| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| graciegreeneyes |
Posted - Feb 20 2010 : 08:35:54 AM
I was just reading an old Mother Earth News and it recommended this for chickens who have to be confined. Ours do have to stay in a run due to neighbor cats, hawks, our dog, etc. The author of this essay recommended putting down about 12 inches of organic material on a bare dirt floor - leaves and wood shavings for example. Has anyone done this? It sounds like a good deal - it composts itself supposedly, but what happens when it rains?
Amy Grace
Farmgirl #224
"use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without"
|
| 15 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| farm~maid |
Posted - Feb 24 2010 : 02:26:49 AM
sherry, thanks for answering my question. I wasn't able to work out there yesterday, but it's near the top on my "to do list." I have to go to town today and I'll get some shavings at the farm store. I handmilk our cow and we use straw in the stall. If we get a deal on hay, we'll use that. A friend just offered us square bales for $2.00 a bale. His cows won't eat it. Ours might and if not, we'll use it for bedding.
marcia, yes ducks are messy. They are the messiest of all our animals. We know we need to do something, but there's always something more urgent.
Christine
|
| child in harmony |
Posted - Feb 23 2010 : 9:57:11 PM
Hi Christine,
You said your *coop is quite a mess*...and it wasn't until I read that you had DUCKS that I understood why. We have ducks too and it so much harder to keep their house clean. They don't scratch the bedding around like the chickens do, their poop just lays on top. We have horses, rabbits and chickens but the duck house seems to require the most work!
~marcia
www.childinharmony.com
"Enriching,nurturing and inspiring Life with nature,animals
and the arts .. for the child and the child within" |
| sherrye |
Posted - Feb 23 2010 : 6:52:32 PM
hi christine, the shavings i use can come in the bundle like for your rabbits. they absorb the ammonia and help keep the coop dry. in spring i clean it out. it decomposes right in the coop. if it has a strong smell in the coop you need more shavings. you can ad de and some clay to help also. we buy them in bulk from a guy. he brings them in a huge truck. they last a season. cow poop dries right out and is light to lift out of the shavings. keeps my stalls clean. we actually use a tractor to move them around to the different animal spots.i really am a great believer in this system. you can bag and use your dry leaves for some of the brown material.i find hay is heavy and hard to handle compared to shavings. i use hay in their beds. some folks believe hay is a better product or straw for udder health. i milk cows so i use hay or straw. just a thought or two. sherrye happy chicken farming.
the learn as we go silk purse farm
farmgirl #1014
|
| farm~maid |
Posted - Feb 23 2010 : 05:10:22 AM
This might be a silly question, but what do you all mean by "shavings?" Are you referring to the bags of shavings one can buy in farm stores. We have used that for rabbits.
This topic is very helpful and comes at the right time. Our coop is quite a mess as we've had to house a few ducks in there, too. I was trying to think of a different approach to the usual straw that we lay down. But, the ducks call for something more - they make quite a mess. Hopefully, a few will be gone soon.
My big project for today. It's a yucky, mucky mess out there. |
| Annab |
Posted - Feb 23 2010 : 03:59:57 AM
We do layers and layers of shavings. The coop has been scraped once and we'll do it again when it gets warmer.
The accumulated ammonia smell can be overpowering. My coop is open on 3 sides, so luckily it gets planty of ventilation.
We let our birds roam when we are home in the afternoons.
This has been a bad year for losses due to hawks. 4 so far
Strange how the chickens can remain unharmed when they are in their pen. This is about 20X20 and open. But get picked out when they wander further into the fields.
|
| gr8tfulmom |
Posted - Feb 23 2010 : 03:15:17 AM
quote:
Originally posted by cajungal
I go to the coops, see the mess, don't want to clean it up, throw some more shavings and hay on it, and walk away. Then in the transition between winter and spring I do one major overhaul. It's usually all good and composted and I can throw it on my compost pile or directly into the garden. My procrastination has led to something good, oh my.
I bet the person that published this "system" was a procrastinator that wanted to make themselves feel better about a "job not done". HA HA It's made me feel better! Now, instead of feeling like a failure I can now stand proud that I've been doing something smart all along.
