Absolutely New to Chicken

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sourland said:
Welcome to BYC. Carry on with your new found love of chickens - you deserve the right to lay back and relax. Just don't fall asleep on the ground when that 'killer squad' is on the loose. :p
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gosh no if I fell asleep I would probably wake up with all of my moles removed and possibly a kidney too!:p
 
AllenK@new2this said:
Well nearly 2.5 months later fort Squaks is almost complete(turns out one of my hobbies is procrastination), but they are safe at night behind the 1/4" hardware cloth. The only signs of digging were from my own dogs eating the chicken feed they like to throw everywhere and falls through the floor from their TSC 30 pound hanging feeder. I went cheap with the automatic watering system ordering a Little Giant Float waterer that is fiddly and prone to leaking plus required a regulator(not supplied) to take the water pressure down to 50psi or less. The roosts I provided them apparently aren't up to Sumatra Code as they all climb the Hardware cloth up to the top of the coop and roost there, but it saves me on chicken poo cleaning duty as I don't mind them fertilizing the ground outside at all so its a win win for us both.

I had the worst luck with my straight run as sex is finally expressing itself in their feathering at this moment I received what appears to be 8 males to 2 females(I still have a couple of denial based iffies). Luckily for me I was able to unload 2 of the males today on a neighbor who really liked what he saw in the Sumatra's. I'm really not looking forward to giving any of them the axe by doing chicken math subtraction. I offered him more if he wants to slaughter them but he only raises chicken for eggs. I am really hoping my neighbors excitement turns into more leads for folks looking for Sumatra Roos.

Presently, I am harassing anyone who breeds that I can find in Texas for hens, as nobody is hatching out Sumatras with the internet based breeding houses. I do not plan to ever gamble on a straight run again after looking up its definition. I was dumb and thought that would get me a near 50/50 split on the sexes. If I got a 10-0 or 0-10 split I wouldn't have a basis for a complaint.

I am having a hard time getting them to come out of their pen to free range at present. They only free range if I supervise so I'm horribly disfigured at present from mosquito bites as we had 2 days of rain recently and are experiencing the Caterpillar apocalypse! The males are running around crazy gulping those worms down and growing fast. The two for sure females are so lazy they crack me up foraging for caterpillars they just lay in a tall stand of grass and wait for them to come.

Well that is where I am at present with my first plunge into chicken keeping. Right now I'm weighing whether I should buy a machete vs axe, and know which stump I'll hit up with the chainsaw to practice chicken math as needed to cull for behavior(this part of chicken keeping sucks) with the excess males. I'm still holding my breath until I turn purple first to see if any other rehoming offers appear as the aggression levels in the pen are still quite tolerable.
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We definitely had our share of roosters this last year as well. We learned how to process them, and, even though we still don't love it, we feel pretty good about eating our own birds because we know they had really happy lives, unlike supermarket chickens.
Also, the first few weeks of free ranging is often more of a quick step outside, then spend the rest of the day in the coop where it's safe. No concerns, though. Pretty soon they'll bust your chops if you're late to let them out!! :)
 
orrpeople said:
We definitely had our share of roosters this last year as well. We learned how to process them, and, even though we still don't love it, we feel pretty good about eating our own birds because we know they had really happy lives, unlike supermarket chickens.
Also, the first few weeks of free ranging is often more of a quick step outside, then spend the rest of the day in the coop where it's safe. No concerns, though. Pretty soon they'll bust your chops if you're late to let them out!! :)
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Oh yeah! I go out at sunrise every morning and they are always waiting at the door, but they don't leave the run until I lead them out and wait on the spoiled brats to forage. Luckily, I don't mind watching them forage as it is usually quite quick as we are experiencing a huge spike in caterpillars which they love the guys take 5 minutes and their crops get rock hard from all the food they are holding on to. The gals are more meh about it and take their time then follow the guys back into the run to lay under my tall grasses back there.
 
orrpeople said:
We definitely had our share of roosters this last year as well. We learned how to process them, and, even though we still don't love it, we feel pretty good about eating our own birds because we know they had really happy lives, unlike supermarket chickens.
Also, the first few weeks of free ranging is often more of a quick step outside, then spend the rest of the day in the coop where it's safe. No concerns, though. Pretty soon they'll bust your chops if you're late to let them out!! :)
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I just have to share this picture cause I'm so happy it turned out right. My flock has it so easy right now free ranging they don't even have to work at it. These cat's are so thick they remind me of ornaments on a christmass tree. I forgot how to step down the aperature on this 12 year old camera but it had the right lens on it for the shot is why I'm pleased it came out pretty nicely.
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@orrpeople here is the almost current state of the coop. Since this photo, I have also added hardware cloth to the door, installed a new roost to the front at 5+ feet high and covered it in reclaimed pallet wood. The food and water stations have been moved away from the backblast areas under the roosts! Before rolling the front fence back into place I need to finish:
1)ratproofing the front and one 4 inch gap along the interior front of the coop.

I have decided not to plumb for running water as a RV human safe hose was deemed adequate and I have a float waterer that requires a good weekly flush to keep water fresh. Inserting picture somewhere here.
Other things on the todo list:
1)repaint the outside
2)use sealant type of paint for all interior wood(think concrete floor oil and water resistant gray paint) this will allow for #3
3)Set up a deep litter composting floor. I do love compost my soil here is so poor.
4)cover those new vent holes in hardware cloth. Also under the rear side overhang i'm cutting that out for more ventilation in the near future.
5)Create nesting boxes there at the front with the funky looking HC covered opening.

I have more todos but those are the major ones that come to mind for me. RATPROOFING is my first todo.

Allen
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staceyj said:
:frowJust saying hey!
Welcome and thank you for your service to our country.
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Thank ya Stacyj, hey back at ya! Finally hitting my stride with a 1 improvement per day to the coop goal. I initially wanted a Rome built in a day approach but me and my wife got way too grumpy attempting that in this heat. For now the flock is safe against all nighttime predators(except rats), and the cat hasn't brought me a rat in over 3 months. That slacker has really only brought me 3 dead baby possums in that time frame. So I feel pretty comfy knowing they are more than safe enough at night. one last bit Im thinking of a todo:
Concrete in the fencing and any gaps between the coop and the ground once it has been weather sealed on the exterior wooden surfaces.
 
Rat proofing. ..whew - I wish you much success (it's a big issue for us here - very frustrating).
I like to trench then apron my fencing and then pour a bag or two of post hole concrete over it, wet it down well, then bury it. It's been pretty successful. I may have mentioned that I also have pups that roam at night, so lots of critters get chased away as well.
It's looking good!! Well done!
 

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