The Chook Shed

15/12/2024

Elf catching some rays. No chance of exposed skin around here...

13/12/2024

Compost heap dismount!

Now the girls have pegged off on the laying with the heat, keep a watch out for Red Mite Explosions with these constantly hot days.

Check List for Pre Christmas Check

1. Head over to the coop at night once dark. If you can hear the birds ruffling and restless, odds are there is a mite problem. Mites are nocturnal usually and target the birds while on the perch and in nest boxes. The girls should all be quiet and sleeping still.

2. Run your hand under the perch rails looking for live adult mites and spend a moment looking at the perch ends where wood meets wood. These are the hot spots for nesting mite colonies which is why the birds on the end are the first birds to be affected usually as they are nearest to the mites.

NOTE: You wont generally see mites in the daytime unless the population explodes and they start looking for a meal 24 hours a day. By this stage, you have one who-a of a problem!!

3. Check the girls. Are they losing feathers or looking a bit bedraggled? Combs pale? Not keen on perching in the coop and wanting to roost outside the coop? These can be signs a problem is on the way!

4. Mite tool - Check out our mite tool ( an easy way to get an early heads up as to whether you have a problem brewing. Easy to check and very cheep! www.thechookshed.co.nz Website or Trade Me

5. I always go for prevention rather than treatment. Spray your wood areas with The Chook Shed Koop M8 Oil - Biodiesel blend manufactured from Recycled Rapeseed oil. Great for the environment and does the same job as Diesel without the nasties!. Preserves your wood and helps create a great base for you to puff on your Koop M8 powder to stop mite travel and kill adult mites in transit by scratching their exoskeleton and causing dehydration and death. Works by Mechanical means only and is coupled with Garlic Essential oil & powder.

13/12/2024

Found just in time before Elf was swallowed up by the sinking grain mix..phew

12/12/2024

Elf was wondering if everyone has broody hens currently?

Ours like to sit in the rollaway nest boxes ( New setup like these are for sale on our website xx ).

Bonus of this nestbox system:
1. Hens have to get up once a day for food/water. Any egg they have laid, rolls away into the collection chamber out the front.
2. Hens can sit for a few weeks but keep laying the odd eggs as they are trying to build a clutch to sit on and incubate. ( unfortunately the eggs keep disappearing on them )
3. Eventually they get bored with this cyclic disappointment and give up the brooding and rejoin the flock on their normal daily shenanigans.
4. Easy to remove and wash out when required.
5. Don't harbour mites as no bedding needed. They lay on the plastic insert area.
6. Awesome setup that reduces the chances of egg eating, broodies, eggs sitting about in the sun ( eggs rollaway so you can collect when it suits you and the hens can't sit on them and go broody when you forget to collect or get busy! )

10/12/2024

Grass too long? YES!

Elf made mention of the forage level being too high in this chook run. It gives worm larve too many places to hide in the cool. They perish if the UV sunlight can get into the grasses lower levels.

Time to get out the strimmer Elf and get busy!

09/12/2024

Taking a risk there Elf!. Sand angels turned into Russian Roulette as the wheat stash flew out of Elfs pockets into the sand pit.

The girls love the sand pit, a great source of fine grit for their gizzards and an all weather dust bathing area to help keep those feathers in top form.

09/12/2024

Elf kicking back on the hens play area / bivouac structure. Great place for some shade and hiding from the overhead predators that patrol the skies.

06/12/2024

Elf trying to fend off the big hens from his wheat stash... good luck little buddy with that! Not much gets between the hens and their food!

05/12/2024

Elf checking out the Feedomatic autofeeder. Too light to trigger the treadle, he needed a bit of a hand to open the hatch of the oyster grit feeder.

'I have two food feeders and one that just runs oyster grit as my little oyster grit dispensers are a bit ditty for 30 hens!'

04/12/2024

Elf decided to visit the nest boxes and spied an egg being laid! what timing! Breakfast has been served :)

03/12/2024

TIme for a bit of chook fun!
Watch 'Elf off his coop shelf' make an appearance daily through December for a bit of fun!

