Solitary chicken - need advice

[SuburbanChick]

Well we've been planning for such a long time but eventually we got the garden all set up and the nice man from Omlet came and put up our cube with 2 extra extensions All we were missing were the chickens!

 

We've had our 4 lovely chooks now for a week and life will never be the same again They are such amusing and entertaining chooks and I just love getting out of bed in the morning to let them out into the run. Bedtime is the funniest when they keep climbing up and down the ladder to the Cube until they eventually settle down. Jasmine, an Amber, just cant't get the hang of the ladder at all and just flies at the coop door and hopes for the best

 

Now the only problem at the moment is how on earth do I keep the woodchip in the run clean? They stay in the run all the time because we have foxes nearby and boy do they make a mess. What do people do? I've been trying to poo pick when they've gone to bed but it isn't easy in twillight in a 3 metre run I've tried putting Stalosan on the woodchip tonight but that wasn't easy either - what's the best way to actually do it?

 

Please - any tips gratefully accepted.

[Luvachicken]

Congratulations on getting your chickens and cube.

What colour did you get ?

Your life will never be the same again, in a good way I mean.

Have you been blessed with any eggs yet ?

 

I don't have wood chip in my run, but I think people that do just rake it over. I'm sure someone with woodchip will tell you.

As for the Stalosan, I use an icing sugar shaker to sprinkle it everywhere.

 

Don't forget to show us some pictures of your girls and cube.

We all love looking at them

[SuburbanChick]

Hi luvachicken, I went for the green cube and it looks absolutely lovely

 

The chooks are gorgeous but I'll have to wait a few weeks before they come into lay.

 

I was hoping to put some pictures up but I've just discovered that you can't upload pictures from your computer so not quite sure what to do!

[SuburbanChick]

P.S. an icing sugar shaker sounds like a great idea. Thanks for the tip.

[Luvachicken]

I think you have to put them onto photobucket or something similar.

Then you make them smaller on there and then add them to your post.

I'm not sure of the ins and outs because my OH did me an idiots guide to photobucket and I always need a helper

[BlueSilver]

Yay for Henz! So glad you are enjoying them! I have wood chip in my run, which is covered, so I am doing a deep bed system. The chips I use are small ( bigger than nest shavings, smaller than landscaping chips) so I am doing a deep bed system - I don't poo pick, I just rake the bed a bit and put more chips on top of the ones already in -I put about a 3cm layer on top of the old stuff once a fortnight. It breaks down and I will remove 80% of it in the fall to out on my garden. A lot less fuss! My Henz dig and scratch around in it which keeps it all stirred up and mulching nicely, and the cover keeps it as dry as possible.

[patsylabrador]

Hello. Enjoy your chickens.

Regarding the photos, I'm on instagram and you just have to share the link on here for one photo or if you download flipagram you can put several photos together to make a little slideshow. You can even add music. It's dead easy and lots of fun to do.

I find it easier than photobucket which just makes me cross.

The video I put on Silly Girls thread I took on my phone, shared it on instagram and used the url link to share it on here.

Simples and I am not a technical person.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Glad you're enjoying your new girls .

 

To stop them kicking bedding out of the run, you can tie something along the bottom of the run - plastic sheeting, planks, old laminate flooring planks - anything you have to hand.

[Chickabee]

I use woodchip. Have you put it straight onto grass or on another surface. Mine is on old paving slabs. I don't poo pick every day. Quite the opposite. It's impossible because they scratch the poo and it gets mixed in. I start with a layer, not too thick or they make an awful mess. I use biodry on top. Then when that's all s"Ooops, word censored!"ed to death, I put another layer on top. Every now and then the whole lot comes out and goes on the garden I use photobucket for my piccies. You just have to remember to select copy and paste the thumbnail size URL. It's ver easy

[LunaKiw1]

Get byourself one of those little torches set into a headband to wear when poo-picking at night. As you look downwards it sheds light on the ground and also leaves you with two hands to use a rake/poo-pick and to take down the grub which it is always a good idea to bring indoors at night to discourage vermin.

[Chickabee]

Wow LunaKiw1 you are one devoted poo picker. I don't take my feeders in, as I have vermin proof ones, plus I don't shut my coop door, so my lovelies can get up as soon as it's light. By the time I get up in the morning there's usually already a couple of presents for me in the nest box

 

I do love this hobby (and this forum)

[JellyBean2605]

Hi, I have two chickens in a rather small WIR,it's roofed and on paving slabs with a bark chip base which manages to stay very dry so I would definitely recommend some kind of cover if you don't have one already. In the weather it's ok but In the winter it would soon start to smell. I poo pick twice a week and apply stalosan once a fortnight with an old trowel, then use a garden hoe to mix it about (saves your back). When it's been down a few months I'll scoop it all out, dump it on the flower beds and scrub the slabs, then put more down. I would suggest it might be worth getting hold of some paving slabs (ebay or local gumtree etc) and putting your run on that to help keep it dry as well, last winter a lot of people struggled to keep the runs dry, I had to move mine onto the patio whilst waiting for the WIR to be built.

Good luck