Chicken Coop Forum Discussion

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Our first chickens! Coop ideas, pics of our chicks, etc.

I'm off to get my first chicks in 20 hours!

These are from a bunch hatched by my friend. I'm going to get 5 of these little cuties. The mom is an Australorp and dad is a Rhode Island Red. Here they are:

I'm going to be building a coop in the next few weeks (while the little babies are still inside).

I want to make sure I build a coop that is a nice safe home for the chickens and easy to maintain. We've got raccoons and pretty mild winters (Northern California).

Here is what I've whipped up so far (Using MS Visio to quickly put this rough draft together).

Ideas:
• Door between run & hen house has a sliding vertical door with a string / pulley to open and close from the outside.
• Litter tray swings open (down) to drop out all of the build up shavings & litter... hopefully into a wheelbarrow.
• The front can be removed to / work in the hen house.
• Maybe an "A Frame" run?
• Wrap 1" chicken wire around the whole run, below, above, etc. to make sure it is racoon proof!!!

A few questions:
1) Can nest boxes be on the floor?
2) How much headroom do chickens need?
3) Are there water / food trays that can go outside the house for easy fill and to make it harder for them to tip over / mess up all over?
4) Are there any waterers that can be cleaned out by flushing through a "clean-out"?
5) Wire mesh underfoot (in the house)? Does anybody use it? What size is small enough not to hurt their feet, but big enough that it lets stuff get through? Maybe I just won't have a mesh bottom at all?
6) RE: raccoons, possums, etc: I've read about people having problems with these boogers reaching in and grabbing the chickens. If the chicks have a house to get into, will they protect themselves by going inside? Do I need 1" wire, or will 2" work?
7) Should I try the "deep litter method"? If so, don't I always have to be adjusting the water and food height?

Thanks in advance for your comments / suggestions!

Rob Ludlow
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/ All sorts of Nifty-Stuff!
http://www.reviewum.com/ Professor Reviews!
http://www.ludcon.com/ My General Website

Edited by: reviewum at: 12/12/04 6:05 pm

Re: Coop Help! My first chickens and want to make this righ

I sent you a message.

Re: Coop Help! I call upon all ye chicken masters!

Render Blade, thanks for the message!

Okay all you chicken masters... BESTOW UPON ME YOUR WISDOM!

I figure I've got a couple of weeks before the chicks outgrow the little cage I'm going to have them in. I've been scrounging around my dad's yard and have found some really great stuff I can use with this coop. Up until 20 mins. ago it was all just junk... ask my mom!

Anyway, the book I got at the library didn't cover the questions above, plus I'd really like to hear from REAL people on this great forum.

Thanks in advance!

Rob Ludlow
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/ All sorts of Nifty-Stuff!
http://www.reviewum.com/ Professor Reviews!
http://www.ludcon.com/ My General Website

Re: Coop Help! I call upon all ye chicken masters!

Rob, Here is my humble opinion on some of your questions:

1)Yes, nest boxes can be on the floor or hung on the wall.
2)I guess the amount of headroom needed depends on the breed and what they are doing. lol. Battery cages for layers are 16 or 18 inches tall so I guess that I would consider that to be the minimum for standard size chickens standing on the floor. Roosting or nesting would require less. Bantams would require less.
3) Waterers and feeders require some thought. If they will be inside a coop where there are shavings then they need to be hanging, up on a platform or legs, or hung on the wall to keep the shavings out of the food and water. They need to have a lid and /or an anti-perch cover to keep the chickens from roosting on them and then pooping in the food or water. If they are outside then the feeder needs to be protected from the weather. If the food gets wet and becomes moldy it can make the birds very sick. Livermore Feed has a small wall hung auto-waterer that would work great in a small coop. I suggest that you go online to some suppliers and see what types of waterers and feeders are available. Here are a couple links.
www.dblrsupply.com/index.html
www.flemingoutdoors.com/Poultry.htm
www.cutlersupply.com/
4)dont know
5)I have several rabbit hutches that I keep breeders in and they do fine on wire floors. Size wise 1/4 inch for chicks, 1/2 inch for bantams and 1 inch square for standards is okay. Vinyl covered is nice but not required. I also have coops with wood floors and shavings.
6)Raccoons and possums are indeed a problem in our area and yes they will reach in and grab a chicken if they can. During the day they are not much of a problem so the run can have larger wire openings but the coop needs to have smaller wire to protect the roosting chickens. 1"x2" openings would be the max size. 1"x1" hardware cloth would be safer. By the way......chicken wire only keeps the chickens IN. It wont always keep raccoons or dogs OUT. They can rip thru it so, if you can, use welded wire fencing or put hardware cloth over the bottom 2 or 3 feet of the chicken wire on the run. You also need to ensure that animals cant dig under the run fence.
7) I dont think the deep litter plan would be practical in a small hutch type coop. If you have a wire bottom then you can have a slide out litter tray underneath or just have a compost pile under the coop that you add leaf litter and grass cuttings to. Otherwise a small coop is easily cleaned out periodically.

Hope that helps

chel

Re: Coop Help! I call upon all ye chicken masters!

A few questions:
1) Can nest boxes be on the floor? Yes.

2) How much headroom do chickens need? That depends on the breed of chicken. I'd say at least 3 feet for the types you're getting. But remember... you'll also need roosts!

3) Are there water / food trays that can go outside the house for easy fill and to make it harder for them to tip over / mess up all over? There are just about any kind of feeder/waterers that you can imagine. Plus... if you don't like what you find commercially, you can always make your own.

4) Are there any waterers that can be cleaned out by flushing through a "clean-out"? Again, there are TONS of different kinds of waterers. The easiest to clean would probably be a small automated system. Then, the only cleaning would be the small cups. Check supply catalogs or websites for details.

5) Wire mesh underfoot (in the house)? Does anybody use it? What size is small enough not to hurt their feet, but big enough that it lets stuff get through? Maybe I just won't have a mesh bottom at all? Opinions vary widely on this. My thought is that if they can get off the wire (roosts, outdoor areas, etc) they will be fine. Hardware cloth works best for this, though no matter what kind of wire you use, you will always have some poop that doesn't fall through.

6) RE: raccoons, possums, etc: I've read about people having problems with these boogers reaching in and grabbing the chickens. If the chicks have a house to get into, will they protect themselves by going inside? Do I need 1" wire, or will 2" work? Actually, neither. Chicken wire is WEAK. It can easily be ripped to shreds by a coon. If you're going to go with chicken wire though, go with a couple of layers of 1". The 2 inch is a complete waste of money. You could use a 1'x4" welded wire fence, covered in 1" chicken wire, but personally, I cover fencing in a 3' high layer of hardware cloth from the ground up. Don't forget to also bury some wire into the ground to discourage digging predators.

7) Should I try the "deep litter method"? If so, don't I always have to be adjusting the water and food height?
Personally, in such a small space, I wouldn't do the deep litter method.

-Jen.

Founder of the Front Yard Chickens division of BYC.

Edited by: Cavegirl75 at: 12/11/04 4:45 am

coop

Your plans look good.When you put up roost,landscape timber works good.Try to make the roost at least 4in in diameter that way on a chilly night they can keep there feet warm. Face the coop south if you can to get max light. Put vents on east-west sides. vents are a must.Anyway hope this will give you more info. good luck.

Re: coop

Every one answered your questions, except one. Build much bigger than you need : you'll be getting more soon

I live with fear every day, but sometimes SHE lets me go Fishing !

I didn't fight my way to the top of the food chain just to eat plants !

I raise "other" birds !

Re: coop

I love you guys!

Thanks so much for all the great help!

Hey Jen & Chel, did you guys get together to form your answers, because you guys are right together on the same page!

Great stuff, especially with regard to the chicken wire not being strong enough. I totally could have done a ton of work wrapping the whole run only to find that it wasn't strong enough!

2 hours 'till chicken liftoff... er... um... pickup!

p.s. I just went outside and looked at some of my 1" chicken wire and pulled on it... raccoons can really get into this stuff?
It seems pretty tough.

Rob Ludlow
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/ All sorts of Nifty-Stuff!
http://www.reviewum.com/ Professor Reviews!
http://www.ludcon.com/ My General Website

Edited by: reviewum at: 12/11/04 10:16 am

Re: coop

All of the above..What They Said! ESPECIALLY...make it bigger! You WILL get more chickens. The first time you see them, and they look at you, they use their laser eyes to implant a device in your brain that will make you want more chickens. And the clucking is not because they are talking to you. They are keeping the device activated with sound waves.

So be prepared!

