Flutterhoundkeeper
In the Brooder
- Jan 18, 2025
- 2
- 25
- 19
Hi,
Our Flutter Hounds :
We started out with 14 3-5 day old little girls from the local mom-and-pop feed mill back in April 2022.
3 Americaunas (Soon to realize were Cream Legbars or a cross) Abigail Jean, Adeline, and Annabelle Rae
1 Dark Brahma (She was the last in the cage and we couldn't leave her) Miss Bernadette
4 Buff Brahmas (Were only going to get 3 but couldn't leave 1 behind) Bellana, Beulahanne, Bonnimae, and Brandilynne
3 Black Copper Marans (Turned out to actually be French Black Marans) Madeline, Maribelle, and Marileigh
3 Rhode Island Reds (Sry, nother special here ... yet) Regina Marie, Renetta Lynne, and Rosaleigh
In April 2023, we added another 12 3-5 day old babies from the same store.
2 Olive Eggers (With Legbar mohawks) Odetta and Opaleen
2 Plymouth Barred Rocks - Pearletta and Pristina
3 Speckled Sussex (Surprise! My Samantha Josephine is a Samuel Josiah) Sammy Joe, Selahrose, Suzannah Quill
3 Blue-Laced Red Wyandottes (Surprise! Willadeane is actually a Willy) William Dean Anderson, Willmina, and Winola Gayle
2 Wellsummers (My honkers) Wendelyn and Winifred Mae
Yes, it took weeks to come up with 3 syllable southern belle names the match the letter of the breed that we liked each time and they definitely know they are in trouble when we use their middle name.
Our Setup:
Each set of babies started of in a xxlg dog crate that required a cardboard lining to keep them from escaping through the bars that resided between the dining room and our bedroom door so I could be woken up if their were issues. As they got older and it got warmer, I started carrying my 14 pc, and then 12 pc, bucket of chickies down the back deck stairs and into a covered moveable pen during the day. As they destroyed the grass, we moved them around the yard closer and closer to their eventual permanent covered outside run and indoor coop. We integrated the second set by also moving them around the run so they shared a fence with the older girls.
For the 26 kids, their outside run is 6 feet tall and is about 650 square feet with a 8 ft wide x 4 ft deep x 4 ft tall "dog house" with the front panel removed and a raised plywood floor that they love to roost in during the heat of the day or while its raining. They also have plenty of other perches in the forms of old patio chair frames, tree branches, and saw horses with canopies. We leave it bare earth and toss whatever is handy onto it thoughout the summer like wood chips from the chipper, fresh and dried grass clippings, all the safe edible weeds from the garden, and such and then scrape it all out in the spring to start over. It is chain link fencing with 5 gates opening into our 1.5 acre fenced in back yard and covered in bird netting that has been reinforced with misc. leftover yarn woven back and forth to act as shade, camouflage from the redtail hawks, and rip repairs.
The inside coop is actually inside the back room of the "barn" and is concrete floor with mason block walls, a drainage trough that runs to a screened floor drain (this allows us to completely spray down, bleach, soap, scrub, rinse, and squeegy everything in the coop when needed), an indoor cold water spigot so we can easily rinse and refill their water bowls multiple times a day, and heating ductwork along the ceiling suppling them with a warm winter home. Dust is an issue in the winter since it is in the interior of the building and there are no vents to the outside, but a couple box fans facing away from them with attached furnace filters seems to keep it mostly under control. The hubby takes the filters outside and blows them off with the air compressor every couple days. During the summer, the fans and open windows make the filters unneeded. The "Coop" is 312 sq ft of floor space with an 8.5 ft average ceiling height, has a half wall dividing 2/3 of the coop in half, and 32 sq ft of south facing windows. We keep the kids inside during the winter and only let them out on days when temps get above 40F. (They may have been raised in and live in a barn, but that doesn't mean we have to pay to heat the outside!) They have over 28 linear feet of roosting bars made of sanded bare 2x4's and debarked sanded branches with branch ladders. There are 6 raised nesting boxes and 5 floor level alternatives that some of the girls prefer. They also have a 3.5 foot diameter kiddy pool half full of tube sand, DE, clean wood ash, and a little dirt from their favorite bathing spot in the yard. Yes, they are spoiled! The in-laws joke that the futterers live in the Hilton of coops. So far, the kiddy pool is only non-consumable thing we have actually purchased for the coop and run. Everything else, including the screws, was already on hand and repurposed.
