The summer returned, but it's still quiet out there

We went to the Atlantis Aquarium and the kids hat a great time at the penguin exhibit.

I have to clean out the chicken coop, stalls, barns, etc. And it's hot here so I'm sipping coffee and procrastinating. Then there's fence to be fixed, lawn to be cut, barn needs patched up a bit, need to pick up 1000 lbs of crushed corn, 200 bales of hay, the horses need shod and some minor tack repairs need to be made. And I need to drop off some eggs to the elderly neighbors around here.

I'll probably drop off the eggs first, that should chew up some time, what with visiting and all. ;)

We did the chickens this weekend also - i'll have to admit we're at a bit of a loss as to how often / how much etc...

there was sand all over the floor from the previous owner - is that a good idea on a concrete floor? Im guessing it was there for the obvious reason but it was filthy so it's all gone now.

I also let them out the pen for the first time today, they had a lovely time in the garden, and both dogs and cat showed only mild interest - the chuks aren't afraid of any of them! - When George (the kitten) got a bit playful with one of them, 2 of them ganged up on him and shooed him off hehe...

I muck it out when I start to notice odor or the pine shavings start clumping. I can't stand smelly chicken coops. Of course it all depends on how much space you have, and how many chickens are in it. The sand might have been put there for grit, chickens need it for digestion if they're fed scratch or cracked grains. If you're feeding them processed food, they don't need the grit, but if they're laying hens, they'll need oyster shell for their own egg shell production.

I just give them oyster shell and it serves both purposes.

Straw or hay will turn into a mess if you use it for bedding. If they don't have enough bedding they'll wear their breast feathers off. When winter rolls in, you'll need a light out there in the coop until about 10 p.m. or the egg production will taper off. A red light will keep them from pecking at each other as much if they develop the habit.

And if conditions are crowded, they'll needed dusted about once every two months. I dust mine once a year.

Since your floor is concrete, you'll need abour 6 inches of bedding. You can compost old litter, it needs to cure for a year. Great for the garden though. If it doesn't cure long enough, you can burn up your plants. Chickens loose heat through their feet, combs and wattles. A concrete floor in winter needs a good layer of litter for insulation.

And if ya get a broody hen, you need to put her in a broody house. She can ruin the morale of the rest of your layers. I tend to put broody hens in a pot.

If you feed them scratch, (and they love it), and processed food, you need to feed the scratch to them every other day or they'll go off the processed feed and that 16% layer feed is perfect to keep up egg production.

>the chuks aren't afraid of any of them!

A big rooster is never scared of anything. Watch those spurs. ;) And that's probably more than you ever wanted to know about chickens, so I'm off to procrastinate some more.

>but if they're laying hens, they'll need oyster shell for their own egg shell production.

Yeah, they get about a third to whatever amount of cracked grain i give them.

dusted
What the hell is THAT?

insulation
We don't have compost - what would you suggest? Sawdust, sand, earth?

broody

How will i know?

Thanks for all the tips :)

Dust them for lice. Chickens are great about keeping each other clean though, so unless you have a lot of them in a confined area, once a year is good, usually when spring slips into summer.

Sawdust gets dirty really fast, pine shaving work really well.

A chicken is broody when it sits all day on an egg. They try to hatch them instead of just wandering off. I keep a few banties as they tend to be broody by nature, so the banties can hatch all the new chicks while my laying hens go on laying.

Oh i see, well i want little chickies! but i want to eat some too...

Guess i need to start searching for a good online guide to this stuff - bit more too it than i thought!

I'm recovering from jet lag after three weeks in Viet Nam.

Something I guarantee you, Nick ... after you've slaughtered your own chickens you'll have more respect for the meat on your plate than you ever did before. You'll be a lot more conscientious about making sure leftovers are well used.

Then welcome BACK

Must be a cool place to visit, i've never made it to anywhere really exotic - been all over europe and US but never asia (doe that include india etc? cos i've not been there either..)

one day..

>i want little chickies! but i want to eat some too...

there speaks a man who never tried to pluck one. I swear stubble on chicken and pork with bristles still attached is mainly to blame for my turning veggie :)

You need to pick (or pluck) them while they're warm. I never slaughter more than four at once because I can only pick four chickens before rigor starts to set in. Easier to pick if the heads are on them too. I use a slaughter cone, and just slit the jugular. No need to behead the chicken yet. Hold the clucker by the head when you pick it. When you're done picking, cut off the head and feet.

Before you start to pick them, make sure the blood is drained well. Then pick, singe, clean and dress, then put them in cold water and pop them in the fridge for 24 hours before freezing them. If you've never plucked, cleaned and dressed a chicken before, you might want to slaughter one to get the hang of it. ;)

oooh no!

I meant eat the eggs!

Chicken legs/breast comes from a supermarket!

A mate of mine moved from London to Devon and got himself some chickens with intention of eating some of them. He did one with an axe and he's never had the heart to kill another one since :)

Well, Yesterday did bugger all during the day (what are weekends for?), today I got up very late (thanks Aaron, your linkchecker kept me up till 5 in the morning), then went out with Michelle to teach her to ride the Serow (little off road bike). Embarrassingly she can do tighter turns on it than I can. Hmph.

>Chicken legs/breast comes from a supermarket!

With nearly a 50/50 split, you end up with way too many roosters. And unless you learn how to turn a rooster into a capon, they aren't good for much. Trust me, caponization is much more difficult to learn than chicken picking. ;) Always makes me twitch a bit too when it has to be done...

I thought roosters would fight if there was more than one?

capon

oh no, does that mean chopping his balls off? Christ, they're only little (i presume), i'd need a magnifying glass and a scalpel!

http://www.umaine.edu/umcecumberland/how_to_caponize_a_rooster.htm

Im sure the local farmers will kill themselves laughing when i ask them to take my birds away and kill them for me :(

If you find about twenty of them in one bird, you're not very good at it.
I'd have a specialist take care of that if I were you...

One rooster per fifteen hens is a good enough ratio to keep the roosters from killing each other which they will do once they get spurs and attitude. Caponization removes the umm, urge to fight. ;) Also makes the meat taste better.

>they're only little

Depends on the size of the rooster

We bought bikes then used them. Way to get rid of the gut (hopefully), get some fresh-ish air and excuse to put the new camera to some use :O)