The Accidental Smallholder Forum

Community => Coffee Lounge => Topic started by: doganjo on January 08, 2013, 04:08:42 pm

Title: Oh boy am I GLAD .....................
Post by: doganjo on January 08, 2013, 04:08:42 pm: My dogs are all now inside :excited:

I don't have pigs :excited:

I don't have horses :excited:

I have just cleaned out my chicken shed, and THAT was DISGUSTING - yuk yuk and more yuk!

Kennels weren't too bad compared to that!

But I can't contemplate cleaning out horses or pigs.

Can't-get-the-smell -out-of-my-nose.com

My own fault - left it too long! :xmaswindow: was the cause! YUK!!!

However, cup being half full I now have n almost full compost bin :excited: :yippee:
Title: Re: Oh boy am I GLAD .....................
Post by: Bionic on January 08, 2013, 04:37:59 pm: Annie, call me stupid but I have never thought about putting the chicken muck in the compost bin doh !!
Title: Re: Oh boy am I GLAD .....................
Post by: hughesy on January 08, 2013, 04:46:06 pm: Dirty chicken bedding is the best thing you can put in your compost. Lovely stuff.
Title: Re: Oh boy am I GLAD .....................
Post by: Beeducked on January 08, 2013, 08:43:26 pm: Quote from: Bionic on January 08, 2013, 04:37:59 pm
Annie, call me stupid but I have never thought about putting the chicken muck in the compost bin doh !!

Best compost I have ever had is all the bedding and duck muck from their shed!
Title: Re: Oh boy am I GLAD .....................
Post by: Mammyshaz on January 08, 2013, 08:49:32 pm: Sally our compost heap content isn't very balanced it's probably 80 % chicken muck but my plants seem to love it :thumbsup:

Annie, you can stay comfy indoors now knowing the chooks are done for another 'however long' :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Oh boy am I GLAD .....................
Post by: doganjo on January 08, 2013, 10:17:40 pm: "however long" is the issue :innocent: I HATE doing it, so it gets left too long, but it's an awful lot easier than it used to be so I really don't know why!

Following the fox attack they are now in the redundant dog kennel/cum brick garage with a cement floor. Sections of tarps down then a sprinkling of straw/hay, inside weldmesh runs with a tarp ceiling to maintain warmth connected to outside weldmesh run with netting ceiling to deter Mr or Mrs Fox, all inside 6 feet wooden fencing on 3 sides of the yard and 10 feet on the railway side, ultimately deterred by three fox killing Brittanys out till all hours if they get half a chance ::), with a multitude of weeds to get stuck into.

*musttryhardertocleanoutchickenshedmoreoften*
In my defence this is the first decent day we've had for weeks and teh dogs should have had a run, but they did enjoy being outside 'working' with me instead ( and snacking :gloomy: ) - where's the YUK icon, Dan?
Title: Re: Oh boy am I GLAD .....................
Post by: Fowgill Farm on January 09, 2013, 09:47:22 am: Contrary to popular belief pigs aren't that difficult to look after, they never poo their beds unless unwell or unable to access outside, they tend to use the same area so if you poopscoop every day like i do it never gets to onerous to do. I take out damp, muddy straw as required according to weather conditions and refresh as necessary. Its a no brainer really if you keep on top of things, little and often is my motto. :thumbsup:
Mandy :pig:
Ps i have the hugest mountain of pig poo after their winter stay in quarters but it makes the most wonderful compost a year later! ;D
Title: Re: Oh boy am I GLAD .....................
Post by: kja on January 09, 2013, 09:53:05 am: Quote from: Fowgill Farm on January 09, 2013, 09:47:22 am
Contrary to popular belief pigs aren't that difficult to look after, they never poo their beds unless unwell or unable to access outside, they tend to use the same area so if you poopscoop every day like i do it never gets to onerous to do. I take out damp, muddy straw as required according to weather conditions and refresh as necessary. Its a no brainer really if you keep on top of things, little and often is my motto. :thumbsup:
Mandy :pig:
Ps i have the hugest mountain of pig poo after their winter stay in quarters but it makes the most wonderful compost a year later! ;D

same here mandy. our pigs use one area that is cleaned daily new straw as replacement takes a couple of minutes a day. the same could be said for horses.

its a case of keeping on top of things make life more pleasant for the livestock and easier for the stockman.
Title: Re: Oh boy am I GLAD .....................
Post by: happygolucky on January 09, 2013, 09:59:01 am: I down sized my chickens a while ago so only have 4 and got the solution to cleaning them out, I put plastic boxes under their perches and the poo drops in them, so all I do is tip them out,
The poo from the dog is cleaned up easily as its in the yard, the only problem, I dare not hose it down at the moment and its smelly, if I hose it the water runs under our gate through a shared access and that's not nice, we have a drain but unless we both frantically sweep it down the drain, the water naturally goes under the gate.....I have and was going to ask again, what is best to use to either mask of get rid of the smell? I currently find Bleach the best as Jays fluid makes it smell even more like a gents toilet (sorry gents)
I certainly have no intention of making my life any more hard work, so the easier the better.....
Title: Re: Oh boy am I GLAD .....................
Post by: Lesley Silvester on January 09, 2013, 10:32:01 am: When I was last inspected, I was told that Jeyes is not on the DEFRA approved list so I now use one that is and mop the yard that the dogs use. It works.
Title: Re: Oh boy am I GLAD .....................
Post by: doganjo on January 09, 2013, 10:37:40 am: They are not totally free range for their own safety, as most people know, Allez retrieves anything and everything whether moving or not so they are in their inside and outside runs most of the time while the dogs are running around outside. It wouldn't harm them but they might not be able to put up with it the way the ducks did due to the more sensitive nerve systems. I have the tarps down so it IS easy to clean out - I just don't do it often enough. :innocent:

