Gonna start next week. This week I will build a brooder box (4'x4' by 1' tall) for them. I'm looking at getting 9-15 birds, 3 varieties, with the idea of having 6-12 laying hens upon maturity of the birds planning for unexpected dirt naps). Their coop will go next to the garden with a door that allows access to the garden for pest control, and to give them more room at most times of the year, except for when the garden is just starting.

Their main pen will allow them a space 10'x20' for a run, and the coop would be 4'x8' on the bottom, with 5 sheets of plywood needed to complete the total coop. This meets the minimum floor space requirements from what I've read for 10-12 birds.

Other than the brooder, plus feeder and watering trays, brooding lamp, anything else I need to get this project going? I can run power to the hutch without any issue, so they will have light and heat to keep them going all winter long.

Pics of your systems would be appreciated.

Two tips Andy....

If you want egg laying hens you will have to buy pullets (already sexed, guaranteed hens); DO NOT buy straight run chicks. If you buy 15 straight runs, you will end up with 12 roosters and 3 hens at the best; and 15 roosters at the worst.

Make sure you're brood box has a lid that small, chick eating predators cannot get through, like a 1" wire mesh. Rats, mink, weasels, etc. all love a gourmet meal of young chicks....who doesn't?

Ike

I am buying pullets right off the bat, and to begin with the pullets will be in a box with a lid in the office of the shop to begin with so they should be safe for a little while and in a climate controlled environment. I have some 1/2' hardware cloth, so I have that box covered as well.

Thanks for the tips.

Sounds like you have it covered.

One thing I did with my chickens in Georgia was having a draggable pen the size of my garden beds. Basically a 4x8 two foot high pen that I could drag around to my 20 beds.

Oh, another vote for keeping those chicks penned up for a bit, I lost 25 chicks the first night I brought them home.

So you had hardware cloth on the bottom of the pen so the poop would fall out? I can put wheels on it, and the door to the garden is 52" wide, so there should be no issue moving is arounf the garden. I read somewhere they call those "chicken tractors".

Back in the day I installed a 12" culvert from the coop to the garden , controlled weed and feed.

Chickens are feathered pigs. While having them clean the pests out of the garden soudns great... they will also clean out your garden. FAST...

I have pheasants and quail, my neighbor has chickens. His chickens like to come flaunt in fornt of my roosters that they're the chit...well, I left the garden door open one day, and the little bastages cleaned out dang near everything but the onions, in just a couple hours. And they dig and tear chit up like you wouldn't believe when they're rooting around for bugs...


hell, they even picked CLEAN 3 steelhead carks I had laying by my cleaning table last week... I mean, these things would put a pirana to shame...

chickens...

Like a pack of dogs on a 3 legged cat. . .. .. They can be somewhat trained (will require a couple to take dirt naps). . . . They like fresh sprouts and vegetables of all varieties (esp tomatoes). I would keep them out of the garden once things are planted, although you could put them in with the melon/squash, potatoes, and corn once the plants are big enough.

once they got going, the 4 hens i had would lay more eggs than my entire family(and the neighbors) could eat.

they definitely do work great for garbage disposal...i used to toss my fish guts to them all the time. just make sure you fence off the areas where you don't want them to go, they'll strip your garden bare!

ducks are a little easier if you've got a water source. only problem i had was that the toothy critters seem to like them even more than chickens.

The pen I dragged around was a secondary pen. When I was outside messing in the garden I would herd the chickens down to the pen and let them scratch and sh!t all day.

Basically one of these
http://openwindow.typepad.com/.a/6a01053564db9d970b01156f20863a970c-800wi

My dad did the chicken thing when I was in elementary school, butchered 40-50 of those ones that eat themselves too death in 3 month.....and eggs from another 8 or 10 layers......thought I was 'da man for lopping those heads off with the 2-bladed axe and spraying blood everywhere, laughin at the lab trying to catch them.....good times, loved the fresh eggs. Cleaning out the chicken house with that pungent ammonia makes me puke in my mouth a little to this day.

Builds character in the youngins, for sure. Would I have chickens today? NO WAY

I was quite the farmer when I was in high school. I raised chickens and livestock, only without the government subsidies. From my experience Andy, it looks like you're well on your way to raising some $10 per dozen eggs. Did I mention that I had a part time job after school to support my "farm" projects? In my senior year I got out of the farm business instead of subsidizing it with my job. Used the money to buy a '55 Chevy hotrod, . . . which is another story.

Basic Rhode Island Reds and Barred Plymouth Rock are good breeds for the purpose you describe. Avoid the exotic breeds; although some look cool, they are more demanding and produce less meat and eggs.

Sg, who has handled easily a quarter million chickens in his agribusiness days, and did he mention that he hates chickens?

Whoa, you win!

Chicks in garden, excuse me I should have added the part about closing the culvert during the growing season. What they do in the off season is weed and feed.

and $10 / dozen probably pretty close to accurate

Sheesh. Garden, chickens, rural location and.....

You thinkin' that our present economy and lifestyle is in for a bumpy landing?

Just trying to be creative. Dan knows why you should call before you come over, though. I'm not paranoid, just prepared.

The materials for the coop are already on hand, extra stuff from the house project. Just need a heat lamp, feed and water dispensers, feed, and chicks. so my cost to start the project isn't really hitting my pocket book. At 2.50 a bird, plus supplies, I'll be into it about $100-150 before I get my first eggs. Then $20 per month on feed, from what I read.

Yeah, I thought I was going to be money ahead with my chickens too.

I'm not trying to be money ahead. Just showing costs I am incurring. What costs were a surprise?

Dogfish,

I started my chicken and livestock "career" when I was 14. All costs were a surprise to me. My business acumen wasn't so good in those days. But I bought more feed than I expected, had predation losses that I hadn't expected, and I had no idea that my project added to the household electric bill, and on and on. The only way I would have made a profit is if I had been able to externalize all my costs. Small scale farming is no way to make any money. I learned that lesson well. No worries. We'll plant a garden too, so we can eat some $5 a head lettuce, etc.

Sg

I could be wrong here but I'm pretty sure he's not trying to turn a profit with 8-10 laying hens....he just wants some fresh eggs.

Were you in FFA too Salmo?

Ike

Andy, I'll buy some of your eggs, to help take the edge off your costs incurred. We eat a lot of them at our house.

Salmo. Good stories about your livestock career. It sounds like it worked a lot better than my Cascara bark career, and definitely better than my little wild blackberry carreer (Made $2.50/hr, and scratches over 85% of my body).

You'll have to get the eggs from the boys. I told them that anything that was earned after paying for feed was theirs. Start saving your egg cartons.

I just got handed a few items from my father-in-law's pheasant project, plus a home depot gift card for supplies. That should take an edge off of the price a bit. First chicks show tomorrow, then another 4 or 5 Wednesday and Thursday as the different stores get their chicks in.

Brooder done.




The spaces are adjustable. The brooder is set up as a 4x4 box, with two partitions. I can decrease the size of the pens, separate different arrivals (I'll have three separate sets, but they'll only be a week apart total) and then take out all of the dividers and give the chicks run of the entire box once all are up and running. I'll build a better light stand that will be permanently attached to the side of the box once I figure out where they like the heat and food, and how high I need to have the lamp. They are in the shop office, which is heated already, so the heat adjustment should be pretty easy.

First set of chicks arrive tomorrow, sex-links.

chickens in moveable pens ("pastured poultry") are good for turning sod in to garden soil. they'll tear up the sod, especially if you are a little wasteful with food and just throw it down for them to scratch out.
They'll crap a lot, and that'll add a ton of nitrogen, which goes with your garden thread. meat and eggs from birds who are pastured have been shown to be more nutritious, and may save you feed money.

I've been cultivating 100'x8' wide strips for a couple years, planting cereal rye and winter wheat over the chicken pasture with great results.

the pens I have are 8x8x2 made of firring strips. chicken wire perimeter, but not on bottom. a piece of scrap tin covers half the top for shelter and shade. i hang a galvanized feeder and a gravity fed waterer plumbed to a 5 gallon bucket. with up to 6-8 birds, they'll need to be moved every other day. you want to move the pen before the crap "caps" the dirt. Unless you want bulk crap to shovel into a composter.

you can put any old box in there (I've used those brown recycling boxes, and an old dog crate) for a nest box if they're layers. if meat birds, they won't need a nest box.

if you want fertile eggs to hatch, add one rooster per 3-5 hens and if you have more hens, you may want 3 roosters. 2 roosters will fight, sometimes to the death. fertile eggs can be hatched in a homemade incubator, and will be a more 'sustainable' approach to buying eggs every year.

there're ways to determine if you have a lazy hen, one that's not laying. It happens, and they make excellent chicken enchiladas and stock.

couple weeks ago my biggest rooster got out and attacked me. Stuck him with my Sebenza and we had Coq au Vin for 2 days, and 4 quarts of stock for all kinds of stuff, including an excellent home grown black beans dish. it ain't city livin', for sure.

So there you go: pastured poultry, chicken tractors, fertile eggs, non-industrial meat.

btw, my 10/22 with carbon barrel, hogue stock, surefire and eotech gets used about twice a year for pest issues. I'd prefer my .223 with a can and safe backstop, but...

http://smallfarms.wsu.edu/animals/poultry.html
http://www.puyallup.wsu.edu/soilmgmt/SusAg_PasturedPoultry.htm
http://www.eatwild.com/products/washington.html

Wow........Go Cougs!

