Do you have chickens?

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Permalink Reply by Dancing Creek Farm on October 18, 2008 at 6:06am

They do eat them when they can get at them. Guinea hens are even better. You need to use a combination of things. Not all are organic unless you want to invest in MilkySpore. Even that takes time. I used GrubX a month before the hatching season. I did not use it right around the house but moreseo in the pastures and open areas. I but Garlic Barrier and hot sauce by the gallons. I mix them together with neem and with a pump spayer keep everything they like sprayed. It wasn't 100% but MUCH better then it was the year before. My chickens ate some and when I had Guineas they ate a lot but its hard to keep them around. they wander and then predators get them. Chickens stay closer.

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Permalink Reply by Beva on October 18, 2008 at 7:34am

Thanks!
I do use Milky spore and it does seem to help. I used Grub X once and noticed a lot of my friendlies seemed to suffer for it. I am not using it now, as there were concerns that it might be affecting the bee population. This season my bee population seemed to be better than the year that the GrubX was used. I felt there was a link perhaps. I am hoping that I can convince my husband to allow me to have a few chickens, and if I can build them a mobile day-coop they can be moved to different areas of the yard. He just is not budging on the chickens right now. I am very afraid of Lyme disease!!!
I have the theory that in past years when nearly every small farm or homestead had free range chickens, they kept the population of ticks and other bothersome bugs in check. Today the bugs have free range with only wild birds feasting on them.

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Permalink Reply by Susan Singley on October 19, 2008 at 8:45am

I've heard that if you hang a light bulb in your coop, your chickens will lay further into the winter plus it keeps your hens warmer.
I plan to use a solar powered charger with a light sensor and a timer. I am a bit confused as to what kind of light will work best though. I've seen kits that have leds, halogen, and fluorescent lights.

Anyone have any advice?

Thanks,

Susan

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Permalink Reply by Penelope on October 19, 2008 at 8:59am

yes indeed, the theory is to extend the hours of daylight during the short winter days which affects a chicken's egg laying cycle.

my father was always "inventing" peculiar gadgets. he had a large old-fashioned wind-up alarm clock he attached to a board with a large "wind up" key on its back. He then fashioned a thick spring out of a strip of metal (not a spiral spring, but a flat one) and attached it to the wall near the light switch for the chicken house. He set the stationary alarm clock under the switch and bent the spring so it sat under the wind-up key. When the alarm went off, the key unwound as the clock ran down, and let the spring loose which sprung up and tripped the light switch and the lights in the chicken house turned on early on dark winter mornings.

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Permalink Reply by Marya on October 19, 2008 at 4:23pm

Hi, Susan. To keep the chix warmer in winter you can use an incandescent bulb, maybe placed in a snug corner like you'd use for a chick brooder. Incandescent bulbs are not very efficient at turning electricity into light, so consequently they put out quite a lot more heat than an LED or fluorescent bulb. Most garden-light type solar chargers cannot run an incandescent bulb (again because of the inefficiency of power-to-light conversion). How cold does it get where you are?

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Permalink Reply by Dancing Creek Farm on October 19, 2008 at 5:27pm

For laying they need light and I use just a shop light with plant lighting in it. Chickens can handle cold pretty well if they are in a coop. Chicks can't but grown hens, no problem. In dead winter or when it drops below 30ish I'll use a heat lamp but as someone mentioned, they are not cheap to run. For my pet pig I have an insulated stall and although she can handle the cold ok I had that she's too cold so i put lots of hay and when its really cold a heater on a special ledge I built.

If you use a heat lamp maybe put it on a timer. This year, if I can afford it I may get infrared spot heating for my pig. They are a few hundred dollars but it directs the heat in one area, is safe and cheaper to run.

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Permalink Reply by Penelope on October 19, 2008 at 6:12pm

When I raised chickens, I lived at an altitude during which we had -30F during the winter for several weeks -- we had a light bulb in the chickien house, and refreshed their drinking water regularly. What we had to do was collect the eggs several times during the day or we'd find them frozen and cracked.

Then there was the time my husband found a live skunk in a nest in the dark . . . I made him undress outside, didn't care how cold it was . . . . . . .

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Permalink Reply by Susan Singley on October 20, 2008 at 6:58pm

Thanks for your great advice. It doesn't usually get too, too frigid here in Maryland until January and February so I have some time to decide how to set up the heat. Light probably sooner....

Thanks again. I appreciate any more ideas or advice on heat and light anyone else has out there.

Susan

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Permalink Reply by Terri on October 24, 2008 at 6:31am

I keep chooks too. This spring, I retired my older hens and I bought a staight run of Columbian Rocks and Buff Orpingtons. I just sent the roos off to freezer camp last month and the hens are now laying. I am in Nova Scotia, Canada so we do get quite cold winters but I don't heat or light the hens, I do have a large south facing window in their coop so they get maximum light, keep a deep litter, and a draft free coop. They get by fine. The egg production goes down a bit in the winter, but I figure that is nature's cycle and we get more than we use in the Spring/ Summer. Oh and I've insulated the ceiling areas with recycled bubble wrap.

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Permalink Reply by LisaLu on October 24, 2008 at 10:16am

We just got 10 chickens, and 4 baby chicks. My husband built a 200 sq ft coop, it's beautiful! They have a sun room and the back room for their boxes. We got an assortment, and they're about 4 months old. When will they start laying? It's been 2 weeks, and all they do is eat! They love my fresh watermelon from the garden! Is there anything I need to be aware of that could make them sick? Of coarse I don't use pesticides, but are there certain fruits or veggies that can make them sick? We bought the best feed we could find, the woman we purchased them from said that a diet rich in protein helps promote eggs.....do they eat soybeans? We thought it would be fun to raise chickens, since we just moved out to the country, but so far they have been very expensive! We spent about $220 on the birds, and another $100 on accessories (the girls' needed feeders, water dishes, feed) but I guess we're done now, we just wait......

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Permalink Reply by Terri on October 25, 2008 at 4:20am

The babies won't lay until after 20 weeks, and if the larger ones aren't that age yet then you'll just have to wait. How old are your hens? Egg production goes down with age but you should still be getting something. Assuming thaey are old enough to lay, my guess is they are hiding them. Keep them on "lockdown" (don't let them outside) until noon hour and put a golf ball or two in the nests to show them where to go.

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Permalink Reply by Clarence on October 26, 2008 at 6:10am

My dear wife read that citrus peels are bad for hens so citrus peels go in the compost bin. My SIL read that “green” potato peels are toxic to chickens, so we do not feed the girls any potato peels at all. Why take the chance?
I do not feed their egg shells nor egg shells from store bought eggs even if they are "toasted" in the oven first. My mother-in-law saves all of her shells and toasts them for me.... I put them in the compost bin as well. It may just be my imagination but once the hens get use to eating "shells", raw or toasted or not, they seem go after their own eggs. ~:>

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