Arizona Chickens

[Mama Hen Chris]

Thank you mama hen! I am pretty sure is was from one of my reds. One of the smaller ones too. She was spending a lot of time in the nest box yesterday and the day before. She is also the one who started squatting first. I thought it was funny after all her nesting she laid it right the the middle of the run where I would see it right away! I am so happy! I was beginning to think I had defective hens..... lol

She wanted to make sure you saw it!!! I am sure she will get the idea to lay in the nest. Better get yourself an egg basket to collect all those eggs that will be coming.
How are the boys?

 

[Demosthine]

That is so exciting, and on his birthday no less! That's a pretty awesome present, if you ask us crazy chicken folk. I'm pretty anxious about our Silkie starting. She's at 23 weeks, but her at her husband don't even put themselves in the coop at night. They are the only two that I have to put away. I keep searching the yard, to no avail. Don't you hate that waiting game?!? Congrats and hopefully your others will follow the leader, the leader, the leader. Follow the leader, to where ever she may lay...

 

[Demosthine]

The new coop is coming along nicely this weekend. I went to pick up some more wood from Home Depot, since it's right next to my wife's chiropractor. She had a massage today and then her adjustment. I found a bunch of stuff in the "damaged" bin, including three 1"x8"x12' tongue-and-groove slats to use as the side paneling. I think I'm going to have to go get one more to finish the job, but the damaged bin is 70% off the regular price. I spent about $25.00 for a probably 75 linear feet of wood. It all has imperfections, but if you are creative and think through your design, it can work well.

Here is the sub-foundation. It is just a basic framework that the rest of the coop will sit on. The front panel is two 1"x6" boards that have reinforcing posts behind it, to prevent coyotes or dogs from trying to dig underneath. The dirt will be backfilled up to the top of that board, creating a small slope up to the base of the coop. I also finished digging the dirt out from inside. The coop floor sits about a foot below the top of this foundation to allow for the deep litter method.

​

Here is the framed front wall The middle section is for the door and the right section is for the nesting boxes. The actual wall is 52" tall and the back wall is 62" tall, giving me a slightly sloped roof. I'm debating on a couple of options. I am pricing out the galvanized tin roofing and thought about finding some of the translucent plastic roofing that is the same design as the tin. I know it's out there. My Grandpa used it to enclose their back porch years ago and it worked well. That would allow ambient light in to the coop during the day, too. You probably can't tell, but the back wall has about a 2" space that will be left open for air flow.

​

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Here are the completed nesting boxes. The floor of each box is set in to a daddo or a groove to ensure they can't just fall out. The boxes are each 30" wide by 15" deep, but I'll probably divide each one in to two 15" wide boxes, for a total of four. They will be 15" tall at the inside wall and angle down to 12" on the outside. That'll give me a lift up roof for each one.

​

On the far left, you can see the tongue-and-groove board that makes the wall. I am continuing the design on the other side and will have it wrap around nesting boxes. My wife wants it painted red, with white trim boards. I'll have to stain a scrap piece and water-seal another piece to see if she likes the natural look better. Either way, I think it'll look great. I still have to custom-build the door. I am thinking about building a half-door so that we can leave the top half open. I can't think of any particular reason we'd do that rather than leaving the entire door open, but hey, not everything has to be functional, right?!?

Oh, and the chicken door will be built into the larger door. Since I have to custom build it, I may make the smaller door slide up inside the door panels. The framed section in the top right corner is 6"x30" and will be either a pop-hatch window or a sliding window. If I can find a scrap piece the right size, I want to use some white garden trellis inside for decoration and a slight bit of security.

​

I'll be running fresh water through the small gap between the back fence and the house for the poultry nipples. Which reminds, the water line will come out front of the coop on that same side and I will run the water line under the lower nesting box. It'll have three or four nipples to, so that they have fresh water inside and out. Right now, they either have to go back into the small coop or are just drinking out of the little pottery fountain I have on the back porch. It's fresh, clean water and gets changed every few days since it gets low. The running water helps keep it from going stagnant, too. I haven't decided if I'm going to run electricity to it or not. I guess part of that depends on whether I get the translucent roof or a solid roof. I can also open the window blinds and let ambient light from the house in.


