Recent content by BridgeMan

The unsupported cantilever is too large. You should install some diagonal bracing down to the ground support in the rear from the top front. If you choose not to , don't be surprised when things start to sag, over time. Of course, maybe I just don't know what I'm talking about, with a measly...

Advertise him as "pet quality" or "stew-pot quality." If you have trouble finding buyers, just fatten him up and make him the "guest of honor" at your next Christmas dinner.

My wife decided our 9 pullets need "a man" to keep them safe, etc., so tomorrow we're driving 200+ miles to pick up a cockerel she found on CL. Hope he works out all right with the girls, as they've been together since we brought them home from the feed store in early March, and all get along...

A brief update on the names of our girls--we might have to change the name of Holly, our Americana, to something like Buddy Holly. He/she is acting and sounding like a rooster, aggressive and bossy, and with a much thicker neck and larger head than that of his/her sisters. I even heard a loud...

Ventilation will be provided by 3 screened intake vents in the end walls, with exhaust (hopefully) occurring in a central cupola on the roof's ridgeline. May put a wind turbine or small fan on/in the cupola if natural draw doesn't appear strong enough.

I'm a novice, but I think you want at least one door and one window. I'm working on a coop somewhat larger than yours, and it won't have any windows--natural light will come through 2 fixed skylights. It will also have two doors (in addition to the chicken door), for cleaning and access...

I'm presently building our first coop, and started installing the 3/4" pine flooring today. Am using salvage book shelving material, 18" wide and 48" long. Will cover it with a piece of scrap vinyl, before the wood chips go in. My coop is a raised affair, 2' off the ground, so the solid floor...

Very nice job. I'll bet the girls are enjoying it thoroughly. I'm nearby, in Cottage Grove, Oregon. First-time chicken raising for me, although the wife had them as a kid. Started my coop last week, rebuilding a factory-made unit that the wife bought--it's an absolute piece of junk (made in...

We had intentions of picking up something used on CL. It only took 2 visits checking out "possibles" before we decided to pull the plug and buy a new one. The smaller CL coop ($100) had an odor of rotten whatever, and the bottom was soft enough on one end to push my thumb through. The other...

The 7 baby girls we brought home almost a week ago are all named after flowers or plants (as per the wife): Tulip, Jasmine, Goldy (for Goldenrod), Holly, Rosy, Ivy and Iris. I still can't tell most of them apart. A few of them are getting a bit rambunctious, launching themselves off of the...

Newby here again. Has anyone ever tried constructing runs having wire bottoms? With a wider mesh spacing than the sides and top, to keep predators out but still allow the girls to peck and scratch? P.S. We just brought our 7 babies home from the feed store today, and they're slowly drifting...

Can't answer your question (directly), as I'm still a complete novice. Hope to pick up our first 6 chicks tomorrow, so I have a few months to come up with a coop/run configuration. But I had a thought regarding your run size question--why not make the run movable? Even if the coop is fixed...

My wife and I (she doesn't know it yet) are, I hope, soon to be chicken owners. She's been bugging me for years about the joys of owning the little critters (she had them as a child, growing up), and I kept putting her off. Now, I recently decided that maybe having good, fresh eggs whenever we...