General Weekly Husbandry

[ontombose]

Hi,

Just wondering what are peoples general weekly husbandry tasks? I was thinking of doing the following but unsure if I am going over the top a little bit dong it weekly.

Hen House
1. Remove all of the Straw and Newspaper from the Hen House.
2. Give it a Soapy Scrub.
3. Spray with Disinfectant Spray.
4. Spray with Mite Spray.
5. Replace all of the straw and newspaper in the hen house
6. Scatter Mite Powder in the Straw.

Hen Run
1. Remove layer of Bark Chippings
2. Replace Bark Chippings
3. General Tidy

Not included the water and feed containers as these are done daily

Thanks,
Tim

 

[Marigold]

This is my schedule;
Daily - check levels of feed, top up if below 2/3 gone, provide green food and give afternoon warm mash, collect eggs, change water and scrub edge of drinker. Do all this whilst hands are still clean.
Then remove overnight poos from coop, also the occasional one from nestbox. Go round run and pick up obvious poos from ground (some get dug in to Aubiose but them dry out so no problem.) Check dustbath has no poo in.
Watch hens - are they all eating treats eagerly? Combs red? Bums clean? Moving OK? Nobody hunched in a corner or staying in coop? If in nestbox, is she just laying an egg, (or going broody again if it's Marigold?!!)

Less often, when necessary - maybe every month, with luck? I try not to use more chemical cleaners or sprays than are really needed to solve a problem, as sprays affect my breathing and therefore the hens also, as they are more sensitive to pollutants and dust than humans.
Clear out old Aubiose from base of coop and in nestboxes, clean coop and perches with Poultry Shield, wipe dry (easy with a plastic coop.) Add fairly thin sprinkle of redmite powder to edges of coop and nestboxes (if you use too much the dust is dangerous both to hens and people, and in the absence of actual redmite, unnecessary.) Then put in a thick layer of fresh Aubiose (much more absorbent and easier to poo pick than straw.) With daily attention, the coop never seems to get dirty somehow.

I wouldn't say your regime is over the top, its admirable, but I have found that my birds stay clean and healthy if I always provide clean water and fresh food, observe them daily, and do my best to keep poo picking every day and especially in the coop. Although I do watch out for redmite, in a clean plastic coop and in a run which excludes wild birds, I've never had any. If I was overrun with them, of course I would step up the preventative measures.

I used to use newspaper on the floor of the coop and just make a parcel every day of the overnight droppings. This worked really well, though nowadays since I have a lot of Aubiose at present I use that instead. It mixes with the poo and makes better compost than parcels of undiluted poo, which are a bit strong for the garden. I don't think you need put straw in as well, its not absorbent, and in fact some people say that redmite can colonise the hollow stems. Hens don't need a warm carpet on the floor of their coop, they only need something that will enable you to poo pick efficiently every day, takes about one minute!
Also, if you poo pick daily, you don't ever need to remove a whole layer of chippings, just what has been soiled. More effective and economical, a couple of minutes daily with a bucket does the trick.
This is just how I do it, the run is never smelly, and the girls seem to survive with very few problems. I would be interested to know what other people consider normal ongoing care tasks.

 

[Cab]

Well for me, every morning I go and top up the food, cleaning the feeder when its looking grubby, and I bring in the water, clean, and give clean water. Run hands along undersides of perches for any sign of mites, have a sniff about, then I put the kettle on and have my own breakfast.

Then I get them some greens and make sure everyone is okay (are the alert? no one been hurt? are they bright eyed and attentive?), and take the poo out of the house. I can't face that before breakfast If there are any obvious poos about the place or remnants of previous greens that'll get picked up. I'll also make sure there's nothing untowards happening - no sign of mites in the house, etc.

Another check, maybe collecting any eggs laid already, before I go to work.

Home again later, have a look for more eggs and give them a treat of some sort - usually a handfull of grain to go with layers pellets they have access to all the time, and at the moment they're getting the tomatoes from plants in the garden and the odd scraps (plain boiled rice if its spare, cooked spuds, crusts of our own wholegrain bread once in a while). Don't stuff them with scraps, but the odd treat I think is okay.

