2018 Newbie Chat!

[imneva]

What kinds are you getting?

My mom is getting her bantam chicks in August so you're not the last to the party! xD

I am getting a mixed flock of golden maran, blue cuckoo maran,blue cochin, white cochin EE, salmon farerolle , lakeshoe egger.austra white. black australorp, speckled Sussex no bantams and not allowed to have a roo I feel like a johnny come lately lol

 

[PNW_Peepers]

Remember how I was going to install exterior nesting boxes. Well S$&@ hit the fan. I heard a huge commotion outside around 2:00pm yesterday. So I ran out in a hurry expecting a mink trying to get in. What I found was so much worse.....

Our entire subfloor gave out. With the weight of the nesting box, Two droppings boards, and two tons of sand it just couldn’t hold anymore...

I immediately closed off the coop. (Which later caused an ankle break in one of barred rocks) and got to work. We now have three jacks holding up the backside. I had to remove all the hardware cloth underneath coop. We have nine concrete pier blocks and 4x4 beams that will support the weight of the subfloor and make it stronger.

Thank god no one died, including DH and I. Moral of the story, don’t make a large raised coop. Really! Don’t build it raised if you want sand.

 

[CannedMonster]

So I am thinking about building a bigger coop. 100 plus hours on an enclosure wasn't enough.

I got two different ideas and they are probably backwards but it's the only way it can work.

I can do a raised coop in the enclosure so I don't lose any groubd for them or I can do a shed like attached to the run. The shed like one would be about 4x16 and bigger (would allow for more chickens)then raised one. I'm trying to stay with dimensions that would require the least amount of cutting.

Which way would you guys go?

Then I'm going to take the pre fab and give the one rooster that in another area. . I may even considering hatching some chicks and if there are roosters I will have room in the rooster bachelor pad, so I don't have to worry about homes for the boys.

You have to look at the pros and cons of each.
One thing that you should check out are building codes in your county/city.
In our county, any structure that is more than 120 square feet has to have a permit.
It could be smaller in your area.
Just google it for your town (if you’re within the city limits) or county.

Why 4 x 16? Why not 8 x 8?
I’m just curious. Is it because of the shape of your yard?
A raised coop gives them shade and most chickens enjoy dust bathing under there.
I would do whatever one is easiest to clean and allows for more chickens as long as your space permits.
After my new chicks grow up I’m going to have a total of 27 chickens: 18 LF and 9 bantams.
I live on half an acre.
I don’t think my property could support more than that without looking crappy (literally).
Not all of our property is fenced.
Our next project is to fence our side yard which will create an extremely large space for the birds.
I can even separate flocks too.

 

[CannedMonster]

Remember how I was going to install exterior nesting boxes. Well S$&@ hit the fan. I heard a huge commotion outside around 2:00pm yesterday. So I ran out in a hurry expecting a mink trying to get in. What I found was so much worse..... View attachment 1468064
Our entire subfloor gave out. With the weight of the nesting box, Two droppings boards, and two tons of sand it just couldn’t hold anymore...
View attachment 1468066
I immediately closed off the coop. (Which later caused an ankle break in one of barred rocks) and got to work. We now have three jacks holding up the backside. I had to remove all the hardware cloth underneath coop. We have nine concrete pier blocks and 4x4 beams that will support the weight of the subfloor and make it stronger. View attachment 1468074
Thank god no one died, including DH and I. Moral of the story, don’t make a large raised coop. Really! Don’t build it raised if you want sand.

Omg! I’m so glad everyone is okay.
You had a BR get injured?
Sand is so heavy. It’s good you guys were able to get it stabilized.


I use some Sweet PDZ on the bottom of the pull out tray in my prefab and that stuff is pretty heavy too.
I really like shavings. Light weight and they smell good.
I do add a bit of Sweet PDZ to absorb moisture and ammonia.
Never had a problem with smell.
In my area we have a lot of choice in terms of pine shavings.
Large flake, small flake and even fine flake.
I have only found the fine tiny flake pine shavings at D & B Supply.
It’s not as fine as saw dust but pretty small particles.
I love it because it’s fine enough that I can actually use a kitty litter scoop to clean the poop out.
I use it in the prefab and my nesting boxes.
I never use it in the brooder though because I don’t want the chicks to eat it.