Terrie in Oregon City
Proud Member of the "Other Poultry" Club

Photos

Re: coop

I grew up in southern Ontario , lots of coons. Also raised a few when a lad. Yup, coons will go through chicken wire !

I live with fear every day, but sometimes SHE lets me go Fishing !

I didn't fight my way to the top of the food chain just to eat plants !

I raise "other" birds !

Re: coop

Rob,
Another note about raccoons.......they are crafty little devils with great manual dexterity and the smarts to use those little paws to UNLATCH lots of different types of hooks and latches. And then, they just waltz right into your coop and rip the little heads off your chickens!

They have no problem with slide latches, hooks, etc. They even seem to be able to manage multi-step latches. So, put some thought into your latch and if you use a padlock dont, under any circumstances, the leave the key on a hook or write the combo on the door or I swear they will get in. :rollin

chel

coop

yeah, chicken wire absolutely won't keep out your predators. Also if raccoons are involved, don't underestimate their ability to open practically any type of latch mechanism a human uses. I use a 3-dial combination lock on my run and coop. Since your coop/run is relatively small, go with a good strong hardware cloth, and make sure prevent the possibility of digging underneath it, either by burying or folding outward a foot, and anchor it down.

I didn't really have time to totally look at your design, but the other thing I noticed was that you've got the food and water right beside each other. IMO they should be separated a bit to keep the feed totally dry, because the chickens will fling the water around a little, and if they get some mold in their feed they could die.

Also I would say build yourself enough good storage area. I like that in my coop I've got room for everything i need right there.

Re: coop

YAHOOO! They're finally here!

We picked up 5 of the little guys... oh actually we're hoping for girls, this morning.

They are already so much bigger than they were just a week ago when we saw them last. I had no idea they grow so fast!

Here is Alana with them in their temporarry house:

Here they are up close:

I guess I better get moving on this coop, and FAST!

Rob Ludlow
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/ All sorts of Nifty-Stuff!
http://www.reviewum.com/ Professor Reviews!
http://www.ludcon.com/ My General Website

Re: coop

hahaha LOL >>> "...or I swear they will get in." eggchel you are too funny.

More excellent points about the raccoons. I think it is just easier to get rid of the little boogers... too bad the wife won't let me. Maybe after she's bonded with the chickens and a coon has gotten in there she'll change her mind.

I'm pulling all the supplies together and will post pictures as I progress. I'm by no means a woodworker, but enjoy learning. This may be a multi phase project. Maybe after I mess everything up on the first coop I can make a new one. Goodness knows my dad has enough scrap wood!

BTW: I just put the little ones in a big tub after I had put in a shovel full of old compost (from leaves, grass, etc.) it was full of bugs and worms and they seem REALLY happy. I probably should have asked this first, but is this safe / okay? I figure they'd do this in the "wild" anyway right?

Rob Ludlow
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/ All sorts of Nifty-Stuff!
http://www.reviewum.com/ Professor Reviews!
http://www.ludcon.com/ My General Website

Edited by: reviewum at: 12/11/04 4:47 pm

Re: coop

OMG your little girl is adorable!
How old are the little chicks?
I know they love little buggies, and they are a riot to watch run around fighting over the goodie, I have heard people warn against too many bugs if the chickens are too young, and people have also told me that they can pick up parasites from worms...Of course millions of chickens eat bugs everyday and are fine...so I guess that is a personal decision.

How many weeks do you plan on keeping them inside? they will hit a growth spurt from about 4-8 weeks old (I think something like that) and they will grow so fast and generate more poo than you can imagine. they start growing all of their feathers at once and need to consume a lot of protein for that, and what goes in must come out....

Keep us updated! hope you get a lot of girls!

Re: Coop Help! I call upon all ye chicken masters!

Oops...if they are eating food other than chick starter then they need grit or to the ground where they will eat tiny bits of rock to use in their gut to grind up the food. That or you will need to chew their food for them.

chel

Re: Coop Help! I call upon all ye chicken masters!

alidansma, thanks for the nice compliment. Alana really is a cutie and super good nature... of course, she isn't 2 yet

I think the chicks are 3 weeks old. They've already grown like crazy, so if they aren't even in a growth spurt yet then I REALLY need to get this coop put together fast.

They are digging in the compost, so that probably doesn't have enough grit in it for them. I'll find some stuff they can pick and choose from around the yard.

I have a question for ya. I noticed that some of them have large fluffy "tails" while the others don't really have anything at all. Does this have anything to do with gender, type of bird, etc. Here is a picture, notice the one on the left has the fluffy tail, the one on the right doesn't. Any ideas?

Rob Ludlow
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/ All sorts of Nifty-Stuff!
http://www.reviewum.com/ Professor Reviews!
http://www.ludcon.com/ My General Website

Re: Coop Help! I call upon all ye chicken masters!

Those birds will need a coop of atleast 4x4 but 5x4 would be better and they need a run of atleast 10 sqft per bird.

God Bless
Wes
"Remember the only dumb question is the one you never ask."

Re: Coop Help! I call upon all ye chicken masters!

Hi Rob - chickens are great - congrats on your new birds. I too live in northern CA so our winters our very chickens friendly. I used 1"x2" welded wire for my run, didn't even bother with chicken wire, i thought it was hard to work with and all experts (not me) say it can't stop any racoon, etc.

As far as the size of your run and henhouse, the bigger the better. I have a henhouse that is 3'x4' and 7 feet high and i feel it works for my 3 birds (all of them small to med in size), but i wish i made it larger. you'll have 5 big birds and your house seems to be too small. not much on sq footage and very short. my birds will spend more time in the house on a really rainy and windy day so that space matters. btw - my run is about 10' x 15'. many here say build bigger 'cause you'll get more birds, i say build bigger for current birds.

Here's what i did to answer some of your other ?'s...

A few questions:
1) Can nest boxes be on the floor? i have 1 for 3 birds that is about a foot off the ground.
2) How much headroom do chickens need? my house is 7' high. i'm 6'2" and i wanted to walk in standing up with plenty of room.
3) Are there water / food trays that can go outside the house for easy fill and to make it harder for them to tip over / mess up all over? i have a wall mounted swine feeder in the house and a plastic rectangular planter for water outside. my henhouse is open all the time into a 'secure' run.
5) Wire mesh underfoot (in the house)? Does anybody use it? What size is small enough not to hurt their feet, but big enough that it lets stuff get through? Maybe I just won't have a mesh bottom at all? my floor is solid wood with leno and pine shaving on top. they poop mostly out in the run except at night i have a poop board under their roost that i clean twice a week. never any poop on the floor.
7) Should I try the "deep litter method"? If so, don't I always have to be adjusting the water and food height? i use a poop board under the roost.

good luck and i'm sure you'll make a great chicken dad!

OaktownC Edited by: OaktownChicken at: 12/12/04 10:22 am

Re: Coop Help! I call upon all ye chicken masters!

Thanks for the replies!

I guess I could go bigger, but everywhere I've read says min. of 2 sq. ft. inside per bird, and 4 - 10 sq. ft. outside per bird.

With my newer design I've got 3 sf inside and about 5 sf outside, but I'll be letting them free range much of the time.

I may want to have more in the future, but city code says max of 5 hens, no roos. I guess unless they do a chicken inspection they won't know how many I have and then say, "Hey, where did those come from... I swear I only had 5?"

Rob Ludlow
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/ All sorts of Nifty-Stuff!
http://www.reviewum.com/ Professor Reviews!
http://www.ludcon.com/ My General Website

Re: Coop Help! I call upon all ye chicken masters!

Hi Rob,

Cute kid! Welcome to BYC! I am in California too, Roseville (near Sacramento). Everyone is right, you will soon fall under the chicken spell if you haven't already - build bigger than you think you'll need!

The fluffier tailed birds 'may' be roos.

Yes, they (the chickens, that is) grow FAST

For a waterer, I tried lots of things. Finally got a dog waterer from Walmart. Blue plastic, attaches to garden hose, has a float so it's always full, easy to clean. I have 4 of them now. About $12 each.

My nest boxes are on the ground. I use large plastic tote boxes with lids (also from Walmart) with a hole cut in the front (up 4-5" from the bottom so the shavings stay in). I got a big one it is heavier and won't fall over. They love it, 2 lay at once in there. One broody raised her chicks in it so I had to get another for the ladies to lay eggs in. Cheap and easy to clean.

