What did you do with your flock today?

[TropicalBabies]

I'm thinking of going for one of these:

https://arkus.co.uk/medium-chicken-house/

They're not twin walled but external insulation is available it will be inside my converted glasshouse which is always at least 4°c warmer than outside in the main run.
Be interested in your thoughts.
I am concerned about rats but so far they've not bothered chewing anything plastic in the run, including a large plastic tub of sunflower seeds.

Absolutely worth a try. I did not read reviews on it. I ALWAYS read reviews.

 

[TropicalBabies]

Aloha gang and Happy Sunday!
Last eve the chooks got to freerange again. I put vitamins in the water and refilled the feeders. Today I cleaned nestboxes and scraped poop boards. I have been a little lax on the boards...
They got starfruit and lettuce and tomatoes for snacks. They give me 6-7 eggs a day still. Not bad for my 9 hens and a feral. Mazie makes 10 but she does not count cuz she is a dinosaur who can not make it up to the nest boxes.
I'm thinking about incubating some eggs....

 

[TropicalBabies]

So, no eggs in the stores now. Private sellers will be $12-$15 per dozen. I'm thinking my chick order may not make it in June or July.
Things have barely settled down for me at home, with family and cats etc. But maybe intubating eggs is just what I need. I will think about it for the next couple of weeks while I pump more vitamins into and promote more exercise for my chooks. Beetle is definitely taking care of his ladies, eggs are strong and my brooders are only storing extra chicken waterers etc.

 

[Karlkurla Chooks]

Aloha gang and Happy Sunday!
Last eve the chooks got to freerange again. I put vitamins in the water and refilled the feeders. Today I cleaned nestboxes and scraped poop boards. I have been a little lax on the boards...
They got starfruit and lettuce and tomatoes for snacks. They give me 6-7 eggs a day still. Not bad for my 9 hens and a feral. Mazie makes 10 but she does not count cuz she is a dinosaur who can not make it up to the nest boxes.
I'm thinking about incubating some eggs....

How often do you scrape the poop boards usually?


During last year, my chooks roosted on the edge of a coop I had built outside my shed, under a shade arch I had fixed over it. This gave them some shelter. I was away for six weeks, and returned to find they were roosting in their own manure! The poop had built up to at least a solid inch thick, covering the whole area. They seemed fine with it, however I wasn't. So I cleaned it completely, then got to work building them a new coop with a big branch to perch on - their poop falls straight to the floor on the straw! Every now and then I just muck out the dirty straw and replace with new straw, like for a horse stable.

 

[TropicalBabies]

How often do you scrape the poop boards usually?


During last year, my chooks roosted on the edge of a coop I had built outside my shed, under a shade arch I had fixed over it. This gave them some shelter. I was away for six weeks, and returned to find they were roosting in their own manure! The poop had built up to at least a solid inch thick, covering the whole area. They seemed fine with it, however I wasn't. So I cleaned it completely, then got to work building them a new coop with a big branch to perch on - their poop falls straight to the floor on the straw! Every now and then I just muck out the dirty straw and replace with new straw, like for a horse stable.

I do poop boards, and I need to scrape them every 1- 5 days. Longer I leave it the longer the chore. It goes straight into my compost tumblers.

I do have some perches where poop drops to the ground. I like to mulch as straw has been a bit more of a pain with turning it under or scooping it up to compost. But that is just me and my weather conditions and space available.

 

[kurby22]

I'm thinking of going for one of these:

https://arkus.co.uk/medium-chicken-house/

They're not twin walled but external insulation is available it will be inside my converted glasshouse which is always at least 4°c warmer than outside in the main run.
Be interested in your thoughts.
I am concerned about rats but so far they've not bothered chewing anything plastic in the run, including a large plastic tub of sunflower seeds.

I have a friend who got something like this from Nestera and her only real complaint was that it was smaller than she wanted. The ease of cleaning was her favorite part. I would say the most important thing in plastic coops is sufficient ventilation, and the Omlet's never had an issue with that, but the one you sent might not have as many air gaps as the Omlet, so I would look at that and keep it in mind. I will say that the kind of plastic seems super easy for the rats to eat through so I would say if you don't have rats to worry about then don't worry about it!

 

[Shetland lover]

I have a friend who got something like this from Nestera and her only real complaint was that it was smaller than she wanted. The ease of cleaning was her favorite part. I would say the most important thing in plastic coops is sufficient ventilation, and the Omlet's never had an issue with that, but the one you sent might not have as many air gaps as the Omlet, so I would look at that and keep it in mind. I will say that the kind of plastic seems super easy for the rats to eat through so I would say if you don't have rats to worry about then don't worry about it!

Thanks, that's super helpful.
I've been a little concerned about ventilation in the plastic coops too but I figured I could always drill extra holes?
Unfortunately, rats are something I do have to worry about! I'm truly sick of the little buggers. Two days ago, I watched two younger rats emerge from under the dust bath - not 2ft away from me and in full view - and saunter over to a feeder. They then started eating right along side Clara, who barely glanced at them! Had Gladys been there, she'd have been in full kill mode and I might have 2 less rats. Last week we caught 8 rats in one trap!

 

[Karlkurla Chooks]

Thanks, that's super helpful.
I've been a little concerned about ventilation in the plastic coops too but I figured I could always drill extra holes?
Unfortunately, rats are something I do have to worry about! I'm truly sick of the little buggers. Two days ago, I watched two younger rats emerge from under the dust bath - not 2ft away from me and in full view - and saunter over to a feeder. They then started eating right along side Clara, who barely glanced at them! Had Gladys been there, she'd have been in full kill mode and I might have 2 less rats. Last week we caught 8 rats in one trap!

I guess Clara is not partial to rats! Good on Gladys though


My Cumin has caught quite a few mice for me, who were lurking near the feeder box or scurrying around from their nest underneath the shed's concrete slab!

Here she is running off with a mouse while the other chookies run after her hoping to get a bite! She ran with it right across the yard!

 

[Shetland lover]

I guess Clara is not partial to rats! Good on Gladys though


My Cumin has caught quite a few mice for me, who were lurking near the feeder box or scurrying around from their nest underneath the shed's concrete slab!

Here she is running off with a mouse while the other chookies run after her hoping to get a bite! She ran with it right across the yard!

View attachment 4044365

Well done, Cumin!
Mine are also partial to frogs. I wish they wouldn't go after the frogs though, due to them being in world-wide decline and being great pest exterminators.
Gladys has taught everyone else in my tiny flock how to restrain and dispatch smaller rats but she's really the only one who bothers with them. Penelope (RIP), Ferdy's (my head cockerel - he thinks ) extraordinary sister, was an extremely good ratter - better than my cats! I have a clear, plastic storage box which I converted to a dust bath. One day, I watched a young rat go behind it. I then watched Penelope stalk it. She moved to the corner of the box and peered around it. Every time the rat looked out to check the coast was clear, Penelope would draw her head back out of sight. This went on for about 10 mins before the rat decided to make a break for it. She was after it in a flash and would have caught it had it not been for Pru getting in the way. The rat escaped down a hole but Penelope waited by the hole for another 15 mins for it to emerge but it didn't reappear and she eventually gave up. I've never seen that stalking behaviour in a chicken before!

 

[Karlkurla Chooks]

Hehe thanks! Here is the full video if you like ->

https://streamable.com/01ntjl