I decided to join you all

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BrokeFarmerJohn

BrokeFarmerJohn

Songster
7 Years
Aug 24, 2015
96
17
111
Columbus, Ohio
Hey everyone,

I have read enough forums off this site in the past few weeks lol, I decided to sign up. I bought a house on 3 acres that has a barn with 3 stalls in the back, I decided to turn one stall into a chicken coop and it was really easy to get it ready for chicks, I never did a brooder pin because my 10x12 stall was draft free, 110% protected from all critters and I had a 250w heat lamp on 24/7 until 2 days ago where it's on a timer now because the chicks stopped using it all together, I have 22 so far with 22 more on the way. This is my first time raising chickens ever. Just this past weekend I got half my nesting boxes built and perches built, I have 430 linear inches of roost, enough for 70 birds and two separate roosts at the same hight just one is narrower because I read some chickens don't get along so I wanted mind to have the option to a second roost, both higher than the nesting boxes, I have enough nesting boxes for
 
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glad you have joined us.

Sounds like a great set up you have there, good luck with your new endeavor.
 
Welcome!
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A barn stall is for sure a great safe place! Of course I got 6 babies before I ever thought out where to keep them...(chicken math) Then I ordered 9 more! (more chicken math) I looked at coops, bought lumber for a run, then realized I had 2 huge empty barn stalls! Duh! It's working great. I went with sand box sand for the floor rather than litter for easy cleanup and quick drying poop. Sounds like you did your homework. My younger hens get booted off the main roost. Now I have 2, same height but 18" apart and 18" from the wall. Hope to see some pictures! Best of luck with your babies!




 
@Mutt Farm

Nice looking stalls! Mine aren't quite that nice lol, I bought my first 10 without being set up, it was kind of a compulsive buy while my second cousin and I went to rural King, it's like tractor supply but they have better prices, I bought basic supplies and 10 chicks from them, drove home and set it all up in the stall, like you I had to chicken wire some places and the windows in the stall, they have been in there ever since, i think the Australorp chicks were 2.50 each and the rest I ordered from McMurry because it was late in the year and nobody had the breed I wanted besides my Australorps. I have videos but don't really have pictures to share yet.
 
Also I decided yesterday to do sand also, as a bedding I liked it the best, planned on this weekend having some sand delivered to the barn than the lovely task of hauling 7000 lbs of sand into my coop to give the coop 4in of sand, cleanup will be nice after that, just like scooping a litter box lol, I figured it out, 2-3 bundles of pine per clean out would equal to $240 a year just in bedding when I can do sand which will cost around $50 for 7000lbs that will last a few years, worst case scenario I add another 1-2 tons a year for lost sand, at $15 a ton that's nothing for a year of clean dry chickens, sand in the waterer is not as big of a deal as pine, chickens will love to play in it and take "dirt baths" in it and also eat it for there gizzards. It has way too many advantages with very few disadvantages. I'm surprised it's not as popular as it is. I read only to use contractors grade sand not the finer play sand, never heard why finer sand was bad.
 

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