The only time I’ve ever had problems with my chickens, getting ill, etc. is if I brought another adult chicken into the mix. Never ever will I ever bring anything older than a baby chick into the mix again. A friend of mine has also run into these issues. Three times she has brought in adult chickens to add to her flock and all three times. It caused massive issues. She got rid of every single chicken. She is completely starting over. So people, stick with the babies. Do not bring in adult chickens of any type. Make your own little closed system.
Same!! I’m dealing with issues from the beginning because I started with adults with issues and brought in other adult hens later. I’ve had chicks twice and they are so much healthier in general but can get sick from the adults I introduced.
@@irishlizzie I had a chicken die. My friend lost half her flock. her neighbors were getting rid of her chickens so she just thought she would take them because they’re right next-door and they’re well taken care of etc. etc. Worst mistake she made. Killed half her flock. She ended up getting rid of every single one of them. she’s gonna work on getting the ground cleared up as much as she can, she’s building a brand new coop. Completely starting over. She tried to be a nice person, but it bitter right in the butt. I have been tempted a couple times to bring in some adult chickens from other people who were getting rid of them. Luckily, I did not do it. I learned from my mistake in the past.
@@mattg6472 I do a those for my birds, and some things can’t be fixed no matter how hard you try. I still have several birds from those mature hens I got, but most of them have an issue of some sort, and it’s just a little frustrating to fight diseases and pests and parasites for over a year and lose so many. However, I’m in a semi-stable place with my flock so I’m not starting over from scratch but it makes me realize if I ever do I won’t feel bad because it’ll hopefully be better for the new flock to just raise chicks and not bring in mature hen.
@andreavalentine4609 eggs in exchange for scraps 👍.(inform them what kind of scraps they can eat). My friend gives me eggs and I, myself, offered to give them scraps. I collect scraps, put them in my freezer, once a week or two I drop them off. Her girls ( I called them my nieces 😂) love the scraps, especially in warm weather's.
We live in NoAZ & SoCA. My husband & I go back & forth every month & my 14 girls go back & forth w/ us. They travel in our temperature controlled “Hen Hauler” trailer. So both properties get a 30 day break from being over scratched & pecked every 30 days.
I am glad you posted this. My husband and I are thinking about getting a vacation home in the woods and I was wondering if they would transport well. Why not? 😊
Haven’t done it yet, but am including a Mylar “space blanket” layer for heat reflection trial in summer. Won’t block vent line, anyone else have success with that? I have a USB rechargeable camping fan I put in the coop on really muggy still days, really helps! They love it & move to those roosts
I have two large runs. I move my 13 hens and 2 roos every month or two. The day I move them to the other side I plant oat grass in the run that is grazed down. So far so good.
Exactly! If you have more than one run and the luxury to use only one at a time, this is a very good option. You can also sprinkle other things that chickens enjoy nibbling on, like wheat, barley, millet etc (and they grow very fast) but even more leafy plants like spinach... My garden is not big enough and I cannot let them roam around as I grow greens and vegetables. I keep my chicken in the basement but all cut grass (a mix of many wild plants) goes to them, so do all the remnants of vegetables and greens. I also plant a lot of spinach, garden cress, swiss chards etc in the autumn as a cover crop and in the spring I have tons in excess even after stocking for our use and sharing with friends generously... So, the rest goes to my ladies and they convert everything to the best fertilizer for my garden 😊
When I had them, Segregate first, I put vinegar in their water, oregano ( natural antibiotic) once 2 to 3 weeks after and an initial Week long dose , feed cucumber and squash and seeds for parasites. With chicks the protocol is a little different. Everyone attacks these issues a little different. I even fed meal worms for extra protein being as they are omnivores like ourselves. Saving my eggshells , drying them, bake for 30 min, cool and crumble, calcium treatment. Blessings
Fellow chickeneer here. Chickens REALLY DO BRING PEACE. I hatched my own and enjoyed every moment with them, good and bad. Chickens are therapy animals- God’s gift to destress manand womankind. ❤️🐓❤️🐓❤️🐓❤️
The title & URLwould be appreciated if you were to supply it! (I supply URLs to sources of info i know of, & they become live links upon posting them on RUclips!)
I love your book !! We are blessed to have a farm and our chickens get to roam around and go wherever they want to adventure. They are in such good health and we just LOVE them all . They are such time wasters , I could watch them for hours. I love how our chickens venture into the barn where the hay is for our cows , make dust holes in the dry dirt they are just amazing. We found out that our chickens LOVE possum , our son traps the possum then we put this in with our chickens (obviously possum is dead) the amount of maggots this creates and our girls go mental over them. They get organic liver, kidney and meat from our farm .... love love love them .
I've had large numbers of chickens; but retired, I keep ONE. Yes, they are relaxing. Individually. I would think that if you keep LOTS of chickens, you have to retire, rest, and deep clean their area, so you need more than one yard. You need to give it a break to renew the grass and weeds. The more chickens you have, and obtain....the more diseases/parasites. I've deleted my flock a few times in life, and usually for the same reasons. (Once was me taking a second job and having a baby) Just one, because I consider carressing a "holding chicken" one of the most relaxing activities in the world. She has a stroller, a coat and shoes for bad weather, and her own carseat. Our dog is a sibling. She's living her best chicken life.
