Tag: incubators in minnesota
Silkies For Sale – 11/21/17
Cleaning the Coops at VJP Poultry
Cleaning coops is an important job that must be done on a consistent basis. A clean coop keeps your silkies happy and their feathers cleaner looking. The eggs stay cleaner as well. Your neighbors are pleased and are more tolerant of your backyard flock. Its a win/win situation for everyone.
I have eight different breeding pens to clean. I try to do one pen a day depending on the weather. It is best to do it on a dry day. Rainy days and very cold days make it hard for the walls to dry off. It takes me about an hour to clean one pen. I let the birds out in their run or let them free-range so that they stay out of the way while I am cleaning.
The first thing I tackle is to clean and scrub their feeding dish. I use black rubber bowls and I scrub them out and then spray a sanitizing cleaner on them. I then do the same thing with their water container. We use 2 gallon galvanized metal vacuum sealed waterers. I scrub and then sanitize.
For a sanitizer , I use Oxiver . Its active agent is Hydrogen Peroxide. The label says it is a Virucide, Bactericide, Tuberculocide, Fungicide and a Sanitizer. I use it for all my chicken cleaning needs. Another good sanitizer is Oxine for the coop.
The next thing I do is remove the old bedding. I shovel and use a broom to sweep it all up. I then place it in a container and save it for compost for my gardens. My plants love it. I don’t put it on the plants, but use it as a dressing around the sides of the plants.
I use a paint scraper to scrap any dried poo from the walls, floor boards and ramp. All of that goes in to the compost as well.
After the bedding is removed from the pen, I spray the walls with the Oxine. I leave it on the walls for about 10 minutes to loosen up the dirt. I also will do spots on the floor as well. Using a scrub brush, I will brush clean both the walls and floor, wiping with a towel to dry it. I then do a final spray and let it dry.
After it has air dried, you can put down fresh bedding. I use pine shavings. Then just return the food bowls and the waterer and you are done.
If it seems dusty, I will use an air hose to blow out the dust especially in the ceiling area and the electrical outlets.
The pea rock in their runs are raked and the feathers and poo are removed. I also try to keep things clean in the coops by daily removing the big chunks of chicken waste and throwing fresh bedding down, especially where I know that they sleep and where they lay eggs.
If you are noticing an ammonia smell to your bedding it is time to clean the coop. The ammonia smell can be hard on the chicken’s lungs and it is a signal for you that it is time to switch out the bedding.
Some people use a deep litter method of bedding management that involves adding more bedding instead of changing it out.
I kind of enjoy my time cleaning in the coop. It lets me spend quality time with the birds and the end result is pleasing to look at. The silkies seem happier too – which is always important. Good luck – it is time to clean the coops!
For tips and tricks for raising outstanding silkies check out our Chicken Learning Center at VJPPoultry.com . VJP Poultry is an NPIP and state inspected hatchery located 30 miles north of St. Paul. We hatch out silkies all year long so we always have stock available. Like us on Facebook to get weekly updates on what we currently have for sale.
Victoria J. Peterson
Does a Silkie Need a Christmas Gift? 12/05/16
I have always loved this video – VJP Poultry’s- Ballet of the Unhatched Chick- because it shows chicken’s somewhat playful side. Some people refer to this as “Chicken Football” because they are all chasing after the one meal worm that someone has in its beak. Do chickens play? Do they get bored? Do they require a gift at Christmas? These are all questions people have asked about their birds.
Well, Cyber Monday is over, but there is still time to order your chickens a few treats online before December 25th. Most of the customers at VJP Poultry consider their chickens to be family pets. They lavish love and attention on their silkies and I would bet that some of them are planning a few Christmas surprises in their chicken’s stockings.
Most gifts are the kind that silkies can eat or the kind that silkies can play with. Let’s start with the chicken toys. Most of the chicken playthings are balls that can be filled with treats. The chicken pushes the ball around and treats fall out. Some of the balls are more complicated and the chicken needs to work at it to get the treats out. An example would be Lixit Chicken Toy
The toy that I liked the best was the Chicken Veggie Ball .It is described as “an entertaining way to provide nutritious treats to a backyard flock”. You can put a head of lettuce or cabbage inside it and watch your flock kick it around like a soccer ball. This idea has been around for a long time. Oldsters used to tie a rope around a head of cabbage and hang it on a hook inside of the coop for the same effect. All of these toys are good boredom busters for your birds in the wintertime.
The most unusual toy was the Chicken Swing. The chicken hops on and is able to pump the swing back and forth. Probably not the best gift for a silkie as they may have a hard time jumping on , but other breeds seem to swing just fine on it.
Silkies always like special food treats. There is the Flock Block which lets them peck away and find treats of corn and seed. They are manufactured by many different companies and you should find it at your local feed store.
The treat my flock loves the best are meal worms. Real or freeze dried, they go crazy for them. I have, in the past, kept a meal worm farm going in my house. The live worms are a great source of protein and a wonderful way for you to bond with your bird. They will come running every time they see you if they think that you have worms for them in your apron pockets. You can also purchase freeze dried worms from Happy Hen Treats .
There has been a craze of late for putting chickens in sweaters and other kinds of outfits. You are not doing your chickens any favors by doing this. It will compromise their ability to self – regulate their body temperature. Best to leave the clothes off the birds unless it is Chicken Diapers for inside of the house. You can give them a little jewelry by giving them leg bands that have charms on them. If you are looking for a gift for a guy, check out Gifts For Guys Who Like Chickens. We also have Gifts For Silkie Chicken Lovers for anyone who likes silkies.
If you are interested in gifts for the Chicken Lady or for chicken loving kids or gifts for the home for chicken lovers check out our weekly silkie blog at VJPPoultry.com. We also have silkie basics at Silkie Supplies.
So, do chickens play? I think so. All animals play. I know that the chest bumping I see among juvenile silkies seems to have a very playful nature to it. Do Chickens get bored? Yes, often this will result in pecking to the extreme. Do they need Christmas gifts? That’s up to you. I know that my little silkies will be getting some nice meal worms come Christmas Eve.
For tips and tricks for raising outstanding silkies check out our Chicken Learning Center at VJPPoultry.com . VJP Poultry is an NPIP and state inspected hatchery located 30 miles north of St. Paul. We hatch out silkies all year long so we always have stock available. Like us on Facebook to get weekly updates on what we currently have for sale.
Victoria J. Peterson
VJP Poultry 