Here is our Chicken Palace.
This is prior to the paint.
This is an ongoing project and is no weekender.
We acquired 27 RIR (26 pullets and 1 cockerel) and a White Crested Black Polish in June. We picked up 3 RIR hens, 3 BO hens and 1 BR hen in August. We then got 1 BO hen with 4 peeps. We are getting between 6 & 8 eggs per day.
The Palace is 10'x14' with a 10'x4' feed room. There are 8 nest boxes on the back wall
which can be harvested from the outside.
I have 24' of roost
that is on a hinge so it can be lifted out of the way for cleaning.
The Girls took right to the roost and seemed to be happy for the upgrade.
I installed an auto door for my convenience.
It is the drapery motor version.
The motor is a little pricey, but well worth it to sleep in or stay out late and have peace of mind. The opener works perfectly. I used drawer slides as runners to help the door stay in line. I made the door similar to how you would make a drawer. I had a counter weight from and old window and used it as it was intended. It takes the stress off of the motor. I picked up a timer on sale from the hardware store. UPDATE: this was the D80 model. Itlast for about 10 months and then gave out. I have replaced this with the D20 Chicken Door model. I'll let you know how it works.
The Chicken Palace sits in a 30 sq ft fenced yard. For the fence I used 3' 1" poultry wire, topped with and additional 5' off bird netting. I used schedule 40 PVC for the net frames.
Chicken Pinatas
The girls are a bit spoiled. We bought a few bird "cake" feeders, and fill them up in the morning with the treats for the day. Apples and tomatoes are favorites.
Homemade feeder & fountains
Here is a shot of one of my Bucket Fountains and Rosie. Easy to make and the girls love having water outside. The cheap plug for Menards was just happenstance ;-)
Here is a bucket feeder I put together. It is generally the same as others on this and other web sites. Mine uses a dip-N-chip tray as the base and I put a funnel in the bucket to push the feed towards the holes. I use mash in this feeders and it works well. Crumbles would probably work better though. The holes in the bottom of the bucket are as large as I could make them. I fastened the bucket to the tray with four nuts/bolts and it is pretty sturdy. The tray is not all that thick and I am curious as to how it will hold up in the cold. UPDATE: We are in the second witer with this feeder and it is still like new.
This is an ongoing project and is no weekender.
We acquired 27 RIR (26 pullets and 1 cockerel) and a White Crested Black Polish in June. We picked up 3 RIR hens, 3 BO hens and 1 BR hen in August. We then got 1 BO hen with 4 peeps. We are getting between 6 & 8 eggs per day.
The Palace is 10'x14' with a 10'x4' feed room. There are 8 nest boxes on the back wall
I have 24' of roost
I installed an auto door for my convenience.
The Chicken Palace sits in a 30 sq ft fenced yard. For the fence I used 3' 1" poultry wire, topped with and additional 5' off bird netting. I used schedule 40 PVC for the net frames.
Chicken Pinatas
The girls are a bit spoiled. We bought a few bird "cake" feeders, and fill them up in the morning with the treats for the day. Apples and tomatoes are favorites.
Homemade feeder & fountains
