Mossy Trees: Our 1st Chickens

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Our 1st Chickens

under construction...

10 weeks old

14 weeks old

The Girls around 15 weeks old...

I re-designed the roosts.

Removed the lower roost completely and lowered the top roost.

Moved the ladder and attached it to the roost for easier access. Added a poop hammock.

I made the hammock out of heavy-grade landscapers' frost cloth and eyelets. Attached to wall with eye-screws and s-hooks.

I put a sprinkling of diatomaceous earth and a light layer of shavings in the hammock for added odor-control.

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21 weeks old Jan 27th 2012

All healthy but still less than 4 lbs. And, no eggs. :-(

Update on the hammock: the frost cloth ripped after about a week. I had an old worn sheet and decided to cut it up and add grommets to it. I found some plastic grommets for tarp in the Fred Meyer and they were only a buck for 8 so I jumped on it.

My 1st attempt was just to cut the cloth and put the grommets in. It lasted longer than the frost cloth but did eventually rip (because chickens were using it to grab onto and fell in it when they were pushed off the roost).

Tips on washing the hammocks. 1 - dump all the poo into your compost. 2-there will be poop left in there, especially that cecal stuff - yucko! I put the thing on the ground in the coop. grab a BIG handful of litter (with gloves of course!) and use the litter to wipe off the excess poo. 3-wash in HOT with detergent and wash again in HOT with a disinfectant like bleach. Note: I let the thing soak for a few hours in the hot detergent water before completing the cycle - same with the bleach wash.

HAPPY EGG DAY!

EGGSHELLS AND CALCIUM