It all started with my youngest saying that she wanted a pet. "no pets indoors because mommy has allergies." The desire never faded and finally, she pronounced, "Mom & Dad, I want chickens!" "Why chickens honey?", "Well, they have to live outside and they wont bother mommy's sneezing"
Can you say, DONE! I'm so whipped.
I want to say thank you to all the folks who have posted threads and replies that formed the design of what now sits in our backyard. We live in Florida and do not have the harsh winter so an open air design with combo roost/run is what we ended up with. Watering is automated using a 5 gallon bucket piped to watering nipples obtained thru FarmTek Supply. Feed is a 7.5 gallon Bucket with an 18" planter base bolted to the bottom and holes in the bucket to allow for gravity feed. Roofing is simple smoke colored greenhouse plastic panels. Open air walls are 1/2" hardware cloth. Floor is lined with chicken wire, topped with #89 rock from a local quarry to facilitate drainage and keep a dry floor. Egg nests will be Coca-cola crates place in the solid wall corner corners.
A future modification I plan to make will be to cover the rock with landscape cloth and add another 2-3 inches of sand to make poop clean up much easier.
Again, I appreciate all of the advice and guidance I received in the planning process.
Our aviary palace is home to 7 chicks (Cannonball, fireball, buckarina, sweetie pie, brownie, angel and kailey).
Can you say, DONE! I'm so whipped.
I want to say thank you to all the folks who have posted threads and replies that formed the design of what now sits in our backyard. We live in Florida and do not have the harsh winter so an open air design with combo roost/run is what we ended up with. Watering is automated using a 5 gallon bucket piped to watering nipples obtained thru FarmTek Supply. Feed is a 7.5 gallon Bucket with an 18" planter base bolted to the bottom and holes in the bucket to allow for gravity feed. Roofing is simple smoke colored greenhouse plastic panels. Open air walls are 1/2" hardware cloth. Floor is lined with chicken wire, topped with #89 rock from a local quarry to facilitate drainage and keep a dry floor. Egg nests will be Coca-cola crates place in the solid wall corner corners.
A future modification I plan to make will be to cover the rock with landscape cloth and add another 2-3 inches of sand to make poop clean up much easier.
Again, I appreciate all of the advice and guidance I received in the planning process.
Our aviary palace is home to 7 chicks (Cannonball, fireball, buckarina, sweetie pie, brownie, angel and kailey).