This is me too, just learned as 'this is how you do it' from my gram a looong time ago :)
Farmgirl sister #779
http://symbioticstitches.blogspot.com/ |
| child in harmony |
Posted - Feb 22 2010 : 5:33:53 PM
We have a wooden floor in our coop. We clean out the coop before the winter and then fill it high with shavings. The chickens scratch around in it and it almost composts where it is, and as it does it produces *heat* for the birds. When it starts looking alittle messy, we just add more shavings. We do this all winter and empty it all in the compost pile in the spring, clean it out and replenish with fresh shavings. It works great for us!
www.childinharmony.com "Enriching,nurturing and inspiring Life with nature,animals
and the arts .. for the child and the child within" |
| graciegreeneyes |
Posted - Feb 21 2010 : 12:25:48 PM
Thanks Amanda - it was good to see you at Karen's house. I haven't made it to Moscow to grocery shop yet, we are broke as the ten commandments right now so I have no extra grocery money - I'll let you know when I go.
Amy Grace
Farmgirl #224
"use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without"
|
| Firemama |
Posted - Feb 21 2010 : 09:51:57 AM
Our coop has a wood floor, I have about a foot of hay in there. Which does get cleaned out and put in compost. The outside which is not covered had about a foot of hay in it too,but they break that down after a while, then when they do that I just add another layer. It helps keep the mud to a minimum. Goodluck Amygrace!
Mama to 2
FarmGirl# 20
People can only make you feel inferior with your permission, and you dont have my permission......
Dont let the chain of love end with you.....
http://myfarmdreams.blogspot.com/
http://www.etsy.com/shop/justanotherhousewife |
| graciegreeneyes |
Posted - Feb 21 2010 : 09:43:40 AM
Cool - thank you all for the input - our chicken coop is connected to the outdoor run which is dirt - what about the dirt floor in the run? Keep it bare or cover it? It seems to me that if I put some leaves or shavings down in the run it would provide more for the chickens to scratch as opposed to the bare dirt, but would it get yucky when it rains? The coop is, of course, covered, but the run is open on top.
Amy Grace
Farmgirl #224
"use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without"
|
| sherrye |
Posted - Feb 21 2010 : 07:48:37 AM
hi amy, this is the system i have used for my entire life. in the winter whrn it is cold it puts out heat. truly does warm the room. we have a concrete floor underneath. that way no good stuff leaches into the ground. i clean in the summer. when my other pile is used early summer, i then dig it out. normally there is not to bad a smell. if there is you need to use more brown material. just like your other compost piles. if a pile is bad smelly then it is not healthy. yes some odor but the shavings should be enough to absorb it. the smell is the good stuff gassing off into the air. i remove stir water cover stir once a month till heat is gone. makes great manure tea. i also keep all my different poops separate. pig cow poultry. kust a thought or maybe 5 sherrye
the learn as we go silk purse farm
farmgirl #1014
|
| cajungal |
Posted - Feb 21 2010 : 03:34:26 AM
I've been doing this for years and never even knew it!
I go to the coops, see the mess, don't want to clean it up, throw some more shavings and hay on it, and walk away. Then in the transition between winter and spring I do one major overhaul. It's usually all good and composted and I can throw it on my compost pile or directly into the garden. My procrastination has led to something good, oh my.
I bet the person that published this "system" was a procrastinator that wanted to make themselves feel better about a "job not done". HA HA It's made me feel better! Now, instead of feeling like a failure I can now stand proud that I've been doing something smart all along.
One of the best compliments from one of my daughters: "Moma, you smell good...like dirt." |
| vegetarian farmer |
Posted - Feb 20 2010 : 3:40:16 PM
I have had good luck with this system since I do not want to clean the coop in the dead of winter. I have at least 12 inches of straw and shavings in the coop. I have not cleaned the coop since October and it is amazing that the poop seems to disappear in the bedding as they scratch away at it. It also keeps the floor of my coop (which is wood) much warmer in the winter. I clean it out and put it on the compost pile 3 or 4 times a year. I would have done it by now but we just keep getting more snow here in PA. I do not do this in the run area though, because I like them to have access to dirt.
http://hardworkhomestead.blogspot.com/ |
| Mumof3 |
Posted - Feb 20 2010 : 2:23:33 PM
I lay a thick layer of straw down in the pen every couple of months. The chickens love to pick through it and it does keep the pen clean. I rake out the poops where it gets bare and toss it in the compost pile. When the straw is all broken down, I rake it out, put it in the compost and lay down a new bale. I only have four hens, so it lasts a fair amount of time. Rain does not bother the straw. It prevents mud from splashing up on the coop and the waterer. It dries out eventually and I've never had it mold.
Karin
www.perfectlittlemiracle.blogspot.com
www.athreadofred.blogspot.com |
| southerncrossgirl |
Posted - Feb 20 2010 : 1:00:16 PM
Sounds good, but if you ever need to clean it out, WHEW!!
I am interested in knowing if anyone of us farmgirls have done that.
"A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes"==Cinderella |
