Excited to have found this group. Read lot's of material before deciding to raise four Plymouth Barred chicks, Rose, Blanche, Dorothy and Sophia. We have a coop inside a large enclosed "cage" that's about 15ft x 10ft so the girls have plenty of access to space both in the coop and run area. We fortified the cage run and coop on the bottom with metal cloth and have taken other measures to ensure they are safe at all times but we have lots of questions!
1) We are in the process of planting around the enclosure to make it look like it's always been in our yard but we need advice on plants to put INSIDE the run including anything that will overwinter that the girls would like.
2) Any suggestions for how to get your dog to at least respect the chickens? Our dog currently runs laps around the enclosure and it is scary for the girls. I have tried spraying him with water which stops him but only temporarily and I don't like leaving him inside during the day. I don't expect them to be BFFs but I would like to all be outside at the same time.
3) Cleaning the run area: I have literally been picking up the poop (with gloved hands and small pooper scooper) but someone told me to just leave it---not good with this b/c it takes 6-9 months for chicken manure to compose properly to be useful as fertilizer. Not comfortable with girls walking around accumulating poop all day while they scratch and hunt for bugs and we want to avoid any smell so what's the solution?
4) I have read about a 'deep liter' method inside the coop but I am unclear what that means. I read it's helpful especially in the winter to keep warm, can someone please explain to me how to do this properly?
THANK YOU!
Erica
1) We are in the process of planting around the enclosure to make it look like it's always been in our yard but we need advice on plants to put INSIDE the run including anything that will overwinter that the girls would like.
2) Any suggestions for how to get your dog to at least respect the chickens? Our dog currently runs laps around the enclosure and it is scary for the girls. I have tried spraying him with water which stops him but only temporarily and I don't like leaving him inside during the day. I don't expect them to be BFFs but I would like to all be outside at the same time.
3) Cleaning the run area: I have literally been picking up the poop (with gloved hands and small pooper scooper) but someone told me to just leave it---not good with this b/c it takes 6-9 months for chicken manure to compose properly to be useful as fertilizer. Not comfortable with girls walking around accumulating poop all day while they scratch and hunt for bugs and we want to avoid any smell so what's the solution?
4) I have read about a 'deep liter' method inside the coop but I am unclear what that means. I read it's helpful especially in the winter to keep warm, can someone please explain to me how to do this properly?
THANK YOU!
Erica
