Consolidated Kansas

[CHIKENROOKIE]

Pallets. Recycled wood, new home build sites always have scraps of siding they throw out.

Danz........nice listing on CL. Assumed it was yours with the Waverly location. How many Sussex you have?

 

[MrsProf]

Kids and I built a new collapsible brooder today. 4 ft by 4 ft with 2 ft sides. I think I'll put some leftover PVC panel from our bathroom remodel on the bottom, at least for under the waterer, its got nice texture so it won't be slippery. What's everyone's thought on roosting bars in the brooder? Necessity or extra?

 

[Heidi A]

Thanks Milomac and Danz! I used masking tape to hold the toes apart and then some foam I ripped from a to-go box on the bottom of his feet for a bit extra support. I've used this method for 4 days now (changing the tape every day and checking for tissue irritation) and the toes have spread out, but the ankles seem to still be turned inward. Not sure if that can be fixed or not. Either way, I have a feeling that this particular chicken will grow up to be quite spoiled

 

[tatinatimom]

So what kind of chickens are your test hatch? I don't remember if you said.
 I have chicks hatching today too. I may not have as good a hatch as normal cause my humidity pad got too full of lime and wasn't wicking water. That made the humidity a little low. I've been so busy I was just checking the level in the bucket instead of the actual humidity.
I brought in another incubator today. I have it settling. I am way behind on setting eggs. Should have been done yesterday for sure. It was a bit of a miserable day today. Just like winter and I had a lot to do. I really was in one of those moods to throw my hands in the air and give up. I did manage to get the duck pond pumped out, cleaned and refilled. And DH helped me move the pen the guineas are in so they could be on some fresh ground. I had another egg in there before I moved them. I sure hope I didn't mess up their laying. I had one escape when I was putting their "furniture" back in. It's been panicking ever since but not smart enough to go to the gate while I was there.
I need to get busy but I am just totally worn out right now. Maybe I'll get a second wind.

Danz I have 2 RIR, 1 Production red, 2 black sex link, 2 cinnamon queen/EE mixes, 1 Brown leghorn, and 2 EE hen/pullets.
My roos are 1 bantam cochin splash and 1 EE mix ( not positive of the mix but he's a beaut!!)
I now have 15 hatched out of 20!!!!!!

 

[tatinatimom]

I don't know what my chicks will look like when they get older but they sure are cute right now!! A couple of the eggs from my Brown leghorn hatched out and are completely yellow chicks!! The other two look like a standard Brown leghorn! Crazy!!
I am so addicted!! Luckily I have another batch hatching next Saturday. ;-)

 

[Trish44]

Kids and I built a new collapsible brooder today. 4 ft by 4 ft with 2 ft sides. I think I'll put some leftover PVC panel from our bathroom remodel on the bottom, at least for under the waterer, its got nice texture so it won't be slippery. What's everyone's thought on roosting bars in the brooder? Necessity or extra?

I personally don't put roosts in my brooders because by the time they get out of there they go out to an outdoor pen where there will be one. They don't use them anyway till they're much older, they just sleep on the ground or whatever they have to sleep on or in. I have one pen where I had a dog kennel in there with straw in it for colder weather & the birds all slept in it or on top of it till they were older & now I removed that & they sleep on the roost. I have dog houses in most of my outdoor pens in the winter to give the birds somewhere to get in for bad weather but most of them don't use them. My bantam cochins have used their dog houses through the winter but aren't now.

I went & bought a bunch of pine shavings in preparation to clean my breeder coop out & add to my main one. Coop cleaning is always my least favorite thing to do. I need to start cleaning outside pens as well. As I walked through Orscheln's today I noticed their chick cages were total empty except for 3 meat birds left. They were cleaned out. They did have rabbits but that was it. I had kind of hoped to get a couple of chicks to keep my baby goose company or even a different breed of gosling but they had nothing.

Prairie your kids are cute. I just think baby animals of all kinds are adorable. My youngest lamb is getting hefty now, I picked him up today to get him back into the pen & he's almost getting too heavy for me to pick up. I hope to get my scale hooked up that I got in the next couple days & see what he & the other one really weigh now.

 

[Prairie Fleur]

[COLOR=0000FF]I personally don't put roosts in my brooders because by the time they get out of there they go out to an outdoor pen where there will be one. They don't use them anyway till they're much older, they just sleep on the ground or whatever they have to sleep on or in. I have one pen where I had a dog kennel in there with straw in it for colder weather & the birds all slept in it or on top of it till they were older & now I removed that & they sleep on the roost. I have dog houses in most of my outdoor pens in the winter to give the birds somewhere to get in for bad weather but most of them don't use them. My bantam cochins have used their dog houses through the winter but aren't now.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=0000FF]I went & bought a bunch of pine shavings in preparation to clean my breeder coop out & add to my main one. Coop cleaning is always my least favorite thing to do. I need to start cleaning outside pens as well.[/COLOR] [COLOR=0000FF]As I walked through Orscheln's today I noticed their chick cages were total empty except for 3 meat birds left. They were cleaned out. They did have rabbits but that was it. I had kind of hoped to get a couple of chicks to keep my baby goose company or even a different breed of gosling but they had nothing.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=0000FF]Prairie your kids are cute. I just think baby animals of all kinds are adorable. My youngest lamb is getting hefty now, I picked him up today to get him back into the pen & he's almost getting too heavy for me to pick up. I hope to get my scale hooked up that I got in the next couple days & see what he & the other one really weigh now.[/COLOR]

Thanks, Trish! They have gotten so frisky in the last while! I wish I could get some action shots!

