Arizona Chickens

[KingR0o5t3r]

Hello Everyone!
My coop's base is finished! It is a 10 x 6 foot rectangle made of treated redwood. We ran hardware cloth under the whole thing. This weekend, we are going to Home Depot or Lowes and getting lumber! We need a design for nestboxes, though. Does anyone have any ideas? It is a small coop. (3' tall x 6' wide x 4' long) The pen is 10' x 6'. The actual coop is raised 3 feet in the air. The floor will be made of chicken wire. So the poop falls through. We'll keep rugs on it in the winter; better insulation. At the rate we're going, we should have it entirely done by next month. Shoot.
Rezia

I would recommend using a bucket. Any big enough for a hen to turn around in, could be a five gallon bucket, cat litter bucket or anything like that. Cut it to about 5 or 6 inches tall, and fill it with a bedding of your choice! I make a little frame out of scrap wood for mine so they don't move side to side. They're so easy to clean if they get dirty and my girls like them.

 

[LadyKotaDoria]

Hello Everyone!
My coop's base is finished! It is a 10 x 6 foot rectangle made of treated redwood. We ran hardware cloth under the whole thing. This weekend, we are going to Home Depot or Lowes and getting lumber! We need a design for nestboxes, though. Does anyone have any ideas? It is a small coop. (3' tall x 6' wide x 4' long) The pen is 10' x 6'. The actual coop is raised 3 feet in the air. The floor will be made of chicken wire. So the poop falls through. We'll keep rugs on it in the winter; better insulation. At the rate we're going, we should have it entirely done by next month. Shoot.
Rezia

I have seen nesting boxes of 5 gal, buckets set on their side at a slight angle, the filled with nesting material. Easy to take out wash, and put back in. There are square ones, I would think they would work better. Make a frame for the buckets to set on and hold them in place. Very simple, functional, not fancy. Will not work if you have an egg retrieval hatch.


I have a silly question, can a chicken eat to much? Am I over feeding my girls? 6 pullets, has consumed today 2 cups chopped fresh greens, 3 cups fermented feed, 1 6" dia squash with seeds, plus 2 hrs free ranging, I had filled their dry food and throw out a mixture of seeds to keep them busy. The only time their crop is empty is when they get up in the morning, otherwise they have a tennis ball at the end of their necks (ok a gulf ball). I want them healthy, I do not know if it is possable for a chicken to over eat on its own. Their pen is 6'X10', they have room to move around and perches at different heights.

 

[LadyKotaDoria]

[/quote] I would recommend using a bucket. Any big enough for a hen to turn around in, could be a five gallon bucket, cat litter bucket or anything like that. Cut it to about 5 or 6 inches tall, and fill it with a bedding of your choice! I make a little frame out of scrap wood for mine so they don't move side to side. They're so easy to clean if they get dirty and my girls like them.

[/quote]
we think alike.

 

[MagicChicken]

Got a call from Duane Urch today. My black java chicks have shipped!

Looks like I got the brooder cobbled together just in time. Good thing I've been testing brooder heating systems over the last couple of days. Paint will have to wait until the chicks are grown out. At least it will be warmer then!

 

[Fuzzybird]

Flower What is the silver chick? So pretty! Fuzzybird I did not post chicks but if you mean the big birds that I posted, I went back to the post and labled the chickens.

BTW why do you use such LARGE font size ?



I did post to the wrong person. Got my answer from another post. Flower I can see this font better! LOL

 

[KingR0o5t3r]

I would recommend using a bucket. Any big enough for a hen to turn around in, could be a five gallon bucket, cat litter bucket or anything like that. Cut it to about 5 or 6 inches tall, and fill it with a bedding of your choice! I make a little frame out of scrap wood for mine so they don't move side to side. They're so easy to clean if they get dirty and my girls like them.

this is one in an unfinished coop

 

[Fuzzybird]

I posted this in the Serama thread also but want my AZ friends to tell me what they think.

I think I got myself in a pickle. I am pretty much a beginner with hatching eggs anyway and not really the best luck either. Well here is what I did. A lady I got to know gave me 13 serama eggs. 6 of the eggs have for 2 days been sit on by the hen but the real cold front [ and it is horrilble for us in AZ, down to 23 last night] was on the way and she knew the eggs had a good chance of freezing, [ we have had this bitter weather for going on 4 days now]. So I have these 6 already started by the hen and 7 more fresh fertile eggs. I set all of these eggs last Thursday. Now on Sunday this sweet lady comes with 6 more fresh fertile eggs for me to put in my bator. OK right or wrong I did, but then geeze. What do I do now when lock down comes along? I have them on a tilting rack. Also doesn't the Serama usually hatch earlier that the larger hen eggs? Some of these eggs are really little and I so hope my stupid self didn't doom them all!.
Also For some %#$ reason the bator decided to on Sat spike to 105. I don't think is was for to long but that scares me! HELP!

 

[kacklinkelly]

I would recommend using a bucket. Any big enough for a hen to turn around in, could be a five gallon bucket, cat litter bucket or anything like that. Cut it to about 5 or 6 inches tall, and fill it with a bedding of your choice! I make a little frame out of scrap wood for mine so they don't move side to side. They're so easy to clean if they get dirty and my girls like them. would recommend using a bucket. Any big enough for a hen to turn around in, could be a five gallon bucket, cat litter bucket or anything like that. Cut it to about 5 or 6 inches tall, and fill it with a bedding of your choice! I make a little frame out of scrap wood for mine so they don't move side to side. They're so easy to clean if they get dirty and my girls like them...

Thanks for this great idea. Am trying to keep it simple and it just doesn't get simpler than that.

 

[desertmarcy]

Got a call from Duane Urch today. My black java chicks have shipped!

Looks like I got the brooder cobbled together just in time. Good thing I've been testing brooder heating systems over the last couple of days. Paint will have to wait until the chicks are grown out. At least it will be warmer then!

Yeah! I hope they arrive okay.

 

[AZKat]

I've had good luck using a milk crate for a nesting box as well.

Gallo, I'm so happy to hear about your cat being found safely.

The chickens are doing fine, I put some extra straw in the coop, and the cold isn't bothering them at all. I've been using supplemental light, and I'm getting five or six eggs a day out of eight laying hens, which is pretty good. My plants seem to be handling the cold ok. The leaves on the passion fruit vine are a little cold nipped, but there doesn't seem to be any other damage to the vine, and that is the most delicate plant I have. My orange tree was still putting out new growth, which is now starting to yellow, which isn't terribly worrying, and it seems to be doing ok other than that.

In other news, I had my 'big' ultrasound, and I found out that I'm having a girl! I'm really excited, and also kind of nervous, because its going to be a a big change after 3 boys. Everything else looked really good as far as her development, which I was very happy and relieved to find out. Related to that, if anyone knows someone who needs boy clothes, size Newborn through 24 months, let me know. I just finished going through my baby clothes, and pulling out all the clothes that are just too boyish to put on a little girl.