One last thing, Rob-take a look at the posts re: food grade Diatomaceous Earth (DE) under Diseases and Cures (see Purchasing DE Online). Great stuff. Keeps birds healthy. Mixed in their bedding, it kills insects (like leg mites). Also put in their feed prevents internal parasites. Provides calcium and minerals for hard shells. Natural and non-toxic. I order it from Peaceful Valley Farm Supply (www.groworganic.com) in Grass Valley. Edited by: lhamid at: 12/13/04 1:44 pm

Comment

Re: Coop Help! I call upon all ye chicken masters!

lhamid, thanks for the help! I've bookmarked that site. Seems that DE is a good way to go!

I'm happily surprised by all the Californians I've met on here. What a great community!

RE: "The fluffier tailed birds" I wish I could know for sure if the larger / fluffier tail = roos or not. Of our 5, 2 have these tails and one has a small one. The other two don't have them at all. I'd like to get rid of the roos before we become bonded with them and have a harder time getting rid of them.

Speaking of waterers, I've posted about nipples in the "feeding time" forum. I'm surprised I don't see more posts about them... of course, this could be because they are no good.

RE: Nest boxes: I'm worried about putting them into place and then the chickens not using them. To be on the safe side should I put them lower rather than higher?

BTW: All you CA people, especially the "Greater Bay Area" ones (or anybody in the world with an idea): With the weather here in the Bay Area being relatively mild, do you think I need to worry too much about heating the coop for these chicks? They seem like they want to be in a bigger space to roost and run around, so I'm wondering what I should do. I guess I could build the coop and heat it until they get old enough to stand the cold. From what I understand they are suppose to still be at around 80 deg. for a bit longer right?

Suggestions? Thanks!

Rob Ludlow
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/ All sorts of Nifty-Stuff!
http://www.reviewum.com/ Professor Reviews!
http://www.ludcon.com/ My General Website

Re: Coop Help! I call upon all ye chicken masters!

Hi Rob,

I was born in San Mateo and raised in Belmont. I am a Bay Area girl, transplanted to Placer County (could not afford to buy in the BA). With the mild temps in the BA, once your birds are fully feathered and as long as they have a dry, draft free place to sleep, they will probably be okay outside. Make sure you have some roosts for them in your coop. I used 2 x 4's and attached tree branches with twine to make a 'ladder' and just lean it against the side of the coop. It has been freezing here some nights and I have 3 month old birds in the coop with the adults, they're fine. But it depends on the breed. I have Buff Orps and they are cold hardy. Check out this chart of breed characteristics and temperments:

www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhen...oks.html#p

You probably won't be able to tell for sure which are hens and which are roos until the combs develop, and of course when the roos start to crow... Buff Orp hens are rounder and tear-drop shaped and the roos are taller and more angular. The roos started to crow at about 5 months. My husband grew up in a rural area and prefers home raised chicken, he eats my extra roos. That may or may not be an option for you. (It isn't for me, I can't eat my birdies. I rarely eat chicken anyway, and no red meat). If you want fertile eggs and your community allows it, you can keep a roo for the hens. If not, try a post in the Buy-Sell-Trade-Giveaway section of this forum.

To get the hens to use the nest boxes, seed them with golf balls. They will get the idea. My nest boxes are on the ground.

Linda in Roseville

Re: Coop Help! I call upon all ye chicken masters!

Hey lhamid, that link didn't come through. Could you edit your post and re-link it?

I sure hope it doesn't take me 5 months to tell if these are roos or not! As they get older I'll take close up pictures and post them to get everyone's opinions! With the mix I have (RIR and Australorp) how long do you think it will take for boy / girl parts to start looking different?

RE: Coop size: Unfortunately I "legally" can't have more than 5 hens, but I may build bigger to give the ones I have more room.

I think I'm going to try to keep these little ones inside as long as possible so they stay warm and so they can be in direct contact with us more. The only issue is that sometimes they seem a little cramped, but that could just be me. How do I know when they have outgrown this cage I have them in? Once they outgrow it what should I do? Put them outside or build something bigger inside?

Thanks again!

Rob Ludlow
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/ All sorts of Nifty-Stuff!
http://www.reviewum.com/ Professor Reviews!
http://www.ludcon.com/ My General Website

Edited by: reviewum at: 12/14/04 10:06 am

Re: Coop Help! I call upon all ye chicken masters!

They will definitely need more room soon. Well before they go outside. It looks like your cage has a door on the front, the cage I was using for my chicks was like that too, I just got another cage, different type and added it on, the cage I got had a removable bottom and 2 doors on the front, I laid it on it's back with the bottom removed and the gap over the front door of the existing cage, that way they could jump up and over the door into the new space, I also kept the food and water in the new section and just put towels down for bedding, saved the waterer from getting filled with shavings

If I can find a picture of it I will post it, I know I took some. It also left me with 2 doors on the top of the extention for cleaning the water/food and picking up the chicks.

Re: Coop Help! I call upon all ye chicken masters!

Okay Kitsune, I took your advice and rigged up an old pet transporter to the cage. The pet transporter is pretty tall so I put some mini-roosts in there.

I'm trying a little experiment. I took out all the shavings from the cage and left just the wire in there with newspaper underneath it in the tray then put the food and water in there. I put pine shavings in the transporter with the roosts. I'm curious which side they stay on the most. Roosts & soft ground, or food / water and wire ground. I know, it isn't a perfectly conditioned double blind experiment, but it is still going to be interesting.

Well, this setup (cage - transporter combo) is a bit precarious, so I don't know how long I can keep it the way it is. I guess I have three options:

1) Make this cage - transporter combo work.
2) Make a new bigger cage to keep in the house.
3) Make my coop and heat it enough that it is like being inside.

What do you think?

Rob Ludlow
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/ All sorts of Nifty-Stuff!
http://www.reviewum.com/ Professor Reviews!
http://www.ludcon.com/ My General Website

Coop ideas

You might consider putting a roof over the top of your run. I use metal roofing over part of mine. This gives the chickens a place to be outside when it rains, and you can put the feeder outside.
-doug

Re: Coop ideas

Well for mine when they started getting too big for the altered cage I started taking them outside with me every day, wwhen they were inside they were less fidgety and they also had the chance to get used to the outdoor temperatures before they slept out there.

That's if you ave the time to take them out every day (and catch them again) I had an older chick outside that used to get on with them, looked almost like a mother even though she was little more than a chick herself.

Re: Coop ideas

Never having done this before I'm super scared of letting them outside. I have visions of them flying away right when I open the door and heading south for the winter

Kitsune, when you took them outside was it out into a covered run?

When I build my run it will be COMPLETELY enclosed and covered. I've got to build a fort Knox because of all the predators around.

FYI: My buddy who gave me these chicks has lost two of his own in the last 4 days. He thinks it was a hawk swooping down to get them.

Because the weather is relatively mild here in the winter I think I'll keep them inside for a bit longer and then move them outside with some heat as soon as I build the coop. Maybe I'll just build the main "box" of the coop without the nesting boxes or run. I can then put this basic hen house on the patio with a heat light. What do you think?

By the way, here is the new design. I know, I know, it is still kinda small, but keep in mind that I will never have more than 5 chickens (maybe less) and they will "free range" often throughout the week. Still, give me your suggestions and commments. The gray area is a droppings tray / box.

Rob Ludlow
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/ All sorts of Nifty-Stuff!
http://www.reviewum.com/ Professor Reviews!
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Edited by: reviewum at: 12/15/04 12:18 am

Re: Coop ideas

no, my chicks I just let outside, they would stay near me or the 'mummy chick' quite well. We don't have troubles with daytime predators here (except cats but as I was with them I could scare the cats away) so I was quite happy to let them play around in the garden.

I did get a rabbit hutch and run second hand for them before I got their coop sorted (which due to the timber company ripping me off I still don't have) so they are still in the hutch and run and I pick up a second hand coop on wednesday.

Anyway... I would reccomend a cheap rabbit run for them, you will know they are safe and you can sit out with them and watch them, plus you can move it around to give them a feel for the different areas of the outdoors.

Re: Coop ideas

Okay, here is the new modular chicken brooder / cage:

Here are the chicks on an excursion out in the bathroom with my wife Emily:

So, speaking of letting them out, should I take them outside in the cage and let them out one or two at a time? I'm wondering if this will keep them close since they know the cage is safe and the majority of their family is inside. Or, should I just let them all outside and see what happens?

