# keeping chicks clean!



## ryan123 (Dec 2, 2012)

last year i got 2 silkie chicks and reared them from a very early age. i am thinking of hatching my own but when i had my 2 chicks they were extremely dirty and had to be cleaned out every day. i used to let them out around the shed for some freedom but they wouldnt do their business until they were put back into the big barrell they were kept in at night. how can i change this?


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## rob (Jun 20, 2012)

you keep them in a barrell ? chicken will do what they need to do when they need to do it.


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## piglett (Jun 21, 2012)

we use the deep litter method which you put down 6" to 12" of good pine shavings
as long as you keep the shavings dry they last for a very long time (months)
when i want my shavings fluffed up i pitch a hand full of scratch or two
the chickens are in there for hours digging & thrashing for the last bit of that scratch.

if your using straw or hay you will end up cleaning them out much more often 
& mites love to move in to that stuff. 

if your going to get more birds you will need a bigger coop for em
mine is built using the bottom of an old camper trailer
i was paid to haul it off 
i then went up to the dump every couple of days & picked through the junk wood bin
i was also given some free metal roofing which keeps my birds nice & dry all year long 
so i said all that to say this "the barrel has to go Ryan"
step on up & please post pictures of what you come up with 


thanks
piglett


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## BlackCrowFarm (Nov 18, 2012)

Sounds like the chicks need more room, not sure I understand what you mean by a barrel though.

If you are starting with day olds & not hatching them yourself, I agree with the deep litter method, we do this with our adults & it works very well.


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## toybarons (Nov 14, 2012)

piglett said:


> we use the deep litter method which you put down 6" to 12" of good pine shavings
> as long as you keep the shavings dry they last for a very long time (months)
> when i want my shavings fluffed up i pitch a hand full of scratch or two
> the chickens are in there for hours digging & thrashing for the last bit of that scratch.
> ...


Isn't the local dump a wonderful place to shop  I was sad when ours was turned into a transfer station [Canada]. They stopped allowing people to rumage through. SO sad cause I used to get a lot of upgrades for my coops that way.


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## toybarons (Nov 14, 2012)

I have heard of the barrel. No kidding. Don't know if it's that same type ryan123 uses? 

You take a 45 gallon plastic barrel, the kind used for bulk food for resturants. You cut a rectangle out of one end and that end is where you would make your door out of wire mesh. You then fill the barrel with your bedding and you have a clean, warm coop big enough to keep 1 to 2 birds in it. The article I read, the guy that makes them had them stacked one on top of the other, around 3 high. He uses them mainly as breeding pens. One benefit is cleaning them is a snap as you can easily hose them out and the take no time to dry. Red mites are also not a problem as they've no place to hide.

My only thought about using a barrel is in the summer. Thought it might get too hot. Otherwise, it is a neat idea.


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## piglett (Jun 21, 2012)

toybarons said:


> Isn't the local dump a wonderful place to shop  I was sad when ours was turned into a transfer station [Canada]. They stopped allowing people to rumage through. SO sad cause I used to get a lot of upgrades for my coops that way.


 the dump used to be the last stop for all the stuff in my town
however just like where you are they now truck all of it out at some point
i guess the pile out back just got too tall.
anyhow they still allow people to take all they want out of the wood bin
(they sell the metal so hands off)
they also have a small section filled with used clothing
my wife loves going through there & snatching up shorts & t-shirts which we send off in a big box to her family in the Philippines
many of the clothes are high quality name brand stuff, lots of like new sneakers that would run you $100 a pair.

piglett


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## rob (Jun 20, 2012)

i think im starting to understand the barrell idea now.


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## ryan123 (Dec 2, 2012)

I said it wrong about the barrell. i have two, 12 bird coops for my adult hens. the barrell is just for the newly hatched chicks which are under a heat lamp. when they grow up they are put in with the adult hens. sorry for any confusion


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## piglett (Jun 21, 2012)

ryan123 said:


> I said it wrong about the barrell. i have two, 12 bird coops for my adult hens. the barrell is just for the newly hatched chicks which are under a heat lamp. when they grow up they are put in with the adult hens. sorry for any confusion


ok i understand, i even had baby chicks in a little home built brooder in my bathroom for 3 weeks
what a dusty mess that was but it was below zero at night outside so i had to do something for them.

are those your 3 silkies in the picture?


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