 

[PNW_Peepers]

Omg! I’m so glad everyone is okay.
You had a BR get injured?
Sand is so heavy. It’s good you guys were able to get it stabilized.


I use some Sweet PDZ on the bottom of the pull out tray in my prefab and that stuff is pretty heavy too.
I really like shavings. Light weight and they smell good.
I do add a bit of Sweet PDZ to absorb moisture and ammonia.
Never had a problem with smell.
In my area we have a lot of choice in terms of pine shavings.
Large flake, small flake and even fine flake.
I have only found the fine tiny flake pine shavings at D & B Supply.
It’s not as fine as saw dust but pretty small particles.
I love it because it’s fine enough that I can actually use a kitty litter scoop to clean the poop out.
I use it in the prefab and my nesting boxes.
I never use it in the brooder though because I don’t want the chicks to eat it.

Yes one of my favorites, Ivory got injured. I made her a brace and have her isolated in my double decker broody boxes. So she can eat and drink easily and not have much room to injure herself more. She became frantic to lay an egg when I closed up the coop so she attempted to fly in by hitting the wall repeatedly where the coop door is. I think she either broke or sprained her ankle. She’s not walking on it. Asprin and giving her time are about the only things I can do. If it doesn’t heal right and she can’t walk again we’ll have to cull her. She laid an egg this morning so I have high hopes for her.

 

[CannedMonster]

Good news!
It’s been two months since I integrated my littles into the adult flock.
Well actually it’s been less time than that because the walk in coop wasn’t ready so they were sleeping in the prefab for a while.
But for about a month the NN have been sleeping in the walk in with Red and the Wyandottes.
All 9 bantams sleep in the prefab.
Red and the Wyandottes used to range and hang out by themselves and my teenagers hung out separate too.

Well they’ve all started ranging together now!!
They’re actually hanging out all together!
I thought that would never happen.

 

[imneva]

I’m SO excited guys!
I went on Meyer Hatchery’s website just to look around and noticed that they had 1 female Silver Penciled Rock chick still available for their July 16 hatch.
This is a breed where they only let you order one at a time.
So I sent an email asking them if I could add that chick to my July 16 order.
They responded very quickly and added it and said all I needed to do was give them permission to debit my card.
I said absolutely lol!

So I have 7 chicks coming on July 16 and now I’ll have 2 SPR instead of 1!
They’ll just be a week apart in age.
I plan to integrate both chick orders with each other as soon as I can.
I need to do a little research on BYC to see how I should go about it.
I wonder if it’s even necessary if they’re only a week apart? [/QUOTE

my girls are all coming from there the VERY SAME DAY!!! what kinds are you getting? besides the one mentioned above?

 

[CannedMonster]

@imneva
I had to split my order by two separate dates a week apart.
This was because I wanted Speckled Sussex and none were available on the July 9th hatch date.
This also meant I had to pay two $35 shipping fees
But...at least I got what I wanted lol.
So my first order was 1 Silver Penciled Rock, 2 Australorps and 3 partridge rocks. These chicks are 5 days old.

My July 16 order is 1 Silver Penciled Rock, 1 Australorp, 2 EE and 3 Speckled Sussex.
I chose these breeds because they have interesting colors and feather patterns and they are supposed to be calm, friendly and good layers.

I have five 4 month old Naked Necks that I’m really enjoying as well as a Silkie love)
and several bantam Cochins.
I have a gold sex link that’s my dominant hen and an awesome bird and layer.
I have 3 Silver Laced Wyandottes that I’m giving to a friend because I haven’t liked the breed much. They’re bullies about food and treats.

 

[llombardo]

Attempt one of integration went like this...

Lots of chasing and pecking resulting with the golden lace ending up in the duck area. I was kind of worried that she could fit through and well she did. The look on the ducks faces was priceless. She got in there and went right for their house. They all were like um what is going on here? But they were very good and never once went after her and actually let her be. Good ducks, bad chickens....

 

[CannedMonster]

Attempt one of integration went like this...

Lots of chasing and pecking resulting with the golden lace ending up in the duck area. I was kind of worried that she could fit through and well she did. The look on the ducks faces was priceless. She got in there and went right for their house. They all were like um what is going on here? But they were very good and never once went after her and actually let her be. Good ducks, bad chickens....

Do you free range your birds when you’re home?