Rob Ludlow
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/ All sorts of Nifty-Stuff!
http://www.reviewum.com/ Professor Reviews!
http://www.ludcon.com/ My General Website

Re: Coop ideas

uh Rob......just when are you gonna start building that coop?
Those chicks are getting big fast, huh?
I like your coop design and think that your birds will be just fine in there. Our weather is so mild that you can put them in the coop before they are fully feathered and just put in a small lamp to increase the heat a little. Dont use a big heat lamp in there, it will be too hot. At ACE or OSH you can buy a GE Home and Gardens outdoor 85 watt red floodlight/landscape bulb that will be plenty of heat in an enclosed space. The red light also wont encourage feather picking. Buy a small clamp-on light fixture and secure it in such a fashion that they cant knock it down in to the bedding. You could use some wire to enclose an upper corner for a light fixture. You can always bring them inside at night until they are fully feathered and keep them in the coop and run with a small lamp during the day. That will cut down a lot on the fluff dust in your house and give them more space during the day.
Ive got a hen with new chicks in an unheated coop and they are fine.

So....get building and post lots of pics.

chel

Re: Coop ideas

Wow Chel, you should be an inspirational motivational speaker. After reading your post I rushed outside and started working.

Here's what I've got so far... I'm not a builder, and this is one of the first "framing" type jobs I've ever done, so keep that in mind as you mock my work!

Here is everybody in the spot where I'm going to put the coop when it is all done:

Rob Ludlow
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/ All sorts of Nifty-Stuff!
http://www.reviewum.com/ Professor Reviews!
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Re: Coop ideas

MockMockMockMock Sounds like a sarcastic chicken. :lol

Looks like an excellent start, Rob. And looks like a fine afternoon was had by all.

chel

Re: Coop ideas

Hey Chel, would that be considered a mockingbird?

So far things are going pretty well, and I only got one injury, a splinter in my finger straight between my cuticle and fingernail... um OUCH! Thank goodness for liquid bandages... the stuff works great on hangnail / cuticle cuts.

FYI: I just noticed how terrible all the wood looks in those pictures. The reason is because I'm determined to build this out of stuff laying around my dad's yard. He's been collecting scrap wood for years and years. Most of it is being turned into firewood, but I'm saving a few pieces for this project.

Rob Ludlow
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/ All sorts of Nifty-Stuff!
http://www.reviewum.com/ Professor Reviews!
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Re: Coop ideas

Looks like you're doing well

the modular cage looks good, I'm sure they're enjoying all the extra room they have, the bathroom pic is cute

they look like they're going to be really nice chickens.

As for the coop building, well you're doing better than me, I considered building a coop but I have less than no carpentry skills so I figured it was probably better to just buy one, lol

Re: Coop ideas

Looks good ! I would change one thing right now, though. You may want to move the waterer to a less warm place. Chickens will drink more water if it is not warm. They would rather have cool water.

Terrie in Oregon City
Proud Member of the "Other Poultry" Club

Photos

Re: Coop ideas

Thanks chicken friends (not that you are chickens, just have chickens in common)

I keep going back and forth about how long to keep them inside. While they are inside my daughter can just go up to them anytime and watch them. Also I have a tendency to think they will "bond" with us better if they see us walking right by them all day. They seem to have enough room to function fine, but they really seem to like it when they are outside.

Yes, they are turning out to be pretty friendly chicks. I just hope we can find out who is a roo soon!

Well, it is another beautiful day out today. I'll see how much I can get done in my spare time.

Oh, BTW, I changed the designs a bit to allow the rain water to drain a different way (toward the run which will also be covered and sloped).

Ideas I'm still working on:
1) Coop floor: I'm thinking about having two "trays" that will unlatch and swing down toward the ground and dump out all the litter.
2) Dropping Boards: Debating if I need them, especially with the two tray system (one tray under the roosts, the other for the rest of the coop). The whole tray idea may be more hassle than it is worth. Any ideas?
3) Windows: How many, how big, and where to put them. In the image above you can see North and that there is a wall to the west side of the coop.

Rob Ludlow
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/ All sorts of Nifty-Stuff!
http://www.reviewum.com/ Professor Reviews!
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Re: Coop ideas

Okay, I'm switching gears.... again!

I looked at the forecast and it looks like it is going to start getting cold at night (around 30) as it gets closer to Christmas. So I think I'm going to keep the chickens inside at night and let them run around during the day. This means I need to work on the run!

I found the following and need to find a way to use it in the run:

1) About 15 foot roll of 5 foot chain link fence.
2) About 15 feet of 2 x 2 welded wire (3' tall).
3) About 10 feet of 2 x 4 welded wire (4' tall).
4) About 10 feet of 1 x 1 chicken wire (3' tall).

I've also got a ton "scrap" wood: 2x4, 4x4, 2x6, and big 6x8, pieces. Also some old 1 inch 4x8 sheets of plywood (pictured a few replies up).

Any ideas on how to put this all together for a really cool run that is like fort knox?

FOOTNOTES:
A few fun things I've noticed about these little chicks:
1) They are "fighting" more and more. I guess they are establishing the pecking order.
2) I swapped out the 100 watt bulb for a 250 watt really hot bulb. Every once in a while a chick would go below it, lay flat on the floor and stretch out all their wings and legs. They'd lay like that until one of their siblings would start pecking at them to move. I left the light on all night, but noticed they weren't under it very much any more so decided to swap the other back.

Rob Ludlow
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/ All sorts of Nifty-Stuff!
http://www.reviewum.com/ Professor Reviews!
http://www.ludcon.com/ My General Website

Edited by: reviewum at: 12/16/04 6:56 pm

Re: Coop Help! I call upon all ye chicken masters!

Rob, my I ask where you came across the city ordinence for your area regarding keeping chickens? I'm in Antioch and for the life of me can't find anything on it. I'm sure I can have hens but want to be sure I don't accumulate too many!

-------------------------------

Re: Coop Help! I call upon all ye chicken masters!

Funny you should ask. I called the city and they put me through to the... um... city code and ordinances department I think. The guy first told me "9 hens" and then said, "Oh, wait, that's in Pittsburgh." He asked me specifically which street I lived on because the city density is different all over, which will effect what you can and can't have.

Call the city's main number and tell them you want to know how many chickens you can have and they will put you to the correct place.

Good luck and report back what you find!

BTW: We took the chicks out for another stroll outside and all of a sudden heard a bunch of squawking above our heads. We looked up and saw 4 crows chasing around a red tailed hawk which seemed to be checking out our little ones. It was pretty cool to see them all cower behind us.

Rob Ludlow
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/ All sorts of Nifty-Stuff!
http://www.reviewum.com/ Professor Reviews!
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Comment

Re: Coop Help! I call upon all ye chicken masters!

Hey Rob,

I saw the first pic of the chicks and one for sure is a rooster. I know you said you want to get rid of the roosters before you got attached so you might want to post pics of all of them together so we can see the their combs (on the top of their head) since they are able to be sexed this young. Usually the males will have larger combs and tails then the females.

Jeff

Re: Coop Help! I call upon all ye chicken masters!

Jeff,

When you say one is for sure a roo, is this based on the tail picture?

Of the 5, two have "fluffy tails", one has medium tail, and two have little / no tails.

Here is a pic I took tonight. I know, the cage is small, but when they want more room they can freely move over to the big house to the left!

Thanks in advance!

BTW, I've got a lot of work done on the coop and run! It isn't going to be pretty (because of all the scrap wood, scrap screen, scrap etc.) but it should be SUPER safe which is most important!

Rob Ludlow
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/ All sorts of Nifty-Stuff!
http://www.reviewum.com/ Professor Reviews!
http://www.ludcon.com/ My General Website

Re: Coop Help! I call upon all ye chicken masters!

See what others think but I think the one in the front is the only hen. I don't want be the one that breaks the news so my fingers are crossed that I'm wrong. You might want to check with your friend and compare the combs with some of hers. When I check I look at the combs, tail, and the spurs. The males spurs will be a little more bigger.

It was from the second picture you posted the one in the middle looks like a roo to me.

Well If I was you I would get a second opinon....LOL!

Jeff Edited by: Jtbrunty24 at: 12/18/04 8:12 pm

wire

p.s. I just went outside and looked at some of my 1" chicken wire and pulled on it... raccoons can really get into this stuff?
It seems pretty tough.

*************************************
It will slow up a big coon just about 30 seconds.

Re: wire

Honestly, if 4 of them end up as roos I'm going to get rid of the lot of them. I'll start over with sexed chicks from the feed store or those "sex link" types, or something. My guess (total guess) is I have at least two hens, but this is based primarily on how different the tails are between them all.

Someone in chat told me that the hen's tail feathers develop BEFORE the roos do, so now I'm totally confused.

BTW, I'm close to done with my run. The only issue is how to create a door that functions, but is also raccoon proof.

Rob Ludlow
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/ All sorts of Nifty-Stuff!
http://www.reviewum.com/ Professor Reviews!
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Re: wire

From what I have seen with my chicks the roo's generally feather out slower than the hens. Also I wouldn't place bets on hen/roo till they were a few weeks older. One I was sure was a roo (feathered out slowly just like the other two) stiff doesn't seem to be growing a comb and s/he's about 4 months old now... so I'd wait and see.

