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Affordable Ways to Make the Coop Homey

We’ve all seen the Pinterest chicken coops of our dreams. I’m not knocking those beautifully designed coops that have more stately architecture than a million dollar home. I think many of us envy that luxurious coop in the backyard. That being said, we cannot all achieve such coops, but we can look for thrifty ways to get pretty close!

Here are a few ways you can redecorate your coop on a budget this year, making you and your chickens a little happier!

Old Windows

Old windows, taken from old houses during renovation, are easy to spot on any online advertising agency. They often sell for as cheap as $5-$10 per window. Some contractors will even give these old windows away if you’re nice to them! You can find acrylic markers or India ink affordably online. Why not make a custom window painting of your flock, with your own artwork? You can customize it and paint members of your own farm. I guarantee it’ll make you smile on a rainy day!

I’ve painted several windows for folks who hung them inside their coop! Just apply a couple layers of varnish to the painted window to seal in the art forever. Hang the window in front of an existing interior coop window, or on a side of the run that gets good sun. You’ll have your very own stained glass window!

Dried Plants

Hanging wreaths or dried plants in your coop gives a homey, cozy feel. Used as both a decoration and an insect repellent, dried plants are a quick updo! Be sure to select herbs that are safe for the chickens to eat if they happen to be able to reach them. Hang bundles of fresh spearmint, tarragon,sage, oregano, marjoram, basil, or lavender along walls or fencing. (Please do not eat the herb yourself if they have been in the coop drying, but your hens can eat it!)

Signage

Whether you are a collector of antique metal signs, or like something more modern, signs can really make a coop more attractive. Don’t be afraid to paint your own sign, or even paint the a mural on the wall! I feel like sometimes people are afraid to try something bold and unique, and once they do, it gives other people inspiration to be more creative as well! I’d love to see more chicken coop murals from artist homesteaders out there!

Beautiful Branches

A free- way to make your coop feel more homey, is to add tree branches you’ve collected to the environment. Go outside and look for branches wide enough to support chicken feet. Get several different lengths and construct a sort of jungle gym for your flock. The tree branches will add a new place of interest in your coop, as well as be good physically and mentally for the birds.

Up-cycled Coop Parts

My parents’ used this idea to spruce their coop up, so I’m giving them a shoutout-although they probably weren’t the first to do so! Repurposing some old nesting boxes, works as a cute flower box, when attached to the exterior wall of the coop.

Outdoor Plants

Decorate your coop by planting chicken friendly plants along the border wall of the run. You may also stagger some plants nestled in colorful planter pots to add some pops of color. The challenge then comes in knowing what plants the chickens will not eat, but also will not get sick from. Here are a few safe options:

  • Roses
  • Lavender
  • Rosemary
  • Sagebrush
  • Cedar Branches
  • Butterfly Bush
  • Mint

Mixed Mulch Flooring 

One of the nastiest places in a coop, is usually the chicken run. The “run” refers to the outdoor space fenced in for the chickens. This floor, often just earth, can quickly become an eye sore and a nose sore! The chickens can’t help it if they are in the run most of the time. One easy way to combat this issue and do it frugally, is by offering the chickens different areas with different flooring. Perhaps one half of the coop floor has mulch or pine straw. A thick layer of either will give them something to scratch around in, and keep down the mud. Also, you can consider a corner with dry dirt or course sand (please not sandbox sand as the silica is bad for them), making a dust bath area. Sprinkle in some diatomaceous earth lightly onto their dust bath and it will tremendously help in mite prevention! Lastly, consider a scratching corner for your girls. I like to go and pick some weeds or brush for my hens on days they are cooped up.

Creativity is the spice of life. Being thrifty requires ingenuity; it requires thinking upside the box, a trait which many of us chicken people possess! I hope I have encouraged you with some affordable items to express yourself and make your chicken coop uniquely yours!

Do Chickens Have Taste Buds?

Today, we get to talk about a fascinating topic. I get asked quite often about things chickens can and cannot eat and if there are certain foods they prefer. Their taste preferences seem to be quite different from mine! Why is that? Some people are surprised to learn that chickens have tongues. Their tongues are hard to see, but they are in there!
Do Chickens Have Taste Buds?

