Wisconsin "Cheeseheads"

[Celtic Chick]

Good grief Staci, I cannot imagine the stress you are having to deal with. It makes my stomach hurt just thinking about it. But it also makes my stomach turn thinking about all the people who would just throw in the towel instead of doing what is right. I can't commend you enough for your strength and perseverance. Way to go, gramma. This planet needs more people like you. And less of the others.........

I have the fencing with the big 1x3" holes for my run. Coons can easily get over it but by the time they show up, the birds are already locked up for the night. That fencing is what I went with because I have a pretty large run, maybe between 1/4 to 1/3 of an acre?

The only time I had a problem was when a dead tree fell on it & we didn't know. Something got in & killed one of my girls during the day, but since we fixed it, we haven't had a problem. Knock on wood.

 

[kristip]

Ohh...can you share plans you found for the poop boards and trays? We are revamping our coop this summer ( we went too small and have since added a plastic shed onto the side of the first coop) and want to add poop boards etc!

 

[Celtic Chick]

Ohh...can you share plans you found for the poop boards and trays? We are revamping our coop this summer ( we went too small and have since added a plastic shed onto the side of the first coop) and want to add poop boards etc!

A quick & easy, no frills poop board: a piece of plywood laying on a set of horses.

 

[Daethen]

My coop is 6 x 8 and my run is 10 x 30. We are adding some swings and a roost tree to give them something to explore. I went to the local junk yard and got a bunch of used chain link and enclosed it including on the top as we have a lot of hawks and eagles in the area. Cost a lot less than new and will keep out anything that doesn't dig under. My girls do go out in the winter unless it is really cold and then I lock them in and throw treats around for them to dig for to keep them busy. Only had one pecking incident and had 14 girls all winter last year. I don't do poop boards, but I am set up so that there is little poop on anything. I didn't bother with plans, we just kind of thought of what we needed and went from there.

 

[Sclark73]

My 8x8 Coop has to be by far my favorite one also has a fully enclosed 8x16 run attached. I don't know how to show photos I already uploaded via my phone but anyone can snoop thru my folders and find it. The one ibbuilt with the patio doors is very nice as stays much warmer in the winter from sun shining thru. I till would like to find more old ones people are throwing away to add on another 12 feet on the south end so I can house all of my birds in that Coop thru the winter. That Coop I made poop boards under each roost and boy was that a great help on the cleanup. My run after expanding when the pigs came is approx 120+ x 80 now and contains 3 large coops with 2-4 separate pens each along with 10 other separate pens. I have quite a few different breeds. The pigs, geese and ducks free range in the run at all times.

 

[nchls school]

My 8x8 Coop has to be by far my favorite one also has a fully enclosed 8x16 run attached. I don't know how to show photos I already uploaded via my phone but anyone can snoop thru my folders and find it. The one ibbuilt with the patio doors is very nice as stays much warmer in the winter from sun shining thru. I till would like to find more old ones people are throwing away to add on another 12 feet on the south end so I can house all of my birds in that Coop thru the winter. That Coop I made poop boards under each roost and boy was that a great help on the cleanup. My run after expanding when the pigs came is approx 120+ x 80 now and contains 3 large coops with 2-4 separate pens each along with 10 other separate pens. I have quite a few different breeds. The pigs, geese and ducks free range in the run at all times.

Hi. The easiest way to post pictures is to save them to your desk top.

Click on "reply" to start a post-click where you want the image in your reply/post box-click on the "insert image" symbol on the top of the reply box-then click on "upload files"-make a selection from your desk top files and click on it-click on open-click on "submit"-
and the picture will appear in your post.

 

[Sclark73]

Hi. The easiest way to post pictures is to save them to your desk top. Click on "reply" to start a post-click where you want the image in your reply/post box-click on the "insert image" symbol on the top of the reply box-then click on "upload files"-make a selection from your desk top files and click on it-click on open-click on "submit"- and the picture will appear in your post.

It doesn't work 90% of the time using my phone, on desktop I'm fine but not accessible right at the moment.

 

[jvls1942]

good afternoon, it looks like I am going to be widening the trough on the feeder. the chickens can get feed, but they have to go in sideways ..

I also am going to make the slot more than one inch,, the ground feed does not tumble out like it should.
I am going to go 2 inches this time.
the trough is 3 inches deep.

hardware cloth is an expensive way to fence..
yard guard is ok. but 1" chicken wire will do the job nicely, and a little less $$$$..
If you are planning on covering the chicken yard, (and even if you are not) make the fence at least 6 feet high

........jiminwisc..........

 

[GranolaGirl72]

A quick & easy, no frills poop board: a piece of plywood laying on a set of horses.

Agree, but here is a photo that was attached to a thread I found.

 

[Celtic Chick]

Agree, but here is a photo that was attached to a thread I found.

Very nice (and clean. Must have just been installed). Lol!

The only thing I would change is to get rid of the raised edge on the short side closest to the camera. Then you could park a garbage can on the end & rake/shovel/slide the soiled litter into it.