Having kept chickens on my allotment for many years I can see you are covering all the bases and the birds look in great shape. Clearly they are happy before any improvements you have planned. My only suggestion as you didn't mention it would be diatomaceous earth in nesting boxes and roosting area. It's not expensive, it's food grade so it's very safe, it's great in the compost bins, it's organic and mites of all kinds hate it. Just a light application every week even in winter makes a massive difference. In the summer we drop a little in their dirt bath holes too.

@oddsocksgrowing

Жыл бұрын

DE is fantastic stuff. Thats exactly what ill be discussing in my next chicken video 😁. I use it in the coop and as an ingredient to their dust baths 👍. Its such a good thing to have when you have chickens. Like you said its cheap and non toxic and is all benefit 💜.

Yes we roofed over our chicken run and being dry is much better, it is good to see a properly fox proof run.

@oddsocksgrowing

Жыл бұрын

Thank you. Hopefully it will withstand any foxes 🤞

Looking fab 🌞🌞. Ladies will be very happy mom 🐓🐥🐔🐓👍. Have a super week, Ali 🇨🇦

@oddsocksgrowing

Жыл бұрын

Thanks Ali 😊.

Lovely coop, very well thought through, I love it

@oddsocksgrowing

Жыл бұрын

Thank you 😁

Anybody who loves and cares for chickens properly is a good soul in my book. When I was a teen I spent a year collecting eggs on a battery farm. I've never forgotten how cruel it was. The farmer would wring their necks and throw them on a dump without a second thought. Never again. I'm a cottage gardener now and looking to growing veg in buckets.

@oddsocksgrowing

Жыл бұрын

Thats awful 😞. My girls get well cared for. They are providing for me and ill take good care of them 🥰

As long-time keepers of up to 12 hens, I thought this all very good advice, but would add two more topics. Always keep a watch for mites, which are difficult to spot, if one's not familiar with them. It was a minor problem for years until for some unknown reason, we suddenly had an infestation. We vanquished them, but have never since been free of them. I built a new coop with minimum crannies. The roosts are loose and hung on wire hangers smeared in vaseline. They have a dust bath, for which I used a plasterer's bath. The second problem is rats (and they can easily chew through plastic), so we remove food at night, and the coop is raised 8" off the ground on skids. We miss having our chickens rooting about the garden, but they have plenty of light, airy space, and fresh vegetables and dried mealworms. They live a happy life, and give us wonderful eggs. I don't calculate what each costs!

@oddsocksgrowing

Жыл бұрын

Brilliant advice 👍. I will be doing a more in depth care guild including mites. My girls have a pallet collar in their run which will be filled with dry earth sand and diatomaceous powder. Which will give them a lovely area to dust bath. Hopefully this will help with mites. Using DE in the coop can help too. But I found in the past if it was a very hot summer the mites got a lot worse. But ill cover some other ways in another video very soon 👍

Yes, raising chickens is very beneficial to the breeders, despite the family nature.❤👍

@oddsocksgrowing

3 ай бұрын

Yes they are

Nice one Socks.

@oddsocksgrowing

Жыл бұрын

Thanks John 😊.

Hi Iv built a large chicken coop which is in a secure fox proof cage, I’d like the chickens to come and go freely in there coop could I cut a doorway and leave it with no door?

@oddsocksgrowing

4 ай бұрын

To be honest, I would still lock them up. Foxes can be very determined.

The 'foxes' that stole our 3 hens had 2 legs 😢

@oddsocksgrowing

8 ай бұрын

Oh wow really?? That's terrible. Some People really unbelievable! I actually think someone taking our eggs... I may have to get a camera.

Ahhhh those nasty foxes strike again 😲

@oddsocksgrowing

11 ай бұрын

Not with my chickens they wont :) :)