Two years ago, I had the crazy idea that I would like to get some chickens. It wasn't until this past November when I decided to commit to the plan, and begin building my chicken coop. In my free time, I built a few pieces at a time until it all started coming together. My coop was built to...
Thank you for the help! She is very friendly and good natured. Being a production oriented sex-link, that would explain why she started laying before my Buff Orpingtons.
Hi Everyone,
This is my 5 month old mystery chick that I received with my Buff Orpingtons. What breed is this? Is it a Wyandotte? She was the first to start laying in my group. Thanks for your help!
Hi, I would rather have you pick him up as my truck would easily consume $10 worth of gas to get there and back. Please let me know if your still interested.
I am looking to rehome my 5 month old Buff Orpington Rooster. My flock of 5 hens turned out to be a flock of 4 hens and 1 rooster. He was fun to watch grow, but i'm worried about irritating my neighbors. He is free to a good home! He is available for local pickup only near Fort Worth, TX...
I also have 2 roosts in my brooder box. One is about 5" off the ground and the other is about 8" off. Since their coop isn't quite ready yet, I thought I'd give them something to do until I finish it in the next weekend or two. They love getting up there to perch or practice flying down. My...
My 5 Buff Orpingtons are 4 weeks old, and they always seem to be peeping at one another or at me to persuade me to give them more treats. They aren't particularly loud (in the garage) but they do talk quite a bit!
Hi Everyone,
I received my 5, 3 week old Buff Orpingtons last night. All of the birds are behaving just fine, however I noticed that one of them is pretty much hairless underneath its tail feathers. The spot is about 1" in diameter. All of the other chicks have the typical blonde fuzz...
I was expecting to pick up my chicks early Saturday morning, however my local breeder called me early Friday afternoon and said that they are ready to be picked up! I was happy to take off from work an hour early to go get my 5, 3 week old Buff Orpingtons. After a little time, they figured out...
Quick question to those of you who have built coops before: Is there much to be gained by installing interior walls? Right now, the main benefit would be the ease of cleaning a flat surface instead of having to scrub inbetween my 2x4's in the walls. Currently, I have the outer OSB panels in...
Hi Nicole,
I'm pretty new to raising chicks (I expect to get mine this weekend!), but I believe the general rule of thumb is to have 4 square feet per bird inside the coop. In the run, you should try to give them about 10 square feet per bird. If your coop is 12x4' you could have up to 12...
Hi Everyone,
I've been working on bits and pieces of the coop for the last couple of weeks. I apologize that I haven't been in more often to respond and show my progress. I just finished building the double nest box, and cutting out and screwing on my wall panels after priming them all with...
I just finished installing all of my hardware cloth across the vents, and hope to have my main wall panels cut out by this weekend! I'm T-3 weeks until I get my 3 week old chicks so the pressure is on!
SunnyD, your hoop coop sounds exactly like what I am hoping to build. I just need to figure...
This weekend, I found a little bit of time to put up the hardware cloth on both ends of the coop. At everyone's advice, I enlarged the ventilation areas so that my girls would have quite a bit of airflow across them while on their roost.
Thank you all for the compliments! As the coop sits right now, the cleanout door is a little low, and I have to bend over to stick my head in there. My plan is to put the coop on some concrete 4x4 pads to boost it up about 6". I think that should be just enough to make it a little easier. I...
Thank you for the advice Elmo. The spot in my yard is sandwiched underneath a large tree, and is between my fence and the house (the house should block late afternoon sun). On the northwest side is a very large crepe myrtle that should protect it from the sun as well. If it looks like I'm...
Hi Everyone,
I am expecting my small flock of 5 Buff Orpingtons to arrive around mid April, so I am trying to get this thing finished up in the next month! I live in North Texas where it typically gets over 100 degrees in the summer, and have fairly mild winters (except for this last year)...