Thanks.

I thought about a chicken tractor, so I will build my coop with rear wheelbarrow wheels on a common axle.

Ike,

I understand about just having fresh eggs. Yeah, FFA big time, dairy and poultry.

RR,

$2.50 and hour!?! Heck, when I finally figured out I couldn't make $0.50 even if I stole the feed from the ranch I worked at, I got rid of my birds and told my mom to buy eggs at the grocery store like most people do.

DougT,

Oh, do I remember those "attack" roosters. Had a couple of them at different times. The first was a great big red one, used to sneak up and jump on our backs while we were milking cows. My younger step-brother got fed up, and he and his buddy provided an afternoon's entertainment chasing that darn bird all around the barn and barnyard, finally catching it and tormenting it with a super dull cleaver, having it get away, and they chased it repeatedly until they finally caught it and whacked its head off. My mom made chicken soup with it, but it was still tough as boot leather.

Fortunately it all provides better memories than it did an actual childhood. I hope Andy's boys have some valuable experiences with this project. But no matter how many chicken stories he posts, I'll remember that I hate chickens and will never raise or keep them again.

Sg

We'll have to swap FFA stories next time we see eachother Steve. The only time I spent in Pullman (beside two Apple Cups) was at the State Convention. My specialty was judging dairy as well. I still have those peculiar flavors of tainted milk embedded in my taste buds...rancid, sweet, sour, malty, bitter, etc....yuk!

I wouldn't trade growing up on a farm for anything though; no need to have the birds and the bees explained to you when you grow up on a farm...you see 'em bred, you see 'em born, you raise 'em....then you kill and eat them. We raised every animal, both feathered and furred, except horses...can't eat horses.

I did my first "chicken project" when I was 15 year old freshman. Raised 225 Cornish Cross, the stupid white meat chickens. All went well until it came time to butcher them. I started butchering them when they were 3.5 lbs and about 7 weeks old....every day after school and every weekend for weeks on end. Ended up employing my parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and any/all friends.....even had an automatic chicken plucker. By the time I finished they were 11 weeks old and weighed nearly 6 lbs, basically small turkeys. Back then I got $2.25/lb for them though, and did turn a profit.

Attack roosters? The reason I cautioned Andy about buying straight run chicks is from personal experience. I bought 25 straight run Rhode Island Reds hoping to get about half hens for laying and half roosters for eating...ended up with ONE hen and 24 very nasty, mean attack roosters. Meaner than a pack of pit bulls, I kid you not.

Ike

I am a chick magnet!

Picked up my first 10 chicks today, 5 Barred Rocks and 5 Austrolops, and I'll pick up a mix of Rhode Island Reds and Gold Sex-Links tomorrow, depending on availability at the other feed store tomorrow.

Cedar the Yellow lab (on a leash at the time) was interested in meeting his new family members.

I'll build my own coop big enough to handle up to 16 laying hens with wood that is left over from the house, as that is what we will have to start with. The one thing I couldn't find was an average mortality rate on chicks. I would hope to bring all 16 to maturity, but want at least 8-12 regular working girls in the stable. The first 10 have all found water at least 3 times, and they are all eating, so I guess that is a good start. We put any chicks that found water into their delivery box, waiting for the remainder to find water on their own after showing them the way a few times. Guess it worked.

We are on the way. With the heated office, a space heater, and the IR light, the chicks moved away from the heat lamp after an hour, so I raised the heatlamp up a bit. I'll check in a bit to see how they are doing. Acting like a mother hen I am.

Andy, throw some fine grit down, maybe in their food or on a sheet of newspaper.
Recent studies have shown that adding grit from the get go helps the birds develop better digestion, which aids maturity. Especially important for your meat birds of any feather.

For mortality, most of my birds have croaked when older and out on range. I haven't lost any chicks in 10 broodings.

I lost one turkey poult, but he was noticeably sick when I brought him home.

My cornish cross meat birds have weighed 10 lbs! (14 week old roosters, butchered), which is an enormous bird. I cut up 6 of those peckerheads and ate the wings. 4 wings were a meal all by themselves! Our family can eat for a few days on one of those carcasses.

If you go with meat birds, you might want to look into building a Whizbang Chicken Plucker. Google and youtube it, and if you're interested I'll send you the plan book.

it makes butchering go a lot faster when you've got a auto plucker. I can do about 7-9 per hour.

+1 on the chicken plucker. DougT have you raised any of the Colored Rangers? I may buy some this spring. They are slower growing and don't have the leg problems that the Cornish X do.

I want to do something other than the white crosses, like the rangers, but honestly I haven't had any issues with legs in over 150 birds. I've had a couple die on hot days, but that's when they're at that 12-15 lb stage...huge birds...they just keel over, literally.

