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RE: The Homesteaders Handbook: Raising Chickens Part 3
I love our nesting boxes. It's tilted a bit so the egg rolls to the front and the kiddos can get to them easily. Great post!
Another thing we did this winter was throw in some ashes from our fireplace. They love to roll in it and it will kill off lice, mites etc, and neutralizes the odor.
The ashes are a great idea and your nesting box sounds really fabulous. Our niece came to visit just when the hens started moulting and weren't laying so I had to sneak out each morning and load up the boxes with eggs so she could discover them. She had to reach way in to get them, so your nesting box design would be more ideal.
Watching her face as she discovered where eggs come from was so precious.
We mix ashes with sand in their dust bath and they love it. One thing about living in a colder climate is that we don't have to worry too much about lice etc in the winter. It's too cold! Ventilation is the most important thing I have to worry about. Making sure there's plenty of air flow but not any cold air on the chickens.
It hasn't gotten too cold this winter. It's so weird.
I just taught a group of prek at co-op about chickens and took our chicks in so they could pet them. They were mortified to know where their food came from lol I was laughing so hard!
oh that is so wonderful. Funny that they were mortified but pretty important knowledge for those young minds! We had an "incident" where one of the kids visiting us saw the egg come out of the chicken. It was the first time I had seen it as well. It was quite interesting but also bad because he didn't want to eat any eggs :)
Hahahaha!