29/11/2024

Christmas is approaching...

Jobs to check with Chooks this time of year...

1. Keep water clean and free of algae. Regular clean outs and a capful of Apple Cider Vinegar is great. Using an opaque water container ni**le bucket or similar is better!

2. Hatching time for Wild Ducks - as we are out in the whop whops, we have the dinner time duck visits for wheat etc. Wild ducks do carry viruses that can transfer to chooks so I do try to discourage this behaviour. ( Last year we had an influx which had me flailing arms and running about the run trying to get them out while the chooks ate their wheat. Great exercise but does get on my wick somewhat when its for weeks at a time ) Wild fowl will have lice and mites on board so you really dont want to encourge them near your chooks if you can.

3. Keep the coop cleaned out. Red Mite season is nearly here and once we get warmer consistent days on the go, the life cycle breeding rate increases rapidly. Look out for pale combs, lethargic birds, roosting outside, lots of dust bathing and preening. Red Mites love a dirty coop with lots of dust and faecal material in situ. Clean it out and wash out if you can with Biozyme Enzymatic cleaner ( on our website ) www.thechookshed.co.nz and a low pressure hose. ( if there are mites present, you don't want to shoot them all around the coop )

4. Red Mite checks - Use our mite indicator tools in your coop for a easy and quick heads up if you have a mite problem starting. Head in once a week after dark and run your finger under the perch rail to check for mites or blood. ( If you do have mites, they will be concentrated at the ends of the perch rails and the chooks will be restless ) Grab our Koop M8 Spray for a great base and Koop M8 Powder including garlic to created a mechanical barrier to mite travel and movement ( pests hate the smell of garlic!)

5. Egg Production Drop - Usually once we get a few weeks out from christmas the girls egg production drops which is where we are now. ( Maybe they are directing more focus to finding christmas gifts on Temu like the rest of us :).....) or its a response to the more constant heat, longer daylength and on the downhill side of the bell shaped curve for laying length.

6. Protein - raw meat or meat scraps are very gratefully recieved and an excellent protein top up for the girls. Spinach/ Silverbeet/ Cabbage / Carrots / Strawberries ( for the posh chooks ), Grapes. Mine love it when I bring out the scraps from the house and its party time to see who is first into the compost bin to get the most prized goodies!.

So to recap...

1. Keep the water clean. (If you wont drink it, they shouldnt have to)
2. Keep the coop clean to remove breeding areas for Mites
3. Once a week check for Red Mites in the coop ( they live in the coop, not on the birds and come out at night to feed )
4. Prevention is better than cure regarding Red Mites. Once you have a problem on the go, your chooks will be anaemic and starting to struggle.
5. Up the protein levels! Either with a higher protein feed or a supplement ( Poultry M8 Nutritional supplement ) to increase nutrient levels and protein. Extra meat scraps are great!.

25/11/2024

Worried about water going green now the heat has arrived?

Check out this great bucket water option!.

1. Very popular as the birds cotton onto them quickly,
2. They are very easy to fill and keep clean.
3. You can rest them on the ground as the ni**les are inset so don't get filled with dirt and block like DIY versions.
4. Holds a whopping 13lts of water!
5. Opaque plastic means the water stays cool and clean with no algal growth.
6. Its made in Holland of quality materials :)
6. Its awesome!
7. A very reasonable $52.20

Get yours today via the website www.thechookshed.co.nz
OR purchase via our listing on trade me (yamaha 18)
OR message me directly.

25/11/2024

Are you planning on heading away for a bit?

Do you want to be sure your chooks have feed while you are away without the wild birds eating it all?

The Feedomatic feeders are just the BEST!

We have tried all sorts and these are fabulous :)

Made in Holland. Galvanised steel and Glass Nylon construction means this lasts and is just an awesome feeder.

We have had ours now for 8 years and they still look great and work like the first day we had them too.
The chooks work them out really easily.

Tips you need to know....

