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Post by brownrexx on Feb 5, 2015 12:18:25 GMT -5
It is really cold here again today and the chickens are not even coming out of their coop. It has an enclosed upstairs and an open lower level where they can hang out and get some fresh air but today they have no interest in going downstairs. They are all standing around indoors just looking out of the windows.
We take treats out to them a couple of times a day and collect eggs before they freeze and crack.
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Post by binnylou on Feb 5, 2015 13:20:03 GMT -5
We take treats out to them a couple of times a day and collect eggs before they freeze and crack. I remember when we had chickens. During frigid weather, just as my warm hand would touch the egg, it would crack. We ate a lot of eggs. I had a wonderful cake recipe that took a dozen eggs. I haven't made it in probably 35+ years.
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Post by gardendmpls on Feb 5, 2015 22:10:02 GMT -5
Most of the hens were inside the coop also, but I haven't found any of the eggs freezing. I am using the deep litter method and it appears to keep the coop warmer. The hens are starting to lay now. Got six eggs yesterday and four today. I can tell some are from the youngest chickens that were hatched the middle of August.
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Post by brownrexx on Feb 6, 2015 9:19:25 GMT -5
I am getting a few eggs per day but they all seem to be from the youngest hens who were hatched last summer. A couple of the older girls started laying at the beginning of the month but have stopped now. It's just too darn cold, I guess.
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Post by Latitude33 on Feb 7, 2015 0:46:24 GMT -5
Anybody have info they can share on "Backyard Chickens"?
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Post by breezygardener on Feb 7, 2015 16:09:38 GMT -5
What kind of info are you looking for?
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Post by brownrexx on Feb 7, 2015 16:19:30 GMT -5
We just finished cleaning out the chicken coop today. Poor chickens have been staying inside the coop almost full time for at least 2 weeks and boy was it messy!
I keep a shallow plastic bin under their roost to collect droppings and it was full to the rim and their straw was pretty dirty too.
It's important to keep a coop clean in the winter. Birds do not pee. Everything comes out together in their poo so ammonia fumes can build up inside of a coop and give them respiratory problems.
Normally they spend most of their days in the outdoor pen which is dirt and that keeps the coop cleaner but with all of the snow and ice they have been staying indoors all day. Now they have nice clean straw and my compost pile has a nice addition of frozen chicken poo.
I'm pooped too but it's time to make dinner for us humans.
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Post by binnylou on Feb 7, 2015 16:43:47 GMT -5
It's important to keep a coop clean in the winter. Birds do not pee. Everything comes out together in their poo so ammonia fumes can build up inside of a coop and give them respiratory problems.
I'm curious about this. Garden says that they use the "deep litter" method to help keep the coop warm in the winter. How does she not have health issues with her chickens? I remember being in the neighbor's hog confinement (pit) building in the winter and I could hardly breath because of ammonia.
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Post by breezygardener on Feb 7, 2015 17:07:05 GMT -5
I've never been a fan of the deep-litter method for chickens. The ammonia build-up is just too strong & the birds are just too sensitive to it - especially in the winter.
I did use the deep-litter method for my horses one winter when I was out of commission due to leg surgery, but never again for them as well. While our barn is full-ceilinged (no loft) & very airy, so no ammonia problems, the eventual cleanout was back-breaking. I'll never do that again unless forced to.
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Post by brownrexx on Feb 7, 2015 17:39:36 GMT -5
I thought about her hens too as I was cleaning and remembering reading about the deep litter method. Possibly she has more room per chicken in her coop. I have 15 hens now and a relatively small coop. They have plenty of space normally with 2 outdoor pens but with this cold they are staying inside all day and pooping in their straw on the floor instead of outside.
My pen is made to house up to 20 hens but I really think that it should be bigger if they were inside all of the time.
Anyway the deep litter method is supposed to compost the droppings as I understand it but in these freezing temperatures nothing is composting. I had to use a big putty knife to hack the frozen dropping piles off of the floor. It's not a pleasant job but we don't have to do it more than every few months and normally it is not frozen like this.