Re: wire

I can understand the difficulty in sexing chickens, but is there any hope that all these are brothers / sisters? Shouldn't I see differences between the two doing a side by side comparison pretty soon?

Rob Ludlow
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/ All sorts of Nifty-Stuff!
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Re: wire

Post another pic tomorrow on the 22nd. There should be a little difference.

In the rhode island red breed...they tend to have large combs...even the females. Some RIR are sexed as males and turn out to lay eggs. I would wait, and at about 12 weeks you should be able to tell.

Jeff

Re: wire

AHHH...

I think I'm in major trouble! I've been very busy at work the last few days and have passed taking care of the chicks to the wife. I decided to take some pics today... HOLY COW THESE THINGS GROW FAST!!!!

Well, I think I've got 4 roos and one hen. One is pretty different from the others in comb / waddle size and color.

The only ray of hope I have is that this one little chick is underdeveloped causing the comb and waddle to grow slower than the other four. Here are the pictures.

Hen?

Roo?

A few more pics here:
www.nifty-stuff.com/gallery/first-days

Rob Ludlow
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http://www.reviewum.com/ Professor Reviews!
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Re: wire

Well I think were right, you may be in trouble...Lol! They do grow very fast so I usually look every 5 days or take pictures to tell. By Tomorrow you should now for sure.

Good Luck, If I was you I would go with sexed chicks or young pullets.

Jeff

Re: wire

I guess I'll just have to wait and see. Actually, we don't really mind having roos except for the crowing. Maybe we'll have mute roos!

I won't hold my breath on that one.

Okay, regarding the coop, here is an update:

I've built the run and the basics of the house. I made a frame (first picture) that will hold the house. This will allow me to built 50% of the house and then set it into place (second picture). It isn't pretty but it will be a nice safe home from the family of raccoons that live around us.

For larger pictures, click HERE!

I'm planning for the bottom of the house to be hinged for easy dumping / cleanup. This will also allow me to replace the bottom in the summer with something that will allow more air flow (1/2 inch screen / hardware cloth with shavings over it). Do you think this is a good idea?

Rob Ludlow
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http://www.reviewum.com/ Professor Reviews!
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Re: wire

The coop's looking good, and I have a roo that doesn't crow (yet) the younger roo has been crowing for months now but it's always the silent roo I have seen the hen allowing to mate with her, she always attacks the noisy one when he tries, lol

Re: wire

Kitsune,

Boy, I'm about ready to stick them in that coop... lucky for them it's raining and I haven't been able to work on it! Have I mentioned how fast they grow and how much they poop? And the amount of poop is exponentially proportional to their growth!

Okay, I just asked my chicks to line up and then turn their heads to the side for a nice comparison shot. I asked for the largest comb on the right and descending order to the left, but I guess they got their right and left confused since the biggest comb is on the left and smallest on the right:

Rob Ludlow
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/ All sorts of Nifty-Stuff!
http://www.reviewum.com/ Professor Reviews!
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Edited by: reviewum at: 12/27/04 4:44 pm

Re: wire

That's a fantastic picture! I wish I could get as good pictures of my chickens!
The one on the right is definitely a pullet, one on the left definitely a roo...

I would hedge my bets on the other two till they get a bit older...

Re: wire

wow Rob, look at those little guys line up. What a great picture.

chel

Re: wire

friends, thanks for the compliments, but it was all the chickens... oh and a digital camera! Thank goodness for digital cameras and NO FILM / DEVELOPING!!!

Did you all notice the shy one in the back? Any ideas on self esteem boosting for chickens?

I'll have to go to my friends and see if I can swap out the one on the left for a more female looking chicken.

If I do it will they play nice with the new one?

Rob Ludlow
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/ All sorts of Nifty-Stuff!
http://www.reviewum.com/ Professor Reviews!
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Re: Coop Help! My first chickens and want to make this righ

No, they wont play nice. :evil

The little devils will right away re :evil

establish their pecking order which they are always reinforcing. However, since they are young it shouldnt be too bloody

. Best thing would be to section off a little bit of your cage for at least the first 24 hours so that they can see the new girl but not get at her. When you remove the divider, do it at night or when they are distracted by treats or playtime. If you get more than one new bird it seems to be easier to mix them. I dont know if it is safety in numbers or what. :lol

chel

Coop & Chicks Update -reviewum-

Well, with the new lineup picture the opinion of many is at least a few hens. I've talked to the wife and we've decided that since this is our first go at chickens we'll see what happens and wait till they start crowing and go from there.

I know it's a long shot but I'm hoping to get lucky and end up with 4 hens and a mute rooster! Here's wishin....

The coop is coming around slowly because of constant rain. I ran into a "big" problem when I noticed that the nest boxes are going to be REALLY high since I raised the coop so much. I've got the bottom of the coop at about 3 feet high and the nest boxes about a foot above that. I was going to have them be top , but that would add another foot putting them at 5 feet high to look and reach into. Whoops! Any suggestions?

Rob Ludlow
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http://www.reviewum.com/ Professor Reviews!
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Re: Coop & Chicks Update -reviewum-

You could make them side opening, my new coops both have side opening egg boxes, just put a little lip in so shavings and eggs don't fall out when you open them!

Re: Coop & Chicks Update -reviewum-

Side opening works well, probably easier to keep weather tight, too. Thats the way I've always done mine.

-doug (western WA)

Comment

Re: Coop & Chicks Update -reviewum-

I think that a side opening is the way to go. Any ideas / pictures of how to make a external side opening nest box?

By the way, here they are their second night in the coop. Any new / changed guesses on hens and roos?

I'll get some coop pictures posted in a few days when it stops raining!

Rob Ludlow
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Re: Coop & Chicks Update -reviewum-

Awwww they're so cute and look all snuggled in.

Pullet

; cockerel

; probably cockerel :rolleyes

; cockerel

chel

Re: Coop & Chicks Update -reviewum-

YEAH... Doh... DOh.... DOH..... DOOOOOHHHH!!!

Hey Chel... got any hen chicks you want to get rid of? Maybe the wife and I need to stop by for a visit!

Rob Ludlow
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Re: Coop Help! My first chickens and want to make this righ

Sorry Rob, the only chicks that I currently have are Marans and any pullets that I dont keep are already promised to Wolfey. So far it looks like 4 pullets, 4 cockerels and 1 crossdresser (looks like both sexes :lol

). I'm sure you dont want any of the boys. :lol

Wolfeyshadowspirit has lots of layers for sale. She is over past Stockton.
I do have lots of female ducks if you want a one. Most are just starting to lay.

chel

Re: Coop Help! My first chickens and want to make this righ

I still think one pullet and the rest cockerals. It's pretty easy to tell at about a week old. Now that they are around 4 weeks it's hard to mess up on sex. But ya never know.

Good Luck, start looking for some pullets,

Jeff

Re: Coop Help! My first chickens and want to make this righ

I keep going back and forth on what to do with these chickens... do I hold onto them and see what I end up with

I'm starting to get worried that you are right. The four with the bigger combs sure fight a lot. The smallest comb one doesn't get involved as much.

Well, if I end up with a bunch of roos and need to replace them, where do I go for replacements? Keep in mind that I can only have 5 and there aren't really any people I can split an order with. I guess I could wait and see what the feed store has in the spring.

This is just so tricky.... I'm sticking with sex linked from now on!

Rob Ludlow
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http://www.reviewum.com/ Professor Reviews!
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Re: Coop Help! My first chickens and want to make this righ

Are you over the hill near Danville and Alamo?
Call Alamo Hay and Grain (or is it Feed and Grain?) and ask if they have any pullets. The guy there sometimes takes chicks or pullets in exchange for feed, I've heard. Or he might know of some.
On this side check Mike's Feed in San Leandro area.
Also, message Wolfeyshadowspirit and find out what she has for sale and see if you can pawn the boys off on her :lol

(sorry Wolfey

).
Plus.......I might go in on a hatchery order with you.

chel

Re: Coop Help! My first chickens and want to make this righ

Yahooooo!! All great suggestions Chel!

I'd sure like to not get too attached to these if we end up having to get rid of them all.

If we do, any suggestions on breeds? Remember we can have 5 max. I asked my wife what she wanted and she said she preferred (in this order):
Friendly, Pretty, Eggs.