Spent the evening working on our new peafowl pen. DH had it figured out so we could pretty much just dig in and get stuff done. Another evening and I think it'll be almost finished. I'm hoping to get a rabbit hutch and a milk stand built soon too but they weren't as high of priority.

 

[thndrdancr]

Hello Heidi and welcome. Did your chick or have curled toes? There is also something called spraddle leg where their legs spread apart and they can't use them, usually it's due to them being on a slick surface when hatched or young. I couldn't tell if you Gimp had spraddle or not, can u elaborate?

 

[chicken danz]

Hello all. I need some advice/ideas. I am trying to figure out a way to build a chicken coop and run that is predictor proof without spending a thousand dollars. Any ideas are welcome...
Thank You
Ricki

I've never spent a ton on coops. I tend to reuse and repurpose but not all of us have junk sitting every where like I do. From what I've seen of your posts you don't intend to have a huge number of birds. If I were you I would make a pen and then build a raised coop within it. A lot depends on your building skill as well. I often forget that most people just don't jump in and start building like I do or have the tools to do so. That could be a major factor as well.
The most secure pen building I have done is using 2X4 welded wire 5' tall. You sink either 8' 4X 4 treated posts or 2 2x4s sandwiched together for 4x4 posts. Then use a top and bottom rail from 5/4" decking. It's about 6 inches wide. So when you are done your pen is around 6 foot high. This is important cause it gets very tiresome bending over in a pen. When your pen is done, run chicken wire around the bottom and buried into the ground for 6" to a foot. This gives extra strength and protection from predators and also keep smaller birds in the pen. I also like to put rocks or bricks along the outside to prevent digging in if there is a danger of that. I normally don't have predator problems but I did have a possum trying to get some young birds and putting rocks and stuff I could find around the outside of a pen stopped their attempts.
If you don't want to go that elaborate, build a hoop coop. I recommend building one using 5 panels which makes it about 20 feet long. This will give you room for a coop type shelter as well as a pen for them to run around in. This will be the cheapest build you can do. You will need treated lumber for the base. Cattle panels, wire to cover the structure, a tarp to cover one end for your coop, and a roll of hardware cloth or similar heavier wire to put around the bottom of it. It's pretty easy if you shop for bargains to build a hoop coop for around $200. Not the prettiest thing but it works.
I built a 4 x 4 coop using one piece of plywood, an 8 foot 4 x 4 for legs, some 2 X 4s for framing, a couple pieces of cheap tin roofing and some treated dog ear fence pickets for siding. It was under $100 total. However that project took tons of angle cuttings for the pickets. You could do the same thing however using a different exterior siding for not a whole lot more. You could also make it larger but it would require more 4 X 4 posts for more legs. 16" legs are plenty tall to give the chickens a space to walk underneath and be out of the weather without having to be in the coop. With the space underneath, and a roost or two inside you actually double your footprint of space. The chickens prefer to be outside weather permitting any way.
Also don't forget when building a pen to be sure to allow for covering as well. People forget that predators come from above as well.
CHIKENROOKIE

Kids and I built a new collapsible brooder today. 4 ft by 4 ft with 2 ft sides. I think I'll put some leftover PVC panel from our bathroom remodel on the bottom, at least for under the waterer, its got nice texture so it won't be slippery. What's everyone's thought on roosting bars in the brooder? Necessity or extra?

Chickens will roost regardless of age. But you have to remember that unless it's covered roosting bars will encourage them to fly up. If you don't have a cover you might regret that. I like providing mine with roosts in the right circumstances. Chicks get bored and need something to do or they may start picking on other chicks. I made a short little A frame roost one time with a low set wire from side to side, with many metal washers running across the wire. The chicks loved it. They loved picking at the shiny washers and making them spin. I used it in a brooder house however where there was lots of room.

Thanks Milomac and Danz! I used masking tape to hold the toes apart and then some foam I ripped from a to-go box on the bottom of his feet for a bit extra support. I've used this method for 4 days now (changing the tape every day and checking for tissue irritation) and the toes have spread out, but the ankles seem to still be turned inward. Not sure if that can be fixed or not. Either way, I have a feeling that this particular chicken will grow up to be quite spoiled

Most of these chicks can recover with care. I think you are doing great. Once he is really steady on his feet and you remove the wrappings his ankles might straighten on their own.
Well I'm torn. It's supposed to be a nice day. I really really need to spend the day cleaning instead of out working with the birds. I was going to do that yesterday but DH took the day off unexpectedly and there is no way I can clean with him underfoot. I'm afraid that nice weather is going to win out. I have so much to do both places but good weather is sure a driving force.

 

[KsKingBee]

Was at Yoder last night and thought stuff sold cheap

Yes it was dismal for sellers, we had high hopes that did not pan out.

We took 50+ guineas, 150 chicken chicks, six ducks, six young laying hens, a Royal Palm turkey, two breeding IB hens and a large pen/crate. The guineas we thought to get $10 to $15, the best ones brought $8 and the low ones brought $5.50.

But the peace and quiet here is priceless, I should have given them away a long time ago and saved the feed bill. I like my quiet place hidden out here in the middle of nowhere.

If you are wondering why I did not 'no sale' them, two reasons, I did not want to mix my stock with other stock and bring them home, and we are NPIP testing Thursday and that is a whole bunch of birds we won't have to test.