1. Make sure you put the feeder on a piece of plywood or flag stones so it had a solid footing. The weight of the feeder on the edges of the metal can sink into the ground if it is very wet which stops the treadle from depressing and your chooks won't be able to access food.

2. When first setting up and chook's don't know how to use it, put a handful of feed in the middle of the treadle so they step on it and get used to the stepping movement/motion of the treadle. From here they see the food in the feeder and whala! Training completed!! Easy :)

3. Just check the bottom of your feeder periodically to make sure the pellets are moving freely and haven't formed a ball stopping flow. (sometimes they can when the rain is coming in sideways or it is very high humidity for a bit).

We stock 5kg, 12kg, 20kg Feeders.
Each adult Chook eats approx 140gms per day as a rough approximation depending on if confined ( a little more ), or free range ( a little less ).

Hence, 6 hens at 140gms per day means you have enough in a 20kg feeder for 23.8 days!
A 12kg feeder - 14.3 days
A 5kg feeder - 6 days

Grab yours today on the website www.thechookshed.co.nz
OR Shoot us a message @ [email protected] or via 0210 222 5976
OR purchase via our listings on trade me (yamaha 18).

13/11/2024

Starting to warm up?

Now is the time to grab some of our products so you are ready for the Red Mites.
These can be found & purchased on our website www.thechookshed.co.nz

* Koop M8 Powder - Can be used in the coop and on the birds, dust baths and nest box areas.
600gm $38.00
1kg refill - $45.50
5kg - $180.00

* Koop M8 Spray - A light recycled oil, highly effective as a great wood preservative & base for your Koop M8 powder to stick to. Contains Recycled Rapeseed oil plus garlic essential oil for natural pest repelling.
1lt Spray in Chemically resistant spray bottle - $59.95
Refills 1 lt - $49.95
5lt - $155.00

The oil and powder combination makes travel difficult for any crawling pests in your coop & kills the mites by disrupting their waxy coating leading to death.
It is100% safe for your chickens, the environment and you!

* Scaley Leg Mite oil - these mites travel from bird to bird so it is important to use your Koop M8 Oil on the perches to stop travel and Scaley Leg mite oil on the birds legs to suffocate the mites.
$17.95 250ml spray bottle

Oral Supplements

* Poultry M8 - Nutrient Mix Give your girls a boost in minerals, nutrients, electrolytes, herb blends, proteins. Contains over 20 ingredients to give your girls a great treat that is full of goodness!
$28.95 1.5kg

* Poultry M8 - Breeding and Laying version - ** NEW PRODUCT! **All the same great ingredients as the base version with the addition of natural laying stimulating herbs, Vit A, Vit B, B12, B1, C. Essential elements for healthy egg production and breeding.
$32.95 1.5kg

13/11/2024

Took a few photos of the girls lolling about in the chook enclosure. The 'lime' applied in late winter to counteract the rising acid/urea levels, has hit full growth phase!

No room for poultry sick soil or grass around here and the chooks love eating grass. Now its time to break feed the horses in there to try and get some control so the chooks can move around a bit more freely. They are getting hard to see :)

As if I need more.... welcome the lovely Roger (Plymouth Barred Rock Rooster) to the fold. He is a stunner and has such a lovely nature and really looks after his girls ( even though 30 is a little overwhelming for him)

Also new are a couple of Buff Orpingtons ( as we all need a lovely yellow colour ) and some crazy looking Faverolles.

Loving the variety!

Check out our new product too! Poultry M8 - Breeding and Laying Formula Available on Trade me or on our website www.thechookshed.co.nz
A great nutrient boost for your chooks at this time of year, especially if confined!

14/10/2024

Check out our NEW Laying and Breeding Poultry M8. More natural elements added to support breeding and laying for your hens.

Original Poultry M8 - Nutrient Support $28.95
Laying and Breeding Poultry M8 - $32.95

Head to www.thechookshed.co.nz to purchase yours today and give your hens & rooster, a well deserved pat on the back!

The Chook Shed - Sarah Robotham.
Essential Products for your Feathered Friends