Poo picking

[chris]

I've noticed that some flies are gathering around poo in the garden - which is what I was concerned about initially..

Suppose it's different if you don't have them in your garden mind

I've since bought one of those red top fly traps - changed from shavings to using newspaper in the coop (take the top layer off each morning), but haven't made that much effort int he garden as it's being re-done.

[RichmondHens]

The rain does a pretty good job of washing the poo in SMS6 so I wouldn't worry about removing it from the used areas. Try and leave the used areas for as long as possible before re-use, several weeks if possible but I know this is dependent on how big your garden is. Some people only have space to move a coop a couple of times and then it has to go back to the original spot, which is not ideal and in very small gardens a fixed run filled with woodchip is better, as long as you can let the hens out to free range as much as possible.

Another point, there is really no need to wash out the house on a weekly basis. It not only shortens the life of your house (assuming it is wood, Eglus are of course made to be washed) but unless you can be sure the house is totally and thoroughly dry before the hens go back in you run the risk of mould spores developing which can be harmful to the hens. As long as the actual poo is removed regularly (I only do mine once a week) and the house given a good sweep now and again with a stiff brush this is all that you really need to do.

[baldrick]

I flick it our of nests with my hands (hardly ever now the last ex batt has gone) onto the tray under the perches then pull tray out and remove delightful 2 tone turds with an old dustpan. scrape their ladder plank with the same or a trowel if its frozen, then use a trowel for any obvious stuff under the hugh outdoor perch. Every couple of months I scrape the top layer of woodchip off with a shovel down to the soil and replace it. Anywhere else the dogs kind of sort it out I guess....................

[Suechooks]

The thing that amazes me is that there IS a grassy area when you move them! When mine have been on a new area a week its completely bare of anything green.
I have a layer of wood chippings in the runs which I replace regularly. In the bare areas I dig out the top couple of inches (great for the veg patch) then using a watering can or sprayer I "water" the whole area with ***** fluid, leave a couple of weeks then sprinkle on some Garden Lime. Its then nice and clean when I need to use. For a quick changeover I change the chippings and sprinkle Stalosan F over the area before replacing with fresh chippings.

[RichmondHens]

Sue, you might be interested to know that in this month's Country Smallholding vet column, Victoria Roberts advises against the use of ***** Fluid as it is apparently toxic to birds.

[Suechooks]

Sue, you might be interested to know that in this month's Country Smallholding vet column, Victoria Roberts advises against the use of ***** Fluid as it is apparently toxic to birds.

Yet they're allowed to advertise it as "effective against bird flu"
The birds actually don't go on it for several months after I've treated the ground and I've been doing it this way for many years but as I'm a great fan of Victoria Roberts I'll bear that in mind - thank you Sally!
Stalosan F is much easier to use anyway!

[Newtothis]

just found this thread while doing a search and wanted to pick up on it again.

Ha Ha! I do so hope that this was a deliberate pun! It's great.

[squibbs]

Yet they're allowed to advertise it as "effective against bird flu"
The birds actually don't go on it for several months after I've treated the ground and I've been doing it this way for many years but as I'm a great fan of Victoria Roberts I'll bear that in mind - thank you Sally!
Stalosan F is much easier to use anyway!

I don't think the makers of ***** intend it to be used on birds in order for it to work on bird flu but on those surfaces where people's sneezes and snot will settle that others will then grab hold off and catch the virus

[Suechooks]

I don't think the makers of ***** intend it to be used on birds in order for it to work on bird flu but on those surfaces where people's sneezes and snot will settle that others will then grab hold off and catch the virus

Errr - I don't actually use it on the birds - I merely meant that they say it can be used on surfaces where bird flu virus exists therefore in the regions where birds are or have been. Simple association of bird flu and birds being in the same place.

[squibbs]

Errr - I don't actually use it on the birds - I merely meant that they say it can be used on surfaces where bird flu virus exists therefore in the regions where birds are or have been. Simple association of bird flu and birds being in the same place.

The huge majority of cases of variant influenzas will not catch it from the named animal but from other humans mostly through droplet spread. With swine flu none of the people who I saw with confirmed H1N1 had got it from pigs.

[BUFFS]

i roll up the newspapers in the coop each day and use an old 10ins wide coal shovel to scrape all the poo in their area,its all slabbed now to keep roland out,i now buy bark chippings from the B&M store,40ltr bag for 1.99,spread around,i use 2 bags at a time,then after 6/8 weeks,depending on the weather,i shovel it all up and spread as a mulch on the garden beds,as its quite fine stuff ,in the winter it gets buried with my old compost under the next years runner/french bean spot,and put some fresh down..

[Newtothis]

Didn't someone say that they had poo picking shoes that they kept by the back door?
Where do you get those from, they sound ideal!