A chicken’s tongue is triangular and relatively small. Chickens don’t have teeth to chomp their food, and for the most part, unless you’re up close and personal, it’s hard to see that they have a tongue. The tongue helps chickens pick up their food and treats. Chickens’ tongues fit on the inside of their lower beak, and along with picking up food and making cute noises, their tongues help them taste, but only a tiny bit. 

Do Chickens Have Taste Buds?

You can see Tinkerbell’s tongue sitting on the lower beak. She was telling me important things, I’m sure. 😀

 

Humans have 8,000-10,000 taste buds while the average chicken has less than 350. That’s quite a difference! Also, the taste buds of a chicken are located in the back of their oral cavity, so they don’t really taste much until it’s already on the way down! There isn’t much savoring on their part. They see something and commit and swallow. There are a few taste buds on their tongues, but not many. Another fun fact is that the number of chicken taste buds varies by age, breed and gender.

Chickens don’t have the same taste buds as humans. They have a more challenging time tasting sweet and spicy things. That’s why we can feed them cayenne or red pepper flakes and they don’t bat an eye. It’s also why they don’t get as excited about sweets as I do! Haha!

You know how we say we eat with our eyes first? That’s exactly what chickens do! They are usually quite clever in what they can and cannot eat. This is mainly done with their eyes. They likely choose their food based on its size, shape or color.

Chickens can see incredibly well in daylight. In fact, they can see more colors than the human eye can! This makes it easier for them to pick out the “treats” in the yard while free-ranging. My flock goes wild for watermelon. I suppose the fruit’s bright red color with the rind’s contrasting green draws them in.

Do Chickens Have Taste Buds?

So, I hate to break it to you, but just because you think your flock may love some of the same foods as you, they definitely don’t get the same taste experience!

Chickens are so unique and fun to watch. Pay attention sometimes when you’re out in the yard with them. They will pick up the one blade of green grass in a dead spot, find a bug you never would have seen and can spot a bag of Happy Tract and Golden Graze from a mile away! They get very excited about these two treats, and I know what I’m giving them is healthy and full of good things!

Feeding your chickens a well-balanced diet (with a few treats) is very important for their overall health and egg-laying abilities. Chickens don’t care too much about taste as long as they get good, healthy food!

 

Until next time,

–The Wing Lady

Jersey Giants

They come with lustrous black, bright white, or blue feathers but Jersey Giants are really a mellow yellow chicken breed. The reason goes back to the breed’s creation in the late 1800s.

 

Back then, few families enjoyed chicken or turkey dinners for one reason. It was expensive. Birds of that long-ago era gobbled down plenty of food yet grew slowly.

Raising them to market size was a slow and expensive process so, typically, chicken and turkey dinners were reserved for holiday meals and special meals served to guests.

 

New Jersey chicken breeders John and Thomas Black were determined to make chicken a more common American meal. Between 1870 and 1880 they crossed several breeds, including Langshans, Dark Brahmas, and Javas to create what came to be called the Black Jersey Giant. Although it had black feathers it was named in honor of the Black Brothers.

Their success was mixed. The new breed grew to a huge size. A rooster can tip the scales at 13 pounds with hens only a little smaller. Originally, they had black feathers so why are they a mellow yellow breed?

 

The answer’s simple. Back then many families raised small flocks. Mellow is a desirable trait. Giants are so big they have a tough time flying, making them easy to keep inside a small fence. Many breeds are considered to be nervous, or “flighty.”  They spook easily and sometimes fly over even a tall fence. Not Giants. The Black Brothers knew that small flock owners preferred mellow, so the trait became a goal of the breed’s development.

 

Yellow?  Consumers are fickle. English diners prefer a chicken with white skin. Not Americans. They like yellow skin. So, a Black Jersey Giant has black feathers and dark shanks, but underneath is yellow skin. The underside of their feet is also bright yellow.

 

The Giant is a wonderful backyard bird. They’re mellow and are easy to handle. Hens are prolific layers of large brown eggs. The Black Brothers did a great job creating the breed, but their timing kept them from ever becoming an important commercial meat breed. Giants grow slowly, and it takes plenty of expensive feed for them to reach the size of a small turkey.  To reach full size can take eight or nine months.

 

During the Twentieth Century many breeds and hybrids were developed that grew much faster than Giants while eating less feed per pound of growth. Cornish Rocks, for example, reach market size when only about six weeks old and eat much less feed than older breeds. That led to commercial success for growers and made chicken a common and inexpensive lunch or dinner.

 

Despite their slow growth Jersey Giants are wonderful birds to include in a backyard flock.  After all they are mellow and fun to be around. The black variety has impressive almost shiny plumage, while White Giants are brilliant in the sunshine. There is even a blue feathered Giant. All are great layers, although they may start producing eggs slower than better known Rhode Island Reds or ISA Browns.

 

They are big and may need slightly larger nests and pop hole doors than more standard sized breeds, but generally they can squeeze into normal sized nests.

 

The Jersey Giant breed enjoys a rich heritage. Although it’s not economic for commercial meat or egg producers it is a wonderful breed perfectly suited to a small flock in the backyard.

Entertaining Your Flock on a Budget

Chickens really live their best lives when they are free ranging outside. Unfortunately, not everyone has the option of letting their chickens out of the coop. Space restrictions, local ordinances, and job schedules are just a few of the reasons why many chickens are cooped up all day.

Owning animals is like being a zookeeper. A good zookeeper takes care of the physical needs of an animal. However, a great zookeeper comes up with ways to keep their animals’s minds healthy and active! It’s called enrichment! There are countless ways to provide your flock something to keep their brains busy.

That being said, chickens are simple creatures, and can live a happy and productive existence in a coop. Since we love them, we want them to have fulfilling lives. Here four affordable ways to give your flock enrichment!

Provide a dust bathing area. 

Chickens actually NEED a place on the coop floor to dust bathe in order to stay healthy. Part of a chicken’s daily routine is covering her feathers in fine dust, all the way down to the skin. After kicking around on her side, she will quickly hop up, and shimmy all the dirt, dust, and parasites off her feathers!

Add a dust area in your coop by clearing a clean 2ft. x 2ft. square on the ground. Leave it as dry as possible and add in a few buckets of dirt from anywhere on your property. There’s no need to use a tray, they’ll soon scratch all the dust out and around!

Put tree branches in the coop.

Chickens, like most birds, love to be up high. Their natural instinct to perch, leaves them always looking for the highest possible spot to rest. You can give them some new furniture simply by bringing in tree branches! The bark will help file down their toenails, as well as help work their muscles. The branches might last a few months before they’ll need to be replaced, and by then your flock might be ready for some new scenery anyway!

Rotate hanging treats periodically.

There are tons of resources and ideas for hanging chicken treats out there! In fact, I’m pretty sure there are some on the Hoover’s blog already! Whole cabbage heads, pumpkins, frozen watermelon; the possibilities are endless! Yummy snacks are always a great motivator to get chickens moving!

Give them a chance to hunt.

Chickens are meant to forage for their food all day. In today’s world of pampered pullets and designer coops, our chickens are often given 24/7 access to feed. This is fine! However, is it fun? Nothing pleases a hen more than being able to scratch for her food. Try broadcast feeding some yummy treats like whole corn, sunflower seeds, or dried mealworms. Speaking of mealworms, for even fresher insects, you can pickup some live mealworms or crickets from pet stores. They’ll make a great source of protein for your birds, and will be entertaining as well!

There are many ways still to entertain your chickens without breaking the piggy bank. Let us know some of your favorite ways to enrich the lives of your flock down below!

Clipping Feathers

There are many reasons why you may need to clip your chickens’ wings. 

Chickens escaping their run, flying up into feed containers, roosting in trees, and just plain wreaking havoc are a few.

Lately, at our place, my chickens have been wanting to sleep in the trees, instead of their deluxe coop! This was fine with me all summer, but now with cold temperatures depending on us, they need to start going back to the coop! Clipping their wings is the first step of my “coop reset plan!”

