Ways to Improve Health?

[TwoCrows]

Are human probiotic supplements ok for Chickens? Wonder if I can just grind up ours and sprinkle on their feed? tg

It's all the same stuff. So yes you can use human grade probiotics on poultry.

 

[Daisy8s]

Quote:
These two statements make me wonder if you have proper ventilation in the coop. I'm in MI and we experienced similar temps to what you described.

My coop has a permanent 3-4 inch high gap at the top of three of the walls so there is constant air flow just under the ceiling removing the warm/moist air that rises. These gaps are never closed up. Then, their run is only three sided. The fourth side is wire fencing with clear plastic tacked up during the winter to block the snow from blowing in and the worst of the wind.

Even in temps in the low teens some of my birds are choosing to sleep in the run rather than in the coop. (I have no heat lamp in either run or coop.)

My birds are very healthy and don't experience frostbite or respiratory illnesses that I hear from others.

A second thought: are there other flocks within a wild bird's flying distance? If any sparrows or other small birds can get into your coop they can bring diseases from other flocks so it's good to have ventilation but you also need to put up screen material to block wild birds' entry.

 

[BlueRavensFlite]

THANK YOU! tg

 

[Daisy8s]

Quote:
Oh, and I would leave off the human food. Bread, especially, is nothing but a filler and does nothing for them nutritionally (though I know they do go crazy for it!) You really don't want them filling up on low-nutrition foods because then they don't eat enough of feed that does supply what they need.

I add a flock block (wild bird seed pressed into a large block with molasses as "glue") to their run so they get extra protein to stay warm. That's all I do as far as changing feed habits, though. They still get their regular layer feed.

 

[greyhatch]

Watch the bananas gave mine the squerts. Old timer i know was a fighter when it was still legal said they used to mix bananas with bread to flush there birds systems.

 

[Joan71]

all good info thank you... I got a question... I have tried to find the answer myself but... no go... so what is "the deep litter" I have seen lots of people say they use it and I just cant find it any place. I would really love to know what everyone is talking about.

Deep litter - I put about 2 feet of straw in their coop on the floor. Some people use hay or pine chips. I like the straw because it isn't very expensive. The poop can be scooped up before you rake the straw to freshen it up. It helps absorb the odors. I remove the top soiled layer, stir up whats left and add a layer of new straw. They will scratch and eat some of the fresh straw. When it is going to be really cold, I add extra straw under their roost. (I don't have lights in my coop.) If you have lights, you need to be careful of the straw. We don't want any fires.

I hope this explains and answers your question.

 

[litl red hen]

My hens were not terribly healthy when I got them (18 months old, lots of worms and leg mites). Because Scratch and Peck feed is the most local and most healthy feed I can get, I use both the corn-free feed and two different kinds of S&P scratch. I had been wetting it or mixing it with yogurt. But when I started fermenting it, I saw a major improvement in health..... Less smelly poop, legs healing up from the severe scarring. I combine the feed, scratch, black oil sunflower, pumpkin seeds, and sometimes finely chopped veggie and apple scraps into the fermentation bucket. They tear into it in the morning with all the gusto of sharks!

Flicker loo--how do you tell if chickens have worms? Also could you expand more about the fermenting you do with the feed? Sounds like birds could get drunk--lol. But seriously I make wine and as it clears there is spent yeast at bottom. Could this benefit the chickens to give them this by-product as probiotic?

I give my birds hulled sunflower seeds,freeze dried meal worms and I sprout Lintels until first leaves form and give to them. I am in CT.

 

[chick rookie]

Deep litter - I put about 2 feet of straw in their coop on the floor. Some people use hay or pine chips. I like the straw because it isn't very expensive. The poop can be scooped up before you rake the straw to freshen it up. It helps absorb the odors. I remove the top soiled layer, stir up whats left and add a layer of new straw. They will scratch and eat some of the fresh straw. When it is going to be really cold, I add extra straw under their roost. (I don't have lights in my coop.) If you have lights, you need to be careful of the straw. We don't want any fires.

I hope this explains and answers your question.

yes it does thanks. I guess I have been doing this without knowing it I put pine chips in a freshly cleaned foor (spring time) and straw over it. I tank a poop fork 2 x a week and clean up poop and put fresh pine down 1 time and straw the next I keep rotating like that till spring when I do a total clean out and start over.
I was doing it like thhat cause 1 it seemed the chickens loved to take dust baths in it, and 2 it seemed like the coop was warmer in the winter, and it was easier as far as not breaking my back more than once a year. ... so I have been doing it all along.

 

[flickerloo]

Flicker loo--how do you tell if chickens have worms? Also could you expand more about the fermenting you do with the feed? Sounds like birds could get drunk--lol. But seriously I make wine and as it clears there is spent yeast at bottom. Could this benefit the chickens to give them this by-product as probiotic?

I give my birds hulled sunflower seeds,freeze dried meal worms and I sprout Lintels until first leaves form and give to them. I am in CT.

All chickens have worms to an extent if they spend time outdoors foraging. In this case, one hen was huddling in a corner all fluffed out and pale comb. I did some poop watching and found round worms in a number of poops. You can take poop to a vet and they will test it, I think. But this was really obvious.

The fermenting is actually a lactobacillus ferment, so it becomes sour..... Like kimchi or sauerkraut. It definitely smells sour. You shouldn't feed it if it smells like alcohol. There are a number of very long threads about it. But basically, I put layer feed, whole scratch grains, and oatmeal in a food grade pail, stirred in water until it was about an inch over the feed. Then I covered the pail with a towel. Stirred it several times a day until it stArted getting bubbly and sour smelling.

 

[Thechickmama]

Thank you both!! I am definitely going to try the oatmeal and yogurt.

Question on the probiotics - do you put that in their water or their food? I have no history on using it so I want to make sure I take the right steps.

NO DONT FEED THEM PROBIOTICS IT IS BAD FOR THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!