The Feed :
The kids get fed a blend of Sprout 16% Protein Layer Crumble (50 lb bag) and Nutrena NatureWise 16% Protein Layer Crumble (40 lb bag). When a lot of the girls are molting at the same time, we may blend in an additional bag of 18% Protein crumble as needed. We keep their feed trough clean and full throughout the day. Their "breakfast" and treat jar is 50% feed, 40% cracked corn, sorghum, sunflower seeds (ie. birdseed), 5% peanut pieces, 5% raisins. When I think about it, I'll throw in some dried herbs from the garden. They get 2 cups dumped into each of the two bird feeders that hang at beak level every morning as well as a couple handfulls tossed into their bedding. They get lots of fresh greens, raspberries, and cucumbers all summer, pumpkin, squash, broccoli and cabbage leaves, and fruits in the fall, some indoor grown dandelions, whatever greens or veggies that are on sale in the stores, and homemade flock blocks during the winter, and spring is all about the worms though I try to get them to eat other stuff too. Greek yogurt, canned pumpkin, hard boiled eggs, and oatmeal make random appearances in their diet as well.
The Bedding :
We try to use our own dried and DE'ed grass clippings as much as possible in a deep liter form. We blend in some pine bedding, extra DE under the roosting bars, and supplement with locally harvested mixed haybales. We scrap the roosting bars every morning and fluff the bedding throughout the coop. We add as needed to keep about 10 inches of depth. Once a week, I try to sift out some of the dusty particles underneath and remove them to help with the air quality in the winter. We have recently started spraying the roosting bars, walls, nesting box cracks, and under the nesting pads (I made my own using padding and old denim scraps that get changed out weekly, or sooner if needed, and washed) with a mix of veggie/almond oil with assorted essential oils to naturally combat any lice and mites after realizing we had scaly legs mites. Yes, I do test the mix on myself first to make sure it isn't strong enough to irritate their feeties, I have fibromyalgia and my skin is extremely sensitive. When we realized what was going on, ALL the kids got an epsom salt bath and scrub down followed by my mother-in-law, who has only ever petted the chickens in the past, sat and blow dried each one at the kitchen table before they could go out into the yard. It was a sight!
We try to do right by our flutter babies. We go out and sit with them when they are out in the back yard without netting overhead, we have dedicated garden plots for growing good things for them to eat including growing pots of dandelions throughout the winter, we have large crates set up and a closet of towels for when one isn't feeling good, a few even enjoy taking a break from the flock (basically the boys) and spending the day in the house with mom and the dogs "helping" with chores. Miss Regina Marie actually decided, all on her own that after 2 years in the coop, she was going to be a house hen after her sick-crate stay. She is the reason I am here. She lived in the house with us and ruled over the 3 50lb dogs, she cuddled on the couch between us and the dogs to watch tv at night, she even taught herself (through the dogs) to go outside through the puppy door to go potty (75% of the time anyways) or peck at the door if it was closed. She even got her own Christmas stocking and name tag. She was our beautiful little girl and so special. We had 3 months before she got sick and passed the week before Christmas. Unfortunately, she wasn't the first. She was number 3 following Madeline and Adeline and now Miss Marileigh is sick. I wanted to write everything down in one place so that when I post in the Emergency thread, I can refer back to this post and I don't have to retype everything over and over every time.
No condolences are needed, I've read the other posts and I know you care and feel for us without it being said. Thank you.
Our Flutter Hounds :
We started out with 14 3-5 day old little girls from the local mom-and-pop feed mill back in April 2022.
