Savingdogs-Saving the chickens

[FarmerJamie]

Yes, I did! I felt almost normal. And we had a warm, sunny day here.

I decided it was high time to clean the chicken coop. It took me forever! We had a long winter this year......

Remind me I DON'T want any more chickens! It is nice the coop is so clean though. I also set up a goat playground with a bunch of junk I had laying around, but they are enjoying it, and let everyone free range for awhile and tidy-ed up a little in the yard.

It feels like spring and the alders are starting to turn red. Many plants have their spring buds and everything is sprouting. I wish I had more energy left, I think I should be out hunting nettles for soup. But cleaning the chicken coop "pooped" me out.

Sorry, bad pun.

that was a stinker!!!!

 

[savingdogs]

too cute, Jamie!

But honestly, I use the deep litter method. It seems great all winter. But when it comes time to actually empty the coop, it IS a stinker. I have to disassemble the whole coop inside and hose it out. The chickens thought I was NUTS, flooding their house.

I hope they appreciate me now, when they go in and smell how nice it is in there. I'm so broke, I recycled old shavings, isn't that terrible? But they had been rinsed by the sparkling rainwater. hee hee I would have used dried leaves, but leaves are never dry here. This is Washington.

 

[FarmerJamie]

too cute, Jamie!

But honestly, I use the deep litter method. It seems great all winter. But when it comes time to actually empty the coop, it IS a stinker. I have to disassemble the whole coop inside and hose it out. The chickens thought I was NUTS, flooding their house.

I hope they appreciate me now, when they go in and smell how nice it is in there. I'm so broke, I recycled old shavings, isn't that terrible? But they had been rinsed by the sparkling rainwater. hee hee I would have used dried leaves, but leaves are never dry here. This is Washington.

I tried the DL method this winter, too. The coop is only half cleaned out.

I guess I have too much neat-freak in my blood. Won't do it next winter.

 

[savingdogs]

It does sort of feel like you are just putting it off all winter. But trudging through the snow cleaning it out would not have been fun either, but I don't think I'll do the deep litter in the summer.

 

[FarmerJamie]

It does sort of feel like you are just putting it off all winter. But trudging through the snow cleaning it out would not have been fun either, but I don't think I'll do the deep litter in the summer.

But I will have a young son just entering his precious "teen years" that will need a hobby during the winter.

 

[savingdogs]

My son is 14 and does a lot of the animal chores.

 

[Farmfresh]

It is a nerve thing. The docs had a name for it. Hypertussis. They described it to me the same way as describing the ringing in the ear, or tinnitus. The nerves are realizing there is not enough sound and is trying to turn up the volume, but because of the damage, the results are not ideal. That problem seems to come and go for me and isn't always there. But people cannot understand how I can say I can't hear but also say that sounds hurt.

That is the BEST explanation I have ever heard. Makes total sense.

You can't hear, but sounds hurt and I can't feel my feet yet they hurt.

 

[lorihadams]

I just hate it when you are in pain and the doctors tell you it is all in your head. That really chaps my a$$!

I still have issues telling people that I am in pain cause no one sees any obvious injury so they assume I'm just being a wimp or trying to get out of doing something.

I have horrible trigger point pain. Especially my neck and shoulder area. Life on a farm doesn't help sometimes but I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.

When we moved way out it was hard to get people to come over to visit. I got married 2 1/2 hours out of town and it was a dry wedding. I only had 1 friend make the treck to be at my wedding. That hurt me a lot. It just really shows who your true friends are.

We use deep litter for our coop too but we use the fine shavings and it really helps. (I only have 9 girls though) I just throw a few handfuls in there to cover the poo every 3-4 days and it takes longer to build up to a level where I have to clean it out. Sometimes I just take a rake and turn it all over and then throw more shavings on it. I clean mine out every 3-5 months completely but it is always dry and fluffy. Not bad at all....then I throw it in the leaves in the back of the chicken run and they spread it all around for me and in 2 days you would never know I dumped a big pile of poo there at all.

 

[glenolam]

How's it going today? Nothing but RAIN RAIN RAIN here.


I cleaned the coop out this past Sunday. We don't use shavings - I just take hay that's fallen in the "hay barn" type thingy we have and sprinkle that on the ground. When Big G made the shed he poured a thin layer of concrete over the plywood floor which makes a HUGE difference when cleaning. Everything sorta just sits and waits for me to come in with the shovel and scrape it up.

 

[savingdogs]

We have a sheet metal floor so I can scrape away, but things are always so WET here. I don't have dry flaky shavings, shavings become ADOBE. I had to chip that out of there yesterday first before I could hose it out.

Lori, I think it is hard for many people with "invisible" health problems. People should have more compassion because they will eventually have health issues themselves. People all think they are immune. But we will all die someday. I'm not being dismal, just realistic. And our bodies just don't work "perfect" anymore for a long while before that happens sometimes.

I'm actually pretty chipper today. My son Trouble was suspended yesterday for horseplay at school. I nickname him Trouble for a reason, he isn't our best-behaved child. Now you wonder why I say I'm chipper this morning? It is because his dad decided to sentence him to FARM CHORES for the two days he is suspended. So even if I get ill today, the farm chores will march on. hee hee

I have a whole list of things for him to do. I plan to watch from my window and point to things he missed. I have a whole LOT of goat poo that needs to be removed from the pen. And a LOT of digging to do. I think the bathroom needs a real good scrubbing too. And maybe windows....I could have pity on him and give him some indoor chores, right?

Before anyone thinks I'm cruel, you should hear his history (or not). This child is a master of not thinking about the repercussions of his actions and I intend for him to regret getting himself expelled this time.

Poor Trouble, it is, of course, raining.