I sooo, enjoy ur channel, and your personality as an educator of chixie girls. ( as I call my 3, year old Hens ). We are desert dwellers in a small space. Albuquerque,N.M. lol. The Girl's double as my therapist's free of charge....I am down the hill from a feed store and surrounded by ex agri lands. Originally got them as food source during this crazed period in Usa. Fun fact: I am in love with these creatures now. The guy at feed store said "you named them right?" I said yep. He said, "you will never eat them now". Lol. He is so right! I avoided going into to the store last month as peeps arrived as to avoid falling in love w. more. Thanks for your great info. Tee in N.M.❤ P.S. I love your setup!!
I've always thought, if I had your expanse of land , what I would do to restrict the "free range" to a "guided range" in the form of partitioned off "runs within the run" so that you are rotating the used sections and the grassed sections are not overstressed. Rotating halves of halves. Dividing or parcelling off the area into four. Rotate the chickens around the four paddocks in a general program of two weeks grazing and six weeks rest. Managers of native pastures have successfully used two-paddock rotations (four-week graze; four-week rest) and four-paddock rotations (four-week graze; 12-week rest). It doesn't have to mean a great deal of extra work if you make a central area where water and feed can be permanently accessed. Look how cows are being milked by automatic milking machines that rotate. It just takes a little "Umdenken" - thinking out of the conventional. Good luck. Clover is an ideal ground cover🍀. There's Sorghum when its fully grown. Then there's sunflowers🌻. Throw in a few perennials and scatter herbs like thyme. Have you ever thought of growing artichoke. You could do so much with all that land, creating a food forest. Two trees I would definitely have in the center of my chicken yard would be a mulberry tree and a fig tree. Once the trees get big and the root base is protected, there's nothing to worry about. How about natural herbaceous cover with medicinal benefits? You could really make it a project.
I need a new fig tree. I gave mine away and said as the person didn't take care of it and it died😢. I am hoping to start new cool weather veggie starts today
Glad I have my movable electric fence. Every few weeks we move the boundary. Just moved the fence a couple days ago.. They loved the fresh grass. And yes the grass started to grow and regenerate within the next day.
Great video, I wish I could find similar content focused on ducks. I do have electric fencing and a duck tractor for the day. Need to get more fencing so I can give each place the tractor is on more time to recover, don’t really have time to move fencing around due to my work and commute. Electric fencing has given me so much peace of mind while my ducks are in their tractor as it is not entirely predator proof. In the evening and nighttime, they are in a Carolina Coops American duck coop with a lot of fine straw, which they happily go to because they feel so safe there, and also it is the only place they get their adored grapes. I’m in South Florida and my big concern is how to keep them comfortable in the heat, especially when I have to go in to the office. Today it got up to “feels like 95F, and it is only April. Someone mentioned a USB powered fan in another comment, thank you! I will look into that.
I read a book by John Seymour who spoke about lady Dalphour's method, and that was feeding fish & mealworms, and when you're done with one run, plant vegetables in it , or regrow your grass, while the chickens eat the other grass. Because chickens love to eat grass.
I just had to tell you my chickens can't get enough of your flock block recipe.🤣 They have had the remnants of a store block in the coop for forever but as soon as I made Your recipe they They went for that one and can demolish a bread pan sized block in like a day and a half! They are spoiled little buggers!😂 Thank you so much!!
I move my small coops twice a year... once in April/May once in October/November. And I plan on building a chicken tractor with nesting spots built in for the late spring/summer/fall. It does take 2 years for a former coop spot to return to a grassy spot as the waste degrades. I have trouble standing for long or bending over so I do not shovel up the spots where the coops were, but let the land heal itself.
I noticed that when I had ducks in with my chickens, they had more issues and I think that's because of the way ducks crap. Theirs is more liquid and spreads on the grass and dispenses ecoli more along the grass blades, infecting the chickens that eat it. I no longer have ducks and have not had any problems. I have acerage and allow my chickens access to my pastures and yard outside their pens and houses. I have about 75 chickens in my care. Just found your channel today! Love it!
I have been using some large 'salad bars' in my run to help grow some grass and sprouts for them! I move it around every couple of weeks. My run is 10x22. We can't free range anymore because of random predators during the day. I also bring in new dirt once a month. I spray their coop with essential oils weekly. So far I'm not having problems after 3 years!
I'm sorry, I didn't see the first person that asked! I make a sprayer with 2 cups rubbing alcohol, water to fill to the gallon mark, and then add 20-30 drops each peppermint and tea tree. Sometimes I'll switch things up and do lavendar, rosemary and/or lemonbalm (just depends what I have on hand) I only use doTERRA or young living oils. (I just personally feel they are superior) Edit: I saturate spray roosts. I remove the pans of hay from the nest boxes and saturate the wood in the boxes (I don't spray the hay.) and basically mist spray the rest of the coop.
I've been experimenting with replacing my grass with white clover and flax in my yard for chickens in Portland. It seems to hold up a little better. I also water it in the summer
Great information as always. We recently gave our flock to a woman in Yakima. It was a very hard decision and still makes us sad but we are contemplating moving and need to prepare the property for possible sale. We will get chickens again eventually.
I had 12chickens and lost 4last year to yeast infection We do so much for our hens to help them stay well This year we had 2healthy chickens die suddenly and don’t know what happened We hope that the rest of the flock stay well
Excellent video's. My wife and I are just starting out, down this chicken road journey, and it is great to have some really good insight. Awesome videos. We are also here in the Pacific Northwest, Aberdeen area. Thanks so much!