I think the leg problems of those birds are somewhat mitigated by making them move in the pens daily. They get more exercise since they're eating grass and bugs, not just squattin' by a feeder all day, which they will.

the main reason i want another meat breed is to get fertile eggs from.
i have a "homestead" breed, hens are black and cocks are red, that has layed through 95% of the winter with no extra light (my first homestead criteria), and they're hearty (they lived in an open sided pen through the winter with no other shelter) and they're meaty (heavier even than a "heavy layer"). now if I can get them to hatch, and see what the finish weight is at 10 weeks (hopefully at least 5 lbs), I'm on to somethin'.

Chickens, bees, asparagus, rhubarb, winter squash, garlic and rosemary are homestead musts in my book.

Also, man, if you got the room, grow a couple of Embden geese. These birds grow fast, are good to watch, and not only incredibly tasty in the winter, but give some amazingly high quality rendered fat for cooking/baking/storage. I get about a quart of rendered goose fat per bird. Its pure white, a lighter grease, and excellent in the kitchen.

just a plug for my favorite bird.

We have used the chicken tractors and move the birds daily. The pasture sure benefits from having the birds out there. The nice thing about the White X is that you have a nice 4.5 to 5 LB broiler in 8 weeks versus the 11-12 weeks for the rangers.

I got some fine grit for them at the feed store the other day and topped off the feeder trough with a few sprinkles of it, and will do that every day. A teaspoon is what I was told to add to their feed each day.

Works good for Turkeys as well ! ! I have the video to prove it ! !

The plucker that is .. . .

VOTE FOR PEDRO

Bought a turkey from a Boisfort farm during elk season, got my bill of sale and headed back up to elk camp. Pulled in as if I was going to stop at our camp, then tore off down the road about 60-70 yards, out of sight of my hunting partners. Jumped out and fired 4 rounds into a dirt embankment with my .40 S&W pistol,...... pop, pop, pop, pop, then a short pause and ...................................................pop... another round.

I headed back to camp and pulled in, took off my boots as if nothing had happened, and got myself a beer. One of my partners asked, "What was that shooting all about?" I told him, "Nothin', I missed a grouse."

Ron then goes to his his truck and retrieves his grouse, tosses it at me, and says "Clean my bird, Bitch."

I go to my truck, grab the turkey, that I had shot a mile down the road so they wouldn't hear it, and tell him, "This is a real bird. You clean mine, I'll clean yours." It was a domesticated turkey that looked just like a Merriam. The look on his face was priceless as the blood dripped off of the turkey's head.

So I proceeded to pluck the turkey in camp, feathers everywhere, and my elk camp buddies were shittin' big bricks, thinking I had just poached a turkey. The gamey had been by earlier in the day.

After a while, I showed them the receipt for the bird. Don't ever want to pluck a turkey by hand again.

Heads up on using shavings/chips on teh brooder floor. If they get kicked into the water dish, they can marinade a brew that's deadly to young chicks.

don't know how much it affects chickens, but on my pheasants and quail...chips are an absolute no-go.

Placed the water dish on a block an inch higher than the floor and it solved the chip in water issue. After an hour they had kicked a fair amount of chips in there, so I know what you mean.

Also, cedar chips are bad (oils), pine shavings are fine. I am using pine.

Andy
Addicted and I considered raiding your place today. We got a late start and figured at 9 am we'd be safe. Hey Zues we had no idea you had those things installed at your gate.
Won't bother you again.
ps river was rising all day and didn't work well with our goals.

Great thread, but I keep thinking of the chicken scene in Napoleon Dynamite!

There will be a sign.

WARNING!

These chickens do have LARGE TALONS!

(I know a sign guy)

good tip on the shavings.

One more bit of advice from my Grandpa.

If your choking your chicken to pullet.

ok that was 3rd grade

Apparently chickens don't piss.

Well here you go- please note I have no skills as a builder so there may be some issues with the construction.

This coop is sided with salvage shiplap, I tried to use salvage lumber as much as possible.

The floor is 2X6 cardecking, joist are 2X8 treated

This coop is totally over built if I was to do it again I would make it much lighter. I have moved this several times with a small trailer, if I move it again it will be to someone elses home.

In other words- while there may be one or two good ideas here don't copy this.

One thing that I want to point out is its elevated off the ground- chicken feed attracts RATS. If you have your coop on the ground, you are creating a idea habitat for them to live breed multiply.

Later JY

Looks good to me, but I see what you mean by over built. I will just use an OSB siding material for the walls and roof, add a layer of tar-paper, then cover with cedar shingles that I have left over from the house. My plan it to put it on pier blocks, 18-24" off the ground, and install a single axle for wheelbarrow wheels on one end. I have plexiglass for windows, and eave block vents also left over, so it will be a bit over built, style wise, but not extremely heavy.

Would 1/2" hardware cloth be big enough or do I need to search for 3/4", if that even exists, and do you cover that roost poop sectio in really cold weather?

I've also considered an exterior nesting box. Your design gives me an idea.

Picked up the last of the inhabitants for the coop, 3 Rhode Island Reds, 3 Gold sex-links, and 4 cornish cross for an experiment in meat birds, just because we can.

Started the coop.

Leveled the site.


Started on the uprights.


Set the perimeter of the floor frame.


Set the floor joists, 16" on center.


Set the floor in place and secured it with some ringshanks.

Get much sleep last night Dogfish? I'm sawing logs at midnight and Andy is out building things....

I suck.

Sorry Nofish, I worked late again tonight.

Finished the framing. The only items I had to buy were a few pieces of Simpson galvanized plate to make one complete roof truss and shore up two others left over from the house, 2 PTGT 12' 4"x4" posts, and 4 pier blocks. Everything else is leftover from the house project. What a great way to clean out the shop.

Front & side windows framed, plus chicken entry door on the lower left. There will be hardware cloth permanently attached inside, I will make all windows out of plexigass and farme them so that they open out to provide ventilation.


Loft window framed and the trusses squared & plumbed up. Providing additional light and ventilation.


Side view of the coop. I know, It is a bit funky, but I get another 8SF of floor space by putting that loft up there, AND i use up some roof trusses that were just sitting around.


Back view shows the nest box location for the 12-16 hens we'll have in there.


This last shot shows the proximity to the garden. The ladies will have the run of the garden from October to March, except for where there are permanent plants like asparagus and rhubarb. Hopefully they'll do a good job of rototilling and weeding the garden, plus adding some free fertilizer along the way.


I sheet the coop tomorrow, then electrical wiring for switched lights rigged to a timer for winter.

Looks great so far, Dogfish. You're pulling out all the stops! Those chickens will be roosting in style.

You couldn't possibly do worse than my neighbor; his chickens can often be found eating birdseed in my front yard. Some of them have some nice looking capes, so I warned him he'd better not tempt me too many times, lest they end up on fish hooks of all shapes and sizes. He didn't think that was too funny, but I think I inspired him to make some repairs, because I haven't seen them around as much lately.

Banty's are great for flies, as are pheasants, which will be tried after quail. Gotta get the Cornish Cross' in the freezer before we can start on the quail.

Sheeting is done, plus of the windows and doors are cut out.


The future inhabitants...



Roof is tarpapered and will get the main roofing material tomorrow. I'll start on the trim, wiring, insulation, and drywall tomorrow. Might even get some of the cedar wall shingles up for the siding. It is amazing how much material I have left over from the house & shop project

andy did you build where you will have a good shooting lane?
also one thing my grandpa told me was to have a door where you did not have to go into the pen to get into the coop. makes shoveling out easier to

Larry, the floor will be linoleum and there will be poop boards below the roosts, so there should be minimal need to change the shavings more than a few times per month. The only access door from outside the coop is the egg collection box under the rear eaves. The first photo shows where those will be, and the photo from the front shows that they have been cut out, where there is no insulation.

Thinking $1,500 there Hank.

Roof, facia, electrical, and insulation done. Cedar siding tomorrow.

Rent has gone up to $2,000 per month.

Took Monday evening off.

Got the cedar siding up on two sides tonight. One to go.



The Cornish Cross are packing on the weight. Two weeks at my house and the first 4 are well over a pound. I think they were a week old when I got them.


I'll finish the last side tomorrow, finish up the electrical (add a recepticle for the automatic door opener/closer), start the drywall, and then work on the nest boxes.

I'll still need to build a door, make my own windows, and do a few other things, but I hope to be done by Sunday.

Andy
As part of the selling of the red boat can you look up the thread where you rebuilt it? I remember it from way back but not sure when. I didn't know you then but sort of remember the thread and thought it was cool.

August-September 2002 or 2003

I was looking for you to do the heavy lifting here Andy.

Good work

http://www.piscatorialpursuits.com/forum...html#Post162075

http://www.piscatorialpursuits.com/forum...html#Post164717

http://www.piscatorialpursuits.com/forum...html#Post166736

Photos were lost when Bob's server got hit.

Get after it Andy! The chicks getting their own web cam? lol

Thanks for the links Dogfish....not quite the same without the pics.

Looks like quite the palace ! ! Those cornish crosses are looking like the thugs on the block next to the little ones.

You sure drywall is the best idea in there ?? Get messy if you ever have to hose it out for a good cleaning and varmits and/or chickens can get to chewin on it pretty easily . .. . . It holds moisture and smells pretty well . .. .

