Washingtonians

[UrbanEnthusiast]

So, what's extremely cheap and easy to clean that we can put in the bottom of the new coop to make the hens more comfortable? They're going to be spending a LOT of time in there until they break their habit of roosting in the tree.

 

[pettec63]

Quote:
Well and sometimes they pip early cause the temp was too high, ect, it can happen! I would definitely lock them down and let them be, what ever the instructions say for how to fill the cups if your worried try putting a small piece of wet sponge in there!

 

[TerrorBird]

So, what's extremely cheap and easy to clean that we can put in the bottom of the new coop to make the hens more comfortable? They're going to be spending a LOT of time in there until they break their habit of roosting in the tree.

What you could always do to limit your birds' ability to climb the trees is clip their wings. Of course, I don't know what the branches are spaced like, so that might not help.

 

[TerrorBird]

This morning, I was forced to be up before 7 AM and I had to open the chicken door. Lyle responded to my approaching sounds by crowing, and then I noticed a very strange squeaky gate sound. It was my OEGB hen crowing in response. It was perhaps the funniest thing I've ever heard.

 

[RonB]

WARNING..... Do you use "rough service teflon coated light bulbs" in your coop from GE or Sylvania ??
teflon coated bulbs are Toxic to chickens. One lady in New Hampshire lost 19 out of 22 birds overnight when she used a 100watt bulb in her coop. I just read about it in" Healthy chicken bulletin" I get free in my email. you can also read about it in the Oct/Nov issue of Backyard Poultry. htttp://www.backyardpoultrymag.com/.

I haven't been on here much lately.. Maybe this has already been discussed

 

[UrbanEnthusiast]

What you could always do to limit your birds' ability to climb the trees is clip their wings. Of course, I don't know what the branches are spaced like, so that might not help.

Oh, heck no. I actually like watching them fly all over the place, and they definitely need their flightiness to escape the dogs and cats. We simply can't keep our eye on everyone every minute of the day.

 

[Chickielady]

Jeffers offering a nice big heated poultry font:

http://www.jefferslivestock.com/heated-plastic-poultry-fountain/camid/LIV/cp/5F-H4/cn/3203/

Not a bad price at all...considering I just bought 2 feeders (that look about the same) that were $25 a piece from the local feed store.

 

[UrbanEnthusiast]

Here's the "chicken trap" my BF set up with the portable fencing he made last year and some chicken wire. Hopefully this will make it possible to herd them into the coop without them just flying up into that big pine tree there on the left. Wish we could just remove the lowest branch, but I don't think the landlord would be too pleased. And I think the Leghorns could make it to the second branch, anyway. Plus there are a ton of other trees around to get into. They're just going to have to learn one way or another to roost in the coop on their own eventually.

 

[VelvettFog]

Jeffers offering a nice big heated poultry font:

http://www.jefferslivestock.com/heated-plastic-poultry-fountain/camid/LIV/cp/5F-H4/cn/3203/

Not a bad price at all...considering I just bought 2 feeders (that look about the same) that were $25 a piece from the local feed store.

I have 6 of these - I like them. The bottom fill feature is a little hard to get used to.

 

[Stumpfarmer]

After further inspection, the gnawing is taking place in the ductwork (unused: we've been heating with oil-filled radient heaters for over a decade: the first winter our heating bill went down 50%). I've been slowly filling it in with expando foam, anyway, so today I'll get the part under the bedroom floor. If I had a construction budget, or anyone in shape to go under the house, I'd have pulled all the ducts years ago and made insulated plates over the air gaps; as it is, I have to intentionally and consciously go about things the wrong way, because the right way is out of reach.

Stupid reality.

If they are gnawing inside ductwork, what exactly are they gnawing ?
It is all metal...
It may be a blessing though, uncork a floor vent nearby the gnawing & drop a bug bomb in, then cork it back up.
Maybe that'll run them out of the duct work ?
Then again, Led Zepplin should work too !
Stick some music down there for them...........
If ya gotta cat, you could stuff the cat in the duct work !!!!!!!!!!!!!  
Then you have to crawl under the house & see where they are gtting in...ducts should be sealed.

Mobile home, remember, and electric heat: PVC ductwork. They're gnawing to get in, and also gnawing on the closed floor vents to get into the space that smells like food.

My sister came over and fixed the fence and The Nephew knocked down Seckel pears and some apples besides giving them hay, so at least I'm not listening to them munching at the landscape.

My friend who was going to come butcher chickens tonight is ALSO having that sort of day, and was almost as glad as I was to put it off until next week. I got the sheep pen retarped for now, and some extra plastic over the Hamburgs, and am, as soon as I finish my snack, going out to get hay for the sheep (assuming the cows didn't find it; they managed to move the hoop house about a foot and those BLRWs are royally teed off and blaming me, of course, as I am the one who's supposed to see that these things don't happen. Ever. And I'd better remember it next time!