 

Clipping your chickens’ flight feathers is super easy and can be an instant solution to a number of chicken challenges. You can do it alone, but it helps to have a second pair of hands available.

 

First, you’ll need to catch your chicken. 

Easier said than done, huh? Try waiting until the late evening when it is roosting. After you’ve got a chicken, cradle the bird under your arm against your waist. Grab a wing, and gently pull it away from the chicken’s body, unfolding the feathers.

 

With a sharp pair of scissors, slowly cut in a diagonal line. You are aiming to clip just the ends off of the longest layer of feathers, the flight feathers. Cut about half the feather off. This is where you need to be careful.

Feathers are “alive” in the sense that they do have feeling and blood flow near the base. Unlike hair, which can be cut to the root, feathers should be cut well past the bloodline. You’ll see the bluish, thick shaft of the feather, but you’ll cut a few inches past it. 

 

When you cut the first feathers, the chicken may squirm a bit. Don’t worry, you aren’t hurting them, they just are getting used to the sensation. Cut with a gentle, firm hand, all the way down the wing.

 

After that, you’re done! The great news is you’ll only have to cut one wing! Doing this puts the chicken off balance when they try to fly. If both wings are cut, some smart hens can learn how to compensate for the shorter wings, and still manage to fly. Cutting only one wing has always worked for us! If you have some escape artists in your flock, before spending lots of money on coop revisions, try clipping their feathers instead!

Daylight Savings Time and Chickens

Does Daylight Savings Time affect chickens?

Well, the short answer is no. Of course chickens don’t have a need to understand numerical times, but YES they are affected by the shortening of days.

 

Autumn can be a rough time for chickens. You probably have noticed all of your birds molting. Molting happens to every chicken, every fall. They drop their old feathers, and grow in a new, fresh set for winter. They can be more vulnerable to cold during this time. Some of my girls go almost completely naked during molting season. One named Smarty, gets so puny, she literally looks like a disgruntled pigeon as she runs across the yard.

Chickens are creatures of habit. Their clock is the sun. It doesn’t matter to them if bedtime used to be at 9:00, but now it’s at 6:00. When the sun sets, that tells chickens it’s time to go up. Personally, the chickens going to bed earlier works for me! If you lock your flock up at night, you know the struggle of getting everyone in the coop when it’s still bright outside at 8:45pm in the summer.

With the sun as their guide, chickens undergo some internal changes when the days shorten. They now will lay less eggs, even stopping completely in winter. The darker days trigger the molt, which I mentioned previously. They will be spending more energy staying warm.

Just remember to please give your flock more energy rich foods this fall and winter. Whole corn makes a great evening snack for them, and will heat up their bodies during nighttime digestion. (It’s also a great way to persuade them to go up!) Ensure the coop is free of drafts and remember- no water inside the coop. (This prevents frostbite.)

 

Daylight Savings Time can be rough on everyone, chickens and humans included. Just prepare to hunker down and bring plenty of snacks- for your flock that is!

 

Saying Goodbye

As I weeded a patch of string beans one July morning, sadness overcame me.

The plants were loaded with beans, but the silence got to me.

 

My garden adjoins our chicken run. Whenever I’m planting, weeding, or harvesting, our 14 hens are my companions. They watch me from just beyond the fence and encourage my work with cheerful, expectant clucking. The hens joyfully feast whenever I toss tasty weeds or vegetable thinnings over the fence.  But, on that July morning no perky hens kept me company.

Whenever we bring a pail of kitchen scraps to our hens, they race to meet us, eager for treats.  When I open the pop hole each morning to let them go outside, I greet them with “good morning girls.”  As they watch me gather eggs I say, “Thanks.”  When I close their door each evening, they get a hearty “Good night girls, job well done,” from me. They are endearing. Is talking to chickens silly?  Nope.

 

Word came of an ailing relative 1000 miles away. Marion and I might need to leave at short notice to help him. Neighbors and friends take care of our chickens when we give them plenty of notice of an upcoming vacation trip. That wouldn’t work for a spontaneous need to be gone for an unknown duration. We decided, for the short term, that the flock should go. New birds will fill the coop with enthusiasm this fall.

