Chicken Memorials

[kimmi_b]

I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of my 3 chooks this Wednesday, and wanted to gauge opinions from seasoned chicken keepers on the following questions:-

 

1) I want to make sure that I have the right supplies for keeping the Eglu clean, and the right regime down pat. The plan is to hose the Eglu down once a month with Ecover or other natural washing up liquid. I have purchased a spare set of roosting bars so I can put the fresh set in whilst the others are drying. I have also purchased red mite powder for the bars themselves. How do I clean the bars though? Is Ecover suitable for them too?

 

2) I also have quite a bit of moss between my patio slabs. I am hoping to get most of it up between their arrival and actually letting them out, but in case I don't get chance, is it poisonous to them?

 

3) Finally I was wondering how long I should keep the chickens in their Eglu and run for, before I let them venture out for the first time? (I plan to keep them in house & run during the day, let them out for a few hours when returning from work and then shut them up again at night). I have a cat so need to make sure he is acclimatised to them too.

[Couperwife]

Hi Kimmi and welcome to the forum

 

right, questions,

 

the cleaning sounds fine, we actually dont use cleaner, just the power washer (it shifts anything ) we give the roosting bars a good scrub with a brush, thay shifts most of it

 

I dont know about the moss, but ours seem to know what they can and cant eat

 

we kept our girls in the cube for about 5 days, we were going to keep them in for a week, but we gave in to the pitiful crys

 

our cat doesnt like the chickens - they look at her funny and she runs away

 

good luck with the chickens on wednesday, and remember, photos are always welcome

 

cathy

x

[Christian]

I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of my 3 chooks this Wednesday, and wanted to gauge opinions from seasoned chicken keepers on the following questions:-

 

1) I want to make sure that I have the right supplies for keeping the Eglu clean, and the right regime down pat. The plan is to hose the Eglu down once a month with Ecover or other natural washing up liquid. I have purchased a spare set of roosting bars so I can put the fresh set in whilst the others are drying. I have also purchased red mite powder for the bars themselves. How do I clean the bars though? Is Ecover suitable for them too?

Ecover and a stiff brush is fine Kimmi, a power washer zaps them really well if you have one

2) I also have quite a bit of moss between my patio slabs. I am hoping to get most of it up between their arrival and actually letting them out, but in case I don't get chance, is it poisonous to them?

Don't worry too much about them eating moss, they are more likely to scratch it out for you, to get to the bugs

3) Finally I was wondering how long I should keep the chickens in their Eglu and run for, before I let them venture out for the first time? (I plan to keep them in house & run during the day, let them out for a few hours when returning from work and then shut them up again at night). I have a cat so need to make sure he is acclimatised to them too.

Omlet recommend keeping them in the run for the first 5 days to get them used to their new home

 

 

Welcome to the forum by the way!

 

Any more questions, just ask!

[Chickvic]

Hello and welcome! I'm a relative newbie too so I just clean the eglu with the pressure washer, I don't know about the moss and the recommended time before letting them out is 5 days. We managed 2 and they were fine. Love their names - we nearly had the same!! We have 3 cats and they are called Kirby, Samus and Link! Same games system?!

[Stevie]

You should leave the chooks in the Eglu's run for around 5 days,but i was gagging to let them out and could only wait 3...

 

With regards to cleaning-the Elgu is dead simple to maintain.I just give it a good soaping with conventional washing up liquid,rinse then spray it all with pet disinfectant-rinse again then leave it in full sun for few hours so the UV rays kill any surviving bacteria.It really is that simple!

 

The roosting bars i give a thorough scrub with soapy water to get any muck off then spray with same disinfectant again.I rinse it all then leave in sun to dry for few hours.

[Stevie]

ps.

 

Moss isnt poisonous to chooks-infact they're not particulary intrested cause theres very little nutritional value in it! Mine rake it out of the lawn,but only cos they want the bugs in soil beneath.

[kimmi_b]

That's great everyone - thanks for all your advice! Sounds like I can let them scratch out the moss for me then!!!

 

I have one more question I forgot to ask yesterday - I am going to be away for one night on Saturday, leaving approx 3pm. Should I shut the chickens into the Eglu then, and let them out when I return the next morning (at about 11), or should I leave the house door open so they can come in at night when ready and then come out in the morning when ready?

 

I will probably ask the delivery guy all this tomorrow but knowing me, in my excitement I will forget!!!

[TAJ]

Mine did a really good job of scratching out the moss for me - so that's fine. I put the bars in a bucket of warm water whilst washing the rest of the Eglu - by the time that is done the dirt (pooh) has softened on the bars and I just using a scrubing bush to clean them off.

 

Good luck & remember to show us the photos.

 

Tracy

[Pinkybijou]

On the advice of someone else on here (Egluntine?) I don't close the Eglu door at all at night. The last time I closed it was during that really cold snap when it went to about -9 degrees here (when I also gave them a hot water bottle!). As long as the egg hatch and run is locked closed from Mr Fox they are safe and my chooks wander out when they like, presumably when the sun comes up. As much as I love my chooks, nothing gets me out of bed earlier than I absolutely have to be!!