What’s the deal with you chicken people??

[nikkers390]

Hi, first time chicken owner, I’ve got 4 red sex link pullets, and 4 chicks.
Is there a chicken breed underground that I’m unaware of? Like the Free Masons of chickens??
Before I decided to get chickens, I read EVERYTHING I could about them. And yall chicken ppl blow my mind with ALL the breeds and knowledge about them. Not just in this community. I went to the feed store just to buy another feeder. Ol man comes over “oh you got some me chickens huh. Well you need some bebop’s and floofloos, and maybe cross you some yummytums and plickados”. At one point I don’t think he was speaking English anymore. “What kind of chickens you got”? I was dumbfounded I said “mine are red”. I felt so.. ignorant. Seriously where/how do y'all learn about all these breeds? And why is it important? I feel like I’m missing something here. I want to be in the chicken know!

I knew I wanted to get chickens eventually. At the time we were living in a crowded suburban community while making plans to purchase acreage. Long story short, it was about 5 years. Meanwhile I read, lurked boards, chicken groups, talked to folks and anything pertinent to get info.
I admit when I get interested in a venture, I get totally OCD. Like an addict, I searched far and wide on chicken info. I bought books, magazines, earned about breeds, then about care, then I fell into the genetics trap. By the time we finally moved to 5 acres, I knew I was ready. Wrong!! 13 years later, I am still learning, this time by actually raising chickens. It has been an exciting journey. I now find that the more I know about chickens only confirms how much more I can learn. Yes, Chicken people attract other chicken people. Yes, I can usually identify a chicken breed by appearance. Every year new breeds are created or imported, so the learning never stops. And never ever get started on chicken math. Just sayin'. Welcome to the world of chickens.

 

[KayisforKale]

Why do you need so many bags of shavings every week? Are you taking them out and replacing them, or putting a new layer on top of the previous ones?

Oh, they like to kick them around and then they come sliding out, and at night when I close the pop door I have to remove what was kicked too close to the door just so I can shut the door, and if I open the big human-sized door while both roosters are in there then they fight and one or both roosters come sliding out with about half a bag's worth of shavings. And I only have to buy that many weekly IF the temperatures are going to be dangerously low for the length of the 10-day forecast (I use the weather app to decide how many I am buying at any given time. If the temperatures are a bit higher, then I wait to buy shavings until I can just hit 'reorder'). I just ordered 5 bags, and everyone told me not to put them all in the coop. Well, duh, family! It is spring clean-out! The shavings from the coop get mulched with the lawn mower and tossed where they are needed (my roses, the shrubs, wherever) and only a single bag goes in as both litter and as a cushioning for when the chickens make the far drop down. Now I have 4 bags in my garage, and I should not need to buy any for a while. I have myself a small stockpile.

 

[KayisforKale]

Oh, they like to kick them around and then they come sliding out, and at night when I close the pop door I have to remove what was kicked too close to the door just so I can shut the door, and if I open the big human-sized door while both roosters are in there then they fight and one or both roosters come sliding out with about half a bag's worth of shavings. And I only have to buy that many weekly IF the temperatures are going to be dangerously low for the length of the 10-day forecast (I use the weather app to decide how many I am buying at any given time. If the temperatures are a bit higher, then I wait to buy shavings until I can just hit 'reorder'). I just ordered 5 bags, and everyone told me not to put them all in the coop. Well, duh, family! It is spring clean-out! The shavings from the coop get mulched with the lawn mower and tossed where they are needed (my roses, the shrubs, wherever) and only a single bag goes in as both litter and as a cushioning for when the chickens make the far drop down. Now I have 4 bags in my garage, and I should not need to buy any for a while. I have myself a small stockpile.

And I just realized that I never answered your question. I have a mental line drawn inside the coop and whenever the shavings fall below that line, I add as many as needed to get it back up there. If the shavings get too wet, then they come out, otherwise a new bag or 2 just goes on top.

This past winter I got so angry at the moron that delivered the shavings. He dropped them all in the slush and left without my getting the text that they were even on their way. I had to discard 3 bags of shavings because they got ruined.

