Chicken Coops for Sale in Pawnee, Illinois
Chicken Coops for Sale in Pawnee, Illinois
Sand Litter Bed In The Chicken Coop: An Experiment
We’ve been managing our chicken coop through a . This hybrid system has worked extremely well in . Briefly, how that system works is, the chickens roost over the sand, which acts like kitty litter to dry out their overnight poop, and in the morning the poop is raked to the lower area, where it composts-in-place with lots of straw and other high-carbon bedding.
Last year, fed up with the very real problems involved when you combine chickens and vegetable gardening, we decided to stop attempting to free-range our birds and instead fenced in a large, outdoor area adjacent to the coop. We confined the hens to this area (the ducks, less destructive, still get to free range) and this solved many of our chickens-scratching up-my-seedlings problems.
Too Much Of A Good Thing?
However, this confined run area led to another problem. This is a good problem, a problem I cannot believe I have, but it’s a problem nonetheless. In order to accommodate our flock in this confined area, we piled on the straw and woodchips in both the coop’s lower area, and the outdoor run.
This has led to, basically, more compost than I can use. Yeah, I have too much compost. Crazy, right? I didn’t know there was such thing as too much compost.
When I hauled out all the deep litter and piled it up, it looked like this.
And it’s not just dealing with storing Mount Compost Heap up there. The bedding was building up so deeply in both the coop and the run that we started to have problems just opening the door to the coop. The chickens weren’t super effective at scratching down to the lowest levels, and I’m embarrassed to say that some anaerobic ickiness was starting to take place in the deeper levels of the bedding.
Something needed to change.
Trying something new.
Is Sand A Solution?
In order to manage these drawbacks, we are experimenting with a sand bed in the run area of the coop. The fenced outdoor chicken area will still be managed as a deep litter system, with arborists woodchips and straw added as needed for carbon.
But inside the coop itself, I’m trying sand.
I had help raking out the new sand.
I see several potential upsides to a sand bed, and a few downsides as well.
Pros:
- Sand bed is lower profile, so we’re able to open the door without hassle.
- Seems drier in winter due to superior drainage.
- Spilled chicken food is less likely to get “lost” in the bedding. I’ve observed chickens pecking at the food that falls on the sand. Less food waste = less feed expense.
- Sand adds natural grit to a chicken’s diet and sharpens nails
- Probably less expensive in the long-term, since sand doesn’t require frequent additions or “top-ups” like a deep litter system.
- May allow for indoor dust-bathing. I have not observed my hens using the sand to dust bathe, but I’ve read that they will.
- May cut down on opportunities for Coccidiosis in chickens by providing an inhospitable environment for the protozoa.
- Easy collection of poop allows for a more dedicated manure-composting system, which might be of use to people looking at black soldier fly farming (hem hem, me) or related endeavors.
When the hens spill feed, they can pick it up now.
Cons:
- Cold. The sand does not add to the warmth of the coop like the composting bedding. The sand feels noticeably colder to me when I touch it, and I’m not even walking around barefoot like my chooks. Cold is a drawback here in January. However, to chicken keepers in hot weather climates, perhaps a non-heat generating litter option would be a benefit?
- Requires more regular dedicated maintenance. We’re already in the daily habit of scooping the poop from the sand covered upper coop area, so this doesn’t add a huge amount of work to that chore, but it’s definitely not the kind of job you can ignore for several
weeksdays. - Does not break down into compost. Unless your chickens already make more compost than you can use, less compost is a bad thing.
- The ducks don’t seem happy about the sand, but then ducks don’t like change, so I don’t read too much into this yet.
- Duck poop doesn’t scoop well. The front runner of Reasons I May Go Back To Deep Litter is wet duck poop on sand. Ewww.
- The poop has to go somewhere. In the prior system we just scrapped the upper poop onto the composting bedding. Now the upper and lower poop have to go somewhere. At the moment we’re scraping the poop out the door into the outdoor run area, but this experiment of sand-bedding the indoor run has triggered a re-evaluation of all my manure and compost management practices. So, simple change.
As of now, I have more questions than answers. I’ll let you know how the sand bed works out going forward.