I'll give the drywall a try, and I can rip it out if there is an issue. It should only be an hour to do it. I'll put a few coats of semi gloss paint on it for stain and moisture resistance. I can always round up some linoleum, wood or paneling to put over it if that doesn't work. I have been reading up on poop boards and roosts, which will confine waste to a specific area.

Siding is done!


One friend suggested I route cable in there and run 24 hour chicken porn to increase egg production.

Ordered my automatic chicken door opener today. Should be here next week! Set the times you want it opened or closed, and it happens!

Trying to figure out a name for the coop, and the sign will be ordered tomorrow that reads, "Warning, these chickens have large talons!"

Why not green board like they use in bathrooms?

I have one sheet of green board. I'm just using up extra materials.

Looking good Dogfish. Nice work!

Captain

Andy, I think you could put RedGuard on the sheetrock. 1st coat should be cut with water, then a thick coat. No chicken will peck through that.

I gave my excess red guard to Tom, who did my tile, but that would be an exceelent idea.

I might have left over red guard from the bathroom tile job.

Sg

Built a few windows tonight. Cedar frames, plexiglass windows.




One more to build tomorrow, and then they get installed. After that the door and the flooring. I found some hardboard, 1/8th inch, that I'll install over the drywall. 3 sheets for $18.

Trying to do as much of this with what I have on hand, but I do need to buy some stuff.

Today's progress.

Made a loft window and installed all windows.


Made and installed the door.

The hinges I bought suck, or my installation sucked, so I'll change that tomorrow.

Started on the insulated nest boxes.


Played with the idea of an egg drop box.

The floor is slanted to the back and the eggs drop out of sight into a padded area so they don't get eaten or broken. There is a space under that partition where the eggs roll through. We'll see how that works, but if it doesn't, It will take 5 minutes to change it to a standard box.

Finish up the nest boxes and the interior tomorrow, including the pop-door lock.

Successful chicken ranching is all about poop management.
Very nice coop, but it needs to be up off the ground and the floor should be one inch square wire.
Roosting hens generate lots of poop, better to dig it out from under the coop than trying to scrape it up off the floor.
Oxygenated lime works as a smell neutralizer and won't burn their feet.

Hilarious IE: board moderation


Dogfish, That homestead is very impressive to say the least.

There will be poop boards below the roosts.

Nicely done....

When's the coop warming party?

No head flashing above the window frames?

Top Notch Andy

Nice coop. Wish you well on varmit control.

My dad has raised chickens since I was in grade school. Saw a pair of spawning steelhead in the creek back then. That was about the same time I had NOFISH in my 3rd/4th grade class. I thought he had gas problems but it must have been the chicken [censored] on his shoes.

I just had some farm fresh eggs for breakfast this weekend from dad's farm and my son has been helping him out on the farm. My dad trapped 2 minks a couple of weeks ago. They are hard to trap because they can smell human scent on the traps.

It's a goddamned chicken coop.

Interior sheeting over the isulation is done. That took longer than I envisioned. 6 sheets of 1/8" hardboard. Automatic door arrives tomorrow.

That house could pass as a Forks bed and breakfast.

Finished the nest boxes tonight!




The last two photos show the eggs ramps. There is a piece of straw keeping the egg from dropping.

(Yes Driftin', I will make sure I seal that air leak on the upper right of the roof on the nest box, and I know the roof of the nest box doesn't provide a good drip edge, but it is covered by a 3' overhang on the lee side of the usual weather direction. I dare a drop of water to get in there, dammit!)

Then I took some time to hang out with a few chicks afterwards.


The Barred Rocks are by far the friendliest, with a few of the Black Austrolorps warming up really fast. The meal worms I'm feeding them really help to develop a bond. (Look at me, a big strong guy talking about bonding. I feel a tear...)

Gonna work on the auto door tomorrow, and then a feeder and watering system that I can manage from outside of the coop, maybe even have the water fill off of the roof. Feeder will be made from 4" PVC and will go through the wall and be filled from outside. There will also be a home-made feeder under the coop (5 gallon bucket and planter base)

Very cool Andy ! ! Looks like you are getting it done just in time. Otherwise you will have chicken [censored] all over your new shop floor. .. . .

Like the external fill for the feed/water.

If you end up with 'lorp cockerels, you may end up eating them when they get bigger instead of letting them keep the hens "happy." Know of one that goes after my friend's kids and adults when they enter the pen for any reason. Damn thing is a puffed-up whirlwind of spurs and beak. He should have been dinner long ago....