 

Unexpectedly I was flockless. I grieved. That seems silly for a grown man to miss a few chickens, but it was real sadness. I was heartened to know that I can order chicks from Hoover’s Hatchery this fall. So, curious friendly chickens will again greet me, encourage my gardening, eat our scraps and give us delicious eggs. In the meantime, since we’re chickenless, we can travel without needing to find friends to care for the flock.

 

How to Eliminate a Flock

There are many reasons why a family must eliminate their backyard flock. The spontaneous need to travel may be one, but sometimes people simply lose interest or their life situation changes and chickens can’t be in their future. Also, like all living things, hens age. As years pass, they lay fewer and fewer eggs. To maintain production, trusty old hens must be replaced by youngsters every few years.

 

Saying goodbye to long-held chickens is hard.  They bring curiosity, intelligence, and beauty to the yard while recycling scraps and giving delicious eggs.  Although not quite pets, chickens are delightful life companions who bring joy as they stock the refrigerator with fresh eggs. Saying goodbye isn’t easy but may be necessary. Here are ways to empty the coop:

 

  • Gulp. Old hens are tasty, if tough, but few want to eat their old friends.  Finding them a new home is preferable.
  • Often friends are happy to add a few birds to their flock. It’s helpful to network with other families who keep chickens. Someone may cherish newcomers to the flock.
  • When the decision was made to terminate our flock, I put an ad on Craig’s List. Within an hour a woman called and said, “I have a small flock and give eggs to low-income senior citizens.  I’d like to expand my flock.”  She picked them up two days later.
  • Social media: Social media connections are effective in both disposing of chickens and acquiring new ones.

 

My flock landed in the yard of a woman who gives them great care and gives eggs to low-income senior citizens. They have a great new home.

Hoover’s Hatchery has good news for anyone who must temporarily end a flock. Most people prefer starting chicks in the spring, but Hoover’s sells chicks year round. Starting them in fall works well and that’s what I’ll be doing later this year.

Starlight Green Egger

If you’re looking for a hardy, beautiful layer of green eggs, look no further than the Starlight Green Egger, only available at Hoover’s Hatchery!

One Starlight Green Egger has been a loyal flock member at my home for the past 4 years. Her name is Christmas, and she’s named after her bright red feathers and the gorgeous green eggs she lays. I’ve had the pleasure of owning some hens from this breed for several years now, and I’m convinced they’ll always have a place here. Productive, beautiful, foraging experts, here’s a few reasons you should add some to your flock!

No Two are Alike!

Starlight Green Eggers often lack the fluffy cheeks and ears of other colored egg layers. They retained the pea comb and small, hooklike head. One (as of now) common thread in this breed is the probability to be red. Any variation of red! As deep a mahogany as a Rhode Island Red, to almost totally golden with orange stripes, or even a deep red body with a bronze head- they’re all red! (Usually) If you order a colored layer mix from Hoover’s, chances are if it’s a reddish chipmunk chick, it’ll probably be a Starlight Green Egger.

 

Awesome Eggs

The evolution of colored egg laying genetics has come a long way in recent years. It all started with the Aurucnana from South America, that lays blue eggs. Their descendants are easily recognizable by their fluffy cheeks and styled ear muffs.

After much trial and error, the range of colored layers has grown! Hoover’s has several variations of colored layers, all hybrid types that contain the best of both worlds.

I get an egg from my 3 year old SGE, Christmas, almost every single day, without fail. I have so many SGEs at the moment, that my egg basket is mostly all green! The Starlight Green Egger’s eggs are usually a delicate, pastel green. I like to liken it to a minty green.

Real Survivors

Mixed with leghorn lineage, the SGE is a superb free ranging chicken. More and more people these days are realizing that free ranging is best for chickens. If you have room and no regulations, letting your chickens out everyday is cheaper, cleaner, and more enjoyable for you and the flock! I’ve found that the SGE is custom made to free range. The leghorn lineage makes them small enough to fly and flighty enough to pay attention to danger. Our SGE hens are all so beautiful and awesome survivors!

