2018 Newbie Chat!

[PNW_Peepers]

How can you tell the difference between milting and over mating?

Molting looks like a pillow fight happened everywhere. Overall the chickens look mangey. If it’s over mating there will be feather loss near the base of the tail only.

 

[PNW_Peepers]

So I may need your guys input when I start this coop/run build. I'm determined to do this. I got to get the trees cut and the pool down--that will be the hard part. I have such a vision for them.

I want to do 16 by 16 but only 5.5 ft tall. I do not want to be taller then fence line and I will be able to still walk in it--I'm not to talk..lol

There will be some seperation in the coop(that's why so big) I'm putting my 4 rabbits in there(along the walls). I am thinking 6-8 ft for each and two levels for each. Duke will have his own area--3-4 ft wide and the length of coop plus about 8-10 ft out in the run. I will be attaching a light in there and in the corner I'm making a shelf for a heater(I have one that turns off if it falls--love it) I will only set it for no warmer then 30-35 degrees in the colder winter months. I'm looking for a fan that does the same thing. I found nest boxes I want(2-3) and the roosts will be tree branches I have cut and saved. I will be shingling that roof and I'm attaching it to the run. The run will have both tin and clear panels(this will take the longest because I can only purchase so much at a time) but the net will be up. I do think I will be leaving the net up and as a second defense of anything makes it to the roof. I will be changing the run slightly. I do want to get the ducks a pool with a pond filter so I need more room for them. At the same time the way I'm connecting the coop and run, that will give chickens more room on that end. It sounds so much more complicated then it is. The roof, windows and doors will be the hard parts. I will have to make the door on the coop and two doors for the chickens plus a door inside to get to Duke and a door for the run for Dukes area. The electric fence will be completely around the run and coop with another fence a few feet away so my boy dogs can not per on the fence.

One question I have and it may be silly, but do you use screws or nails? I was looking to use a nail gun--not sure if you can use screws or nails in the nail gun?

I will get more ambitious as the weather clears..

16x16 is going to be hard. Plywood doesn’t come in sheets that big so doing the roof well will be near impossible. I made my coop as large as I possibly could and it’s only 10X8. The bigger you go, the more expensive it’ll get. I think we spend 3k-5k on our big coop/run. My hats off to you if you think you can manage it, but it seems like it’s going to be near impossible. If I were you I’d do multiple small coops and one large run connecting them all.

 

[CannedMonster]

So I may need your guys input when I start this coop/run build. I'm determined to do this. I got to get the trees cut and the pool down--that will be the hard part. I have such a vision for them.

I want to do 16 by 16 but only 5.5 ft tall. I do not want to be taller then fence line and I will be able to still walk in it--I'm not to talk..lol

There will be some seperation in the coop(that's why so big) I'm putting my 4 rabbits in there(along the walls). I am thinking 6-8 ft for each and two levels for each. Duke will have his own area--3-4 ft wide and the length of coop plus about 8-10 ft out in the run. I will be attaching a light in there and in the corner I'm making a shelf for a heater(I have one that turns off if it falls--love it) I will only set it for no warmer then 30-35 degrees in the colder winter months. I'm looking for a fan that does the same thing. I found nest boxes I want(2-3) and the roosts will be tree branches I have cut and saved. I will be shingling that roof and I'm attaching it to the run. The run will have both tin and clear panels(this will take the longest because I can only purchase so much at a time) but the net will be up. I do think I will be leaving the net up and as a second defense of anything makes it to the roof. I will be changing the run slightly. I do want to get the ducks a pool with a pond filter so I need more room for them. At the same time the way I'm connecting the coop and run, that will give chickens more room on that end. It sounds so much more complicated then it is. The roof, windows and doors will be the hard parts. I will have to make the door on the coop and two doors for the chickens plus a door inside to get to Duke and a door for the run for Dukes area. The electric fence will be completely around the run and coop with another fence a few feet away so my boy dogs can not per on the fence.

