Quick update! MY PICTURES are now on MY PAGE!!!
HEllo....I am Mary Ann , from Southwest Missouri and am preparing to get back into the chicken biz, after a fox ( ?and/or raccoon) attack wiped out my entire flock last summer. My husband and I are building a brand new chicken house ...an 8x8x7 barn style that no fox or predator will be about to breech!! HA! We are assembling the sections of the house in our big woodheated shop...and will put it all together out back, this spring or when the cold lets up long enough.
Then we will begin the process of ordering our new babies. That is where I am stumped. Our last flock was just a bunch of random birds that were given to us. This time ....I want to choose my birds and to learn all I can about the breeds I pick, before I order them. Also, I need advice on how to order them and from who?? Any tips will be greatly appriceated. LOoking forward to hearing from others of you in the chickenhood!! Bless you !! Mary Ann
I know my husband is excited about our new coop and our soon to be incoming birds , but when he jumped out of bed this morning and said , " Lets roof the coop today !!'' .... I was not exactly ready to face the cold morning ,with that windchill at 15* !! He even fixed me a big breakfast to sweeten the deal!!
So I pulled out my long johns, coveralls, and work jeans. I found a pair of wool socks and decided to tuck my longjohns into the wool socks for added warmth....Hubby about fell out of his chair laughing at me...said I looked like a rodeo clown !!
WEll...we stayed warm, by comin in to stand next to the wood stove out in the shop every 20 min or so !!!
Not only did we get the tarpaper on , ( too cold for shingles ) we also installed the 2 little swing windows in the back of the coop...Got them trimmed out in 1x2 and we used hardware mesh on them for added security , against the $%^&*()^^ varmints that wiped out our last flock !!
We will shingle whenever we have a warm enough day for the shingles to adhere to roof....we tarped the tarpapered roof till we can finish it . UNless he gets up in the morning tomorrow ready to do that job too!!! But if he does I will be right there again...bundled up and ready to get the coop ready to paint and then ............ bring on the peeps!! Still cant get my pix to show up here
.....will keep trying !! We were going to wait for warmer weather to finish our coop.....but I think , Mike , my hubby , was as excited as I am about starting ''our new family'' !!! So we decided today , to heck with the cold....we will just bundle up in layers , build a fire out in the shop and put our coop up today!!! And we did!!! All we have left to do is tar paper , shingles and trim out the exterior! ( And I will paint this spring )
OH yes, and hang the nesting boxes and perches we kept from our old chicken coop. Then we are ready to start the process of choosing our new little ones!!! I told Hubby today I dont know which I am more excited about ...the house being done or ordering the babies!!!! LOL ~
OK I am goin to try to figure out how to put my pictures on BYC .....let me know if you all see any ok??
Today was a perfect day!! Cant wait to share it with you all!!!
UPDATE!! We primed the whole building yesterday and today we got the first coat of Antique Red on!!! We are gonna go with the barn red with white trim look! My grandson helped us paint. Now all that will be left is to make the little side door leading to the fenced in run. We built the nesting boxes already and hung them last week. We put 2 little windows up on the back wall for ventilation and light. We went in the woods and cut down a bunch of small sassafrass trees for the roost....he made it so I can raise it and hook it to the ceiling for cleaning ...(I will add pix later when it is all done!! ) Thanks for looking !!
UPDATE.....Feb 23 Coop is done 'cept for the little pop door and I have 2 sides left to install the critter wire at bottom of coop. That was a job!!! Dug 2 8ft trenches a foot deep and wore out after only half done...will finish next nice day we have.
Hubby got in the wiring and we have the brooder all ready to put together , got the light hanging, all those details. So, at this point , the waiting begins ....My chicks arrive on April 2. Am ordering 5 RIR, 5 Buff, 5 Brown Leghorns, 5 Dominickers, and 5 Auracanas. Got pullets on all but the 5 A, got straight run on them, and hope for atleast 2-3 hens to have the colored eggs. Later we might get some Bantys ,but will have to thin the herd before we do that, as my coop is only 8x8. As the birds grow we will give some to a neighbor who wants to have chickens and will eat a couple as we go ,unless I get attached too much to them....