The Starlight Green Egger is truly a backyard chicken star,as the name implies! I hope you’ll consider adding some to your flock this year!

 

 

What To Do with Frozen Eggs and When Do You Freeze Eggs?

You come home from a long winter day at work or school and visit the coop to collect the day’s eggs. They’re cold.  Really cold with hairline cracks in some of their shells.     That’s not surprising. Those eggs have been sitting in the nest for hours on a subzero day.

 

Egg whites and yolks contain plenty of water but are loaded with dissolved solids.  These lower the egg freezing point to about 29 degrees. Eggs rarely freeze in moderately cold weather but if the temperature drops like a stone eggs freeze and crack in just a couple of hours.

 

In many ways eggs are the perfect product.  They are delicious nutrition packaged in a protective shell and membrane that keeps bacteria and dirt out.  Unfortunately, that tiny crack in a frozen egg can be an ideal passageway for dirt and microbes to enter.   Eating that contaminated egg could be a health risk.

 

What do you do with a frozen egg?  The best solution is to never let it happen.  It’s wise to collect eggs often throughout the day, but when the mercury drops toward the bottom of the thermometer it’s essential. Collecting eggs every couple of hours makes it unlikely that any will freeze. Unfortunately, when chicken keepers are stuck at work or school all day, they can’t saunter to the coop often to gather their eggs.  A few eggs are likely to freeze on a frigid day. For those who cannot collect regularly, some heat in the coop can keep eggs from freezing.  Even, enclosed nest boxes can maintain some warmth and possibly prevent eggs from freezing.

 

What’s the safest thing to do with a rare frozen egg?  Either toss it somewhere so night time raccoons or opossums can snack on it, or mix it into the compost pile. It may seem like a waste but it beats getting sick.

 

Purposefully Freezing Eggs

 

Deliberately freezing eggs for future use is far different from finding frozen eggs in the nest.  A frozen egg is one that was in the nest too long on a frigid day. To be safe, toss it out. Freezing eggs purposefully in the freezer is a way to store them for months.   Almost any family who keeps a flock of hens has times when eggs build up in the refrigerator and days when there just aren’t enough for baking and cooking. A solution is to freeze them when they are abundant. It’s easy. Crack them into a container, scramble them up, seal the container and freeze. They should last about a year.

 

For information on egg freezing, safety, recipes check these websites:   www.incredibleegg.org or www.eggindustrycenter.org.

Winter Blues and Breathing Problems, too!

I know some people thrive in the colder weather, enjoying the snow sports and getting outside as much as possible, but for animal people, this year has been depressing… and wet. I live in Mid-Michigan and my flock and me have the winter blues! I do not mind the cold weather one bit, it is why I chose to live in Michigan. It’s a relief when we have cold weather, because a lot of the bugs pass away or go dormant and we do not have as many to deal with the following Spring. 2023 will be bug filled…we have had only one major storm and maybe 3 separate snow days and the rest has been wet and SOOO GLOOMY!

 

YES! A chicken can get the winter blues! They show it differently though, mostly by changing a few things like the pecking order, aggression, extra appetite and boredom. Below are a few things we do to keep our flock busy in the winter and feeling more lively!

Idea Number 1: You will need several oranges or grapefruit, string, any 16 oz. nut butter, 1

scoop of NatureServe Layer pellets, and extra seeds optional.

COLOR! I love color, so we take oranges or grapefruit and cut them in half. Then, spoon out the inside. When you do this, it should look like a beautiful orange bowl. Next, head to the cupboard and grab any nut butter and make sure you have your Layer pellets. Mix your 16 oz. of nut butter with the Layer pellets in a separate bowl. Once it is mixed well, put it to the side. Also, you can be creative and add whatever seeds you want to this. They are your birds so spoil them this winter. Next, grab your string, a tiny knife, and those orange bowls. Add two holes, one on each side toward the cut part of the orange. You will be adding the string into it to create a hanging basket for your feathered friends. Add the string and knots so that it holds together well. Once this is done, stuff with the Layer and nut butter mixture then freeze. Once it is frozen take it outside and hang around your coop! Voila! This will be distracting, exciting and new to your birds, as well as 100% edible. (Use 100% cotton string if your birds are savages and will eat it)

Idea Number 2: Anyone with a real Christmas tree, go ahead and keep it and put into their run. Add some nut butter to branches, then sprinkle fun treats like meal worms, some Layer pellets or seeds to the tree and this will keep your birds busy PLUS pine needles are great for your birds lung sacs. Did you know chickens have several lung sacs in their body and adding pine needles to their diet can increase circulation as well as improve respiratory health? So, this is a win win! No trees in the dump and healthy happy birds.

