Since one of the chicks turned out to be a rooster, we ended up with two roosters. And decided to get more chicks, to make the situation a little better.
Finished the nesting boxes and storage/emergency coop area. Those were the last things remaining.
Chicks are 4 month old now.
Turned out we have 2 roosters, so next month i am planning to get more chicks.
Another thing should i cover the nesting boxes, or should i leave them open?
Didn't have a chance to do much since than. Chickens are growing, just turned 3 month old.
On the side note, we had a bear visit our house, but it stayed on the front yard. This is the first time in 3 years I owned the house. It drunk sugar water from hummingbird feeder, and I am afraid it will...
at one moment I neede to quickly add ventilation (something I can close if needed) to my coop. One of the issues, the chicken were in already and the run was not ready.
So I did this:
I built stairs for the outside. Since I put it, a bit less then a week ago, my 2 month old chicks were actually flying down but walking up. I am not sure do I need to change that or not.
4/08 I finished the roof on the run, and started forking in the netting. I used 1/2x1/2 19ga PVC coated netting for the sides, and 2x3 16ga for the upron. Used Ryobi 18V narrow stapler to attach it. I decided to put the top part verticaly on the inside and the bottom as one piece on the outside...
For the coop flooring we decided on deep liter using industrial hemp. We bought from Carolina coops, and it got delivered surprisingly fast. So the very next day, 4/03, I put together some roosting bars, linoleum, put down the hemp, and the chicks moved to the coop. I have to say I was worried...
At this point I took a few days off at work and did a push to try to complete at least the coop. Transparent polycarbonate roofing on the coop was probably not the best idea, but I will deal with it later. For the siding I cut shiplap grooves on my router table. This is the state of 4/02.
A few things happend with the chicks - our rooster got a blood spot on the back, and we decided to move him and one small chick to another improvised brooder. Also, the room started to smell and get dusty (the dust actually mostly from the feed), so we moved the chicks to the garage.
On the coop from, it was the time to start puting a frame. I decoded to have it around 6 feet in the front, and about 4 feet at the back. This way I can walk in, and reach to the corner with some tools. While, as I said, my wife wanted the external walls to match the shed, I did use PT treade...
So, it was 3/12, and when I switched from paper towels to pine shavings in the brooder. 4 days later two chicks flew ot of it into the room. The door to the room was locked, so my 3 cats did not have a chance to introduce themselves, but steel I built top cover for the brooder. I also buit a...