Arizona Chickens

[Bob's Henhouse]

pdx2phx, your girl seems as happy as a clam. She is a little jumpy if anyone else is running around anywhere near her, but no one is bothering her. She's in the little coop with the sultan roo, (and whoever flies in or out over the fence to lay eggs in there). She did peck at the toes on her left foot and made it bleed, so I taped it up and she quit. I'll keep you posted.

 

[pastrymama]

Bob's Henhouse :

pdx2phx, your girl seems as happy as a clam. She is a little jumpy if anyone else is running around anywhere near her, but no one is bothering her. She's in the little coop with the sultan roo, (and whoever flies in or out over the fence to lay eggs in there). She did peck at the toes on her left foot and made it bleed, so I taped it up and she quit. I'll keep you posted.

and Bob's Henhouse to the rescue again! i was wondering if someone took in the little sultan. should have known it was bob

i have a bunch of devil chickens over here that dig tunnels trying to get out, fly up on shade sails trying to fly out and now pulling each others beards and muffs out. sheesh! they are locked in the run until the grass comes in. it's like it's the end of the world.

and WHY would i ever need to clean out a mealy farm tote? that may have just killed the idea for me right there.​

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Quote:
Well, not every little bit of vegetable/fruit matter that you put in there is consumed. Over time it builds up and makes it harder to collect worms. I used to only clean it out once or twice a year. Now I'm trying something new: I'm feeding on a bit of newspaper and then every few days I just pick that up and compost it. I learned that from someone over on the mealworm farming thread and I think it's a good thing. It really isn't that bad of a chore. Eventually, the substrate has to be cleaned out, but honestly, you can go years without cleaning that.

 

[pastrymama]

Quote:
Well, not every little bit of vegetable/fruit matter that you put in there is consumed. Over time it builds up and makes it harder to collect worms. I used to only clean it out once or twice a year. Now I'm trying something new: I'm feeding on a bit of newspaper and then every few days I just pick that up and compost it. I learned that from someone over on the mealworm farming thread and I think it's a good thing. It really isn't that bad of a chore. Eventually, the substrate has to be cleaned out, but honestly, you can go years without cleaning that.

ok, really, i'm not a dodo, but what is a substrate? it already sounds creepy and gross and i HATE things that are creepy and gross. VERY WEAK GAG REFLEX. that really was not a joke.

when my twins were babies and they came home from the hospital, i was supposed to use that bulb thingy to suck out their noses, yeah, i couldn't do it for about a week. fireman did it.

 

[Mikey D]

Quote:
Looks GREAT!!!

One suggestion I would add is trying to put a lip over the edges of the eating trough section--that way they cannot bill out the food as easily.

Any idea what the costs will be?

Excellent idea - I'm already stealing it from Gallo's award winning treadle feeder ! (If you've not seen it yet check it out - he did an outstanding job!) I've got a mini feeder from Meg Moringa-seed that she used for oyster shell. I noticed they swish their beaks back and forth knocking a bunch of feed out. I was trying to figure out a way to save it (an extra trough around the perimeter or a pan underneath etc...) but I saw Gallo's had a plate on the open end with a cutout so no more lost feed.

I'm going to bend a lip around the cover and was thinking of a thin gasket on the bottom surface to keep bugs out as well. I'm not sure whether or not the chickies will be able to see and remove it in beak size sections.

As for cost - I'd rather not think about it. I'm actually a pack-rat extraordinaire and have had (thus far) all the materials on hand already. I don't think I'm going to have to purchase anything although I'm probably going to have to turn and mill a few parts. Gallo's "sex bolts" are not going to work here (unfortunately) because the material is only 3/32" thick. I'm going to have to weld some thicker pieces to the outside where the cover and treadle pivot and come up with some non rusting/non galling material (I'm leaning towards brass). It should be a fun exercise!

 

[Mikey D]

Quote:
Uhhh ohhh! I did not see a change in the size - I'm going with your revised set of plans (my students think I'm nuts!) and the lip insert (very appropriate name BTW) is only 1/8" different. The only other change I see is the cutout seems to be 4" instead of 4-1/2" and wider at the back edge. The piece that will serve as my lip insert was made smaller so I could beef up the cross section and is only 7" instead of 7-3/4"

I was going to mill out the opening and was going to leave a 4" opening with 1-1/2" lip around the perimeter. Do you think that will be enough? It seems the chickies can stick their heads into some pretty narrow openings and maybe a 2" perimeter with a 3" cutout would be better?

Sorry for the low quality pict - it was a quickie

 

[Mikey D]

Quote:
I'd love to but today (yesterday actually but I didn't get to see her) is my mom's birthday - not possible.

 

[Mikey D]

Bob's Henhouse :

Mikey, can I borrow a couple of pounds of ambition, 5 gallons of talent, and a truckload of energy? Very impressive work on the coop, feeder, etc.

Thanks Bob!

Actually I've lent it all out to my students already.

 

[Mikey D]

Quote:
Walter (DS #4) just got a Salvador Monitor and I think we need to start a colony too. I've a 10 gal tank w/ a screen lid that might work...

 

[The Critter Place]

Quote:
LOL!
I just got a 3 drawer thingy yesterday! A real pretty pink/purple.

My birds have to share with 2 large geckos!

Yes, it really is that easy! And the chickens will love you for it!