Adventures in Urban Chickens In Japan

My adventure began with a totally random purchase at a local hardware store that had a pet department. 4 hens and a quail. 12meters of 90cm chicken wire. And no experience.


Step 1: breaking Ground and getting my son off his XBox gaming console. Chopping and hoeing the weeds out of the garden. Tilling the soil to prep for foundation blocks.


Time is of the essence. Little guys want out of their box!



Step 2: building a basic dimension footer to gauge layout direction.



Ran out of daylight and luckily had a spare cage for them to spend the night in the house.



Day 2. Chickens stink ... Time to get foundation set and get to building.



Getting the full chicken supervision!



Teaching my son the basics of cut and measure!



Step 3: Painting day with my son



Step 4: brainstorming late into the night about making the nest boxes hygienic by lining the floor and walls with currogated plastic for easier cleanup with a hose. I'm imaging they are going to poop everywhere.



Step 5: chicken wire. Picked up another 12m x 90cm roll and a new stapler.



Step 6: I think the chickens need a little freedom from the cage and time to think about where we go from here. Temporary boxs. I Also buried chicken wire 1 foot below the soil surrounding the perimeter of the coop. They are loving the freedom.



Step 7: build a functional door. Came out better than I hoped.



Step 8: realization that farming is work Time to build efficiency and time management into this. Time to google and you tube some feeder ideas.



Step 9: introspection, observation and well hanging out with the chickens. Ordering some DYI stuff from America.





Step 10: putting ideas to work. Roosting bar and gravity feeder.



Step 11: water nipples arrived. Time to build!









This has worked out better than I imagined




Getting a little crowded in here. Time to integrate a ladder and proper nesting boxes! More research to follow.



I guess farming ain't all that bad. Time for beer!

HI

Glad you could join the flock! What a lovely intro, have loved looking through your pics. You could post your coop pics in the coop section. This is a great way to show other members how you have made it and it may help them with their builds. Here is the link https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/2/Coop_Designs
Drop by the quail section fir all the quail chat https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/48/quail

Good luck with your chicks and quail. Be sure to ask any questions that you may have, everyone here to help and very friendly.
Enjoy BYC

Welcome to BYC !!

Welcome to BYC! Please make yourself at home and we are here to help.

Very nice pictures! Thank you for sharing!

Welcome to BYC. Glad you decided join our flock. You really have things well organized and planned out. Thanks for posting all the pics. ) My son-in-law is Japanese, and my family and I recently returned from a trip to Japan. I have posted the pics or our trip at https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/975505/japan-trip-photos. I'm sure you will recognize a number of the places in our photos. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Good luck with your flock.

Welcome to BYC!

Loved your intro and all the photos! What does your son think of the chicks? Having poultry can be a great family activity and just wait until you get that 1st egg...sort of like a reward for all your effort.

Hope you are enjoying them and if you have any questions, please feel free to ask questions. There are a lot of friendly and knowledgeable members here.

Good luck, nice to have you join us!

Welcome to Backyard chickens. It was a joy, reading your post. You have good building skills and ideas. Have they learned to use the nipple waterers yet?

Part 2: Cardboard box Eviction. DYI daytime/summer nesting box . I need to build a Proper house before Winter. We do get Snow here at Mt. Fuji .



Step 1: layout options. I went with 2 storage containers for the sanitation, and easier to move around should I have a need.
The goal was 3 nests per container. Since they are still juveniles I'm only building one of them. And letting them bunk up together. Everyone is getting along well and I've given them some time outside the Coop roaming the garden. Quail is a little jealousy when his poultry friends get to go play outside. He complains and sings a storm.



Step 2: layout and drilling radius corner and Dremel cuts.



Step 3: holes finished time to think about divider walls.







Step 4: nest box completed time to introduce the residents to their new summer home.



Step 5: 21:00 Time for some rest. Temporary placement. Will build something more permanent later. We're going to need some stairs and possible a small door for the quail. Although he likes bunking with the Hens .... What a Stud!

drumstick diva said:

Welcome to Backyard chickens.  It was a joy, reading your post.  You have good building skills and ideas.  Have they  learned to use the nipple waterers yet?

Click to expand...

They are leaky. So I placed a flower pot bottom dish to catch the water. If they don't seal up by next week I'll have to do some maintenance on them. But for now they need to grow a little to reach them.