As to the dog poo, I shovel it into the main drain. There's no smell that way, just urine which dissipates when hosed down.
Title: Re: Oh boy am I GLAD .....................
Post by: happygolucky on January 09, 2013, 10:44:30 am: Its the wee wee I am on about, I like to hose it down but use buckets of water and bleach....its a bit smelly just now, I even tried fabric conditioner...there is something kennels use, I shall look at getting some, the poo is not an issue, I stopped putting it down the drain as that kept getting blocked, so much solid stuff even though I tipped a few buckets of water down after, there are too many bends in the outside one!!
Title: Re: Oh boy am I GLAD .....................
Post by: doganjo on January 09, 2013, 10:48:04 am: He he, yes bends could be a problem, fortunately the system I have is a holding tank and a maceration pump so no problems there.
There are various websites for kennel cleaners - I used to use Odourfresh when I had dogs outside - Mistral sell it for about £10 for 5 litres.
Title: Re: Oh boy am I GLAD .....................
Post by: happygolucky on January 09, 2013, 11:14:39 am: I shall check that out.....not until a few weeks and some more pennies in the pot!
Title: Re: Oh boy am I GLAD .....................
Post by: doganjo on January 09, 2013, 11:18:44 am: http://mistralie.co.uk/products/odourfresh-pet-disinfectant-standard (http://mistralie.co.uk/products/odourfresh-pet-disinfectant-standard) Just noticed they have a hefty carriage charge. Try Tony at the Trade Centre - I think he has kennel cleaning stuff.
Title: Re: Oh boy am I GLAD .....................
Post by: happygolucky on January 09, 2013, 11:21:51 am: :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Oh boy am I GLAD .....................
Post by: sabrina on January 09, 2013, 11:40:07 am: I clean out my chickens every week,sometimes twice if the weather is bad and they have stayed in the building. Ponies mucked out every day so does not take long. When I have pigs I find them quite easy to clean. What I do hate is doing these jobs when it is blowing a gale and pouring with rain. Then I wish I just kept goldfish :-J
Title: Re: Oh boy am I GLAD .....................
Post by: happygolucky on January 09, 2013, 11:54:46 am: :roflanim: , I think goldfish can be smelly...I hate the ice, then you have to chip away.
Title: Re: Oh boy am I GLAD .....................
Post by: MAK on January 09, 2013, 12:37:23 pm: We cleaned the chicken, duck and rabbit runs and hutches yesterday. One of the rabbit runs has 10 young ones and mum and boy do they make a mess. Fortunately I just do the outside area of the rabbits quarters as every time I get inside their large hutch I get wheezey and itchy ( that is my excuse). The pigs have an indorr sleeping area, feed area and toilet area that they only use if it is raining outside. Not too much work there though I do poop scoop their field only to gather it for the compost. Pigs have this amazing attraction to a bucket so I make sure I scopp only after their feed or if they take a nap.
Title: Re: Oh boy am I GLAD .....................
Post by: Calvadnack on January 09, 2013, 02:20:22 pm: If it's just the smell you want to mask, use Lynx Africa shower gel in a bucket of water.

As every teenage boy seems to know, it hides all known horrible smells. One of my nephew's friends left some behind after a visit and we resort to it whenever one of our dogs rolls in fox - yuk!!
Title: Re: Oh boy am I GLAD .....................
Post by: Nickie on January 09, 2013, 03:02:48 pm: Quote from: Calvadnack on January 09, 2013, 02:20:22 pm
we resort to it whenever one of our dogs rolls in fox - yuk!!

i believe that tomato sauce is brilliant at dealing with fox poo. Luckily I haven't needed to use it as my current 2 aren't really rollers.
Title: Re: Oh boy am I GLAD .....................
Post by: happygolucky on January 09, 2013, 03:07:00 pm: :wave: Lynx Africa :innocent: I bet the boys next door will love that
Title: Re: Oh boy am I GLAD .....................
Post by: northfifeduckling on January 10, 2013, 06:54:53 pm: I know what you mean, Annie ;) . I feel very lucky as I have a 14-year old who owes me lots of money for messing up a piano exam and I won't have to clean the birds out for another 8 weeks :roflanim: . :&>
Title: Re: Oh boy am I GLAD .....................
Post by: doganjo on January 10, 2013, 09:32:34 pm: Quote from: northfifeduckling on January 10, 2013, 06:54:53 pm
I know what you mean, Annie ;) . I feel very lucky as I have a 14-year old who owes me lots of money for messing up a piano exam and I won't have to clean the birds out for another 8 weeks :roflanim: . :&>
My 40 year old unwed son is extremely good to me and comes over regularly to do the jobs I can't, but that is one job that I just wouldn't ask him to do. :-[
Title: Re: Oh boy am I GLAD .....................
Post by: Lesley Silvester on January 10, 2013, 09:53:35 pm: But a 14 year old who owes his mum money. Now that's a different matter.
Title: Re: Oh boy am I GLAD .....................
Post by: northfifeduckling on January 11, 2013, 09:45:26 am: her mum :roflanim: . I must say that she has done these jobs before when I was down with a broken ankle. She also feeds the birds, while the 16-year old would not go near bird poop and puts a peg on her nose when she has to do the cat loo. :&>
Title: Re: Oh boy am I GLAD .....................
Post by: feldar on January 11, 2013, 10:09:53 am: Quote from: hughesy on January 08, 2013, 04:46:06 pm
Dirty chicken bedding is the best thing you can put in your compost. Lovely stuff.
I mix my chicken poo with my guinea pig poo ( i have around 44 of these) and it makes wonderful garden compost especially if you use the biodegradable beddings like Aubiose or miscanthus. :chook: