3 ms·

I've been thinking about this for a while as well A question if you have time to answer - How many birds per sq meter do you have? What's your total land area?

• jkestner 2y ago
  With a coop, it's a bit like a litter box. We put down hay, and change it out with the poop every couple of weeks, into a compost pile. Chickens are way easier than a dog or cat day-to-day, with distributed risk.
• colonial 2y ago
  Off the top of my head: * Maybe 0.25 birds/square meter? There's ~12 total (we raise some for slaughter now, so it fluctuates) and they have a large enclosed outdoor area attached to the much smaller (6m^2, perhaps a bit more) indoor coop. * Several acres. We let them free roam during the day with someone to supervise, but otherwise they have to stay secured (coyotes.) * Inside the coop, the standard way is the "deep litter" method. You cover the floor in several inches of pine shavings and turn it over with a rake daily. Add a new bag of shavings here and there, and cycle it out completely maybe twice a year. The old bedding makes for good compost. If it doesn't smell, then you're good. For the outdoor area, we just auger it over and add mulch/soil around the same time the bedding is replaced. (Note - tending to the birds hasn't been in my wheelhouse for a while, so don't take this as gospel!)