3 Americaunas (Soon to realize were Cream Legbars or a cross) Abigail Jean, Adeline, and Annabelle Rae
1 Dark Brahma (She was the last in the cage and we couldn't leave her) Miss Bernadette
4 Buff Brahmas (Were only going to get 3 but couldn't leave 1 behind) Bellana, Beulahanne, Bonnimae, and Brandilynne
3 Black Copper Marans (Turned out to actually be French Black Marans) Madeline, Maribelle, and Marileigh
3 Rhode Island Reds (Sry, nother special here ... yet) Regina Marie, Renetta Lynne, and Rosaleigh
In April 2023, we added another 12 3-5 day old babies from the same store.
2 Olive Eggers (With Legbar mohawks) Odetta and Opaleen
2 Plymouth Barred Rocks - Pearletta and Pristina
3 Speckled Sussex (Surprise! My Samantha Josephine is a Samuel Josiah) Sammy Joe, Selahrose, Suzannah Quill
3 Blue-Laced Red Wyandottes (Surprise! Willadeane is actually a Willy) William Dean Anderson, Willmina, and Winola Gayle
2 Wellsummers (My honkers) Wendelyn and Winifred Mae
Yes, it took weeks to come up with 3 syllable southern belle names the match the letter of the breed that we liked each time and they definitely know they are in trouble when we use their middle name.
Our Setup:
Each set of babies started of in a xxlg dog crate that required a cardboard lining to keep them from escaping through the bars that resided between the dining room and our bedroom door so I could be woken up if their were issues. As they got older and it got warmer, I started carrying my 14 pc, and then 12 pc, bucket of chickies down the back deck stairs and into a covered moveable pen during the day. As they destroyed the grass, we moved them around the yard closer and closer to their eventual permanent covered outside run and indoor coop. We integrated the second set by also moving them around the run so they shared a fence with the older girls.
For the 26 kids, their outside run is 6 feet tall and is about 650 square feet with a 8 ft wide x 4 ft deep x 4 ft tall "dog house" with the front panel removed and a raised plywood floor that they love to roost in during the heat of the day or while its raining. They also have plenty of other perches in the forms of old patio chair frames, tree branches, and saw horses with canopies. We leave it bare earth and toss whatever is handy onto it thoughout the summer like wood chips from the chipper, fresh and dried grass clippings, all the safe edible weeds from the garden, and such and then scrape it all out in the spring to start over. It is chain link fencing with 5 gates opening into our 1.5 acre fenced in back yard and covered in bird netting that has been reinforced with misc. leftover yarn woven back and forth to act as shade, camouflage from the redtail hawks, and rip repairs.
The inside coop is actually inside the back room of the "barn" and is concrete floor with mason block walls, a drainage trough that runs to a screened floor drain (this allows us to completely spray down, bleach, soap, scrub, rinse, and squeegy everything in the coop when needed), an indoor cold water spigot so we can easily rinse and refill their water bowls multiple times a day, and heating ductwork along the ceiling suppling them with a warm winter home. Dust is an issue in the winter since it is in the interior of the building and there are no vents to the outside, but a couple box fans facing away from them with attached furnace filters seems to keep it mostly under control. The hubby takes the filters outside and blows them off with the air compressor every couple days. During the summer, the fans and open windows make the filters unneeded. The "Coop" is 312 sq ft of floor space with an 8.5 ft average ceiling height, has a half wall dividing 2/3 of the coop in half, and 32 sq ft of south facing windows. We keep the kids inside during the winter and only let them out on days when temps get above 40F. (They may have been raised in and live in a barn, but that doesn't mean we have to pay to heat the outside!) They have over 28 linear feet of roosting bars made of sanded bare 2x4's and debarked sanded branches with branch ladders. There are 6 raised nesting boxes and 5 floor level alternatives that some of the girls prefer. They also have a 3.5 foot diameter kiddy pool half full of tube sand, DE, clean wood ash, and a little dirt from their favorite bathing spot in the yard. Yes, they are spoiled! The in-laws joke that the futterers live in the Hilton of coops. So far, the kiddy pool is only non-consumable thing we have actually purchased for the coop and run. Everything else, including the screws, was already on hand and repurposed.