Chicken Coop Near Me in Pawnee, Illinois
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Pawnee Illinois" into any one of the numerous search engines and a wealth of information will pop up. This information will provide links to other websites that will be informative and will provide the right direction for finding Pawnee Illinois chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Pawnee, Illinois With the significant rise in poultry maintaining there has been an equally large surge in the array of fowl materiel for sale. Fowl housing is a case in point. It's likewise a classic instance of the good old bandwagon being jumped on as different potential fowl housing experts market a range of accommodation declaring to be the suitable remedy to your chicken housing demands. Typically the price looks appealing, your diy-chicken-coop-planshome looks attractive, heck even the clean-cut household standing there feeding the chickens look attractive. Undoubtedly they recognize a quality chicken house when they see one? There are numerous affordable and nasty cages flooding the market. I know this as I've examined a number of them in the area, as well as seen a ewe run straight with one when the feed bucket appeared. The outcome was only a costly heap of fire wood and also a little group of bemused and now homeless bantams.
Chicken Coop Kits in Pawnee, Illinois
Usually these mass produced models are created of fast grown wood - come the initial decrease of rain they swell, leaving you either defending a door that will not shut, or ripping the doorway furnishings off in a vain attempt to launch the squawking inhabitants. The very first warm and comfortable day means the hardwood dries out as well as cracks, the really felt roof covering bubbles and boils, and also come nightfall the chickens refuse to enter. This is not due to their disappointment at the decrease of their once eye-catching residential property however due to the fact that the hovel is currently a sanctuary for, and probably abounding, the chicken keeper's nemesis, red mite. Add that it claimed on the blurb that it would certainly match 4 large hens when that stocking density was based on the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and just what are you left with? A couple of hinges as well as some kindling. A respectable coop for thee to 4 birds ought to cost you around ₤ 300 though this could depend on whether you elect for a totally free standing house or one with a run affixed. Thinking you are ranging your birds in a huge area and the pop opening doorway allows sufficient for the breed you keep, after that the main demands of real estate boil down to three points which will certainly specify the number of birds your home will certainly hold; perches, nest boxes and also air flow. Many types of chicken will certainly perch when they go to roost at night, this perch should preferably be 5-8cm broad with smoothed off sides so the foot sits conveniently on it. The perch needs to be more than the nest box entry as chickens will likewise naturally try to find the acme to perch. A perch lower than that will certainly have the birds roosting in the nest box overnight (which is incidentally when they create one of the most poo) bring about stained eggs the following day. They shouldn't nonetheless be so high off the floor of the house that leg injuries could possibly happen when the bird comes down in the early morning. Chickens need about 20cm of perch each (in tiny breeds this is certainly less), plus if greater than one perch is set up in your home they should be greater than 30cm apart. They will hunker up with their next-door neighbors however are not that crazy about roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird ahead. Ideally your house ought to have a the very least one nest box for each three birds as well as these should be off the ground and also in the darkest location of your home. Your house should have sufficient ventilation: without it then condensation will build up every night, even in the coldest of climate. Know, air flow deals with the concept of warm air leaving through a high void drawing cooler air in from a reduced space - it's not a collection of openings on contrary walls of your home as well as at the very same level, this is what's known as a draft. If you have a house with a run connected after that the factors above are still true, but you ought to additionally consider the run dimension. The EU maximum legal stocking thickness for a totally free array bird is (as well as let's encounter it, among the inspirations for keeping some hens in the house is perhaps improved or better welfare) 2,500 birds each hectare, that's maximum one bird per 4m settled. Take a close consider some of the bargain residences - it could well be your home has the ideal perches, proper air flow as well as sufficient nest boxes for an affordable number of birds, yet will each of the chickens have anything more than an A4 sized item of ground to invest the day on? Therefore as the stating goes, "you get exactly what you pay for". You could believe you've got hold of a bargain, however you as well as your flock could possibly rue the day you did. Purchase the best house as well as it will last for a few years, otherwise longer offered the right treatment. In the end your poultry as well as your chicken keeping experience will be a lot the far better for it.for sale for sale
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