My world imploded for a second, woman! 😂 I bought your book in January and I thought, oh no, she can’t be done. She isn’t allowed to be done with chickens! She’s taught me sooooooo much!❤ I was ready to come find you and take you in to get chickenfied again! Thank you for all you do and teach us! ❤❤❤
Can you dust an entire run with Diotomaceous earth and rake it through the top 4 inches? I think that might take care of any insects/mites lice. As for the diseases, are you talking about bacterial and fungal stuff? Resting the soil is what it takes to keep that disease pressure down?
This is what I am planning, I have 2 coops, one has two runs ,so it will be easy ,I'll just open only one . The other coop is larger will much larger run and with it I have a temporary fences and I am useing sunflowers 🌻 and milo and let wheat grass grow, these plants once started are good for a full season,the milo heads stuck in the fence between the runs lets chickens on both sides peck at them . ❤
Or... You can hot steam the ground in your small space.. Like I do.. 😊 I live in the UK I have small by comparison, backyard chickens. I also occasionally steam clean coop. I've also found parasites have a hard time living in fairly high carbon (charcoal based) environments add diatomaceous earth and happy days. Sometimes we over think the problems chickens present. I do only have 13 chickens at the moment.
Who built your fence and how? Also how did you install your bird netting? I want to do this so much and was hoping you would make a video about this! I bought bird netting, but I don't even know where to start installing it.
Henlo everyone!! I’m so glad she brought up if we’re new and still having the opportunity to choose where our location is going to be! I have an area that years ago before we came was paved for parking with chipped limestone. We do not use it for that currently and it’s mainly a large space that nature is starting to take over. Considering the sparse stone underneath I was worried about there not being enough soil/grass to cushion their feet. Can anyone give me advice or suggestions on if the space is good/not so good of a choice for location of my coop/inclosed run? (Will also have free range area) Ps- thank you Dalia ❤ 🥹
i don’t think it would really be bad for the chickens feet, I’ve seen people have coops on concrete, and runs too. However, my main concern would be about finding out where all the poop on the limestone would go as having dirt and grass is good flooring simply for the dust bathing aspect and the chickens poop enriching the soil. That’s just my two cents though, hope you have fun owning chickens!
@@appleman1678thank you for that perspective!! The area is right beside a flattened field we use for our veggies, so my hope was that it would be an easy location to transfer compost and help with pest prevention… but yeah, the poop on the limestone would probably be very unhygienic and I didn’t think of that point. I could provide a dust bath but it may be a breeding ground for bacteria?
I have a chicken that got picked by one of my other chickens and was bleeding very badly on her comb. I sprayed blu-kote on it which stopped the bleeding but now my chicken is unrecognizable to the others in the flock due to her purple head and they are attacking her. What can I do? She spent the night in my shower on a 2 x 4 but this can’t continue obviously.
I had dust baths for my chickens and do spray the chickens and I think you can plant certain plants to keep bugs away. Keep the food up off the ground. Rake over and turn the ground if you hve grass, they are probably trying to turn it over themselves to remain clean
Hi Dalia do you know if seeds that are pelleted are safe if chickens eat them. I want to work in their pens and plant some stuff. I think I have a big bag of clover and a big bag of wheat grass. Just any kind of greens for them and there but it’s pelleted seeds and I am concerned I want it to be safe for them because you know they’re going to eat it lol thank you.
Sectioning off into multiple runs helps a ton. 1 day per run, and the destruction is so much less. I am in FL with nothing but sand so my only real problem is sticktight fleas. I've had a horrible infestation for 8 months and have tried EVERYTHING. Diatomaceous earth, permethrin, Vaseline, dog flea baths, picking them off every night... nothing has gotten rid of them. I even tried moving them out into new coops. Now the new coops have them too. 😡🤬
I free range my chickens often, depending on the weather. I buy a lot of bales of straw to put down to keep their feet as dry as possible and give them something to peck. I keep a side mini-coop closed at times. When I open it, they are so happy. Having enough space for them is so important. It's been a learning experience for sure. Thx and good luck all you fellow chickeners.
Building my coop now and was going to transplant grass from one part of my yard to my run. Now I am wondering if it is worth the effort. Should I put straw down on the dirt instead?
I'd like to know if the net really works for predatory birds? I'm building a big pen for my new chickens but we have red tails and one already killed one of my ducks, but the net seems so much easier to put on than a bunch of hardware cloth. I love that you have 2 runs now!
Your hair is lovely, looks great! I can't switch quite like you did but when my electric fencing is up, I try to shift it around every few weeks or so, even if just parts of it.
I can’t imagine having my girls in a static coop. Once you have a chickshaw, ya never go back! 😅 We move them to fresh pasture every couple days using electric netting.
Electric netting as in electric temporary fencing? My big problem is hawks and vultures…. Idk how to let mine “free range” and keep them safe with those sky predators.
@@stephanied9629 yes, we move the electric netting every few days and as long as we don’t position it under any trees, hawks and other aerial predators stay away. We always keep open sky above. If they’re under trees, the predators will just swoop down from the trees, but for some reason it intimidates them to go out in the open.
Throw out a few pounds of clover! I keep hoping my free range hens will destroy my lawn, but they’d rather scratch thru all the leaves in my tree area. 👍🏻
I need advice on how to have chickens and ducks “free range” in a large run with constant sky predators. Hawks and vultures daily scanning our property.