My order is:
Eggs, Friendly, Pretty

There are a gazillion or so breeds, so it is hard to decide. Here's my prelim. list of choices.... tell me what to change and why:

Buff Orpington
Delaware
Buff Cochin (or something else with furry feet for the wife)
New Hampshire Red or Rhode Island Red
Wyandotte

What do you think? Will it be impossible for me to get such a mix?

(I almost feel like I'm "burying" my chickens before they are even dead... er um roos...)

Rob Ludlow
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/ All sorts of Nifty-Stuff!
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Re: Coop Help! My first chickens and want to make this righ

you crack me up Rob. Put a post in the Breeds in general and ask for opinions based on you and your wife's priorities.
But I'll answer you here. I have buff orps. They are sweet and good layers but they are always going broody (good if you want to hatch eggs) or sneaking off down the drive to visit the neighbor's flower beds (good if you dont like your neighbor's flowers). We also have RIRs who are good layers but a bit aggressive. Our Ameraucanas and EasterEggers lay really cool blue and green eggs.......when we can find them. They especially like to sneak into two of our neighbor's barns and hide their eggs. They are also the little harlots that brought the next door roo home with them. Hence we have some offspring of them that we call the Amera-Mutts. I absolutely adore my cochins. They are all bantams and are very friendly and curious. The Wyandottes (both gold and silver) are without doubt the prettiest of all our layers. We have 2 golds hens, one silver hen, and a silver roo that was supposed to be a hen. :rolleyes

He is very randy but a lot of the hens wont cooperate. They LOVED the neighbor's roo who unfortunately fell victim to an owl. My marans are nice and lay dark eggs. My silkies are sweet and lay tan eggs. I have two insane white leghorns who, along with the amera-mutts are collectively called The Rascals. They have recently had their wings clipped for constantly trying to strike off on their own.

I want to get some Delawares because I have been told they lay very large eggs. Our barred Rocks are consistant layers as are the Orps, RIRs, and leghorns.
I recommend that you get a gold laced Wyandotte, a NHR or RIR, a buff Cochin, a white Silkie, and keep your little black pullet. That gives you a good selection of layers and pretty/friendly birds.
That said, everyone here will have their own, strong opinions on which are the friendliest, prettiest, and most productive. :lol

Results not guaranteed.
chel :rollin

Re: Coop Help! My first chickens and want to make this righ

Sorry to take this thread off course... oh wait... no I'm not!

This is the thread where all my new friends are posting, so heck, why not keep the conversation going?

Anyway, some very good advice you gave me. super thanks!

So, here is your list...
gold laced Wyandotte
NHR or RIR
buff Cochin
white Silkie
little black australorp

The only exception is that the cochin and the silkie are both smaller birds right? If I'm only going to have one small bird, which should it be?

Oh, and is a mix like this too difficult to work out, or can I place an order and get a mix like this in one order? Granted I'll have to split it with a bunch of people, but what are the chances of finding homes for so many different birds? Obviously I've never done this before.

Okay, back on topic, I'll have pics of the mostly finished coop tomorrow or Tuesday.

Happy new year everyone!

Rob Ludlow
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/ All sorts of Nifty-Stuff!
http://www.reviewum.com/ Professor Reviews!
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Re: Coop Help! My first chickens and want to make this righ

I think that you could get a standard size cochin instead of a bantam if you dont want two bantams. And, Silkies, in America, are sort of between the sizes of bantams and standards.
I dont see any problem with getting several different breeds. It will be more of a problem to get a small order. There is one hatchery that has a minimum dollar order rather than a minimum number of chicks, I think. But I dont remember which one.

chel

Re: Coop Help! My first chickens and want to make this righ

Quote:
There is one hatchery that has a minimum dollar order rather than a minimum number of chicks, I think. But I dont remember which one.

It's Ideal Hatchery:

www.ideal-poultry.com/

-Doug

Re: Our first chickens! Coop ideas, pics of our chicks, etc

I've really enjoyed the ride with you on this journey of yours.

It's been so much like ours this past spring, summer, fall.

Amazing how fast they grow while you are trying to build them a home isnt' it?
... and trying to figure out what you actually have can be frustrating :rolleyes

They are really cute all perched together like that.

~wc

Edited by: wildcritters at: 1/3/05 3:48 pm

Re: Our first chickens! Coop ideas, pics of our chicks, etc

Hi Rob,

Love the photos of your chickens! And your daughter too!
We've just about finished our coop, except for a droppings tray that we'll make out of galvanized sheeting, and perhaps a ladder or two. We have a nest box that opens to the outside. If you go to our coop page: www.thegatehouse.co.nz/chickencoop.html
the nest box is through the opening on the right. I could take some close ups with some measurements for you if you like and send them to you.
We're in the same position as you....only allowed about 5 hens, no cocks. I don't want to make the wrong choice about breed either! For me friendliness is the most important factor because of our guests and our kids. We don't want to give them the holiday/childhood from hell!
I really wanted a Buff Orpington, but they are hard to get where we live, so we are considering a RIR, Wyandotte and a couple of Plymouth Barreds and a little black Silkie that looks too cute to pass up!
I'll be keen to hear what you decide to get.

Lisa

Re: Our first chickens! Coop ideas, pics of our chicks, etc

Lisa, thanks for the nice remarks.

I'd love to get suggestions on nest boxes... of course, the way things are going I don't think any of my roos will need them!

lol

Breeds... this is so tricky! I'd love to get most of the ones listed above as I think it is a good mix but the problem is getting 4-5 chicks at the same time from somewhere that will ship that many. I may take a look at ideal and see what they can do. I think my best bet is to wait until Spring as that will give me the most options.... but that is SOOO far away!

I hope to have some coop pics up a little later today. Did I mention that it isn't pretty? Well it isn't, but it sure works great!!

Rob Ludlow
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/ All sorts of Nifty-Stuff!
http://www.reviewum.com/ Professor Reviews!
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Re: COOP ALL FINISHED... sorta...

COOP ALL FINISHED... sorta...

Here it is in all of it's splendid UGLY glory!

As you can plainly see I'm not one for aesthetics, but for functionality, specifically the doors and monster ghetto feeder.

Just click on the link or image to go to my page with all the details and a bunch more pictures.

http://www.nifty-stuff.com/chicken-coop.php

Rob Ludlow
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/ All sorts of Nifty-Stuff!
http://www.reviewum.com/ Professor Reviews!
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Re: COOP ALL FINISHED... sorta...

Bad news....

I just got back from my friend's house who we got the chicks from. I wanted to compare ours to theirs... well, comparing them to ours makes ours really look like roos.

Here are two of the siblings:
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/gallery/mom-dad/chick_siblings

I took some pics of the moms too. They have big combs / waddles, but I guess males always develop first?

Here are the moms:
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/gallery/mom-dad/chick_parents

Also, more bad news. My friend who gave these to us... well, I thought he'd take the roos back, but now I find out that he doesn't want them... so now what do I do with them?

So frustrating!

Rob Ludlow
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/ All sorts of Nifty-Stuff!
http://www.reviewum.com/ Professor Reviews!
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Re: Our first chickens! Coop ideas, pics of our chicks, etc

Quote:
www.thegatehouse.co.nz/chickencoop.html

Lisa, that is a beautiful coop!

-Frances
http://hometown.aol.com/ratnest9/page1.html

Re: Our first chickens! Coop ideas, pics of our chicks, etc

It's all the luck of the draw...maybe you could start over with the small peeps...hehe!

The best bet on different breeds is to go to swaps and auctions and talk to people. I'm sure they would sell you one bird of each. You would be surprised at how many people actually have chickens. When I got mine I noticed them everywhere. If you see some out in a yard don't hesitate to see if the have any for sale.

Jeff

Re: Our first chickens! Coop ideas, pics of our chicks, etc

Quote;

well, I thought he'd take the roos back, but now I find out that he doesn't want them... so now what do I do with them?

Welcome to the wonderful world of chickens in the suburbs. :rollin

Sorry.

Here are some of your choices:
Learn how to caponize cockerels. (may not help)
Eat them in a few months. (dont get too attached)
Give them away.(good luck)
Bribe someone to take them.(good luck)
Drop them off at the animal shelter (might as well eat them)
Take them to the live animal auction in Modesto or Roseville. (someone else will eat them)
Place an ad on Craigslist.org or Freecycle.org.
Call the guy at Alamo Hay(Feed?) and Grain and ask if he will take them or knows anyone who will.
Cull them.

(sometimes it has to be done, might as well eat them)

I've had to cull cockerels in the past but the next group will go to the processor and go in the freezer.

chel
Edited by: eggchel at: 1/4/05 10:54 pm

Comment

Re: Our first chickens! Coop ideas, pics of our chicks, etc

uh-oh, I hope that I havent traumatized you Rob

chel

Re: Our first chickens! Coop ideas, pics of our chicks, etc

........................huuuhhhh...... .......

