Search results for query: *

We began this project in a 12ft x 14ft stall that had originally been used as the bull pen. This stall is centrally located in the 166 yr old barn, and has a full brick floor and complete 18" brick footer all the way around. All of the wood, windows and doors were salvaged from an old building...

Yes aart the design changed greatly after we torn down a 100 yr old building on the property and obtained some amazing old material to work with on the coop. My son took this pic, but I will get a new battery for my digital camera and post a few more. The setup is simply a raised floor and 24"...

Thanks crash2001, we are very proud of our coop. I had to laugh when my mother first saw it the other day and asked "What is this cute little old building in the barn?"... she thought the structure had always been there and was so taken with the building that she did not even notice the chicken...

Well, we have finished the outside of our barn stall coop and now only need to install the roosts and the 1/2" x 1/2" wire to the windows of the coop to complete the building. We still need to complete the wire around the stall and add a feeder which will be made from old gutters that have been...

I thought Black Star and Black Sex Links were the same thing. These were said to be Black Sex Links, can they be all black? I would be happy no matter which of those three that they are, since I had planned to get all three eventually, I guess I will have to find a way to get some decent picture...

A few weeks ago I got a great deal at the Tractor Supply Co on Black Star Chicks. Since many were 3-4 weeks old, they let me pick out 9 for 75 cents ea. I picked out 7 that had the red barred feathers since I mainly wanted hens and took two that had no red at all and were black with while on the...

I'm really getting excited about building my new in stall coop. We have spent the past 2 days tearing down an old garage shed that is about 100 years old, and it really gave me some great ideas for my coop. We will be using the old wood, siding and cedar shingles to build the coop. I saw a...

Yes, I have to agree that 60 degrees during our coldest nights would be more than just optimistic... it would be a miracle... LOL. Thanks for the input and the picture, it really helped out a lot. I had read several articles that said the heat lamps in the coop created more danger of fire...

Thanks for the input on the wire size, the coons are probably my worst nightmare around here right now... they don't even appear to care if people are around some of the time. We had to get rid of 4 last year because the mother taught the young to come right up on our enclosed porch to eat the...

Thanks aart... I was worried about when to put my young chicks into the coop. The ones I bought were about 1-3 wks old according to the store clerk. Only the Roo was estimated at 1 wk old all others were about the same size and estimated at about 3 wks, so I planned on just moving them once the...

The stall is inside the barn and we plan to have both wire and shutters on the wire parts, that way we can close the openings in the cold weather and leave open during the warmer weather. There is a stall next to the one that we plan to use that could be used as an additional run area, but we...

We just got 9 Black Star chicks and are planning to convert one of our barn stalls into a predator proof coop and small chicken yard. The stall is 10' x 14' and my plan was to build a 10' x 5' platform for the enclosed coop and then predator proof the entire stall. The most chickens we ever plan...

Wow... thanks for the great link to the crops and the do's and don't of feeding the chickens... that should really help out a LOT

Well, I guess I'd better figure it out fast... stopped by the Tractor Supply today and ended up coming home with 9 chicks. It was a little sooner than expected, but when the man at the store offered to let me have the chicks for just 75 cents each, if I'd take the older ones... I could not pass...

Sauerkraut is a probiotic and can help to develop good bacteria that will help to fight e-coli and salmonella. I've been doing some research on it and it appears that although sauerkraut is not harmful for chickens, you should limit the amount due to the salt. I plan to grow cabbage and make my...

Thanks for the advice, and if possible I would like to free range and provide organic homegrown feed. I had heard that too much corn will decrease the color and flavor of the yolks, at least I think that is what I had read, but not sure what else to grow. I will still have the grain corn planted...

I am new to raising chickens and would like to raise my laying hens strictly Organic Free Range. We have a 36 acre farm with about 20 acres that will be open for free ranging and a 2000 sq. ft barn. I plan to have about 8 hens to start and wondered how you know if they are getting enough to eat...

Thanks, that was my plan... why do all that work if they have more FUN with it than I ever would. I was worried about what else might be in the manure, like rodent or raccoon droppings. My plan is to convert a stall into the coop, complete with a heated roost area, a run door to the outside run...

I am so glad that I happened upon this thread. I'm just about to start raising free range chickens and was trying to learn more about how to do that on a self sustaining basis without having to invest in a lot of feed. The farm I just moved onto has a huge barn that housed horses for years...

Yes the Australorp are a beautiful chicken... I'm really having a problem deciding between them and the Black Star. Both appear to be great warm/cold weather birds, both good egg producers, both lay the lovely large brown eggs that I love. Is there any real advantage to one over the other? I do...