The Feed :
The kids get fed a blend of Sprout 16% Protein Layer Crumble (50 lb bag) and Nutrena NatureWise 16% Protein Layer Crumble (40 lb bag). When a lot of the girls are molting at the same time, we may blend in an additional bag of 18% Protein crumble as needed. We keep their feed trough clean and full throughout the day. Their "breakfast" and treat jar is 50% feed, 40% cracked corn, sorghum, sunflower seeds (ie. birdseed), 5% peanut pieces, 5% raisins. When I think about it, I'll throw in some dried herbs from the garden. They get 2 cups dumped into each of the two bird feeders that hang at beak level every morning as well as a couple handfulls tossed into their bedding. They get lots of fresh greens, raspberries, and cucumbers all summer, pumpkin, squash, broccoli and cabbage leaves, and fruits in the fall, some indoor grown dandelions, whatever greens or veggies that are on sale in the stores, and homemade flock blocks during the winter, and spring is all about the worms though I try to get them to eat other stuff too. Greek yogurt, canned pumpkin, hard boiled eggs, and oatmeal make random appearances in their diet as well.
The Bedding :
We try to use our own dried and DE'ed grass clippings as much as possible in a deep liter form. We blend in some pine bedding, extra DE under the roosting bars, and supplement with locally harvested mixed haybales. We scrap the roosting bars every morning and fluff the bedding throughout the coop. We add as needed to keep about 10 inches of depth. Once a week, I try to sift out some of the dusty particles underneath and remove them to help with the air quality in the winter. We have recently started spraying the roosting bars, walls, nesting box cracks, and under the nesting pads (I made my own using padding and old denim scraps that get changed out weekly, or sooner if needed, and washed) with a mix of veggie/almond oil with assorted essential oils to naturally combat any lice and mites after realizing we had scaly legs mites. Yes, I do test the mix on myself first to make sure it isn't strong enough to irritate their feeties, I have fibromyalgia and my skin is extremely sensitive. When we realized what was going on, ALL the kids got an epsom salt bath and scrub down followed by my mother-in-law, who has only ever petted the chickens in the past, sat and blow dried each one at the kitchen table before they could go out into the yard. It was a sight!
We try to do right by our flutter babies. We go out and sit with them when they are out in the back yard without netting overhead, we have dedicated garden plots for growing good things for them to eat including growing pots of dandelions throughout the winter, we have large crates set up and a closet of towels for when one isn't feeling good, a few even enjoy taking a break from the flock (basically the boys) and spending the day in the house with mom and the dogs "helping" with chores. Miss Regina Marie actually decided, all on her own that after 2 years in the coop, she was going to be a house hen after her sick-crate stay. She is the reason I am here. She lived in the house with us and ruled over the 3 50lb dogs, she cuddled on the couch between us and the dogs to watch tv at night, she even taught herself (through the dogs) to go outside through the puppy door to go potty (75% of the time anyways) or peck at the door if it was closed. She even got her own Christmas stocking and name tag. She was our beautiful little girl and so special. We had 3 months before she got sick and passed the week before Christmas. Unfortunately, she wasn't the first. She was number 3 following Madeline and Adeline and now Miss Marileigh is sick. I wanted to write everything down in one place so that when I post in the Emergency thread, I can refer back to this post and I don't have to retype everything over and over every time.
No condolences are needed, I've read the other posts and I know you care and feel for us without it being said. Thank you.
Love the breeds and names!!! I am so sorry for your losses, 
it's never easy to lose them. And I'm sorry another is sick. Definitely post in our Emergency forum, hopefully you can get down to the bottom of this. 
to have you here with us. Enjoy your time here at BYC!
