Pix of my chicken house and their run

[RoseMarie1]

Got a pic tonight of my lil pigs on their roost. I had left my camera hanging inside the pen today when I was out there cleaning it up. I had to go back out there and get it after dark so I thought, hmmmm let me get a pic of em on their roost. I put the poop hammock back under their roost (after I washed and cleaned it on the clothes line) until I can get their deep litter started. I got tired of scooping up all that poop in the sand.

See how they all want to be on those top two rows? Some have to stand all night because there's not enough room to sit so many squeezes in up there.

By the way, I don't leave the light on out there at night time only when I am out there is it on.

 

[Beekissed]

Since they only need 3 bars on their roosts, you could change that roosting site into a classic standing roost that makes all bars at equal heights and it would maybe even out that roosting situation. They will still crowd onto the back roost more than the front but not nearly as much as they crowd for a top roost. Easier to clean under also than a ladder roost. Just a thought...

 

[aart]

Nice setup! Lots of room is always a plus!

 

[RoseMarie1]

Since they only need 3 bars on their roosts, you could change that roosting site into a classic standing roost that makes all bars at equal heights and it would maybe even out that roosting situation. They will still crowd onto the back roost more than the front but not nearly as much as they crowd for a top roost. Easier to clean under also than a ladder roost. Just a thought...

thinking about how I could do that Bee. That just might be much better and not up so high close to that hot tin to. Thanx! Will get to thinking on that one. We had planned on taking that top board off but I was like none of them want on that last board close to the ground. lol There is ALWAYS 1-2 getting knocked off the roost when I am out there. Don't know HOW MANY times a night that happens. There was one BA that got knocked off it awhile back when I was out there and just KNEW she was hurt because she came from the top roost.

She just sit there for quite some time until I went over to check on her then she got up and walked off.

 

[RoseMarie1]

Nice setup! Lots of room is always a plus!

thank you.

 

[RoseMarie1]

Bee they are really enjoying these stumps in their run.








Their roost we had made for them just was not working out. So we made this one so they'd all be on the SAME level and they'd have PLENTY of room. It's like 11-12' long and they have 2 boards that long in which to choose from.



I put their little temp ladder here and then decided to put it on the side and then later thought, no that's not going to work because they will get on the board and the others wont be able to get on the back board then. BUT I had already nailed it in place so I left it for tonight. So I will have to move it into the middle again so they wont block the way of the ones wanting to get on the back board.


Went out there tonight to lock their back gate in the run and there was 2 on the ground in there walking around trying to figure out HOW to get on the roost. Then I had 3 RIR's camping out in the run on a roost which is a NO NO so I had to remove them and sit them on this roost.
I had a little ladder on a block and then decided that needed something longer. I'll have to work on that one another day. Also want to put slats the whole width of the two boards when I can get those cut. This one was just what we had used on their other roost and I was too tired this evening to make another ladder.

Then a pic of some of my 3 month olds.





I think this is a cockerel in this next pic but am not sure. ??? It's a BA.




Then a pic of them ON the roost tonight. That is SOME of them on the roost. lol You can see two on the ground down there.


I got the ones off the floor and put them on the back board and took some off the front board and put them on the back as well. Then I put a couple more boards together in the middle so HOPEFULLY they can get down in the a.m. lol took most of them off the ladder and put them in the roost so they could be more comfortable and not feeling like they were sleeping on an orange all night long.

We did each roost 18" from the wall and then 18-19" apart so they'd have room and not poop on each other in case some turned the other way like they like to do for some reason.

 

[Beekissed]

Rose, your birds are simply lovely...shiny and healthy looking! I love the new roosts too...I think you'll have more floor space and an easier time getting to that area to turn in any excess poop deposits. I can't tell about your BA because it's lying down, but it certainly looks more boy than your other BAs right now, so could be. Such a shine on all those feathers!!!

Now..I'm going to make your life a little easier and tell you that they don't need that ramp. My birds have never had a ramp up to the roosts...they just fly up! No ramp, no sleeping on the ramp. Problem solved.

Another thing...now that you have some nice flat roosting there, it would be a preventative thing to spread some sulfur powder on those roosts and some in the bottom of your nests boxes. That may help you prevent any mites that would like to crawl out and feast on your birds in the night and also place sulfur right on their tootsies, which might also keep scale mites at bay.

So fun to remodel and fluff up a coop, isn't it? It never gets old to me! I'll be doing some more things to mine soon..just little tweaks here and there. I just added an extra roost also so my juvies would stop sleeping in the nest box because of fear of the oldsters. It worked and now everyone is roosting with plenty of room to avoid one another. One of my roosts is getting worn too smooth for good balancing, so I'm placing some strips of nonskid on the roost for good gripping. My chickens have got it so good and yours are starting to look pretty pampered too!

Your deep litter in the run is looking amazing! Do you find it's less muddy now when it rains? As it builds deeper and deeper, you'll start to see the moisture wicked into the bottom layers and see some dryer, less dirty, footing underneath for rainy and snowy days. It's all pretty neat and I wish I had known about all of it many years ago when I was young and growing up with the chickens.

Adding tree limb roosts out in the run and more stumps, even some logs stacked up here and there can give them different places of being and also make for places for bugs and worms to hide out, to be exposed later when you roll the logs and stumps to one side. Much fun to watch! Your birds are so very lucky with that big run...I wish everyone who had to keep birds in runs had huge runs with different places of being in them so the birds have more diverse habitat. I think you are doing an excellent job!!!

 

[Beekissed]

Trust me on this one...those birds can fly! They can fly better right now while they are slim and young than they will be able to when they get to be fat ol' hens like me!

My roosts are always about chest height on me and I'm 5'4"...so they are about 4.5 ft and I've had some that were much higher that they fly to when they reach the regular roosts. I have had birds fly up to tree limbs that were high as my head and higher, even the fat ol' hens. They don't need ramps, especially with all that soft footing on the floor of their coops for a soft landing. If my old geriatric birds can fly up to the roosts, your young whipper snappers can!

I can't get over how pretty your birds are..all those rich colors. Right now most of mine are molting and looking about as bad as they will look for the rest of the year except the very young ones. They look snow white and soft as doves compared to the oldsters.

I really love your setup and I can't wait to see what you and the hubby have planned for nest boxes. You'll have to put the pics up when you get done.

I'm so glad you have no mud and I think you are on the right track with wetting down the bedding. Not only will it cool the birds but the bugs will be more attracted to the moist soil. As you get more litter pack in there, the thickness of the litter will hold moisture in that soil and encourage bugs and worms there, but until that happens, moistening the run is an excellent idea. My birds will lay in the damp mulch around the back porch on hot days where it's shady...it stays pretty moist there most of the time and they will camp out there to keep cool.

Wish I could send you some rain...we've had buckets of it all day!

 

[Weasleymum]

Don't know where you are, but that is just a wonderful warm-climate coop! It looks so breezy and open, and shady! I love it.

 

[RoseMarie1]

Don't know where you are, but that is just a wonderful warm-climate coop! It looks so breezy and open, and shady! I love it.

Thank you Weasleymum.

I'm in South Ms.