 

[NatJ]

And I just realized that I never answered your question. I have a mental line drawn inside the coop and whenever the shavings fall below that line, I add as many as needed to get it back up there. If the shavings get too wet, then they come out, otherwise a new bag or 2 just goes on top.

That makes sense. Some people are determined that they have to clean the coop at certain intervals, and they can usually save both time and money with a few adjustments to how they do it (like using a poop board, so the shavings stay cleaner for longer). But it sounds like your situation is a bit more complex than that.

Oh, they like to kick them around and then they come sliding out, and at night when I close the pop door I have to remove what was kicked too close to the door just so I can shut the door, and if I open the big human-sized door while both roosters are in there then they fight and one or both roosters come sliding out with about half a bag's worth of shavings.

You might be able to buy less shavings if you arrange to keep more of them in the coop. For example, putting a board across the bottom foot human-sized doorway could prevent so many shavings falling out there.

Depending on how much comes out when you need to close the pop door, it might be worth collecting that in a bucket or wheelbarrow to dump back into the coop. Or maybe redesign the pop door a bit, so it is higher up in the wall, so not as many shavings come out.

Since you are using the shavings partly as insulation on the floor of the coop, you might be able to spread a bunch of cardboard or newspaper on that floor next fall, then put shavings on top. The cardboard or paper would provide some of the insulation, so you would not need as many shavings to get the same result.

Then again, if you are happy enough with the way things are, it may not be worth changing anything.

 

[KayisforKale]

That makes sense. Some people are determined that they have to clean the coop at certain intervals, and they can usually save both time and money with a few adjustments to how they do it (like using a poop board, so the shavings stay cleaner for longer). But it sounds like your situation is a bit more complex than that.


You might be able to buy less shavings if you arrange to keep more of them in the coop. For example, putting a board across the bottom foot human-sized doorway could prevent so many shavings falling out there.

Depending on how much comes out when you need to close the pop door, it might be worth collecting that in a bucket or wheelbarrow to dump back into the coop. Or maybe redesign the pop door a bit, so it is higher up in the wall, so not as many shavings come out.

Since you are using the shavings partly as insulation on the floor of the coop, you might be able to spread a bunch of cardboard or newspaper on that floor next fall, then put shavings on top. The cardboard or paper would provide some of the insulation, so you would not need as many shavings to get the same result.

Then again, if you are happy enough with the way things are, it may not be worth changing anything.

I never thought to line it with cardboard! And around that time I have already done my Christmas shopping, so we always have loads of cardboard... Thank you for the idea!

 

[McChooky]

Hi, first time chicken owner, I’ve got 4 red sex link pullets, and 4 chicks.
Is there a chicken breed underground that I’m unaware of? Like the Free Masons of chickens??
Before I decided to get chickens, I read EVERYTHING I could about them. And yall chicken ppl blow my mind with ALL the breeds and knowledge about them. Not just in this community. I went to the feed store just to buy another feeder. Ol man comes over “oh you got some me chickens huh. Well you need some bebop’s and floofloos, and maybe cross you some yummytums and plickados”. At one point I don’t think he was speaking English anymore. “What kind of chickens you got”? I was dumbfounded I said “mine are red”. I felt so.. ignorant. Seriously where/how do y'all learn about all these breeds? And why is it important? I feel like I’m missing something here. I want to be in the chicken know!

One word about chickens and my son says "Not to be rude mom but I don't want to hear about your chickens". People either like them or they don't.Oddly enough there doesn't seem to be any in between

 

[sweaterthebroodyrooster]

Death before decaf! That needs to be a bumper sticker!

I want one!

There might be one, I have a sticker on my laptop

 

[McChooky]

Used a door I already had to save time. Now I move bedding every time I go in and out that darn door that divides two coops.I could kick myself for not doing it right to start with.

 

[KayisforKale]

There might be one, I have a sticker on my laptop
View attachment 3830674

I need one! I saw decaf in my home and I threw a major piss-fit. Like, why!? What does it do!? It is like buying non-alcoholic beer: There is NO point!

 

[McChooky]

I need one! I saw decaf in my home and I threw a major piss-fit. Like, why!? What does it do!? It is like buying non-alcoholic beer: There is NO point!

On my 2nd cup! Drinking the real stuff!