4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[johncunningham01]

Hi All

 

Just have a few questions which need answering

 

1. Henrietta who started laying after one week with me has now stopped. No eggs for at least 10 days. She is in full feather, is eating and drinking, no abnormal poo and to all intense and purposes is her usual self. Is this normal for such a gap. She was laying reasonable size eggs almost daily. (She is a Rhode Island Red).

 

2. I have a completely decked garden with several raised beds that the chooks use for their dust bath happily. I put down additional decking squares on the main path and have secured the run to ensure foxes aren't able to lift it and attack. Inside I have wood chips which I regularly rake through. They have been down about a month now and despite removing any obvious soiling are a little smelly. I wonder whether the chooks would be unhappy if I removed then and just let then walk on the decking squares.

 

They are let out each day and happily jump into the beds for a dust bath and wander around the rest of the garden which is decked. If I do this I can then clean any mess often and pressure wash the whole area when I deep clean the house each week. Any comments and advice would be well received.

 

3. How do I know if I have red mite? Not that I think I have but just to be safe. Do I need to avoid the eggs for a while after treating them and also after worming.

 

Thanks

 

John

[Willow]

Hi John

I'm sure there will be others along as well to answer

 

1. Chickens often stop laying for a while. Sometimes it has an obvious reason like a moult/ broody/old age/ time of the year, but sometimes it just happens for no apparent reason espeically when they are just getting going. As long as your girls seem healthy and happy I wouldn't worry and it will restart.

 

2. A lot of us have found horse bedding 'soaks' up the chicken poo better. I've used Jopack and hemcore (prefer jopak for quail as finer but personal preference only), the other type is Aubroise.

 

3. Check your eglu when cleaning. Mites can be grey if not been feeding. I don't believe I have ever had it in 2 1/2 yrs of chicken keeping so unsure how obvious it is.

[Sammy]

Hi All

 

Just have a few questions which need answering

 

1. Henrietta who started laying after one week with me has now stopped. No eggs for at least 10 days. She is in full feather, is eating and drinking, no abnormal poo and to all intense and purposes is her usual self. Is this normal for such a gap. She was laying reasonable size eggs almost daily. (She is a Rhode Island Red).

 

2. I have a completely decked garden with several raised beds that the chooks use for their dust bath happily. I put down additional decking squares on the main path and have secured the run to ensure foxes aren't able to lift it and attack. Inside I have wood chips which I regularly rake through. They have been down about a month now and despite removing any obvious soiling are a little smelly. I wonder whether the chooks would be unhappy if I removed then and just let then walk on the decking squares.

 

They are let out each day and happily jump into the beds for a dust bath and wander around the rest of the garden which is decked. If I do this I can then clean any mess often and pressure wash the whole area when I deep clean the house each week. Any comments and advice would be well received.

 

3. How do I know if I have red mite? Not that I think I have but just to be safe. Do I need to avoid the eggs for a while after treating them and also after worming.

 

 

Thanks

 

John

 

John mine did this too - I wouldn't worry, my girls egg laying was very unsettled to begin with. How long has Henrietta been with you now - when was she last wormed - might be worth doing as a precaution?

 

Chickens like to scratch around so personally I wouldn't just have the decking squares, although as you say they have the ability to dust bath but I would look to find a solution to the smell. A daily poo pick will always help keep the "soiled areas" to a minimum. Do you use Stalosan F or Bio-Drio? I have rubber chippings in my run and sprinkle Stalosan F every week, that seems to really help and I've also been known to sprinkle citronella oil down for a nice lemon smell. Some other owners I know also use garden lime but I couldn't speak to that as I have never used it. Not sure how large your run is but once per month I also lift, sift and hose down all the rubber chippings using a garden pan (like panning for gold). That way I can get right down to the bottom.

 

Could it be that the smell is just coming from damp wood chip?

 

Others use aubiose, hem for bedding so is an alternate an option for you to try?

 

Regarding red mit, that's a trickier one as you don't tend to see them as they only come at night so I've been told and they hide in little cracks and crevices unless of course you find them on your girls. If you girls are being attacked by them they would go downhill and I'm sure you would see symptoms.

 

I have a wooden chicken house so the tip I was given was to take out the removable wooden perches and wrap cellotape around the ends (sticky side out). That way if we had mites and they came out at night they couldn't get along the perches to attack the chickens as they would stick to the cellotape and I would find evidence in the morning. I have never found anything to date and I'm sure if you had an Omlet with plastic perches that you can access easily this could be an option to try aswell.

 

I also use Poultry Shield when I thoroughly clean the house, which seems to work great and I regularly sprinkle Diatoms, well everywhere really, including the nest box and dustbath so the girls delouse and de-mite themselves whilst having a roll around.

 

Egg withdrawal would depend on products and medication you use. For standard products like Diatoms, Red Mite Powder and Louse Powder there's no impact to your eggs. If you worm your girls and most people seem to use Flubenvet again for a standard course of treatment there is no egg withdrawal needed (my girls are currently on day 6 of this).

 

I'm sure there'll be others along later to give their views.

[bluekarin]

 

I have a wooden chicken house so the tip I was given was to take out the removable wooden perches and wrap cellotape around the ends (sticky side out). That way if we had mites and they came out at night they couldn't get along the perches to attack the chickens as they would stick to the cellotape and I would find evidence in the morning. I have never found anything to date and I'm sure if you had an Omlet with plastic perches that you can access easily this could be an option to try aswell.

 

What an excellent idea! And so simple! And I'm off to do that right now!

[Sammy]

 

I have a wooden chicken house so the tip I was given was to take out the removable wooden perches and wrap cellotape around the ends (sticky side out). That way if we had mites and they came out at night they couldn't get along the perches to attack the chickens as they would stick to the cellotape and I would find evidence in the morning. I have never found anything to date and I'm sure if you had an Omlet with plastic perches that you can access easily this could be an option to try aswell.

 

What an excellent idea! And so simple! And I'm off to do that right now!

 

Bluekarin,

 

Make sure you wrap it round first and then stick over the ends aswell, it's a bit fiddly but I also thought it was a good idea and I've done it ever since - you want to cover the whole end of your perch/es. I also put some Diatoms in the bracket where the perch goes before putting it back in but not on top otherwise the cellotape loses its stickiness and the little blitters have easy access again.

[sgregson]

Hi John

 

Just a thought about the smell... my chicken run started with smelling a little and then became quite unbearable and this coincided with a lot of heavy rain we had back in July. I ended up having to dig the entire run out and this is when we discovered that it was the food that had fallen on the floor and got wet that was causing the smell. We've now covered the run over with some plastic sheeting and it doesn't smell any more

[johncunningham01]

Hi All

 

Thanks for the help.

 

Have had the guy who sold me the chickens in and checked them over. No red mites!

 

Still very intermittant laying so guess I just have to be patient.

 

With regard to the run. Think I may go down the rubber chip route. At least everything is washable and manageable that way! The joys of dealing with a partner who is still none to happy at me having the girls in the first place.

 

Don't know what is going to be said when I get the bees next year!

 

John