We got our second flock of chickens and a flock of ducks. Needless to say, our back yard grass is gone and there’s so much erosion of the soil. We need to pen them this spring and summer season and figure something out.
I need your help pretty please Ms. Dalia, Can I ask where can I get some 100% natural hardwood chips? Would you know of any websites that sell them? I have tried going everywhere here close by in the bay area with no luck. The only thing they have always is mulch which gets super nasty and muddy (yucky). I do use horse pellets which I love and it's all thanks to you :) :) :) Is a brand of playground wood chips that work? I will be forever grateful and thankful. I would love to add the wood chips to their run so they can play and go nuts :) :) I hear that cedar is bad for chickens too and I fear it. I heard great things about natural hardwood chips for chickens but I am having the hardest time finding them. Any help, advice.information, tips I will appreciate it bunches from the bottom of my little heart.
In my experience, I think that when chickens are moved, they experience the most stress at the beginning of the move. I think they adjust pretty quickly. And since they still have the same coop, that is a huge comfort to them. I move my chickens several times a year. The most stressed they are is if I move them too far away from where they previously were. The only reason they might be stressed out is if they don't have enough to do in the other area. If it was me, I would leave them on that other side for at least a total of 6 weeks to let the grass grow a lot more. And then I would switch back and forth every 1 to 6-ish weeks, whatever ends up working. The chickens will get used to the regular switch; they are pretty resilient creatures. Plus, they live for grassy areas and wooded areas, unless they are dust bathing, of course! 😊 But maybe that is what you already have planned! 😊
After 30yrs basically ive never had sickness or anything that affected the whole flock with as many as 100 birds plus goats peacocks and other birds. Keep coop clean ,vinager lots of ventilation in the 8' x 24' x 8' inside nearly 5000 sqr ft of netted coverage hawk protection unlimited food and 15 gallons of water available in Central New York even 40° below we get dozens
in closed runs .. add native hardwood mulch and or peat moss - periodically for PH changes and anti parasitic/anti-microbial to runs - or even leaves - a pile of fall leaves - more carbon keeps the run with healthy soil.
![Blox Fruits Dragon Rework Update [Full Stream]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/EqDAp8udhm0/mqdefault.jpg)
Who saw the alien? 😱👽🐔🛸
I did!
No, but I spied Mrs. Doubtfire!
😂😂😂
Alien eclipse😁
I did!
The only time I’ve ever had problems with my chickens, getting ill, etc. is if I brought another adult chicken into the mix. Never ever will I ever bring anything older than a baby chick into the mix again. A friend of mine has also run into these issues. Three times she has brought in adult chickens to add to her flock and all three times. It caused massive issues. She got rid of every single chicken. She is completely starting over. So people, stick with the babies. Do not bring in adult chickens of any type. Make your own little closed system.
Same!! I’m dealing with issues from the beginning because I started with adults with issues and brought in other adult hens later. I’ve had chicks twice and they are so much healthier in general but can get sick from the adults I introduced.
@@irishlizzie I had a chicken die. My friend lost half her flock. her neighbors were getting rid of her chickens so she just thought she would take them because they’re right next-door and they’re well taken care of etc. etc. Worst mistake she made. Killed half her flock. She ended up getting rid of every single one of them. she’s gonna work on getting the ground cleared up as much as she can, she’s building a brand new coop. Completely starting over. She tried to be a nice person, but it bitter right in the butt. I have been tempted a couple times to bring in some adult chickens from other people who were getting rid of them. Luckily, I did not do it. I learned from my mistake in the past.
@@mattg6472 I do a those for my birds, and some things can’t be fixed no matter how hard you try. I still have several birds from those mature hens I got, but most of them have an issue of some sort, and it’s just a little frustrating to fight diseases and pests and parasites for over a year and lose so many. However, I’m in a semi-stable place with my flock so I’m not starting over from scratch but it makes me realize if I ever do I won’t feel bad because it’ll hopefully be better for the new flock to just raise chicks and not bring in mature hen.
I've successfully brought in adults with no problems many times. Everyone gets colloidal silver doses for 2 weeks.
Do that for my snakes. Only get hatchlings. Still quarantine, of course.
I don't really eat eggs....but I have 20 chickens! They are such cool pets. I just give most of the eggs to my neighbors.
@andreavalentine4609 eggs in exchange for scraps 👍.(inform them what kind of scraps they can eat). My friend gives me eggs and I, myself, offered to give them scraps. I collect scraps, put them in my freezer, once a week or two I drop them off. Her girls ( I called them my nieces 😂) love the scraps, especially in warm weather's.
same here!
We live in NoAZ & SoCA. My husband & I go back & forth every month & my 14 girls go back & forth w/ us. They travel in our temperature controlled “Hen Hauler” trailer. So both properties get a 30 day break from being over scratched & pecked every 30 days.
I am glad you posted this. My husband and I are thinking about getting a vacation home in the woods and I was wondering if they would transport well. Why not? 😊
That's awesome they travel with you
What a great idea! We need to look into this option for our family.
I am wanting to do this with our hens from PA to WV. How did you figure out the temp controlled hen hauler? More info on that please!
