Wisconsin "Cheeseheads"

[unkadan]

Good evening folks,5+" snow on the way! I'm so happy I could ****

I added 2 more points to my score last night, at least 2 to go, spotted crossing the fire lane at daylight,,,grrrrr

Concerning what to use in the coop,,,,I have dirt floors and use the deep litter method, add a few flakes of straw weekly, toss scratch feed in the morning, the birds fluff and till and everything slowly composts (dry and low to no odor). I clean out twice a year and that material goes to the big compost pile that is loaded with worms at the garden. If you have a "designer coop" (wood floor maybe linoleum down) then either shavings or sand, with sand you should pickup the nuggets daily, shavings not so much. Check carpenter shops in your area you most likely can get shavings cheap or free. I guess a lot depends on how easy it is to access your floor, is it a walk in coop? Do you have to bend and stretch to clean it out? all coops are different with different requirements.

Friend is gathering turkey eggs for me to hatch, I'll be calling you Jim for directions,,,lol

Broody is sitting tight,,one of the Ameraucana pullets lays an egg in the box for her daily

bbl
danlockingupandsettingthetrap

 

[Angiebubs]

Got 1 Buff Orpington, 1 cuckoo maran 1 easter egger and 1 blue cochin pullets this morning!!! And now hear they will have blue easter eggers!!!
On the negative side-my poor Lav Orp roo is running from my LB+BLk split Lav Orp Roo and hes limping badly so I will have to temporarily seperate them. So he is now in the coop brooder and new chicks in the shop brooder!!! Spent the day moving these guys around over and over. WHew!
I am probably going to re home one of these boys if anyone is looking...very sweet personalities, can pick then up and pet them etc Just trying to work out who is top roo

 

[delisha]

I am in need of your opinions. Who here uses sand in their coop vs. pine shavings, etc? Which one do you like better? Why?
Trying to figure out my plans for my coop and I have read that sand is great and cheaper in the long run vs. the pine shavings. Also its not suppose to hold the moisture as much. True or false?

I use both..I use sand for new baby's. I think it is more sanitary, but takes more work than shavings. I feed FF and the sand drys the poo faster and they seem to walk threw less mess. However it is constant cleaning to keep it that way. The FF makes the poo firmer in the first place. The sand makes it even firmer. Kitty scoops do not clean out the sand. The poo is too tiny. I use a sifter.

Quote: poor BigFam she has a rap for bad hatches..one of these days she is going to hatch out a great one!!

Good evening folks,5+" snow on the way! I'm so happy I could ****

I added 2 more points to my score last night, at least 2 to go, spotted crossing the fire lane at daylight,,,grrrrr

Concerning what to use in the coop,,,,I have dirt floors and use the deep litter method, add a few flakes of straw weekly, toss scratch feed in the morning, the birds fluff and till and everything slowly composts (dry and low to no odor). I clean out twice a year and that material goes to the big compost pile that is loaded with worms at the garden. If you have a "designer coop" (wood floor maybe linoleum down) then either shavings or sand, with sand you should pickup the nuggets daily, shavings not so much. Check carpenter shops in your area you most likely can get shavings cheap or free. I guess a lot depends on how easy it is to access your floor, is it a walk in coop? Do you have to bend and stretch to clean it out? all coops are different with different requirements.

Friend is gathering turkey eggs for me to hatch, I'll be calling you Jim for directions,,,lol

Broody is sitting tight,,one of the Ameraucana pullets lays an egg in the box for her daily

bbl
danlockingupandsettingthetrap

Great input..
I use sand for chicks and change them to shaving than to DL. I do not like sand for my set up outdoors. I have wood floors and the sand on top makes all liquid imediatly saturate to the floor. It is a pain to clean and the odor holds in the sand..I go through 5 lbs of sand for each batch of chicks and I sift it clean every other day..it is hard work to do...ask chicken scratch..she sifted for me once.

Got 1 Buff Orpington, 1 cuckoo maran 1 easter egger and 1 blue cochin pullets this morning!!! And now hear they will have blue easter eggers!!!
On the negative side-my poor Lav Orp roo is running from my LB+BLk split Lav Orp Roo and hes limping badly so I will have to temporarily seperate them. So he is now in the coop brooder and new chicks in the shop brooder!!! Spent the day moving these guys around over and over. WHew!
I am probably going to re home one of these boys if anyone is looking...very sweet personalities, can pick then up and pet them etc Just trying to work out who is top roo

Sounds like you had a very busy day..
This time of the year, roosters are filled with testosterione and will fight. It should settle down. As an option, you can add the new birds to the male you seperated after they are done with there bio security checks and the confinement period.

 

[199787]

So now I'm wondering how kitty litter would work - aside from being more pricey than sand. If you have free sand there's no harm in trying it our for us and reporting the results!

Since they would eat the kitty litter I would think it would be a bad idea. Its usually made of clay and has other chemicals in it a lot of time. I don't think having a bunch of clay in them would do them any good and may cause harm. I really like the smell of the wood chips and don't want to scoop poop out of the sand every day so I don't think I am going to try it.


Everyone is getting such cute babies!

Lisa

 

[judge]

And here is a link (if it works) to the video of the chick hatching...

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=572848359406935

 

[Amyable]

And here is a link (if it works) to the video of the chick hatching...

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=572848359406935

 

[cuties]

And here is a link (if it works) to the video of the chick hatching...

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=572848359406935

Congratulations! !!!!!!!!! What kind? Unkadan, do you do pine chips under the roost? If so, do you then try to get that poo scooped out? Or do you mix it in? I have them in the milk house. So it is cement floor. Delish, trying to remember do you use stray in your outdoor coop?? Thankyou for the advice!

 

[Angiebubs]

Delisha-Umm so yes long day LOL I called them pullets-they are actually sexed chicks!!!! So it will be awhile before they are introduced to the coop. I am trying to let keep them out together as much as possible so this doesnt all start over again. I just want Peekachus leg to have a chance to heal a little. One thing I found out-he likes to snugglewith me when hes scared

 

[kristip]

We have a dirt run. We sometimes have a little standing water, that is where I am winding if sand would be beneficial? Dh said he would get a bunch dumped in there. Good idea for drainage or not so much. Dirt really compacts down.

 

[Bigfamily4me]

42 posts??
No one type anything more. I'm too tired to read tonight and dont want you to add a bunch more for me to have to catch up on tomorrow morning... geez!

hope all had a good day. Except JJ who had the experience of a natural blonde moment due to no fault of his own!