Chickens on the homestead

[Beekissed]

I've found the key to avoiding frostbite in large, single comb breeds....lots of wide open ventilation at and above roost height, as well as large ventilation open below the roosts. Seems to move the humidity right on up and out.

That way a person in northern climes doesn't have to limit themselves to pea comb breeds.

 

[freemotion]

Huh, does decomposition in the deep litter add a significant amount of warmth?

Yes! I use it with my own hens and goats. For a few years I had a "buck box" for the buck, which was based on a sheet of plywood so was 4' x 4' x 8'. One year I had a rather small buck so I put my big gentle Ginger in with him for the winter to help him stay warm. Well, with two pooping and peeing in there, I had to go in and clean it out late winter because Ginger could hardly stand up inside the box. I ended up stripping off my winter gear inside the box as I pushed soiled bedding out towards my waiting husband. I was rather impressed. There were active bugs/worms towards the bottom. I ended up never stripping it to the ground so there would be a head start to new composting. It is amazing.

I don't have enough hens for my coop to get the same heat going in there, but the small combed hens do fine.

 

[freemotion]

My dad's water buckets never froze more than a light skin of ice. Mine will freeze almost solid (two gallon pails) in the coldest part of winter, 600 miles south of where my dad's coop was located.

 

[tortoise]

I don't have enough litter in there. I will work on that. Thank you very much for the tip. I would be very interested in a thread on deep litter method with photos, if anyone with experience would start one please?

 

[Country homesteader]

Morning all! Here are the long awaited pics of my 2 roosters. The first one is Roo-Roo ( Buff Orpington), 2nd is Easter egger. I had to put the Easter egger back inside seeing how he kept getting attacked. So far I haven't seen my older flock going after Roo-Roo but I'm going to keep a close eye on them.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Pretty Roos I have EE I love their looks.

I use DL and have for a long time I really like it especially with the ducks and geese. It's so much easier to go in daily and scoop up the wet litter turn it over and done. Works great for nesting on the floor and for the chicken coop too.

Here are our latest additions Salmon Faverolle 5 females

 

[Country homesteader]

Nope. I don't see a comb or a beard on the EE.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I do like the Faverolles. I have another 'regular' colored Roo somewhere, lol. My birds are all free ranging and all mixed up right now. Last weekend I put him in a pen with three hens and he flew out - big dummy! Next time I'll go ahead and clip his wings.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Yay! I love mine!

 

[Beekissed]

Getting ready for the heat wave next week, starting this weekend. Last year it got so bad in the coop~a double shaded area with whole walls open to air~ that the hens would be panting on the nests and on the roosts at night. So, last year I added a fan to the coop for these times...got it out and ready.

In the morning I'll point it at the main nesting boxes and when I gather the eggs of an evening I'll point it toward the roosts. Having a hoop coop makes all of that enormously easy as there are multiple hanging points all over the structure from which to hang a fan. My current fan is just the top of an oscillating fan that my son was throwing out because the base had broken...still worked, so couldn't see throwing that out.

So, in the summer months, it hangs in my coop, waiting for the really hot and humid days.

Since they aren't confined to a coop and run, they usually spend those really hot days out in the cool of the woods and do well in the heat. They dust, they lounge on the cool grass or in the damp forest floor debris until the cool parts of the day, then they resume foraging.

What do you all do for the flock when you get into the hot and humid days of summer?