Haven’t done it yet, but am including a Mylar “space blanket” layer for heat reflection trial in summer. Won’t block vent line, anyone else have success with that? I have a USB rechargeable camping fan I put in the coop on really muggy still days, really helps! They love it & move to those roosts
I have two large runs. I move my 13 hens and 2 roos every month or two. The day I move them to the other side I plant oat grass in the run that is grazed down. So far so good.
Exactly! If you have more than one run and the luxury to use only one at a time, this is a very good option. You can also sprinkle other things that chickens enjoy nibbling on, like wheat, barley, millet etc (and they grow very fast) but even more leafy plants like spinach... My garden is not big enough and I cannot let them roam around as I grow greens and vegetables. I keep my chicken in the basement but all cut grass (a mix of many wild plants) goes to them, so do all the remnants of vegetables and greens. I also plant a lot of spinach, garden cress, swiss chards etc in the autumn as a cover crop and in the spring I have tons in excess even after stocking for our use and sharing with friends generously... So, the rest goes to my ladies and they convert everything to the best fertilizer for my garden 😊
When I had them, Segregate first, I put vinegar in their water, oregano ( natural antibiotic) once 2 to 3 weeks after and an initial Week long dose , feed cucumber and squash and seeds for parasites. With chicks the protocol is a little different. Everyone attacks these issues a little different. I even fed meal worms for extra protein being as they are omnivores like ourselves. Saving my eggshells , drying them, bake for 30 min, cool and crumble, calcium treatment. Blessings
Fellow chickeneer here. Chickens REALLY DO BRING PEACE. I hatched my own and enjoyed every moment with them, good and bad. Chickens are therapy animals- God’s gift to destress manand womankind. ❤️🐓❤️🐓❤️🐓❤️
Also you can use sulphur in the dust bath. So effective that it protects flock mates that don't use it. Great article on Entomology Today.
The title & URLwould be appreciated if you were to supply it! (I supply URLs to sources of info i know of, & they become live links upon posting them on RUclips!)
I love your book !! We are blessed to have a farm and our chickens get to roam around and go wherever they want to adventure. They are in such good health and we just LOVE them all . They are such time wasters , I could watch them for hours. I love how our chickens venture into the barn where the hay is for our cows , make dust holes in the dry dirt they are just amazing. We found out that our chickens LOVE possum , our son traps the possum then we put this in with our chickens (obviously possum is dead) the amount of maggots this creates and our girls go mental over them. They get organic liver, kidney and meat from our farm .... love love love them .
I have 2 different yard just for that purpose. Greening up one side now. 6 hens 1 roo and got 5 new hens coming.
You scared me! 😂 I'm glad they are ok.
Sad click bait
I've had large numbers of chickens; but retired, I keep ONE. Yes, they are relaxing. Individually. I would think that if you keep LOTS of chickens, you have to retire, rest, and deep clean their area, so you need more than one yard. You need to give it a break to renew the grass and weeds. The more chickens you have, and obtain....the more diseases/parasites. I've deleted my flock a few times in life, and usually for the same reasons. (Once was me taking a second job and having a baby) Just one, because I consider carressing a "holding chicken" one of the most relaxing activities in the world. She has a stroller, a coat and shoes for bad weather, and her own carseat. Our dog is a sibling. She's living her best chicken life.
My chicken yard does look like the dune movie 🤣🤣🤣🤣
😂😂😂
Hahaha 😂 Right!
I love that you touched on this! I rotate my chickens from one side to another from spring to winter. Your birds are beautiful and happy. 💚
I sooo, enjoy ur channel, and your personality as an educator of chixie girls. ( as I call my 3, year old Hens ). We are desert dwellers in a small space. Albuquerque,N.M. lol.
The Girl's double as my therapist's free of charge....I am down the hill from a feed store and surrounded by ex agri lands. Originally got them as food source during this crazed period in Usa. Fun fact: I am in love with these creatures now. The guy at feed store said "you named them right?" I said yep. He said, "you will never eat them now". Lol. He is so right! I avoided going into to the store last month as peeps arrived as to avoid falling in love w. more. Thanks for your great info. Tee in N.M.❤
P.S. I love your setup!!
I hatched our two batches of chicks this year, in the spring and in the fall
I've always thought, if I had your expanse of land , what I would do to restrict the "free range" to a "guided range" in the form of partitioned off "runs within the run" so that you are rotating the used sections and the grassed sections are not overstressed. Rotating halves of halves. Dividing or parcelling off the area into four. Rotate the chickens around the four paddocks in a general program of two weeks grazing and six weeks rest. Managers of native pastures have successfully used two-paddock rotations (four-week graze; four-week rest) and four-paddock rotations (four-week graze; 12-week rest). It doesn't have to mean a great deal of extra work if you make a central area where water and feed can be permanently accessed. Look how cows are being milked by automatic milking machines that rotate. It just takes a little "Umdenken" - thinking out of the conventional. Good luck. Clover is an ideal ground cover🍀. There's Sorghum when its fully grown. Then there's sunflowers🌻. Throw in a few perennials and scatter herbs like thyme. Have you ever thought of growing artichoke. You could do so much with all that land, creating a food forest. Two trees I would definitely have in the center of my chicken yard would be a mulberry tree and a fig tree. Once the trees get big and the root base is protected, there's nothing to worry about. How about natural herbaceous cover with medicinal benefits? You could really make it a project.
I would love to do all this!
