Pro - Does anyone else's nest boxes get soaked in rain?

[PixieDust]

I hope this is the right place for this.

 

I had been slowly collecting stuff for the arrival of the girls in just over 7 weeks. This is my list so far:

 

DE

Poultry Sheild

Mealworm (for the wild birds of course)

Gentian Violet

Nettex ground sanitiser

Trug for dust bath

Rubber eggs

Latches and bolts for run and coop

Feeder and drinker

food scoop

food ball and fruit cage thing for veg/fruit treats

 

Still to get:

Auboise

Food bin

Food ( thinking Marriages Organic???)

Grit

Oyster she'll

Corn

Chippings

Something for Lice

 

This may be controversial but we will creosote the coop against red mite. I have read so much and listened to all the arguements, but OH has access to it and uses it as part of his job. I don't like the idea of Ficam-w unless absolutely necessary and am not happy about using Invermectin or its dirivatives.

Anything I have forgotten?

[Redwing]

Don't get your feed too early, feed doesn't tend to have a very long shelf life

 

Creosote is ideal for the coop (in my opinion) but do let it dry and air for a good week before the hens arrive.

 

The DE will do for lice, it's better than most of the accepted louse powders. Buzz Busters powder is good if you do feel the need to invest in a specialist louse powder

 

Your list looks fine. I'm sure most people will agree with me that they have a few trusty items and a shed full of unused products.....

[PixieDust]

The poultry guy said they would be wormed before coming home, so I gather they will be ok for 3 months. I won't get the food til the week I get them. Thanks for that Redwing.

 

With my dog I have a few essentials and I researched to see what was going to be useful and hopefully not spend too much money lol

[Chickabee]

Just ask him when they were wormed. He probably won't have done it just before you get them, so an idea of a date would be good.

 

My shed is full of chicken stuff. I can barely get in it. I've got buckets and spare feeders, spare drinkers, lotions , potions. I use ground sanitizer the most. Nutri drops are handy to have and some kind of tonic. I use oregano tincture, but there are loads of chicken tonics which all seem to gave good press. Red mite powder gets quite a lot of use, but you can use DE, I think it's pretty much the same.

 

Good luck. Can't wait to see your new girls

[gavclojak]

Rubber gloves and nappy sacks...I use them for the poop pick in the morning from the cube and also the poop pick from the run during the day.

I also use baby wipes to give the roosting bars a once over in the morning but if you have a wooden coop I don't think that will be relevant

[Chickabee]

Do you use biodegradable nappy sacks? It's a bit of a bug bear with me. I have 3 dogs and I always pick up their poop. However I don't agree with wrapping everything in plastic before you throw it away. I therefore buy biodegradable bags on the Internet. My chicken poo goes in a bucket then in the compost bin I'm not really an angel , it's just one of those things.

[gavclojak]

Do you use biodegradable nappy sacks? It's a bit of a bug bear with me

 

Absolutely, I 100% agree with you. I purchase mine from Tesco and they are degradable, they are around 80p for 74 bags.

They seem to last forever.

When my children were young and we used to walk to school I used to be amazed at the amount of poop on the pavements and I still see it now!!

 

I would never leave my dogs poop on the floor for someone else to tread in.

[Chickabee]

We're singing from the same song sheet gavclojak

[Beantree]

Grit and Oyster shell can be bought premixed PixieDust, that's what we buy. Food can be any good quality stuff without chemical yolk colourants. Garvo, Smallholder, D&H all have pellets without GM products in. I personally think Organic feed is very expensive for little gain. We sold our eggs and no-one ever asked if they were Organic and I'm sure no-one would have paid extra to have them Organic. As said, look at the shelf life as it can be very short.

 

Corn I presume is mixed corn for treats only. What are the chippings for?

[PixieDust]

Run floor Beantree. OH being an ex - tree surgeon has insisted upon seasoned bark for composting. I have explained about mould but he won't budge. He has been very obstructive in the entire process. He wanted to just make a pen with chicken wire and the roof to be bird netting. I have managed to get what is required 99% of the way but he won't move on seasoned bark chippings.

 

Yep will get mixed grit and oyster shell and yes a small bag of mixed corn.

 

I will look into Garvo as someone else mentioned them, though one thing he agrees on is organic if possible.

 

Thank you.

[Beantree]

Nothing wrong with seasoned bark. Mould isn't a problem outside, just in the coop Pixiedust. Bark will get dirty, tot down and need changing. One thing I thought about was the covering of the run. Plastic netting is useless obviously, as anything will get through it. But you do need a sheltered area out of the rain. It also extends the life of the chippings considerably if they are kept dry and you poo pick them.

[PixieDust]

It's ok Beantree, I argued for a roof with logic and got one

 

http://www.dropshots.com/PixieChix/date/2014-09

[Chickabee]

Have a look at farm and pet place for your feed and mixed grit. They're a great company and their postage isn't too bad. They also sell Easi chick, which is a great alternative to aubiose

[PixieDust]

I have dog bags for the Spaniel so that's not a problem. Yes I remembered rubber gloves after posting. We have a paint s"Ooops, word censored!"er spare.

 

I am going to the local farm feeds place in a bit, on my way to see mum. I know they are a Marriages stockist but will see what else they do and how much.

 

I am so excited but it does seem we may well be moving next November, though not 100% sure as yet. And the run is concreted in so OH will have to build another run. I did say shall we leave the chooks for now. I won't repeat what he said but we are getting them in November!

[PixieDust]

Oh sorry Chickabee thank you. I seem to miss people's posts so this probably seems rather disjointed.

[Beantree]

That's an excellent run PixieDust. Roof is great. What I will add is you may find water off it splashes back into the run in heavy rain, so the addition of a simple length of shed guttering will solve the problem. Shed guttering is a much smaller section than house guttering.

[PixieDust]

I have approached himself about that but he has said he can't get down the back to cut the hedge as it is. May have to do a Heath Robinson fix with boards or some tarpaulin in very wet weather. If we do move and build a new run it will be built slightly differently to fix all little problems. As it is we are going to have to mastic some of the joins in the roof as he didn't put enough battens to create a solid join. But still, you only learn by mistakes.

 

Seems an awful shame to have such a lovely run and have to move. Regardless of the arguements, he has done a wonderful job.

[Beantree]

Surely you can take it to pieces and move it with you PixieDust?

[PixieDust]

He concreted the posts in. We shall take the door and possibly the roof. Obviously we shall take the coop.

[Luvachicken]

PixieDust, Rokers is an excellent place for all things chicken but I don't know how close you are in your part of Surrey - it's near Worplesdon.

They sell the nutridrops too but you have to ask at the desk for them.

Cotton buds are also useful especially for washing nooks and crannies on their feet.