm, dark place for them to sleep more naturally. In a week or so they might not need the 52-watt bulb any more, if they have a warm cave that will make them cozy instantly.

I dont know the temp

 

[ValerieJ]

Yeah, I'm wondering what options we really have... I'm not going to do sand because of the dampness and I like the deep-litter method, and I've heard that both pine and cedar are so strongly aromatic that it can hurt chickens' respiratory systems. I think I've gotten pine and cedar mixed up in my head, but one or both are supposed to be a definite no because of the aromatic oils.

Straw is supposed to be good, but it's more expensive. Hay is supposed to be a no-no because it will stink terribly with the manure. The advantage is that it grows anywhere you don't mow, you just have to cut it, dry it real good, and bale or store it in a shed. If it didn't stink it would be awesome.

Cedar is the one you should not use. Here is an article on it:
https://www.thefeatherbrain.com/blog/cedar-bedding-chicken-coops

Pine shavings are fine, but i think they are messier and more expensive than straw. I use straw, but I know several people on BYC who would never use it. They prefer the wood chips and say it works much better. IDK, never had a problem with straw and it's easy to change out regularly. Wood chips would be harder to clean out I think.

You do need to keep the chicks pretty warm in the first couple weeks, and really up until they have feathers. I think they say 98 degrees the first week, then down 10 degrees each week. But, keep in mind they have to be able to go in and out of the heat.

If they are cuddling in the wrong place, they probably are not getting enough heat where you are trying to supply it. On the other hand, if they are laying around with their wings spread, especially in an area not directly under the heat, then the brooder is too warm for them.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Where do you all get your bedding for the best price/quality? What kind do you use?
I need to upgrade. There's a sawmill nearby but I doubt that I can get nice, dry cedar chips there without any pine or mustiness or it being just plain sawdust.

Free is best - so if you're in western WA many tree service companies are desperate to get rid of chips and will bring you as much as you want. Same with bagged leaves in fall - if you don't have a lot of deciduous trees you can always ask neighbors if you can grab their bagged leaves destined for the curb.

The bedding I do pay for is hemp for directly under the roost (I sift poop out of that for composting), and aspen shavings for the nest box (because they're very big flake and don't stick to eggs).

Maybe will make a wood chip pile under a tarp and just keep using that forever? What condition/type do the chip need to be to go in the coop? 100% dry and aged? Do chickens get splinters?

Don't tarp, it needs to air out. I'd be surprised if you see any tarped chip piles in western WA state.

Ideally you'd age them out for at least a month or more and then skim the chips off the surface since those have offgassed the most.

As far as the question about cedar, this is my general opinion:

I have cedar chips in my chip mix (it would be literally impossible to get wood chips around here without cedar mixed in, as it's simply part of the environment) and I use aged chips in both coop and run. Little to no cedar aroma at all. I feel very comfortable about using it in my set up. We have Western cedar which is lower aroma than Eastern red cedar (which is more aromatic and the type of cedar associated with hope chests and insect repellents).

I would probably avoid using cedar shavings (the increased surface area allows for more offgassing), or fresh cedar (well, fresh anything really... pine sap is awful!), or cedar in closed-in environments (i.e. indoor brooder, coop lacking in ventilation), especially if it's an aromatic variety of cedar. My coop is well over recommended ventilation plus has a high ceiling for added air volume.

Many coop builds have cedar and I don't think people ever consider that. My current coop has cedar trim, my old one (which is now a chick brooder) is 100% cedar.

Obviously if you're not comfortable with it, don't use it, but I've been mixing in cedar for the last several years and there's been no sign of respiratory issues in my flock.

 

[Hinotori]

What do they usually charge for it at the pier? I went sturgeon fishing a few times years ago, and got one keeper. I caught one that I had to let one go because it was one inch over the slot length limit. I believe it was 61 inches long.
View attachment 4137051

Just got an email today for the charter service so grabbed tuna trip prices from their web site

 

[FeatherAndBloom]

Don't tarp, it needs to air out. I'd be surprised if you see any tarped chip piles in western WA state.

Ideally you'd age them out for at least a month or more and then skim the chips off the surface since those have offgassed the most.

Thank you for this! Helpful! I’m hearing that there are two goals with airing out the chips and it’s not the level of wetness, more so any mold/spores and then also for cedar an off gassing of the aromatics/oils. Hope I’ve got that right. Good to know about western cedar being less of a thing too at least good for my outside run with lots of airflow. I’m working to increase the ventilation in my coop too right now, it’s not bad (doesn’t smell at all with deep shavings) but I want them comfy all year long.

I moved a thin layer of fresh apple chips into the run today to make a dent in the pile and provide some entertainment to the girls. Smell is lovely and fresh and I know it’s thin enough that mold isn’t a concern. Plenty of time for the pile to age before the next batch goes in

 

[rosemarythyme]

Thank you for this! Helpful! I’m hearing that there are two goals with airing out the chips and it’s not the level of wetness, more so any mold/spores and then also for cedar an off gassing of the aromatics/oils. Hope I’ve got that right.

Yes on both those, though moisture is also a factor - aspergillus is a type of fungus that's deadly to chickens but it mostly grows on fresh/green wood, so again the aging and drying of chips aids in combating that.

Most molds in wood are fine and expected, like the bottom of my chip pile definitely looks pretty "rotted" after sitting there for years, yet is safe for use around the chickens.