Idea Number 3: You will need a nut butter, maple syrup, seeds, some chicken feed, 1 jar of cayenne pepper, parchment paper and 2 medium size bowls.

In one medium bowl, add 16 oz. nut butter,

¼ cup of Maple Syrup, seeds and some feed together. I recommend adding 4 tablespoons of cayenne pepper or if you don’t have that, add red pepper flakes. (4 tablespoons is ¼ of a cup) Cayenne pepper and red pepper flakes can both help increase temperature and help hens produce more eggs.

In bowl number 2, add parchment paper. Pour in mixed ingredients, form into a ball or square. Go ahead and freeze. Once frozen remove the parchment paper from the bowl and put the ball or square in the coop.

I hope these ideas can help your flock keep things flowing smoothly and keep them happy. As for you, this will help too. When we suffer from the winter blues sitting inside and being on our phones will not help, so get your butt up and make some cool snacks for that bad*ss flock you have outside!

But, speaking of being on the phone… since I have been inside, I have also been doing more reading and going online more. Which…has led to some fun chatroom adventures and seeing what people have to say has been going on in their state and their flock. I have been looking online and watching group chatrooms about what people and their flocks are experiencing and it seems like some people have a wet mess and some random deaths due to respiratory issues. I did not realize what humidity was in winter until this year! I can honestly say this year has been so wet and humid, that what type of bedding you chose for your flock is going to play a key factor in this. Respiratory issues or sudden death are on the rise. If you are having this issue with your flock, please try this.

  • Step 1: Empty the coop…that’s right… kick those chickens out and start cleaning out the bedding. It is not going to be easy if you’re like me and did the deep liter method. In fact, it’s going to be heavy and time consuming, BUT WORTH IT!

  • Step 2: Sweep it up, even if it is a dirt bottom and go ahead and get as much of the excess material up. It is important to make it clean!

  • Step 3: Lay barn lime down. Some people use First Saturday Lime, but I just buy 50# bag of crushed barn lime and spread it in all the areas that are very moist. This reduces the ammonia smell in your coop as well.

  • Step 4: Throw down pine pellets mixed with any other bedding of choice. As the moisture enters the bedding, the pine pellets will absorb it and turn into a crumble. This comes in handy!

  • Step 5: Remember to remove all the roosting pieces and power wash them off. If your worried about the moisture, you can just scrape them clean and put them back in place.

  • Step 6: Essential oils…that’s right, you can use a bottle of certain oils outside, slowly walk about and add a few drops to the bedding. With the humidity so high, if you add eucalyptus and lavender it can work in your benefit. They are known to open up the lungs and allow any infection to pass.

These steps should help keep the humidity down and gather up any moisture that is building up. Be sure to flip your bedding weekly to prevent stagnant spots from getting moldy, especially if you are not doing this method and are using the deep liter method. If you try this method above, let me know what you think!

I also think it is so important to add essential oils to the water bowl! It will not hurt the birds if you use the right oils and dosage. Or you can purchase VetRx or other water additives to add into their water bowl to keep them healthy. But, KEEP THE WATER BOWL OUT OF THE COOP! Especially if you have a heater in it. That will create condensation inside the coop and freeze! It will be bad for your flock to breath in it and for their little toes, crops and waddles to come in contact with. No one wants to deal with frostbite!

I hope this helped if you have an issue like this occur in your flock. These are just my ideas and things that have worked for me! If you have special techniques, please share them! I always game to and love to try new things!

Keep warm and dry out there!

Your chicken friend,

 
 

Amanda B.

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