Any other ideas or recommendations? I've still got tomorrow and next weekend worth of work, so I've got a bit of time for gathering more supplies and my pressure regulator to arrive from QC Supply. I had to get more nipples, too.

Have a great night!

 

[jeepgirl13]

@demosthine The waiting is the worst part! I was just like " oh man, come on I've been waiting FOREVER!! " whats even worse is they just finished some antibiotics about 4 days ago so now I'm getting useless eggs! That's just about my luck though.

@mama henThe boys are doing great! They have put on a lot of weight! The feathers in the center of their chest are starting to dip in. Fabio has gotten a whole heck of a lot of coloring in and his brother just started getting some color in on his wings. I haven't gotten any good pics of them lately but here's a couple from the other day.

 

[jeepgirl13]

Not sure why it didn't show both.

 

[Mahonri]

Eggs are in the oven! I got a broody!!!!

(My Blue Copper Olive egger is sitting tight on all 8 eggs as we speak!)... and she is huge! No problem covering all of them. It would have been a problem for my Icelandic.

I did warm them considerably before taking them out and I candled. At least three detached air cells so we'll see what happens.

Wahoo!

 

[Mama Hen Chris]

That is so exciting, and on his birthday no less! That's a pretty awesome present, if you ask us crazy chicken folk. I'm pretty anxious about our Silkie starting. She's at 23 weeks, but her at her husband don't even put themselves in the coop at night. They are the only two that I have to put away. I keep searching the yard, to no avail. Don't you hate that waiting game?!? Congrats and hopefully your others will follow the leader, the leader, the leader. Follow the leader, to where ever she may lay...

You may be waiting a bit longer. Most silkies began to lay around 7-8 months old or later. My silkies are around the same age as yours. My buff and partridge came from the same lady that Katie got hers from.

 

[MagicChicken]

The new coop is coming along nicely this weekend. I went to pick up some more wood from Home Depot, since it's right next to my wife's chiropractor. She had a massage today and then her adjustment. I found a bunch of stuff in the "damaged" bin, including three 1"x8"x12' tongue-and-groove slats to use as the side paneling. I think I'm going to have to go get one more to finish the job, but the damaged bin is 70% off the regular price. I spent about $25.00 for a probably 75 linear feet of wood. It all has imperfections, but if you are creative and think through your design, it can work well.

Here is the sub-foundation. It is just a basic framework that the rest of the coop will sit on. The front panel is two 1"x6" boards that have reinforcing posts behind it, to prevent coyotes or dogs from trying to dig underneath. The dirt will be backfilled up to the top of that board, creating a small slope up to the base of the coop. I also finished digging the dirt out from inside. The coop floor sits about a foot below the top of this foundation to allow for the deep litter method.

​

Here is the framed front wall The middle section is for the door and the right section is for the nesting boxes. The actual wall is 52" tall and the back wall is 62" tall, giving me a slightly sloped roof. I'm debating on a couple of options. I am pricing out the galvanized tin roofing and thought about finding some of the translucent plastic roofing that is the same design as the tin. I know it's out there. My Grandpa used it to enclose their back porch years ago and it worked well. That would allow ambient light in to the coop during the day, too. You probably can't tell, but the back wall has about a 2" space that will be left open for air flow.

​

​

Here are the completed nesting boxes. The floor of each box is set in to a daddo or a groove to ensure they can't just fall out. The boxes are each 30" wide by 15" deep, but I'll probably divide each one in to two 15" wide boxes, for a total of four. They will be 15" tall at the inside wall and angle down to 12" on the outside. That'll give me a lift up roof for each one.

​

On the far left, you can see the tongue-and-groove board that makes the wall. I am continuing the design on the other side and will have it wrap around nesting boxes. My wife wants it painted red, with white trim boards. I'll have to stain a scrap piece and water-seal another piece to see if she likes the natural look better. Either way, I think it'll look great. I still have to custom-build the door. I am thinking about building a half-door so that we can leave the top half open. I can't think of any particular reason we'd do that rather than leaving the entire door open, but hey, not everything has to be functional, right?!?

Oh, and the chicken door will be built into the larger door. Since I have to custom build it, I may make the smaller door slide up inside the door panels. The framed section in the top right corner is 6"x30" and will be either a pop-hatch window or a sliding window. If I can find a scrap piece the right size, I want to use some white garden trellis inside for decoration and a slight bit of security.