Every week or so I brush out the run, getting rid of any pooey bits that are a problem. Also once a week brush all the woodshavings out, remove the newspaper lining, clean as necessary, have a good close inspection for beasties, and replace - adding mite powder just in case.

When it needs it I turn the ground over in the run - at this point I skim off top layer (especially in the un-covered bit that gets wet) and cover with a couple of buckets of compost out of the bottom of the compost heap. They love this - its very well rotted down, I use vermiculture to get a good, rich compost that they love scratting about in. The top layer (now rich in chicken dropping mixed in) now goes into a bucket for another rot down on the allotment with the chicken poo, becoming the most wonderful stuff to mix in with potting compost for tomatoes, aubergines, chillis etc. and just to spread about the runner beans and spuds.

I try to spend 'quality time' with the hens a couple of times a week. I might take a cuppa into the run and sit with them with some treats, allowing each to hop on to my arm (easy to train a goldline into this, takes rather longer with a leghorn...) for a closer look. Look at their vents, look under the wings, make sure everyone is happy, see that they're all reacting well. Or we'll give them an hour or two run of the garden (longer when there aren't tomato crops for them to binge on!) and give them ample chance to sit on our laps for a check over.

I think the thing to remember is that they don't really want to be stressed about this any more than we do. You want to create an interesting environment for them, give them a chance to explore and look about, with different places to perch, things to do, etc. but you also don't want to make it any more work than you need to. You'll soon find a balance.

 

[Marigold]

I was interested in your remark about 'takes rather longer with a leghorn,' Cab. My leghorn Saffron is the tamest of my bunch, not that I've ever tried to make her so, but she's such a good flier that she flies up on top of the coop when I'm bending down to clean it out, and sidles along to nibble my hair, (does she think it's feathers, I wonder?) and then I stroke her back, which she seems to enjoy,

 

[ontombose]

Thanks Guys,
Lots of good feedback here and interesting to read and a few bits to take on board. I think when you are new to anything you try that bit harder than absolutely necessary, but you always find a good balance.

Will take on board the Straw in the coop and will remove this and keep the newspaper. Does the nestbox require straw though?

Thanks again

 

[Marigold]

Yes, I think getting chickens is a bit like having your first baby - second and subsequent ones thrive on what you might call benign neglect!
Personally I use either Aubiose or woodshavings in the nestboxes. Softer, easier for the girls to root around in, possible to poo pick if someone does a whoopsie, and again, less risk of redmite which are just as likely to go for hens in nice warm nestboxes as up on perches. Its not that straw is 'wrong,' just that there may be better alternatives.

 

[Cab]

I've had one leghorn and known a couple of other folk with them. They've all been rather less fond of being handled than most of the other girls - not untamed but liking their own space. Yours sounds like a right softie marigold!

My tamest bird is a goldline called Mary. She chose us - we went to buy POL hens, opened dthe cat carrier, she walked in and sat down. She will jump on my arm and walk up to stand on my shoulder.

We've decided on getting another leghorn. Fingers crossed we get one like yours.

 

[BabyBantam]

Daily - morning, change water, top up dry food, new dish of warm mash and clear out droppings from house. Done at 6am, so girls are a bit grumpy and still in bed (wish I was). Also quick check under perch for red mite ( never found any). Lunchtime I come home from work and say hello, watch for any illness or dodgy droppings in the run and feed meal worms or sunflower seed (currently moulting). Evening, let them out for a couple of hours and enjoy the fun.
Weekly - move ark around the garden and clean up the lawn where they have been. Clean out any over dirty bedding (hemp) and from nest box. Check birds for lice etc.
Monthly - deep clean bedding and wash down house liner (plastic liner on floor) with disinfectant. Sprinkle lice powder and diatom in house and spread into cracks with soft dustpan brush
6 monthly - wash down whole ark with disinfectant and rehash everything with lice powder and diatom. I also treat birds with ivermectin as it helps with lice and worms and as pekins are so fluffy, it's sometimes hard to see if lice are an issue.
Never needed to do more than this, but always open to changing routine or dealing with any problem before it becomes serious.