Things You Wish You Would Have Known?

[Stephine]

I had a problem with pack rats getting in my coup. Rats and mice can actually collapse their heads to squeeze into cracks! I put rat poison where only the rats could squeeze into and yesterday we found our first dead rat lying in the coup. We also have seen big ole rats in the house so down went more poison. We haven't seen any dead ones in the house but boy does our house stink! I'd rather smell dead rats then see live ones running around.

It's not a good idea to use poison. If the dead animal ends up where the chickens can get it they could eat it and get poisoned themselves - or any other animals for that matter. Also you have no control over where the dead animal ends up to decompose and it might be somewhere not easily accessible....

 

[lcertuche]

That most rhode island reds you buy no matter where you get them from are usually production reds and not true rhode islands, but I'm happy with mine!

I love my little "Production Reds".

 

[fireredcannon]

Love the flags on the branch flag poles, very patriotic! When I finished our barn for the girls I wanted to add a flag too but my wife gave me 'the look'. I showed her your coop last night and said "Hey look at this, hon! Dont the flags add style, don't ya think?" Again with 'the look' So our flag's going up today. I enlarged your picture here and gave it a close look see and I may be wrong but seems under your roof there's gaps for ventilation but looks like there's no wire covering and all sorts of vermin and get in that way. Might maybe want to cover them up with the wire. I had the smallest gaps up on the underside of our roof and I mean fair small but rodents still got in. See what I mean? you can see the gap close there alongside the screws...THAT small. It was driving me near out of my mind, Rodent poop...the pee wetting the bedding, all that. So I filled them gaps with that expanding foam. No more tossing out bedding, hay or feed due to rodent piss and poo. But I still check for sing of them getting in. They give me the willies and the thought of them in there creeps me out some.

All the gaps around the top are covered with chicken wire.tge chicken wire door was actually because we were getting too tired to finish in a more legitimate manner but after finishing it I actually love it. I'm going to get a plexiglass sheet for the door for the winter

 

[fireredcannon]

The ducks ruin bedding in about a week,i put a plastic rabbit hutch liner under my waterer and that made things 10x better

 

[Coop de Grass]

All the gaps around the top are covered with chicken wire.tge chicken wire door was actually because we were getting too tired to finish in a more legitimate manner but after finishing it I actually love it. I'm going to get a plexiglass sheet for the door for the winter

Be carefull about how you attached the door. I used plexiglass to cover the side walls in my run. Drilled the holes and everything. The stuff still cracked! I think that the nest time, I will use a channel system that I can slide the plexiglass into. Might have to have one side where the channel is removable... still thinking about the details.

 

[fireredcannon]

Be carefull about how you attached the door. I used plexiglass to cover the side walls in my run. Drilled the holes and everything. The stuff still cracked! I think that the nest time, I will use a channel system that I can slide the plexiglass into. Might have to have one side where the channel is removable... still thinking about the details.

Hmm maybe epoxy to a wood frame,my thought was my door will double as my window.

 

[fireredcannon]

Or a rubber bushing between the screw head and plexiglass with a predrilled hole

 

[Ainee]

Would anyone like to weigh in on how many chicks a newbie should start with? This will be my first experience raising chicks (and adult chickens.) My coop/run will be approx 80 square feet. Thanks for any opinions on the matter!

 

[fireredcannon]

Would anyone like to weigh in on how many chicks a newbie should start with? This will be my first experience raising chicks (and adult chickens.) My coop/run will be approx 80 square feet. Thanks for any opinions on the matter!

How big is your coop ftxft?

 

[Ainee]

How big is your coop ftxft?

The coop is 5x5