HELPFULL HINTS

[Dave]

how about some helpfull hints

me first me first

give your birds some alo-vera to peck at
it is an antibiotic -antiseptic and it boosts the imune system

[Dave]

me again me again

start a small wormery
free worms on demand
and it gets rid of scrap food
and its a greeny thing to do!

[melons]

I "was" going to get a wormery from wiggly wormers, but they are £90 rotten stinkin quid, do you have any ideas on how to make one? I think I can run to that!

[Dave]

go to a shop and buy a storage bin with a lid
DO NOT BUY A SEE-THROUGH ONE
BLACK IS BEST mine are blue!
size about 3ft x 2ft x 18" tall
like a toy box mine cost £8 (i got two)

drill holes in the bottom
2-3mm holes and drill them every 2-3"
this is to let any liquid out (worm piss)
pure liquid furtilizer

next drill 4-5mm holes in th lid for ventaliation
again drill quite a few

then add IRISH MOSS PEAT to a depth of about
10" it must be keeped DAMP not WET
then add worms
and feed them
keep the peat loose put your hands in and fluff it once every few weeks
add the food up one end and just keep it under the surface
this will keep out the little flys
and cover the top of the peat with a peice of cardboard(kept damp)
then put the lid on!

if you also put a peice of damp cardboard on the ground then put the wormery on it if any worms get out they will go and stay under the card as you check the wormery if any have got out you will get them back

90 days from worm egg to big worm

good luck any problems or if you want to chat pm me and we can have a chat

[T_Steadman]

I got this tip from "Starting With Chickens" by Katie Thear:

In the winter, give the chickens some oats as these are the most warming grain. (If the birds will eat them).

Also, can anyone tell me if there is a distinct difference between feeders and drinkers? What are peoples' preferences, plastic or metal, on the ground or raised?

[Dave]

its hard to explain about the drinkers/feeders
with drinkers the out let hole for the water is small that then fills
drink tray bit
with the feeder the feed falls out all the way around the tray
if you look at both it will make sence
i use a length of guttering about 3ft long (with end caps)screwed to peices
of wood for both drinkers and feeders(very cheap)
easy to clean!

[Richard]

I've made my feeders from plastic gutter.

My water feeders are just large plastic tubs. A couple have the waste water from the smaller shed filling them up.

With the weather we've had I haven't had to fill one up for weeks!

[Willow]

I started off with a large plastic drinker and used various recepticles to put the food in.. Drinker great but the food was being scratched out of the containers both high and low sided and was being turned into a porrige paste on the surrounding grass. I found this paste impossible to get off the grass, it went sour and smelly and the grass had to be dug out and replaced when the run was moved.., So We bit the bullet and bought a metal feeder with a wide 'hat' so it could be left outside. I wish we'd done it to begin with!! It would have saved one hell of a lot of waste and mess. Now both feeder and drinker are suspended on chains off the floor, feeder gets filled with pellets once a week, food and water stay clean, food stays dry, no mess and no waste at all!

[T_Steadman]

Brilliant.

Thanks Willow

[wendy]

Yep I suspend mine for the same reason. I have galvanised steel as I found the plastic got brittel in the cold weather. When I dropped one it broke
Wendy

[melons]

cheers, I've printed the wormery instructions off.
Bring back Woolies all is forgiven, they closed the Cambridge Woolworths a few years back, I could have got my tub from there, how selfish

[lancashire lass]

do you not have a Wilkos near you? I'm always amazed at what they do have.

As for helpful hints on chicken keeping, you are all giving me wonderful ideas. :idea:

[AnnaB]

We've got 3 large homemade compost bins and they are always full of worms. I don't feed these to the girls as they get plenty of other stuff. I do dig their run (being very careful not to spike them) and they can then collect their own worms.
Dave thanks for the post.....I shall be starting a wormery and also the tip about guttering is very useful. I bought 2 drinkers and 2 feeders ( plastic) and have them hung from chains also lots of large dog bowls around so that the new girls will always have access to food and water. When the bought things break I will use guttering.
Toni I always give them cooked porridge and more especially in the winter when its old - its cheap and quick to cook I just make lots more when I am cooking mine!

[Dave]

if your chickens are in a run/coup/ark
hang up leeks the hole dam thing
no other greens
do this for about 5 days(ish)
then your eggs (the yoke)
will have a very faint taste of onions
very very nice

we will soon be tying some herbs
ie mint - chives and maybe some coriander
trouble is all my girls are getting on at the moment
so nowone is in the small rescue run at the moment
and as they free range all day the will eat grass and stuff
which mucks up the experiment
but knowing that leeks work i want to try the herbs

[seahorse]

If you try pieces of garlic, will that give you mini mini kievs? And its good for the chooks helps keep bugs at bay! . Not so good if you are making egg custard though. :mrgreen: Annie