What i did in or around the hen house today

[akaskip]

  I have noticed there has been a lot of chicken talk lately in the garden and the prep threads, nothing wrong with it but i thought maybe it could use it's own thread.

 Winter is coming for a lot of us and i would like to see what others are doing to winterize the hen house.

 I got for free a nice window from a friend and tomorrow will install it in the hen house, i figure besides the extra light, it will provide some solar heat for winter, the windows that are in there now are make shift (screens only) which i cover with plywood in the winter.
  the same person also gave me a 28" width solid door that i will install when it gets a little colder, my current door is homemade with screen which i must also cover in the winter.

  Today besides the normal feeding and watering and the gathering of eggs i added some straw to the house and nesting boxes and also a little wire mending to the run.

 I no longer let the chickens free range, a couple came up missing, here where i live there are plenty of fox, raccoon, possum, coyote, bear, hawks, bobcat and some eagles so i thought it better just to keep them in the run, it's around 500 sq. ft and plenty big enough plus the house is good size too.

 Feel free to post about your chickens, first eggs, first chicks, butchering, different feeds etc. etc

  I am raising Barred rocks, they are good layers with decent size eggs, so don't forget to add your breed if you want, i would like to know what breed others here on the forum are raising

[Dasha]

I have three run-of-the-mill commercial laying hens on our urban lot. In the summer they have the run of a 30x30 area which includes fruit trees, compost bins, comfrey by the bushel and piles o' fun. In the winter this area becomes a marsh. We live on the coast of BC - not much snow but lots of rain.

Today we are building a chicken tractor to fit on top of our 4x10 raised beds. This will be a way drier area for their house and they will also have the original yard area to fool around in. The beds that they will be tractored on have been planted in cover crop, so they will have the added advantage of being able to chew that down. And I won't have to slop through the mud to feed and clean them out every day.

Every year it's all an experiment, isn't it?

[akaskip]

  It sure is , but the good thing is that you can adapt or live and learn is probably the best term to use.

[justanouveaufarmer]

Every year it's all an experiment, isn't it?

You nailed it right there.  That's why it's always fun and interesting.  Whatever mistakes learning opportunities you have this year, there's always next year to try again.

Anybody doing a chicken moat?  That's my plan for next year. 

[wiccawench]

today since we have had 5 days of rain and the DUCKS have turned the chicken yard into a MUD HOLE we let them all out and herded the ducks into the small  (6 ft x 6 ft) dug out area that fills with water from the creek..... (i got hubby to dig a flattened area out to be a holding spot for water so we can use it to either sit a solar pump in or use for a duck pond). Today we used it for the first time... (will add photos later) we now have PRISTINE WHITE ducks....omg..we sat and watched them for about half an hour the boys and me... they were so funny and sweet and HAPPY...... this area is close to an apple tree that we want them to root around under so next spring i can underplant with herbs and bulbs and strawberries (somewhere new to expland the alpine strawberry plants)..... for example.

using them to fertilize and clear away the grass......

As far as winterizing is concerned I am making it up as i go along  but really its simple to increase the straw at this stage.... my only real concern in winter is going to be working out how to stop the water freezing.... and I need MORE HAY BALES.....

Grower i believe it was suggested stacking hay bales around the OUTSIDE of the chicken house which i think is a fantastic idea....

and THANK YOU for starting this thread akaskip......it is a really good idea!

[9anda1f]

Good thread idea!

Question:  Planning on starting a new flock next spring, but I live here alone, no neighbors, and I need to leave periodically (four times/year) for up to a week at a time.  Has anyone rigged their chicken set-up to allow for such extended periods of absence?  

I've left chooks for up to four days at prior locations, but always prepared myself for what I might find when I got back  

[Emeline]

Right now I have Red Shavers.  I think they are the greatest little hens.  They're like little egg machines and they are so tame and friendly.  Yesterday I gave them their usual layer mash and wheat, a few inches of dog sausage (they love that stuff, they think it is a feast of grubs and worms!) and then as I was doing a lot of weeding I threw all sorts into their enclosure - they love dandelions and milk thistles in particular.  Most days I also pick them a big bunch of silver beet and other greens.

Mine are in a big enclosure and don't run "free range" as such either.  I don't exactly trust my dogs to always behave themselves.   so there's double 6 foot high fencing between the dogs and the hens at all times.

Today I need to be getting some more straw into their house.

[akaskip]

today since we have had 5 days of rain and the DUCKS have turned the chicken yard into a MUD HOLE we let them all out and herded the ducks into the small  (6 ft x 6 ft) dug out area that fills with water from the creek..... (i got hubby to dig a flattened area out to be a holding spot for water so we can use it to either sit a solar pump in or use for a duck pond). Today we used it for the first time... (will add photos later) we now have PRISTINE WHITE ducks....omg..we sat and watched them for about half an hour the boys and me... they were so funny and sweet and HAPPY...... this area is close to an apple tree that we want them to root around under so next spring i can underplant with herbs and bulbs and strawberries (somewhere new to expland the alpine strawberry plants)..... for example.

using them to fertilize and clear away the grass......