One question I have and it may be silly, but do you use screws or nails? I was looking to use a nail gun--not sure if you can use screws or nails in the nail gun?

I will get more ambitious as the weather clears..

DO NOT put screws in a nail gun. It’s for nails.
My husband likes screws as he feels it makes a sturdier structure but he is really bad about overbuilding everything. And he likes screws because that makes it easier to take a structure apart.
Nails will be less expensive.

 

[CannedMonster]

Molting looks like a pillow fight happened everywhere. Overall the chickens look mangey. If it’s over mating there will be feather loss near the base of the tail only.

Mine lose feathers from mating on their back and the inside backs of their wings. They’re actually broken feathers.
I keep waiting for Red to molt because she’s looked terrible for months now.

 

[CannedMonster]

16x16 is going to be hard. Plywood doesn’t come in sheets that big so doing the roof well will be near impossible. I made my coop as large as I possibly could and it’s only 10X8. The bigger you go, the more expensive it’ll get. I think we spend 3k-5k on our big coop/run. My hats off to you if you think you can manage it, but it seems like it’s going to be near impossible. If I were you I’d do multiple small coops and one large run connecting them all.

I agree

 

[No More Empty Nest]

He has a little shed type structure in his backyard that will be the base for the coop. We will just be doing modifying to make it a coop. Plus lots of cleaning. He's been disabled for the past 4 years after an outpatient procedure went wrong. So the yard has been severely neglected. He loves our chicken eggs and really wants his own now.

It sounds like squatting to me. I tried to get a good picture of my pullet squatting. Hope it helps. Her back kind of flattens out when she raises her wings and she goes slightly lower to the ground.
View attachment 1669204

That sounds like it! None of the others are doing it yet. She wasn't as ornery today either, maybe the hormones are settling down.

 

[No More Empty Nest]

The chickens will keep him busy and moving. It's s great idea.

They sure keep me going, lol.

 

[Cbarr00]

Link to article?

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...-not-about-the-egg-it’s-an-escort-call.74386/

 

[Cbarr00]

So I may need your guys input when I start this coop/run build. I'm determined to do this. I got to get the trees cut and the pool down--that will be the hard part. I have such a vision for them.

I want to do 16 by 16 but only 5.5 ft tall. I do not want to be taller then fence line and I will be able to still walk in it--I'm not to talk..lol

There will be some seperation in the coop(that's why so big) I'm putting my 4 rabbits in there(along the walls). I am thinking 6-8 ft for each and two levels for each. Duke will have his own area--3-4 ft wide and the length of coop plus about 8-10 ft out in the run. I will be attaching a light in there and in the corner I'm making a shelf for a heater(I have one that turns off if it falls--love it) I will only set it for no warmer then 30-35 degrees in the colder winter months. I'm looking for a fan that does the same thing. I found nest boxes I want(2-3) and the roosts will be tree branches I have cut and saved. I will be shingling that roof and I'm attaching it to the run. The run will have both tin and clear panels(this will take the longest because I can only purchase so much at a time) but the net will be up. I do think I will be leaving the net up and as a second defense of anything makes it to the roof. I will be changing the run slightly. I do want to get the ducks a pool with a pond filter so I need more room for them. At the same time the way I'm connecting the coop and run, that will give chickens more room on that end. It sounds so much more complicated then it is. The roof, windows and doors will be the hard parts. I will have to make the door on the coop and two doors for the chickens plus a door inside to get to Duke and a door for the run for Dukes area. The electric fence will be completely around the run and coop with another fence a few feet away so my boy dogs can not per on the fence.

One question I have and it may be silly, but do you use screws or nails? I was looking to use a nail gun--not sure if you can use screws or nails in the nail gun?

I will get more ambitious as the weather clears..

Can you post a pic of your current set up? Maybe all these heads together can find some easier less costly/labor intensive solutions for what you're needing.

 

[llombardo]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...-not-about-the-egg-it’s-an-escort-call.74386/

Makes sense, when Rain was laying her first egg, Prince stood with her. He did some scratching around too.