Arizona Chickens

[Mikey D]

OK! Here we go!!!

Left school & picked up battery for Aunt Fanny, flooded, charged & started to set blocks. Sorry, no picts of block setting but Control Tower was not home yet. Went out to dinner with some friends (unavoidable as it has been set up for weeks (that sounds terrible Mikey!)) came home and attempted to set the rest of the blocks. Found out that I shorted myself one (I knew how many I needed, I just bought one less) went to Homer-away-from-home and picked up 3 more blocks (I broke one earlier). finished setting blocks around 9PM. Figured why the heck not and started pouring concrete.

Dave-o helped a ton & did the wash out for me. Thanks Dave-o! (Yeah, like he's going to see this on BYC - well, you guys know I appreciate him anyway)

Finished screeding it off - not going to finish it, just leave it rough.

Here is the coop foundation 'A 'La Gallo! Thanks Gallo for the inspiration!

Wrapped it up around 10:15 tonight. That's all folks!

Ohhh and BTW - Tracy - the Red broiler is finally showing some wing feathers.

 

[pimachickens]

Nice Mikey!

 

[Mikey D]

Quote:
Thanks Pima!

I'm no mason & kinda perfectionist so it was difficult but I just kept saying,

"It's only a chicken coop! It's only a chicken coop!"

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Hey Mikey, it looks great! What a great son too, being out there so late helping you 'til it was done.

 

[AZBootsie]

Great Job Mikey!!

Looks strong enough to be a coop/bomb shelter combo!!

 

[Mikey D]

Quote:
Thank you Pima!

Gallo - Thanks! He's a great kid (when he wants to be

) And thanks again for the inspiration. I'm now trying to decide if I want to go with the raised coop like yours (with water beneath) or the one sided like Meg Moringa-seed had. Can you go DLM with your raised coop?

Boots - Thanks! - Dave-o said he was surprised it didn't have a concrete basement reinforced with rebar!

 

[Arizonachicken]

Nice job, Mikey! Looks great, and I love the "in the process" pictures. I'm waiting for more peeper pics! (oooh, good thing this is BYC, that could totally be taken the wrong way.

)

 

[Mikey D]

Quote:
I know! I feel remiss in my Peeper Picts duties.

I went in to the brooder room (read bathroom) and three of them were perched on the edge of the tote. I am a tad bit afraid that they will hop off into the bathroom proper and be stranded w/o food or water so I persuaded them to get back inside the tote and covered it (Lid with large hole and screen) . I was kinda relying on the only light in the room was focused into the brooder and was hoping they would not stray "into the darkness" but don't want to take any chances.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Quote:
I made the elevated part of the coop so that they would have an area that was largely cut off from the weather, or could easily be made so. That part of the coop has about 6" of pine shavings, but I don't think it behaves in the way that the DLM is supposed to so I usually don't say I'm using the DLM. It always stays completely dry, which is fine by me. Moreover, they only roost in that area of the coop in the winter, so that's really the only time they poop in that area. The ground of the coop is just the dirt from the ground and some sand poured on top. I usually go out every other day and rake the droppings to keep it clean. Even if I go a week without raking (like when we travel) it doesn't get all that messy or stinky with just the 8 birds. The elevated part of the coop also serves as a soft landing pad for birds that are coming down off the roost (but that wouldn't be all that necessary if my roosts weren't so high. I made the roosts the height they are to allow the birds access to the airflow above the block wall behind the coop. I also wanted to maximize the ground area by elevating, but they only really use the area below the elevated section when they are locked up for extended periods. Soooo...I wouldn't argue in favor of my design over something like Meg had or many (perhaps most?) others here in AZ. It's just what I came up with at the time. Although, after nearly two years I'm not sure if I would change much. That the birds move from the open end to the sheltered end in the winter makes me feel like they appreciate the additional shelter. I'm also not finished with my coop. I'm searching for used pieces of plexiglass that I can make removable winter windows for for the open end of the coop. I also want to get a piece of plywood or something like it to make a removable inner cover for the elevated part of the coop to provide a bit more protection from the breeze in the winter. It can really whip through the top of the coop. I sometimes feel a little bad for the chickens in the cold in the winter. I think mostly that's my own issue and not much a problem for the birds. I do like to spoil them.

 

[kevs-chickadees]

Looks nice so far Mikey! Are you leaving options open for when the chicken math takes over.