Chel, you provided me with some excellent ideas and I've been busy implementing them. First your ideas on how to get replacements, and second, how to get rid of the roos.

First I contacted Wolfy who has a bunch of 7 month old mixed breed chickens that are already laying. We may drive out there for a visit and pick up a few from her. At first I wasn't sure about buying mixed breeds and older chickens (more expensive, miss out on seeing them grow and bonding with them and them to us, etc.) But realized that if we waited to get the chicks we wanted in the spring (three months away) and waited for eggs (6 months after that) that it would be a long time before we started recoooping our costs.... get it... re coop.... it's a joke... 'cause chickens live in a coop.... never mind!

Also, we'll be sure they are hens and will know what they look like when they are bigger.

Also, I've stuck a quick ad on a few places for the roos. I was wondering Chel, what does "caponize" mean? Actually, I'll just look it up on google.... searching.... searching.... reading....reading.... EWWWW!!! NO THANKS!!!

Chel, your choices to give them away and bribe people to take them... did you mean as pets, or for any reason? I would think (hope) that people out there would want birds to eat or to feed to snakes, etc. I'm not that close to these birds to worry about what someone does with them. Serves them right for bein' roos and not tellin' me in advance!

Anyway, that's where I am. I guess I have to get rid of these roos before I can pick any new girls up. I'll also have to be quick on building a nest box. I didn't think I'd need one for another few months with my young chicks.

Oh, and did you all check out my monster homemade feeder? Boy is it UUUUUUUGGGGGGLLLLLLYYYY!! But it works so very well and doesn't take up very much floor space!

Rob Ludlow
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/ All sorts of Nifty-Stuff!
http://www.reviewum.com/ Professor Reviews!
http://www.ludcon.com/ My General Website

Re: Our first chickens! Coop ideas, pics of our chicks, etc

Quote:

I was wondering Chel, what does "caponize" mean? Actually, I'll just look it up on google.... searching.... searching.... reading....reading.... EWWWW!!! NO THANKS!!!

Geez Rob......I laughed so hard I almost flipped over backwards in my recliner. Now to change my pants.......
Okay, I'm back.

Yes, getting rid of roos can be a challenge in the suburbs. But if you dont mind someone eating them, it will be easier. There is always the live animal auction in Modesto or Roseville. I will Private Message you a phone number for the Roseville auction, sorry, I cant find the Modesto #. I will also give you the number of a guy in Manteca who will process birds for you in case you still have them until they are 'freezer size'.

chel

Re: Our first chickens! Coop ideas, pics of our chicks, etc

Glad I could help you get a good laugh... sorry about the pants though!

Well, I'm okay with someone else eating them / feeding them to their huge snake, but I'm not at the point that I could eat them.

I'll see how things go with a few of the ads I placed and go from there. I'll keep you posted.

Rob Ludlow
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/ All sorts of Nifty-Stuff!
http://www.reviewum.com/ Professor Reviews!
http://www.ludcon.com/ My General Website

Re: Our first chickens! Coop ideas, pics of our chicks, etc

It was a sad goodbye, but a very nice man came just two minutes ago to pick up our "roos". We were a little hessitant not knowing if they were really roos or not, especially since they were so very friendly and nice. In the end we decided we'd be better off with more variety of breeds and with ones we were sure were hens.

We're hoping to take a trip out to Sacramento to see some of Wolfey's 7 month old laying hens and pick a few. We'll keep you posted.

OH CRAP.... I keep forgetting... I've got to build nest boxes!!!

Rob Ludlow
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/ All sorts of Nifty-Stuff!
http://www.reviewum.com/ Professor Reviews!
http://www.ludcon.com/ My General Website

Re: Our first chickens! Coop ideas, pics of our chicks, etc

Rob my coop isn't built yet either so I've been using what I have around the house. I am using milk crates stuffed with wheat hay for nesting boxes right now.I did appropriate a few plastic soda crates from the dumpster area of McDonalds that I plan on using in the coop itself when it's done. They are approx 1 X 1 1/2 maybe with about a 4inch lip all the way around so are much shallower then the milk crate. Best of all they were FREE! YAY

-------------------------------

Re: Our first chickens! Coop ideas, pics of our chicks, etc

Yup, I totally love free.... free is such a wonderful thing! Doesn't just seeing the FONT-SIZE: xx-large">FREE FREE FREE

A few pictures for your viewing pleasure. Click on the image to go to the gallery.

Here they are before our 4 "roos" left us. We kept the one on the far right:

My niece came to visit. She has 16 chickens at her house so she knows how to handle a bird. Check her out with our last little chick:

Finally, here is our daughter's friend, my niece, and Alana with the chick:

Rob Ludlow
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/ All sorts of Nifty-Stuff!
http://www.reviewum.com/ Professor Reviews!
http://www.ludcon.com/ My General Website

Re: Coop Help! I call upon all ye chicken masters!

OH NO ROB....THAT ONE IS A ROO!!!!!!!!

Ha Ha.... just kidding. Get up off the floor Rob. Rob? Are you breathing? Should I call a Waaaaaaambulance?
:rollin

chel

Re: Coop Help! I call upon all ye chicken masters!

Yeah chel, it's all fun and games until you wake up in a couple weeks with a new roo on your front doorstep!

Well, I think I've got myself into a bind... again!

1) I know that this 7 week old chick will have a hard time being small compared to the others I get, but I've been told that the new 8 month old hens will be even more mean to her than I expected.

2) Feeding: I didn't even consider this... I've got a young hen that needs starter and old hens that need layer and a big huge bag of starter left over. What do I do? I don't want to have to build a whole enclosure to keep them separated. What do most people do that have a whole flock that breeds and hang out together... what do they feed the old ones and young ones? Seems like they'd eat each other's food.

Someone suggested to call the guy up who took them and give him the 5th one too, but he's a bit aways away and we'd really like to keep at least one of our "first" chicks. I guess other options are to give her back to my friend or just feed them all starter and decide if it's safe to eat the eggs or not.

Suggestions?

Rob Ludlow
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/ All sorts of Nifty-Stuff!
http://www.reviewum.com/ Professor Reviews!
http://www.ludcon.com/ My General Website

Nest Boxes.... change of plan

Hey All!

I'm outside (in the rain) looking at how to attach my nest boxes and I realized... I only need 1 - 2 boxes for 5 birds (actually 4 birds since the young one won't be laying anytime soon).

So, I'm debating if I even need to go to all the trouble of making / attaching an outside nesting box (ie; building, attaching, water proofing, etc. etc. etc.). Couldn't I just stick a box or two inside my coop and be done with it?

Maybe I'll build two boxes and put them vertically inside the corner. What do you think?

Rob Ludlow
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/ All sorts of Nifty-Stuff!
http://www.reviewum.com/ Professor Reviews!
http://www.ludcon.com/ My General Website

Re: Nest Boxes.... change of plan

Hey Rob. Yup, there will be a tussle. You could always keep the little one in your house! Put something in the coop and pen that the little one can run behind or under to hide. Lean a piece of wood or plywood against the wall or put a box with a small low opening for the pullet chick. You could divide off part of the coop with wire for the chick so that she could be separate until they are used to each other.
chel

Re: Nest Boxes.... change of plan

egg boxes inside should be fine. Is there no chance you can get some younger chicks as I never had a problem with chicks fighting new arrivals until I got the older chickens.

I would say that hens before pol would be your best bet, they might even treat the little one as a daughter!

Re: Nest Boxes.... change of plan

You all are so smart! I love chattin' with ya!!!

I've settled down to two options:

1) Give her back to my friend (who we got her from originally) and she'll be with a few of her sisters.

2) Keep her and just see what happens. If she gets too pecked on then we may go back to option 1.

Regarding feed: At 8 weeks old is my young girl going to be way too young for layer, and/or are my eggs going to be contaminated if I give starter to the hens?

I also found out today that my friend feeds all his chicks and chickens SCRATCH. I know this is a total NO-NO

Oh, and I've almost finished building a nest box that is ugly enough to be worthy of my coop.

BTW, my wife makes fun of me when I talk about chickens to my friends because I use words like roo, starter, etc. etc. She thinks it is funny how immersed I am in chickens.

