2015 HALLOWEEN Hatch-a-Long, Join us IF YOU DARE!

[hippiestink]

yea the roofing has always been our main costs, we finally realized we could purchase rolled roofing cheapest and since we do a single angle roof, you never see it anyways! DOH, we only figured that out on our LAST and final breeder COOP build

We learned quite a few tricks as we made a few of them. always make them so you never have to step inside a run or coop to feed water or collect eggs, it keeps you clean and free of poop and dust. Make a string or auto run door so you dont have to walk into the run to open it! make sure this cant be effected by winter ice and snow! We also have driveway stones up to all fronts of coops, always dry and clean to walk in, and winter snow melts fairly fast after shoveling too. Always keep runs so they have drainage, and a Godzillion other things you learn over time, like 2x4 roost poles on the sides covered with outdoor carpet brushes clean and can easily be dusted with preth dust and keeps feet from frost bite, also keep them 16" from the floor not the foot from the roof like I see first timers do on this site

, my poor brahma be like layin on the floor with broken limbs ready for stew pot

.

what else is there frmboyinthecity? VENTILATION, omg people are like "they are too cold, stuffing insulation in their coops" I am here yelling at my hubs, "put a darn fan in there!! you are wrong, it needs a fan!!!!! just do it, dont you question me!!!!" <hands on hips>

YUP. People think I'm nuts for wanting to poke as many holes as possible in my coop design. I did upgrade the design to a 1.25x2 m lean-to style one that will go up against the wall that our run is at, due to people saying I'm nuts for only having 1 square meter of coop (even though they only go in to lay eggs and sleep). The lean-to will end up being more cost effective (300 euros and under) and the roofing is probably the cheapest ticket item on the whole list. I will be having it up on stilts and it won't have much height in the main structure, my two bantam sized birds wouldn't make it on the roost otherwise. Now PAINT, that's the pricy stuff for us.

It's only eight hens, but they're my hens and everyone I know is scratching their head over why I care so much about them. They're food and they're eggs and they're productive members of the homestead. I need them as much as they need me!

 

[sonshine15]

@Tiffany. I don't think we can have too many..................or can we?

Building another coop.........

@hippiestink and Farmboy We lucked out. We have a huge shop where we moved. At the back of it the prior owners left an 8X8 set of shelves, boxes. After I had to shut down my truck, hubby let me use it for chicken nests It's fun trying to build on the cheap side for us. We used 2X2sX8 to build the frames and doors, then put that plastic netting for the enclosure. App 20.00. Now it's time to build another one onto the two we have LOL.

This is the shelves etc that were here:

Here's a photo taken early this year when we built a second coop for less than 20.00. Next one this weekend.

The cat box is their duster
There's a piece of wood I can slide to open up to the other pen or close it off if babies are in there. We just worked on a real roost a couple weeks ago. Where all those hens are under that shelf is a pet door that leads outside.

@Cynthia and TJ life got a bit too crazy for this month for the contest. This is pretty much the only thread I'm on and you're all awesome so just hanging around to see everyone's babies etc.

TaoChick, LOL I did the same with my batch awhile back, close together and what a juggling act. Your roo is gorgeous!

@Honora, I got 15.00 each for my roos when they were 18 weeks old. The Asian food places here use REAL chicken

Pyxis and Lamancha & Peepchicken........... this time some of mine will go in the freezer too......the ones that run up to me now will be added to the flock

ScovyMomma, are we there yet? Since the photo above with 26 and the ones that haven't been sold,,,,,just added over 35 to the flock

Prizepete, I'm trying to get to purebred with my Silkies. Crossing my fingers................

Sally, I haven't been able to make the multi quote work.. How's your baby doing?

 

[tiffani day]

@sonshine15To many coops ha! What's that we are building another small pin for my new hatch this weekend.

@hippiestink non chicken people will never understand the love of our chicks, yes in the end we will eat them but why not make their life as good as possible.

We have been very fortunate my husband is a contractor and our coops are his customers scraps on our last build we did have to buy wire but our previous 2 we had old wire given to us.I haven't painted any of them I was afraid of the fumes but if I wanted to he has so much left over paint I could do 100 the size of ours.

 

[Saris]

Just for fun (read impatience) I candled one of my Blue Andalusian eggs that was laid yesterday morning and immediately incubated and I saw a darker blob on the yolk!

It was so neat!

 

[Saris]

That darker patch is the embryo right? By the 22?