Germans are everywhere. 😂
I need a new fig tree. I gave mine away and said as the person didn't take care of it and it died😢. I am hoping to start new cool weather veggie starts today
Glad I have my movable electric fence. Every few weeks we move the boundary. Just moved the fence a couple days ago.. They loved the fresh grass. And yes the grass started to grow and regenerate within the next day.
I’ve just ordered some movable fencing.
Sounds like a great system!
Great video, I wish I could find similar content focused on ducks. I do have electric fencing and a duck tractor for the day. Need to get more fencing so I can give each place the tractor is on more time to recover, don’t really have time to move fencing around due to my work and commute. Electric fencing has given me so much peace of mind while my ducks are in their tractor as it is not entirely predator proof. In the evening and nighttime, they are in a Carolina Coops American duck coop with a lot of fine straw, which they happily go to because they feel so safe there, and also it is the only place they get their adored grapes. I’m in South Florida and my big concern is how to keep them comfortable in the heat, especially when I have to go in to the office. Today it got up to “feels like 95F, and it is only April. Someone mentioned a USB powered fan in another comment, thank you! I will look into that.
I second the clover comment. We love clover
I read a book by John Seymour who spoke about lady Dalphour's method, and that was feeding fish & mealworms, and when you're done with one run, plant vegetables in it , or regrow your grass, while the chickens eat the other grass. Because chickens love to eat grass.
I just had to tell you my chickens can't get enough of your flock block recipe.🤣 They have had the remnants of a store block in the coop for forever but as soon as I made Your recipe they They went for that one and can demolish a bread pan sized block in like a day and a half! They are spoiled little buggers!😂 Thank you so much!!
I move my small coops twice a year... once in April/May once in October/November. And I plan on building a chicken tractor with nesting spots built in for the late spring/summer/fall. It does take 2 years for a former coop spot to return to a grassy spot as the waste degrades. I have trouble standing for long or bending over so I do not shovel up the spots where the coops were, but let the land heal itself.
I noticed that when I had ducks in with my chickens, they had more issues and I think that's because of the way ducks crap. Theirs is more liquid and spreads on the grass and dispenses ecoli more along the grass blades, infecting the chickens that eat it. I no longer have ducks and have not had any problems. I have acerage and allow my chickens access to my pastures and yard outside their pens and houses. I have about 75 chickens in my care. Just found your channel today! Love it!
Great video. You’re lovely. Thanks!
Much better than the thumbnail lol
I love how inclusive you are as a chicken educator! Ive seens so many that tend to not understand others circumstances.
I have been using some large 'salad bars' in my run to help grow some grass and sprouts for them! I move it around every couple of weeks. My run is 10x22. We can't free range anymore because of random predators during the day. I also bring in new dirt once a month. I spray their coop with essential oils weekly. So far I'm not having problems after 3 years!
Which eo's do you spray?
What EOs and how much do you spray?
I'm sorry, I didn't see the first person that asked! I make a sprayer with 2 cups rubbing alcohol, water to fill to the gallon mark, and then add 20-30 drops each peppermint and tea tree. Sometimes I'll switch things up and do lavendar, rosemary and/or lemonbalm (just depends what I have on hand)
I only use doTERRA or young living oils. (I just personally feel they are superior)
Edit: I saturate spray roosts. I remove the pans of hay from the nest boxes and saturate the wood in the boxes (I don't spray the hay.) and basically mist spray the rest of the coop.
I've been experimenting with replacing my grass with white clover and flax in my yard for chickens in Portland. It seems to hold up a little better. I also water it in the summer
Oh my word...I thought "this is probably click bait" and it's the first thing she covered 😆
Love your content! Thank you!
Great information as always. We recently gave our flock to a woman in Yakima. It was a very hard decision and still makes us sad but we are contemplating moving and need to prepare the property for possible sale. We will get chickens again eventually.
What do you do when chickens get sore eyes?
Ya scared us all with that title. Love your outer chicken landia
Chickens can clear a patch of land pretty quickly. They are a good way to get rid of a bunch of weeds.
I had 12chickens and lost 4last year to yeast infection
We do so much for our hens to help them stay well
This year we had 2healthy chickens die suddenly and don’t know what happened
We hope that the rest of the flock stay well
I saw a lady give a sickly looking chicken an Epsom salt bath once....in a couple of hours the chicken seemed to recover.😊
Excellent video's. My wife and I are just starting out, down this chicken road journey, and it is great to have some really good insight. Awesome videos. We are also here in the Pacific Northwest, Aberdeen area. Thanks so much!
My world imploded for a second, woman! 😂 I bought your book in January and I thought, oh no, she can’t be done. She isn’t allowed to be done with chickens! She’s taught me sooooooo much!❤ I was ready to come find you and take you in to get chickenfied again! Thank you for all you do and teach us! ❤❤❤
🤣Chickenfied!😅
@@misspersnickety3674 oh yes! I say I’ve been churchified after I go to mass 😝🤣
Can you dust an entire run with Diotomaceous earth and rake it through the top 4 inches? I think that might take care of any insects/mites lice. As for the diseases, are you talking about bacterial and fungal stuff? Resting the soil is what it takes to keep that disease pressure down?
Three years! ???! I was thinking ONE! My God, I must be having fun here. (Once I stopped crying over Phillipe)
I still miss him! ❤️❤️❤️
@@WelcometoChickenlandia so do we.
Diatomaceous Earth is what we sprinkle around our coop, around the out side of the coop. No problems. Our chickens are free range.