​

I'll be running fresh water through the small gap between the back fence and the house for the poultry nipples. Which reminds, the water line will come out front of the coop on that same side and I will run the water line under the lower nesting box. It'll have three or four nipples to, so that they have fresh water inside and out. Right now, they either have to go back into the small coop or are just drinking out of the little pottery fountain I have on the back porch. It's fresh, clean water and gets changed every few days since it gets low. The running water helps keep it from going stagnant, too. I haven't decided if I'm going to run electricity to it or not. I guess part of that depends on whether I get the translucent roof or a solid roof. I can also open the window blinds and let ambient light from the house in.


Any other ideas or recommendations? I've still got tomorrow and next weekend worth of work, so I've got a bit of time for gathering more supplies and my pressure regulator to arrive from QC Supply. I had to get more nipples, too.

Have a great night!

It looks like it's going to be cute. Here are my first thoughts:

1. Termites. Right against the house.
2. Drainage. Where does the water go? You're blocking the seep hole in the block wall with the back of the coop. If water drains away from the front of the coop and also drains away from the block wall behind the coop, you're fine. If not, you may have an issue.
3. Ventilation. I don't see much opportunity for cross-ventilation. It looks like it's going to be hot, humid, and stuffy in there in the summer, and maybe have a condensation problem in the winter. I hope I'm wrong.
4. A translucent roof is asking for heat buildup in the summer. I would go with a solid roof. And maybe put a roof vent of some sort in it. The heat and humidity need to vent out somewhere. Preferably near the high point of the roof.

But it does look cute!

 

[Demosthine]

It looks like it's going to be cute.  Here are my first thoughts:

1.  Termites.  Right against the house.
2.  Drainage.  Where will the water go?  You're blocking the seep hole in the block wall with the back of the coop.  If water drains away from the front of the coop and also drains away from the block wall behind the coop, you're fine.  If not, you may have an issue.
3.  Ventilation.  I don't see much opportunity for cross-ventilation.  It looks like it's going to be hot, humid, and stuffy in there in the summer, and maybe have a condensation problem in the winter.  I hope I'm wrong.
4. A translucent roof is asking for heat buildup in the summer.  I would go with a solid roof.  And maybe put a roof vent of some sort in it.  The heat and humidity need to vent out somewhere.  Preferably near the high point of the roof.

But it does look cute!

We're due for a termite treatment anyway. I had one done right after we bought the house two years ago. I want to get on an annual plan, too. Termites are bad in Arizona, no matter what you do. Does DE affect termites, I wonder?

So far, we've had a far worse problem with ticks. Our East neighbor has three Great Danes and two Dobermans. Our West neighbor has an assortment of eight yippy mutts, one neighbor behind has a Golden Retriever and something else. I have no idea what the other neighbor behind has, but it's equally loud. Plus two years of an unmaintained yard at our house before we bought, guess where they liked to hide...

The drainage block won't be an issue. The front of it has an oleander with a bunch of dirt that blocks it, but the way the dirt is, it drains water down the front yard. The front of the coop will be angled away from the coop. I will be reworking that entire run, though and definitely will make sure it drains to the back yard. Thanks for pointing that part out.

It's on the East side of the house with a two story house next door. It should get a great deal of shade all day. When I've been out there, I think there was only two or three hours total of direct sunlight. I'm hoping that works to my advantage. I'm sure I'll have to rework ventilation somehow, but nothing comes out perfect the first time. I really like the roof vent idea, too.

Definitely things to consider. Thanks for the feedback!

 

[City farm]

So Button and Sasha are still getting pecked and harassesd quite a bit, but they are getting food and water. They have to work for the food though because the older girls get pissy about it and chase them off no matter how many piles of treats I lay out.
I am concerned about Button. I think she's gotten beat on hard. She's moving around like an old man with constipation. She has no visible injuries though and she knows she safer when I'm in there so she hangs by me. Unfortunately, I'm only in there 1/2 hour or so a day.
There are no issues in the coop. All the girls are calm inside, although Button can't get up to any of the roosts so she cries for a while.

Can you let them out to free range for a while? Poor girl..