What makes a chicken coop easy to live with?

[Yolky]

There seems to be many suppliments you can give your chooks. What do you give (if any) and when/why.

 

I try to remember citridal (sp?) in the water once a week.They have garlic in their grub and I give them half a little tub of bokashi a day to share to stop smells. I don't have anyother things but I am wondering if I should buy battals and/or poulty spice for winter.

[Chicken Licken]

citricidal in their water, bokashi in with the pellets, poultry spice in porrige along with natural yoghurt most days in the winter and spring or if I think thye need a boost. Shellstim in the water occasionally and that's about it for me.

Sounds like a lot but they seem healthy with it.

[Angels4]

Like it has been explained to me by very wise and all knowing Claret (in a previous post). I just feed my chickens clean. They get thier organic layers/mash pellets with diatome powder mixed in. All natural prohibotic

 

On this diet the one girl (Clairee) who is laying, gives me one perfectly formed egg with a nice strong shell. Most time with an added extra suprise of a double yolker.

 

I do want to start with the bokashi and apple cider vinager, but haven't yet found it locally. Most of the farm supplies I've visited, when asked if they have poultry supplies point me into the direction of the back corner of the shop where there isn't much of a selection.

Edited August 24, 2008 by Guest

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I put bokashi bran, poultry spice and garlic in with the pellets and apple cider vinegar in their water. I have limestone flour and citricidal but don't use them daily.

[Lisa]

Where is the best place to buy Bokashi Bran?

[A chickychickychick-ENN!!]

What an interesting thread.

 

What do all these supplements do? What do the bokashi bran and garlic do especially?

 

I have my layers pellets all ready, and a bag of gizzard grit. And cod liver oil which I understand makes their plumage lovely if you give it to them for one week each month.

 

Do I need to feed them oyster thingies as well?

 

Anna x

[Stevie]

I add Citradel to the chooks water daily and my dog has it too cos they all drink out of the same bucket!

 

A good handful of grit mixed in their food once a week plus theres always a container so they can help themselves whenever.Poultry spice mixed in food once a week along with DE and 2 teaspoons of garlic powder.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

What do the bokashi bran and garlic do especially?

Bokashi bran helps with their digestion and makes their poo firmer.

 

Garlic powder reduces the smell of the poo (it really does!). And, no, the eggs don't taste of garlic .

 

I give my girls mixed poultry grit which has oystershell mixed in with it.

[Hen Watch]

Lots of people on this forum don't use any supplements so don't feel you need to do everything. For me, I started with no supplements at all, and now I do this:

 

Daily:

- Mixed poultry grit - have in pot in coup constantly.

- Garlic Powder - 2 teaspoons a day in pellets - I absolutely swear by it - reduces poo smells

- Apple Cider Vinegar - good for their gut. I try and remember to put a capfull in water daily but don't always remember.

 

Weekly:

- Poultry Spice - every now and again, maybe once a week. But is good if they are moulting.

 

When needed:

- Limestone flour - only when my girls lay softies consistently (rather than the odd one) and need extra calcium.

- Flubenvet - I worm my girls routinely every 4 months.

- Citricidal - I personally only use it when my girls have sniffles but some use it all the time.

[stoice]

Where is the best place to buy Bokashi Bran?

 

Wigglywigglers.co.uk is the cheapest place I've found Bokashi Bran (In their composting section) I sprinkle a handful of it in every grub refill of pellets. Firms up their poos. I also sprinkle some on my compost heap every now and then. Interestingly they also sell Bokashi and layers mash combined so i may give this a try on my girls.

 

Everyone will tell you their own methods and eventually you will find the one that works for you and your girls. All you need on delivery of your girls are some pellets/mash and water. All the rest can be added when you have the funds (Plus you'll become obsessed anyway! LOL)

 

They have flint grit and oyster shells (Plus some baked egg shell when i bother to do it) available in a separate pot. Also sprinkle some in their pellets.

Their pellets are sprinkled with diatom in the large tub I keep in the shed. This should ensure they stay dry and mould free as well as coating them for the girls to eat.

Bokashi bran (Handful) added to pellets at every refill (About every two days as I have 4 chooks and one grub)

Every couple of days or so I make a porridge for them. Using water or probiotic yogurt and diatom coated pellets/mash with bokashi bran. I find this a useful way to administer other tonics that would sink to the bottom of a grub such as poultry spice if they are moulting (1/4 teaspoon or about a pinch), limestone flour (one teaspoon) if prone to softies, cod liver oil (Not got a large bottle of it yet but have split a capsule from my own supply!), garlic powder (Teaspoon or two), some mixed corn as a treat, or some muesli or sweetcorn, a small blob of marmite once a week for vit B, sometimes some tuna flakes, oh and some dried mealworms are great fun to dig in the bowl for.

All mixed together. The Girls love it.

I also put a slosh of ACV in their water (I have a large drinker, not got a glug) which i change every couple of days

 

Ok, that is the food side of things.

 

I put diatom all over the inside of their house (Wooden house - paranoid of red mite). When cleaned out and washed with poultry sheild (Kills and prevents red mite very effectively I'm told - although don't wash your chooks in it!) i sprinkle Diatom about and brush it in all the crevices that could harbour the little beasties. (I also provided a diatom, compost and sand dustbath in a washing up bowl for the girls to bathe in but it gets ignored ) I also sprinkle Stalosan F which is a dry animal safe disinfectant. This goes on the house floor and in the run once I have raked it over. I will also get some garden lime to sweeten the soil as I'm sure the acidity isn't doing it any favours!

 

I also have on standby a supply of bumpa bits, Gentian violet purple spray and savlon solution made up in a little spray bottle. All in case I have another bottom pecking incident and someone gets hurt. Oh and some anti peck spray (Haven't got Ukadex yet though)

 

And here is me trying to convince my OH that chooks are cheap to look after!

[FORENSICA]

I give mine only garlic powder - two heaped spoons into the grub. It definitively helps against the poo smell and should reduce possible parasites in their guts.

They also have oyster shells always available, for calcium (hard shells) or sometimes I just throw in old egg shells for the same reason.

And that is it

[jomaxsmith]

Mine have layers' mash so it is very easy to add supplements to.

 

Daily: bokashi bran (about a handful to a Grub), garlic powder and limestone flour (my Coral is prone to softies so i use LF all the time).

 

Weekly: Apple Cider Vinegar in their water one day a week

 

Occasionally: Battle's poultry drink, poultry spice, diatom (I use this in the eglu and nestbox too)

 

They have a pot of grit in the run and I worm with Fluvenvet every couple of months.

 

Jo