I have used this before So I'm just sharing this with you in case you don't know that it causes respiratory problems big time
@@donnacollins1356 Thank you Donna.
This is what I am planning, I have 2 coops, one has two runs ,so it will be easy ,I'll just open only one . The other coop is larger will much larger run and with it I have a temporary fences and I am useing sunflowers 🌻 and milo and let wheat grass grow, these plants once started are good for a full season,the milo heads stuck in the fence between the runs lets chickens on both sides peck at them . ❤
Or... You can hot steam the ground in your small space.. Like I do.. 😊
I live in the UK I have small by comparison, backyard chickens. I also occasionally steam clean coop.
I've also found parasites have a hard time living in fairly high carbon (charcoal based) environments add diatomaceous earth and happy days.
Sometimes we over think the problems chickens present. I do only have 13 chickens at the moment.
I'm thinking rotating monthly from yard to yard might be perfect. I wish I could do that.
How large is your run? Thanks
😂 Dalia, you're a stinker. 😂❤
Dalia is good, Yah!
🤣
Sorry! 🥺❤😂
haha
Who built your fence and how? Also how did you install your bird netting? I want to do this so much and was hoping you would make a video about this! I bought bird netting, but I don't even know where to start installing it.
Will you seed the old yard?
Henlo everyone!! I’m so glad she brought up if we’re new and still having the opportunity to choose where our location is going to be! I have an area that years ago before we came was paved for parking with chipped limestone. We do not use it for that currently and it’s mainly a large space that nature is starting to take over. Considering the sparse stone underneath I was worried about there not being enough soil/grass to cushion their feet. Can anyone give me advice or suggestions on if the space is good/not so good of a choice for location of my coop/inclosed run? (Will also have free range area)
Ps- thank you Dalia ❤ 🥹
i don’t think it would really be bad for the chickens feet, I’ve seen people have coops on concrete, and runs too. However, my main concern would be about finding out where all the poop on the limestone would go as having dirt and grass is good flooring simply for the dust bathing aspect and the chickens poop enriching the soil. That’s just my two cents though, hope you have fun owning chickens!
@@appleman1678thank you for that perspective!! The area is right beside a flattened field we use for our veggies, so my hope was that it would be an easy location to transfer compost and help with pest prevention… but yeah, the poop on the limestone would probably be very unhygienic and I didn’t think of that point. I could provide a dust bath but it may be a breeding ground for bacteria?
We had chickens at our house but had to relocate them to my mom's. We live in town and can't have chickens inside city limits. We only have 7 hens.
What can I use to spray my chickens for mis and lice hat I do have to throw my eggs out
You have hit the nail on the head!
I saw it…. Spinning and so fancy😃
I would love to do this. Not sure logistically I can. I could try limited free ranging.
That will be nice when it grows out. Hopefully they won’t be stressed. ❤
What do u use for mites and parasites
I have a chicken that got picked by one of my other chickens and was bleeding very badly on her comb. I sprayed blu-kote on it which stopped the bleeding but now my chicken is unrecognizable to the others in the flock due to her purple head and they are attacking her. What can I do? She spent the night in my shower on a 2 x 4 but this can’t continue obviously.
I had dust baths for my chickens and do spray the chickens and I think you can plant certain plants to keep bugs away. Keep the food up off the ground. Rake over and turn the ground if you hve grass, they are probably trying to turn it over themselves to remain clean
Thank you…
We r hoping to start to is year!!!!
I love your content
Hi Dalia do you know if seeds that are pelleted are safe if chickens eat them. I want to work in their pens and plant some stuff. I think I have a big bag of clover and a big bag of wheat grass. Just any kind of greens for them and there but it’s pelleted seeds and I am concerned I want it to be safe for them because you know they’re going to eat it lol thank you.
Sectioning off into multiple runs helps a ton. 1 day per run, and the destruction is so much less. I am in FL with nothing but sand so my only real problem is sticktight fleas. I've had a horrible infestation for 8 months and have tried EVERYTHING. Diatomaceous earth, permethrin, Vaseline, dog flea baths, picking them off every night... nothing has gotten rid of them. I even tried moving them out into new coops. Now the new coops have them too. 😡🤬
Hi how do you introduce new chickens to your flock
I'm roofing my new chicken pen my run isn't a big as yours but I'm going to add on to mine
Hallelujah woman! Scared us for a hot minute!
I free range my chickens often, depending on the weather. I buy a lot of bales of straw to put down to keep their feet as dry as possible and give them something to peck. I keep a side mini-coop closed at times. When I open it, they are so happy. Having enough space for them is so important. It's been a learning experience for sure. Thx and good luck all you fellow chickeners.
Yikes! You scared me 😮😂. p.s. I bought your book/ 🥰
Building my coop now and was going to transplant grass from one part of my yard to my run. Now I am wondering if it is worth the effort. Should I put straw down on the dirt instead?
I seed my new runs & grazing pens with fodder seed. They love it.
Your the best on learning about chickens .
I dont have any just watch youvgolks that do and try to learn , maybe some day ??
I'd like to know if the net really works for predatory birds? I'm building a big pen for my new chickens but we have red tails and one already killed one of my ducks, but the net seems so much easier to put on than a bunch of hardware cloth. I love that you have 2 runs now!
Your hair is lovely, looks great! I can't switch quite like you did but when my electric fencing is up, I try to shift it around every few weeks or so, even if just parts of it.