Seriously tho', thanks for posting this up. It's too late for spring chicks, but I've drawn up some plans for a coop with some details for similar ways of keeping feeding and watering convenient--'specially when its raining. Your clucker architecture has given some perspective.

nothing beats a house full of hot chicks

One good way to handle a rooster is with a tennis racket. Let them know who is boss, not hurt them, but certainly rough them up a bit. Every time you step into a cage, intimdate them and let them know who is boss.

Any roosters that are identified will be culled out of respect to my neighbors. I believe that I got all pullets (girls), but in case any slipped through, they'll join the Cornish Cross in the freezer.

I really need to take a picture of of those meat birds I bought. Ugly suckers. I swear that the four I got 3 weeks ago are easily 2 pounds each, and they make the laying hen chicks look like runts. The six I bought last week are as big as the layin hen chicks. Butcher time for the first four is in 5 weeks, and they should dress out at 5-7 pounds. I'm getting another ten at the end April, so I should have the process down pretty good after a few batches have been raised and butchered.

Let us know if the chickens can run with their heads choppped off. I never did buy that.

I would say it's a cross between a run and the funky chicken dance

Got the automatic door installed tonight! Made the door out of some 1/4" lexan I had left over from another project, so it was cheap and is almost bullet proof. (No offers to test it, please.)

Fitting the door for function.


Made a lock bar that only allows the door to open when opened by the auto door system.


Installed the opener.


And the finished product.


Need to add roosts, poop boards, flooring (linoluem scrap), water and feeding system, and a ramp. That will complete the coop. I covered the drywall with some masonite. Should be much sturdier and peck proof.

Below is a picture of my Corish Cross meat chickens.

The two in the lower right are a week old. The four going from bottom left to right center are 3 weeks old. The biggest is all of 2 pounds. The chick in the top center is a gold sex link (gold comet), and it is also 3 weeks old. That gives you an aidea how quickly these Cornish Cross grow. I'll be getting 10 more once the original 10 are in the freezer.

[video:google]http://s137.photobucket.com/albums/q233/mesoas/Chickens/?action=view&current=0401000714.flv[/video]

So much for "Up with the chickens."

I have raised about every type of livestock there is. If I were to raise anything else again it would be chickens. There is a real satisfaction to watching the chickens scratching around and nothing beats fresh free range eggs.

As noted, they will destroy a young garden, and the supply of C.S. seems to exceed my demand, but I do like chickens.

It is fun to watch ducks snarfing down slugs, but they make such a God awful mess of any water supply they quickly out lived their welcome around here.

Dave,

My wife grew up with a pet Peking duck, which was killed after a few years by a raccoon. I have free license to kill any raccoon, any time, anywhere. Yes, they love slugs. No duck for now.

So I moved in a few yards of crushed black rock yesterday to build a base about 6" deep.



Then I set my posts.


...and finally I dug my trenches to burry the wire fence.


I'll add a few more inches of black rock to bring it to 12" of depth. This material compacts like concrete after a few rains and some compaction.

Adding fence and building a door today. Well, time to get to work.

well happy Easter! Tell me why do they need a driveway?

Why? Because I like to overbuild things. Chickens dig and scratch in the earth. They are mini rototillers. That area of my yard has a lot of clay from when we dug these two 10'x4'x4' pits for the shop rain wells....

..and the topsoil has a fair amount of clay in it as well. Add scratching and digging and you get muddy chickens. I'm build a base, then adding 4-6" of sand on top to give them a dryer run.

Happy chicken lay more eggs.

Sure could have used some of KK's help yesterday digging trenches.

Dogfish:

That is the absolute taj mahal of chicken coops. Your chickens won’t be happy. They will be ecstatic!

Fence and door done. Need to add some hardware cloth. Just need the time to do it.

Damn that pup growed up fast.

6 months old next week. He's a pretty good dog, minds well, but still is a jumpy spaz around new folks and dogs.

We'll do a few quail after the chicks are in their new run. Maybe 10 or so is all. Father-in-law did maybe 5 or 6 runs of pheasants from 10-25 birds each. They need a fair amount of room or they really start hacking away at each other. Ringnecks were somewhat mean, but the Reeves he had was vicious. Killed 20 other pheasants in a single evening. MEAN. Might try a few pheasant next year, and maybe a turkey or two. We'll see.

Cool thing happened today. Over the past few weeks I've been hearing a grouse "drumming" near me as I worked on the coop. I look over to the log on the left of this photo

and I see some movement, and the grouse starts drumming away. Didn't catch it on film, unfortunately, as I was mesmerized by it. First time I ever saw it happen. I'll see if I can catch him in the act.

My 16 laying chicks get out of the brooder and into their new home tomorrow! 5 BR's, 5 Austrolorps. 3 RIR, and 3 GSLs. The run is done and safe, and their coop will be done tomorrow (flooring, feeder, and watering system are all that needs to be done). I'll also dig a trench to run permanent power to the coop.

