Arizona Chickens

[ca]

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I have a shelf with metal pans. It makes my life soooo easy! Once a week I tip the pans onto the compost. Pretty much clean house (except the youngens think nest boxes are made for pooping).

 

[AZBootsie]

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Guess Coops are forever a work in progress. Every time it feels completed, I think of something to add or change.

My coop needs a plexiglass removable piece also. Habitat for Humanity has used shower doors for really cheap. Does anyone know if there is a type of blade that I could use on either a jigsaw or a circular saw that would cut the doors without making a mess?? In the past I have used glass cutters for plexiglass with poor results. If I can think of a way to cut the shower doors, I will drill holes and just bolt them on to the coop for easy removal.

 

[Arizonachicken]

Is it just my chickens, or do chickens loose a TON of feathers regularly? No one looks mangy or bald, in fact they all look great, but the coop and run are loaded with feathers!

Is this normal? My 4 pullets are almost 23 weeks and aren't laying yet, if that makes any difference. I also have two hens. Thanks!

 

[LarryPQ]

Check out what I found in my nestbox!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=578782

 

[AZBootsie]

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Mine looks like a pillow exploded too. Girls still look fluffy, but I am thinking pretty soon they will be looking sad. This is their second fall and time for a real molt.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

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Crapula! I posted the above before I read your post.

Does it still count?

Mine was a song anyway.

Ours is a book, a never-ending book...

This is the song that n-e-v-e-r ends.
It just goes on and on my friends....

 

[Mikey D]

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Guess Coops are forever a work in progress. Every time it feels completed, I think of something to add or change.

My coop needs a plexiglass removable piece also. Habitat for Humanity has used shower doors for really cheap. Does anyone know if there is a type of blade that I could use on either a jigsaw or a circular saw that would cut the doors without making a mess?? In the past I have used glass cutters for plexiglass with poor results. If I can think of a way to cut the shower doors, I will drill holes and just bolt them on to the coop for easy removal.

WAIT! STOP! DON'T!

Shower doors are tempered glass - UNCUTABLE! If you try to score and snap you will have a shower of glass on your hands.

If you have acrylic (plexiglass) it can be cut with standard wood working tools. If you want to get fancy you can take a propane torch (like for plumbing) and GENTLY flame polish the edge.

Hope it helps!

Mikey

 

[AZBootsie]

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Guess Coops are forever a work in progress. Every time it feels completed, I think of something to add or change.

My coop needs a plexiglass removable piece also. Habitat for Humanity has used shower doors for really cheap. Does anyone know if there is a type of blade that I could use on either a jigsaw or a circular saw that would cut the doors without making a mess?? In the past I have used glass cutters for plexiglass with poor results. If I can think of a way to cut the shower doors, I will drill holes and just bolt them on to the coop for easy removal.

WAIT! STOP! DON'T!

Shower doors are tempered glass - UNCUTABLE! If you try to score and snap you will have a shower of glass on your hands.

If you have acrylic (plexiglass) it can be cut with standard wood working tools. If you want to get fancy you can take a propane torch (like for plumbing) and GENTLY flame polish the edge.

Hope it helps!

Mikey

Bummer!! Uggg...I thought is was such a good idea. Ok back to the drawing board.

Thank you Mikey!!

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

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I like the idea of using siding to match the house. I need better orientation--in the pics looking broadside at the coop/house, are we looking north, left is west and right is east? How I might proceed would be very much influenced by the coop's orientation.

My birds only use the elevated area as a way to get to the nest boxes and up to the roosts (and back down again), so no, it's not necessary at all. I think it does provide a better shelter in the winter as the bottom is entirely open on three sides. But really, it's not necessary.


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So, it's generally advisable that the door between the coop and run be closed at dusk and opened at dawn to limit predation. Having said that, my pop door is open 24/7. We travel a lot and I don't want the house sitter to have to deal with opening and closing it. By not closing the coop at night, I expose an extra 40' of linear space for predators to get in for a total of 54' of risk, compared to just 14' if I locked them up at night. I don't worry too much, because I think the run is about as predator proof as the coop. The increased risk I incur doesn't seem to offset the energy required to open and close it every day.


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I don't have poop boards but I think they are a good idea, especially for someone like me that is fairly fastidious about coop cleanliness. I figure that if it's easier to keep clean, you will be more likely to keep it clean. In my urban situation, that is a important goal. I don't know for sure, but I suspect your birds will appreciate a wider roost. Mine do catch some droppings, but I keep a 6" drywall knife in there that I use to scrape it off when I rake the floor. It adds less than a minute to clean up time. Maybe others with more experience will have other ideas. I'm not sure why chickens would drop from the ceiling---well now that I think of it mine have occasionally fallen off the roost when they are fighting over prime roosting areas right at dusk.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

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Dang! I thought it was a great idea too! Plexiglass is expensive.