Australia - Six states..and that funny little island.

[appps]

Oh a d doesn't someone have doves or pigeons? I've picked our house guest doves up but when I got there discovered they had laid an egg and daddy was sitting on it.

I've brought nest and all but they haven't gone near it since we got home. Wondering how long off settling in before its not going to hatch. Or if disturbing them will put them off nesting?

Edited to add. Spoke too soon! Daddy just climbed back on. Yay!! So we might get to hatch some eggs for once too

 

[member 245854]

You will find it is much easier and cheaper to adapt a garden shed to a chicken house. The purpose built chook houses are all too small and too expensive.
(Never build anything you cant stand upright in)


xxxx M

An adapted garden shed would probably be great actually. The problem again is the 'adapt' part. I cannot build, modify or adapt things. When I move to my acreage I'm running on the assumption that every little thing will have to be 100% purchased, expensive as it may end up being. I get the feeling I'm alone in that sense, because of the non-availability of big roomy coops and the fact that, when I browse around online, it seems like eeeeeveryone's building or adapting their own. I suppose I could download some instructions and try, but it would probably be a total unmitigated disaster. Would probably hit myself in the head with some tool and end up in hospital.

Also I would not trust my own (inevitably) shoddy work to keep the chickens safe - which is the main thing in the end.

Quote: I had a look at Bunnings' metal aviaries the other day. They do class them as chicken coops too, but I get the feeling they wouldn't make that great of a coop. Most of the space is vertical space, as that's what works for an aviary. Vertical space would be nice for having a lot of perches, but the ground space in them is quite small. That's a concern not just for chickens in general, but it also would be a concern if I wanted to have ducks, geese or any other birds that sleep on the ground.

I'll see if I can look up the sheds you mentioned, thanks.

 

[appps]

You might just surprise yourself too

I actually renovated ours because I had the Tom tits with hubby at the time and didn't want to ask for help lol
I wouldn't start from scratch but renovating is 90% common sense . And its a great feeling to look at the finished product and know you did it yourself

 

[member 245854]

You might just surprise yourself too

I actually renovated ours because I had the Tom tits with hubby at the time and didn't want to ask for help lol
I wouldn't start from scratch but renovating is 90% common sense . And its a great feeling to look at the finished product and know you did it yourself

It's kind of embarrassing because I am the hubby (or at least, will soon be!) and when we chat about this stuff with other people IRL, everyone just assumes I'm going to be handy at building stuff.

My girlfriend has no experience with building either, but she's very good at making things with her hands (unlike me) so she'd probably take to it more naturally herself. The only thing I ever made was a CD tower in year 9, and it was crooked and I didn't make it wide enough for CDs to actually fit in.

I am a university lecturer, all I know how to do is read books and blather on about them!

Thanks for the suggestions (in that post and the previous) though. It sounds like my best option is to find somebody to do the building/adapting for me, and bribe them with eggs.

 

[satay]

It's kind of embarrassing because I am the hubby (or at least, will soon be!) and when we chat about this stuff with other people IRL, everyone just assumes I'm going to be handy at building stuff. My girlfriend has no experience with building either, but she's very good at making things with her hands (unlike me) so she'd probably take to it more naturally herself. The only thing I ever made was a CD tower in year 9, and it was crooked and I didn't make it wide enough for CDs to actually fit in. I am a university lecturer, all I know how to do is read books and blather on about them!

Thanks for the suggestions (in that post and the previous) though. It sounds like my best option is to find somebody to do the building/adapting for me, and bribe them with eggs.

Don't feel bad zeno. My brother is the academic type and could not even change a washer in a sink let alone build anything.. This brother is incharge of and set up the security systems for the new gold coast hospital. His theory is why do that when you can pay someone lol Not everyone is cut out for building stuff.

 

[Fancychooklady]

I met an old retired man who said he would be happy to add nest boxes to the cubbies he was making. Perhaps you could find someone like that in your area. Our first coop was an old wood shed. Hubby drlled those heavy duty caterers buckets straight to the walls. I put hay in them , and presto , nesting boxes.
I took some pics of coops in my area today, just to get ideas. There is an article on this site called " vintage coop " take a look at what you can do with a tin shed.
My problem is , I see potential " chook house " in everything. If you go into the coop section you will get some great ideas.

 

[megacakes]

It's kind of embarrassing because I am the hubby (or at least, will soon be!) and when we chat about this stuff with other people IRL, everyone just assumes I'm going to be handy at building stuff. My girlfriend has no experience with building either, but she's very good at making things with her hands (unlike me) so she'd probably take to it more naturally herself. The only thing I ever made was a CD tower in year 9, and it was crooked and I didn't make it wide enough for CDs to actually fit in. I am a university lecturer, all I know how to do is read books and blather on about them!

Thanks for the suggestions (in that post and the previous) though. It sounds like my best option is to find somebody to do the building/adapting for me, and bribe them with eggs.

You sound very much like my husband. I'm the maker of the house, cooking, knitting, chicken wrangling and kid wrangling! (He's great at the last one, too, though) If you've bought some acreage, though, you really are going to have to teach yourself some skills, and sorting a chicken coop is the perfect thing to start with, because if it's a bit wonky, they won't care.
Make friends with your local hardware store. They will put together a kit of essential tools, a drill, jigsaw, a bunch of hand tools or whatever they think you'll need. It might be a bit expensive, but if you get good quality it will last for years.
Grab a couple of old pallets and practice on them (this is what I did to get some confidence) Chop them up and join them back together. Be safe and sensible. You'll be fine.
Youtube is full of instructional videos, use them!
Other people's rubbish is your friend....is that an old chest of drawers on the side of the road? NO! It's a bunch of nesting boxes!

Of course, if you have unlimited funds, you could probably find a guy to build it, as others have suggested, but look on this as an opportunity to learn a new skill, I say!

 

[Fancychooklady]

I don't think anyone has unlimited funds. However if time is of the essence , then sometimes it is better to enlist the help of others.

 

[SydneyChickens]

OMG OMG OMG! It happened! My RIR laid me an egg! Maybe she sensed I was sad yesterday.. I was so excited! Like a child hahaha so happy! And got better pics of my Junni Juniper hehehe

 

[Fancychooklady]