Rob Ludlow
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/ All sorts of Nifty-Stuff!
http://www.reviewum.com/ Professor Reviews!
http://www.ludcon.com/ My General Website

Re: Nest Boxes.... change of plan

Yup, you're one of us now.........you have been assimilated.

chel

Re: Nest Boxes.... change of plan

Update:

Okay, I've decided to stick the nest boxes inside the coop instead of outside. I did this for a few reasons, but mostly because:

1) I'm worried that once I build it on the outside it may be too high, or not high enough, or they won't use it. It would be very hard to change the height later on.
2) It will be a pain building, attaching and waterproofing an outside nest box.

The downside of an inside nest box is the room it will take up. I'm hoping to still have enough room for roosts. I'm expecting them to just sleep inside the house, but spend most of their time in the run and outside.

I came up with a plan to stick the one I build into the corner of the front door. This will allow me to open up the front door (which will be the back wall of the next box) to the eggs from the back. I also build it vertically so they have the choice between a higher box and lower box.

Here is the nest box from the side that will be ible from the front door of the coop. The notches on the left hand side are for the box to fit around the frame. The boxes are pretty tall / big to give the birds the room they need. They are about 13" wide x 14" long x 14 & 15" tall.

I went ahead and painted it brown with some semi-gloss paint I had kicking around:

Here is a picture of our lone hen that will have to wait until we get back from Arizona to get her some new friends... check out the brownish red coming through on her breast... I think this is from her RIR daddy... I'm so excited to see her when she's all grown up.

Rob Ludlow
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/ All sorts of Nifty-Stuff!
http://www.reviewum.com/ Professor Reviews!
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Re: Nest Boxes.... change of plan

Awww, she's cute!

-------------------------------

Re: Coop Help! I call upon all ye chicken masters!

Quote:
) I know that this 7 week old chick will have a hard time being small compared to the others I get, but I've been told that the new 8 month old hens will be even more mean to her than I expected.

They will eat her alive...I would definately give her back to be with those her own age, as soon as possible for her own good......the 8 mo olds will probably peck the 7 week old baby to death, literally. Plus she is all alone. How sad. Breaks my heart really to have followed this story.

I have 6, 8 mos old pullets and I thought for sure 2 were going to be roos......well, none of them were. From all I know, one can't be SURE that it's a roo until it crows.

Experts have been fooled many, many times before, haha. Anyway, my vote is to definately return her......she is going to have it really hard either way IMHO.

Re: Coop Help! I call upon all ye chicken masters!

rob.. do you want to come to nebraska and build me a new coop in the spring??? you do a great job

Teewinot

--Sont les mots qui vont très bien ensemble--

Re: Coop Help! I call upon all ye chicken masters!

I have kept many young 7 week old chicks with my adults and as long as they have somewhere to hide they are ok. I stop feeding starter and start feeding layer anywhere from 6-8 weeks old. So your chick will probably be fine eating the layer.

~Lindsey~

Re: Coop Help! I call upon all ye chicken masters!

I have banty chicks with my layers and they are ok...they are only 6 weeks. Your hen will be fine...yes she will get picked on and yes she will be the last to eat and drink. Just make sure everything is full...from the looks of your feeder I don't think you will have that problem! Anyways just keep a close eye out for her and sooner or later they will establish a "pecking order" and everything will be peachy.

Take care,

Jeff

Comment

Re: Coop Help! I call upon all ye chicken masters!

Thanks so much for the replies!

We're going to keep our young girl and bring in the new hens and see how it goes. We'll keep a very close eye on things to make sure everything is okay.

She'll be about 9 weeks when we bring in the new hens so I think we'll maybe do a mix of starter / layer, just layer, or keep them apart during the day and feed the chick starter.

Oh, by the way, a quick question about roosts. I know chickens like to use the highest roost, but is there a reason to make roosts high? If there are only "low" roosts, won't that be sufficient, or will they always be bitter that there isn't a higher spot to get to?

Rob Ludlow
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/ All sorts of Nifty-Stuff!
http://www.reviewum.com/ Professor Reviews!
http://www.ludcon.com/ My General Website

Re: Our first chickens! Coop ideas, pics of our chicks, etc

Yes, Rob, they will roost on what ever roost you put in there if there isnt someplace higher up (that you really dont want them to roost on) but they will always hold a bitter grudge against you. This will be expressed in some very passive aggressive ways....... "accidentally" laying an egg while on the pitifully-low-but-still-high-enough-to break-the-egg-roost, sleeping in the snug nestbox and giving you a nasty look when you move them to the above mentioned roost, tipping over their waterer while trying to roost on it instead, pooping in their water while roosting on top of it after you tie the waterer to the wall so it cant tip over, and so on.

Really, I think they just roost as high as they can to feel safe, as if they were in a tree. It wont hurt them to have a low roost. :lol

chel

Re: Our first chickens! YAHOO..... NEW CHICKENS!!!

YAHOO..... NEW CHICKENS!!!

Well, you've all gone with me on this crazy ride of my first time with chickens.... and here we are!

(from Left to Right):

Pure breed Rhode Island Red
Pure breed Buff Orpington
Mix... maybe a Golden Laced Wyandotte and ??
Mix? maybe a Silver Laced Wyandotte and ??
Our little girl we've had from the beginning. She's half Black Australorp and half Rhode Island Red

Here's the story:

SUNDAY 1/23/05
LenLeo sent 3 beautiful adult roos down to eggchel (1 for eggchel, 2 for wolfey).
eggchel brought those birds up with 4 chicks of her own along (all 4 for wolfey) with a pretty black silkie / cochin mix named Elvis for us! Oh, she also brought us about 3 dozen duck and chicken eggs of various sizes and colors.
We introduced Elvis to our young australorp RIR mix and after a bit of pecking they became friends.
Talked to two neighbors who each wanted us to pick up some chickens for them.

MONDAY 1/24/05
Drove out to wolfey's, chatted, looked at some birds, chatted, picked out 10 birds that we thought looked good, chatted, learned how to clip wings, and then chatted!
Drove home and called the neighbors.
First neighbor came by and grabbed 3 chickens
Second neighbor came by and picked up 3 more hens.

After a lot of discussion between the wife and I we decided to let Elvis go to the second neighbor's house. They have older kids that would appreciate Elvis more than we would right now.

It's been a few days everyone seems to be doing very well. All the fears I had about our little blackie getting pecked to death were thankfully NOT validated! While she is at the bottom of the pecking order she's not getting harassed too much. The order seems to be playing out as follows:
• Golden Laced
• RIR
• Silver Laced
• Buff Orpington
• Blackie

The first two seem neck in neck for head hen while buff and blackie are the youngest and always get pushed around.

We've tried to get these hens to start getting used to us by throwing food to them and dropping it closer and closer to us. I'm glad to report that today I got all 5 hens to pick a piece of bread from my hand. I couldn't have done it without blackie. She's already so used to us that she has no problems eating out of our hands. She quickly ran over and started munching away and was really enjoying the fact that the other 4 hens were still to scared to approach, so no fighting over her food. Well, that was until the other 4 hens wanted to know what was going on. RIR was the first to be brave and came over to start pecking away at the food in my hand. The others, while not as bold as Red did come over and take a quick nibble and ran off.

Here's the WHOLE story!

Rob Ludlow
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/ All sorts of Nifty-Stuff!
http://www.reviewum.com/ Professor Reviews!
http://www.ludcon.com/ My General Website

Edited by: reviewum at: 1/27/05 8:08 pm

Re: Our first chickens! YAHOO..... NEW CHICKENS!!!

They're lovely chickens

glad you eventually got some hens!!

Re: Our first chickens! YAHOO..... NEW CHICKENS!!!

Kitsune, Thanks for the comment... we like them too!

BUT not only do we now have hens, we've also got EGGS!!!

Friday 2/04/05
I went outside at about 1:15 and heard some scratching sounds coming from the coop. I noticed all of the chickens outside except the RIR. I slowly opened the coop door to see her sitting there in the bottom nest box. She shuffled around and I didn't see an egg, but I figured that her odd behavior (being inside while everyone else is outside and all the scratching) was a sign that an egg was on its way. I came back about a half hour later and she was outside. I quickly opened the coop to find a cute little brown egg sitting there all by itself. I was so happy. I don't know if I should bronze it or what!

The whole story:
www.nifty-stuff.com/new-chickens.php

Rob Ludlow
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/ All sorts of Nifty-Stuff!
http://www.reviewum.com/ Professor Reviews!
http://www.ludcon.com/ My General Website

Re: Our first chickens! YAHOO..... NEW CHICKENS!!!

hehehe

that first egg is sure eggciting! I blew mine and painted it (then the dog got hold of it when I was out :rolleyes

) so I now have the 4th egg all saved and blown in an egg carton. I have the first egg from the Malay blown and saved too.

Please visit: www.BackYardChickens.com & www.Nifty-Stuff.com