Arizona Chickens

[Mahonri]

Quote:
I'm getting about ten banty eggs a WEEK from two tiny OEGBs. I'm beginning to feel like raising a whole bunch of OE Banties. If nobody steps up to the plate I might just replace everyone with twice the number of Banties.

No way are 2 birds laying 10 eggs a day. Several someone else's are helping them out.

I think we all realized she meant "WEEK"

 

[ca]

Quote:
Excellent idea! Hmmm.... Modifications....

And the best part? IT WORKS!

I came home yesterday to 8 eggs laying there all CLEAN and in one piece on the carpet in the tray. Somebody was really enjoying the egg taste

. But the egg eating days are over! Apparently they were laying. Not great but still. This was the coop with 20 chickens. Not bad considering that half of them are molting and the other half is just starting to lay.
I'll get notes together on the weekend and post. It's a fun and "rewarding" project.

 

[Mikey D]

Quote:
Excellent idea! Hmmm.... Modifications....

And the best part? IT WORKS!

I came home yesterday to 8 eggs laying there all CLEAN and in one piece on the carpet in the tray. Somebody was really enjoying the egg taste

. But the egg eating days are over! Apparently they were laying. Not great but still. This was the coop with 20 chickens. Not bad considering that half of them are molting and the other half is just starting to lay.
I'll get notes together on the weekend and post. It's a fun and "rewarding" project.

Very cool!

I'm not modding anything until I see spherical-ish units of protein about 4 months from now.

That & I glued every wood joint together and it would require major surgery to take it all apart!

 

[ca]

Quote:
And the best part? IT WORKS!

I came home yesterday to 8 eggs laying there all CLEAN and in one piece on the carpet in the tray. Somebody was really enjoying the egg taste

. But the egg eating days are over! Apparently they were laying. Not great but still. This was the coop with 20 chickens. Not bad considering that half of them are molting and the other half is just starting to lay.
I'll get notes together on the weekend and post. It's a fun and "rewarding" project.

Very cool!

I'm not modding anything until I see spherical-ish units of protein about 4 months from now.

That & I glued every wood joint together and it would require major surgery to take it all apart!

I know what you mean! I build with gorilla glue. Replaces a lot of hardware. My old nestbox is nevertheless going to get modified next weekend. I will be tilting the whole unit to get the right angle on the floors

.

 

[southerndesert]

Look what I found while searching for more roll out plans.... Easy and easy to clean and can be done with it this afternoon without redoing my whole setup!

I will also add a small bit of material as a curtain so the eggs can not be seen by the hens after rolling in.

 

[janetora]

With the colder weather coming I'm wondering how closed up are your hen houses? I live in Chandler, my 3 ladies are back-yard free range. Their house has an open door, and two screened sides at the top of the hen house. The floor is screen but I made boards that can cover them and are in with litter. I have one of the top screens blocked with cardboard when the wind came through a couple of days ago. We built the hen house thinking of hot weather not cold. This will be my first winter with chickens so I have new mom worries. So any cold weather info would be great! Thanks! Here is a pic of our hen house.

 

[southerndesert]

That should be just fine and we also have vents at the top we cover when high winds and rain. Years ago in Illinois we kept birds throughout the very cold winters in unheated chicken houses and they were also fine. Those feathers when fluffed up and over their feet at night is warm as toast....

Our whimpy AZ winter really doesn't bother our chickens at all....

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

southerndesert, That is a super clever retro-fit for front-end egg roll-outs!

janetora, That looks good to me. If the roosts are sufficiently below the openings at the top you shouldn't have any problems at all. My coop is very open and in the winter I only cover the sections around the roosts to prevent wind from blowing directly on them.

 

[ca]

Quote:
That is really cool! But if you are gone for a whole day those trays might get a little crowded and the chickens will get the eggs back out. I have seen my chickens juggle with golf balls

 

[janetora]

Thanks that reassuring! I think I might have to block both sides because the upper roost is high enough for them to "look out" So the wind could blow on them. The weather people on the news just got me freaked out telling me how cold it is. LOL. Thanks again!