As far as winterizing is concerned I am making it up as i go along  but really its simple to increase the straw at this stage.... my only real concern in winter is going to be working out how to stop the water freezing.... and I need MORE HAY BALES.....

Grower i believe it was suggested stacking hay bales around the OUTSIDE of the chicken house which i think is a fantastic idea....

and THANK YOU for starting this thread akaskip......it is a really good idea!

 Great idea for the hay bales, my son makes hay and they had a great year so that shouldn't be a problem , as far as the water, i use the bottoms of 5 gallon buckets, about 5 inch depth and drilled a hole in the back which hangs on a screw, the bucket is on a slant so they won't act like ducks in it, anyway in the winter i keep one inside my house where it's warm and in the morning i fill it and take to the hen house, i then take the frozen one outside in the sun and turn upside down until the block ice falls out and then take that one in the house for the next day.
 Oh i do keep a flat rock under the front of the cutoff bucket( about 2 inches thick) just in case the chickens feel like they want to test the strength of the screw, that amount of water last a couple three day's under normal conditions.

[wiccawench]

akaskip....  how COLD are you talking about... how cold does it get in your winter? (not sure WHERE you are located)? we are an hour south of Lake Ontario and get a lot of lake effect snow and really cold winters. Just trying to acertain when you say it lasts 3 day's under 'normal' conditions?

thanks!

[akaskip]

akaskip....  how COLD are you talking about... how cold does it get in your winter? (not sure WHERE you are located)? we are an hour south of Lake Ontario and get a lot of lake effect snow and really cold winters. Just trying to acertain when you say it lasts 3 day's under 'normal' conditions?

thanks!

  LOL, sorry i meant the amount of water in the bucket last 2 or 3 days when it's cool but not bitter cold or middle of summer, sorry about that.

  I live in WV our temps can get to minus 3 and when it does i have to do the switcheroo every morning, i am sure it's much colder where your at, the chickens should drink there fill for the day before it freezes back up, you could do it a couple times a day if you have the time and it's really really cold.

[commonsensical]

My henhouse needs some attention before the weather really nosedives. I have an attached outdoor run (too many predators here, including my own dogs! for free ranging unsupervised) and will need to close that off when it gets very cold, and I also need to install extra roosts, as my hen population has increased this year.

I provide straw beds, and will set up the heater base for the waterer. Otherwise, there isn't much change between seasons. I have low watt bulbs for extra lighting installed in my henhouse, which helps with egg production.

[akaskip]

  Got the window put in this morning, took a little while since the nosy hens were running around my feet the whole time, lets plenty of light in and should give some solar heat this winter , only 6 eggs today, i have a couple slackers the last couple day's, guess they need a little break

[kiwi]

OOOOHHHH lovely all the chicken experts in one place.

My little ladies are just starting laying, I have expanded their run they have a lovely patch under bushes with lots of ebeegeebees to scratch, I have started making mash for them out of kitchen scraps (I have a book put out by the British War Ministry on how to feed rabbits and chickens on kitchen scraps) and they are loving that my question is (because it isn't covered in a wartime book) can I give them a porridge made out of quinoa, I have some of dubious quality and I am trying to grow some, also what about semonlina, couscous and things like that, just thinking in case I have left overs.  Also what about corn, they are  too small for whole corn kernels but what if I grew some, dryed it and crushed the corn into little pieces would that be ok, I am just thinking of things I can grow.  The book and a website I went to said anything we eat they can (with obvious modifications) and they will even eat a little left over meat.

[akaskip]

OOOOHHHH lovely all the chicken experts in one place.

My little ladies are just starting laying, I have expanded their run they have a lovely patch under bushes with lots of ebeegeebees to scratch, I have started making mash for them out of kitchen scraps (I have a book put out by the British War Ministry on how to feed rabbits and chickens on kitchen scraps) and they are loving that my question is (because it isn't covered in a wartime book) can I give them a porridge made out of quinoa, I have some of dubious quality and I am trying to grow some, also what about semonlina, couscous and things like that, just thinking in case I have left overs.  Also what about corn, they are  too small for whole corn kernels but what if I grew some, dryed it and crushed the corn into little pieces would that be ok, I am just thinking of things I can grow.  The book and a website I went to said anything we eat they can (with obvious modifications) and they will even eat a little left over meat.

  Could you tell us the name of the book and the website, they both sound very interesting

[kats]

Good idea for a thread.

Oh dear, so much to do before winter. The shed that I'm planning to use for a winter coop hasn't arrived yet. And when it does, I'm going to have to build a run.

14 (approx) pullets have been locked up in the chicken tractor and a small dog run for the last 2 weeks because they were beginning to lay and I wanted them to learn to lay in nest boxes. This has happened and we are getting about 5 eggs a day. So today I opened the gate of the run and let them out. We shall see whether they go back there to roost at night. Fingers crossed. There are still a few cockerels to butcher, and I should get to it because it's a waste of money to feed them.