 

[Sally Sunshine]

YUP. People think I'm nuts for wanting to poke as many holes as possible in my coop design. I did upgrade the design to a 1.25x2 m lean-to style one that will go up against the wall that our run is at, due to people saying I'm nuts for only having 1 square meter of coop (even though they only go in to lay eggs and sleep). The lean-to will end up being more cost effective (300 euros and under) and the roofing is probably the cheapest ticket item on the whole list. I will be having it up on stilts and it won't have much height in the main structure, my two bantam sized birds wouldn't make it on the roost otherwise. Now PAINT, that's the pricy stuff for us.

It's only eight hens, but they're my hens and everyone I know is scratching their head over why I care so much about them. They're food and they're eggs and they're productive members of the homestead. I need them as much as they need me!

I know about the lay eggs and sleep! I wish I would have made a lockable feed area outside for them, but in the winter they dont leave much

with snow on the ground, oh AND a poop hammock under the two nest bars! those look so awesome, and sound like they would keep the coop so much cleaner too, but I am not sure my hens wouldnt end up mummies in it!

did you ever use them? I have seen the sand shelves used by friends but not hammocks. I should at least try sand in the coop once. but I can never find dry sand, its always wet and heavy at lowes. We are in the mountains and the roofing you can use just wont work here

limbs would destroy it in a week. I cant wait to see it finished!

and let them scratch their heads!

@Tiffany. I don't think we can have too many..................or can we?

Building another coop.........

@hippiestink and Farmboy We lucked out. We have a huge shop where we moved. At the back of it the prior owners left an 8X8 set of shelves, boxes. After I had to shut down my truck, hubby let me use it for chicken nests It's fun trying to build on the cheap side for us. We used 2X2sX8 to build the frames and doors, then put that plastic netting for the enclosure. App 20.00. Now it's time to build another one onto the two we have LOL.

This is the shelves etc that were here:

Here's a photo taken early this year when we built a second coop for less than 20.00. Next one this weekend.

The cat box is their duster
There's a piece of wood I can slide to open up to the other pen or close it off if babies are in there. We just worked on a real roost a couple weeks ago. Where all those hens are under that shelf is a pet door that leads outside.

@Cynthia and TJ life got a bit too crazy for this month for the contest. This is pretty much the only thread I'm on and you're all awesome so just hanging around to see everyone's babies etc.

TaoChick, LOL I did the same with my batch awhile back, close together and what a juggling act. Your roo is gorgeous!

@Honora, I got 15.00 each for my roos when they were 18 weeks old. The Asian food places here use REAL chicken

Pyxis and Lamancha & Peepchicken........... this time some of mine will go in the freezer too......the ones that run up to me now will be added to the flock

ScovyMomma, are we there yet? Since the photo above with 26 and the ones that haven't been sold,,,,,just added over 35 to the flock

Prizepete, I'm trying to get to purebred with my Silkies. Crossing my fingers................

Sally, I haven't been able to make the multi quote work.. How's your baby doing?

is that a livingroom lamp in there! how cute! is that a section in a barn? love it! what a great mix!

She is doing quite well, thank you for asking!!!

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Just for fun (read impatience) I candled one of my Blue Andalusian eggs that was laid yesterday morning and immediately incubated and I saw a darker blob on the yolk!

It was so neat!

That darker patch is the embryo right? By the 22?

it looks like the fertilization area for sure doesnt it! go babies go! you know when you cracked them open to check fertility? what candler are you using?

 

[hippiestink]

I know about the lay eggs and sleep! I wish I would have made a lockable feed area outside for them, but in the winter they dont leave much

with snow on the ground, oh AND a poop hammock under the two nest bars! those look so awesome, and sound like they would keep the coop so much cleaner too, but I am not sure my hens wouldnt end up mummies in it!

did you ever use them? I have seen the sand shelves used by friends but not hammocks. I should at least try sand in the coop once. but I can never find dry sand, its always wet and heavy at lowes. We are in the mountains and the roofing you can use just wont work here

limbs would destroy it in a week. I cant wait to see it finished!

and let them scratch their heads!



is that a livingroom lamp in there! how cute! is that a section in a barn? love it! what a great mix!

She is doing quite well, thank you for asking!!!

Never used the poo hammock or the sand method actually. Did try the deep litter method until the mites turned up, now I clean every week and lay our pine shavings after spraying everything with mite killer. May have to try the sand method with the new coop, I'll definitely let y'all know how it works for us!

 

[Sally Sunshine]

 

[Saris]

it looks like the fertilization area for sure doesnt it! go babies go! you know when you cracked them open to check fertility? what candler are you using?

Every egg from my flock has been fertile when I ate them. From the very first laid egg, I can't help but look and there are bullseyes everytime. I'm using a little LED Flashlight. I would bet money that all my eggs (from my chickens) are fertile, I'm not sure of the three arucana eggs I bought off CL, I only got 3 because of a (hopefully) miscommunication so I didn't want to crack them to check. I may candle them later though.