What do you recommend to treat worms?
Looks great! And great info thank you🤜⚡️🤛🐥
How do you prevent bumble foot
I believe that you and your audience would appreciate the book "Funny Farm." A must read for animal lovers.
QUESTION and Love your videos! The square different colored cloths you have hanging, what is the purpose if any for them? Thank you.
They are prayer flags.
rough winter pnw yes ill give this a thought! chkns in a cul de sac! lol
I finally caught my egg eater! Rosemary, my Speckled Sussex. She is gorgeous and one of my favorites 😢 Is there any way to break them of this habit?
You can buy ceramic or rubber eggs that the chicken will try to peck but won’t break, it’s always helped me with my egg eaters
@@daniellejones2411 will try that, thanks!
Also, make sure your girls have some oyster shells available for extra calcium
I can’t imagine having my girls in a static coop. Once you have a chickshaw, ya never go back! 😅 We move them to fresh pasture every couple days using electric netting.
Electric netting as in electric temporary fencing?
My big problem is hawks and vultures…. Idk how to let mine “free range” and keep them safe with those sky predators.
@@stephanied9629 yes, we move the electric netting every few days and as long as we don’t position it under any trees, hawks and other aerial predators stay away. We always keep open sky above. If they’re under trees, the predators will just swoop down from the trees, but for some reason it intimidates them to go out in the open.
Throw out a few pounds of clover! I keep hoping my free range hens will destroy my lawn, but they’d rather scratch thru all the leaves in my tree area. 👍🏻
Same here, isn't it wonderful I no longer have to weed the garden.
Is it the same with chickens free range part of the day?
I need advice on how to have chickens and ducks “free range” in a large run with constant sky predators. Hawks and vultures daily scanning our property.
Besides a chick tractor, that’s not enough space.
We got our second flock of chickens and a flock of ducks. Needless to say, our back yard grass is gone and there’s so much erosion of the soil. We need to pen them this spring and summer season and figure something out.
I need your help pretty please Ms. Dalia,
Can I ask where can I get some 100% natural hardwood chips? Would you know of any websites that sell them? I have tried going everywhere here close by in the bay area with no luck. The only thing they have always is mulch which gets super nasty and muddy (yucky). I do use horse pellets which I love and it's all thanks to you :) :) :)
Is a brand of playground wood chips that work? I will be forever grateful and thankful.
I would love to add the wood chips to their run so they can play and go nuts :) :) I hear that cedar is bad for chickens too and I fear it.
I heard great things about natural hardwood chips for chickens but I am having the hardest time finding them.
Any help, advice.information, tips I will appreciate it bunches from the bottom of my little heart.
And, apparently, I can't even comment anymore without it being hidden by RUclips!😮
We are reseeding part of run, and have temporary fence up to keep them out, and a couple chickens are jumping the fence !! Lol.
LOVE YOUR GLASSES!
That is a good idea. My girls pretty much always strip mine the huge area they have access to. Little stinkers 😂
Thank you! 🤓❤
I aerate my chicken yard right before spring and right before winter and I say it works at keeping grass
My daughter and I just love you 😀 she says I look like you😊
Love your videos ❤ how big are your chicken run yards
You had me worried. Thank you for all you do!
You are so welcome and thank you!! ❤️❤️❤️
We saw dune 2, pretty good haha
Is your whole run covered? And if yes . What type of net did you use?
I like to put diatomaises in there dust baths... never have parasites... love your show... northern California
I live down south I think my chickens have mites now
The chickens look like they are loving the grass and little bugs they feed on.
Hahahaha. I'm a vegan chicken tender and yes, we will definitely chicken sit. haha
Vegan friends are the best!!!
It got me to click
And learn, im not mad at it😉🤓
In my experience, I think that when chickens are moved, they experience the most stress at the beginning of the move. I think they adjust pretty quickly. And since they still have the same coop, that is a huge comfort to them. I move my chickens several times a year. The most stressed they are is if I move them too far away from where they previously were. The only reason they might be stressed out is if they don't have enough to do in the other area. If it was me, I would leave them on that other side for at least a total of 6 weeks to let the grass grow a lot more. And then I would switch back and forth every 1 to 6-ish weeks, whatever ends up working. The chickens will get used to the regular switch; they are pretty resilient creatures. Plus, they live for grassy areas and wooded areas, unless they are dust bathing, of course! 😊 But maybe that is what you already have planned! 😊
After 30yrs basically ive never had sickness or anything that affected the whole flock with as many as 100 birds plus goats peacocks and other birds. Keep coop clean ,vinager lots of ventilation in the 8' x 24' x 8' inside nearly 5000 sqr ft of netted coverage hawk protection unlimited food and 15 gallons of water available in Central New York even 40° below we get dozens
Go Chicken keepers!🐔🐔🐔🐔🐔🐔😁😁😁😄😄😄😛😛😛😛
in closed runs .. add native hardwood mulch and or peat moss - periodically for PH changes and anti parasitic/anti-microbial to runs - or even leaves - a pile of fall leaves - more carbon keeps the run with healthy soil.
Hi green alien!
😂😂😂👽🛸🐔
Love you're humor love the 👽
👽❤️🐔🛸😂
And we have 24 beautiful chickens 🐓 with 3 bantams (the rooster is so cute!) and 6 chicks on the way!!!