4.5 weeks old, been decreasing the temp every week, and they will be heading into an insulated and heated coop, so I can regulate the heat in there just fine. I am seriously considering moving my 4 CX chicks (3lbs each, so it is hard to call them chicks) in at the same time. I would think the CX couldn't get up to the taller roosts, nor would they be able to chase the laying hens since they are slugs. I'll try it for a day I guess.

Wish us luck.

Good Luck ! ! At least you have good weather for the move !!

andy let me know when you are going to start selling eggs

Andy, you never slow down is it time to remodel the house yet? looks good and well thought out... I think the chicken adventure has just begun.

Larry, about 3 months for eggs. July or there about. One Way, if I stop moving, I get fat.

Got a lot done today, even after taking time out for Ryan's soccer game.

Made an industrial type watering system for the coop. 6 nipples cost me $12, and shipping was $11. Should have bought more. Also added linoluem flooring. It was free, but I tore that corner putting it in. One building skill I suck at.


There is a 5 gallon bucket that is the storage tank. I'll hook up a gutter to supply it with water later, and rig an overflow. I know, got sloppy with the glue. It'll hold.


Made a feeder out of a home depot bucket. Total cost was $3.24 for the bucket and $4.89 for the planter base. Had the sheet aluminum, so I made a cone, drilled some holes, and attached the planter base to the bucket. Add some feed and it works!





Now it is time for MTV chicken cribs since food and water were covered. Added some comfy pine shavings, so to the left is the watering station.....


...and to the right is the ladder to the loft and the feeder.

I covered up the nest box until I get that finished, and they are still about 15 weeks away from laying. Might as well keep it clean.

Taking a trip up the ladder leads you to the the executive roost/loft....

There is a removable linoleum sheet to catch the poop under the roost. Nice view of the property from there as well.

Moved the chicks in and then opened the auto door. That Barred Rock is the top hen, so she ventured out first. She's a real sweety, and likes to hang out on my lap.


After the lead hen said all was good to go, the rest followed suit and had a great time in the run.


I add the cover netting, permanent wiring, and electric fence tomorrow.

andy i used to get fittings like those from Isaacson's in aberdeen if you want to add more

Man, buying nipples by the dozen and chicks sitting on yer lap, this thread is going somewhere. . . . .

Nice looking work Andy, all I did today is wire lights in my boat and fish wire under the deck for more power . . .

Isaacson? Don't know them. Checked all the feed stores in the area before I ordered them. I have another similar system for my meat birds, but would like some more for a friends project. I'll look them up, thanks Larry.

There is also an Issacson's just off the hwy near Black Lake rd. It is an industrial supply type place I think...

isaacson industrial supply, there down on the port dock
did not see oregonian reply. same company they have several stores

Thanks guys. I'll check them out tomorrow.

I made a gravity waterer out of a 5 gallon bucket and a planter base. $5. Also finished the run today. Just gotta install the electric fence.


I won't say it is raccoon proof, but they are gonna have one hell of a time getting in there, if they can get past the electric fence.

Not the country.

Checked on the delivery date of my 15 (turned into 25) Cornish Cross meat chickens today and they had about 50 extra turkeys, so I bought two. Two turkeys and 25 chicks wil come home on Wednesday. Should be fun! These are the "Bronze" models.

That'll keep those cornish thugs in line. . . . .gobble gobble. . .

So what did the "Gold Models" look like?

Dibs on some of the feathers before the other fur and feather flingers

No Gold, but there are:

Bronze (including broad breasted)
Narragansett
White Holland
Black Spanish
Beltsville
Royal Palm
Auburn
Buff
Chocolate
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_turkey_breeds

I'll have some feathers around Thanksgiving and again around Christmas, providing that I don't kill them. They will not be attached to the cape. Killing days will be 22nd of November and December. Swing by and you can have your pick.

In the continuance of my unhealthy obsession with my chickens, and my propensity to build things when I am bored, I built an integration/segragation pen. I put my meat birds in there.


And everyone wanted to see the new folks.




I'll use it as a place to keep sick birds, keep broody hens, and start batches of chicks as well.

Hey Andy,

Just wanted to give you a on a great project and pictorial to go along with it. It's been fun watching this endeavor evolve.


I think you should put a little sign on the new house..

entitled..

"Death Row"

I raised two turkeys. They both died of natural causes one a few days before Thanksgiving and the other, yeap Dec 23. One was found still warm and we saved a hind quarter and it weighed more than most birds whole.

By natural, you mean hatchet?

Maybe it was all those internet videos he was filming.

Natural I mean I told the november bird what was about to happen and the next day he was like Steve Austin stone cold.

the December bird drowned while trying to drink
rain in a downpour.