Usually about once a month we just take the pan that catches the droppings at night out to the compost pile and add some fresh straw.
Today we cleaned the coop down to bare wood and added all new straw. This is good for cleanliness and the chickens had a ball just digging in it and eating wheat seeds.
The ammonia smell was not bad since everything was frozen but if we got a warm day then whew, it would have been bad.
Chickens get "cabin fever" just like we do and if you don't give them something to occupy themselves, they can start pecking at each other and cause injuries.
I read somewhere that they really like to have a cabbage to peck so I give them one of those once in a while and it occupies them for a really long time.
We also buy the bruised and old apples and pears at the supermarket for about $1 per tray and give them to the chickens once a day. They really like having something to peck and eat besides chicken feed.
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Post by breezygardener on Feb 7, 2015 17:49:03 GMT -5
And - composting does normally release natural gasses. And as I mentioned before, birds in particular are very sensitive to anything that affects their respiratory system.
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Post by binnylou on Feb 7, 2015 18:06:15 GMT -5
I thought about her hens too as I was cleaning and remembering reading about the deep litter method. Possibly she has more room per chicken in her coop. I have 15 hens now and a relatively small coop. They have plenty of space normally with 2 outdoor pens but with this cold they are staying inside all day and pooping in their straw on the floor instead of outside.
My pen is made to house up to 20 hens but I really think that it should be bigger if they were inside all of the time.
Anyway the deep litter method is supposed to compost the droppings as I understand it but in these freezing temperatures nothing is composting. I had to use a big putty knife to hack the frozen dropping piles off of the floor. It's not a pleasant job but we don't have to do it more than every few months and normally it is not frozen like this.
Usually about once a month we just take the pan that catches the droppings at night out to the compost pile and add some fresh straw.
Today we cleaned the coop down to bare wood and added all new straw. This is good for cleanliness and the chickens had a ball just digging in it and eating wheat seeds.
The ammonia smell was not bad since everything was frozen but if we got a warm day then whew, it would have been bad.
Chickens get "cabin fever" just like we do and if you don't give them something to occupy themselves, they can start pecking at each other and cause injuries.
I read somewhere that they really like to have a cabbage to peck so I give them one of those once in a while and it occupies them for a really long time.
We also buy the bruised and old apples and pears at the supermarket for about $1 per tray and give them to the chickens once a day. They really like having something to peck and eat besides chicken feed. I remember when hubby would scoop out the coop...it was a big building probably originally used for hogs. When scooping, he would scare mice to the surface. Chickens love mice...it was like a football game with the lead chicken with a mouse in her beak and the rest of the herd in hot pursuit. It was hilarious.
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Post by OregonRed on Feb 7, 2015 19:54:06 GMT -5
hahhahahah
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Post by gakaren on Feb 7, 2015 20:44:24 GMT -5
When I was a kid on the farm we never cleaned out the chicken house all winter and I didn't either when I had them in Ill. But I used to put down a layer of lime and then cover it with a deep layer of straw. The smell wasn't so bad that way until you cleaned it out in the spring! And I never had any sick chickens either. So I guess that was what they now call "deep litter" method???
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Post by gardendmpls on Feb 8, 2015 11:18:27 GMT -5
Actually reread the chicken book section and it is called the compost method. No ammonia smells in the coop. It is large (8'x7') and well ventilated. Every day I sprinkle pine shavings over the litter and also add hay several times a week. Once or twice a week, I rake everything to one side and then back to the other- turning the compost. It is important to clear out any litter near the water if it gets damp. Moisture control prevents ammonia from forming. Attachment DeletedAttachment DeletedWhen the weather is not freezing and I know I will be home before dark, I will leave the large door open to air things out, but haven't done that for the last few weeks. Probably will empty everything out and scrub out in late March /early April. The floor is vinyl and cleans easily.The hens are outside most of the day as long as I keep hay spread over the snow, which also helps.
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