Building New Coop/Barn...Phase 5 Great Barn Build, OCCUPIED! 3/6/16

[speckledhen]

All my nestboxes are purple.

The original bantam coop, now the Old Hens' coop, was done in Oops paint in lavender, seafoam green and royal gold (nests were gold, proper color for a throne, wouldn't you say?) LOL. It held up very well, too, since it was oil based exterior paint! Took FOREVER to dry since it was winter when we painted it.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

The original bantam coop, now the Old Hens' coop, was done in Oops paint in lavender, seafoam green and royal gold (nests were gold, proper color for a throne, wouldn't you say?) LOL. It held up very well, too, since it was oil based exterior paint! Took FOREVER to dry since it was winter when we painted it.

It sounds beautiful.

 

[Gray Angel Farm]

When I find a rat entry point I stuff it with the ribbon type (not the wooly type) steel wool, then I fill in with expanding foam. The rats try to chew through but hit the steel and give up, any steel they ingest will likely kill them. 

You might also consider contacting a feral cat rescue and acquiring a few spayed females. 

We have used steel wool for years and I've never seen anything chew through it. Great idea with the foam...I'll have to tell my DH about that one! We have 2 cats and I haven't seen a mouse since I got the cats...good kitty!!!!

 

[speckledhen]

They are MOVED! The barn is OCCUPIED! They are all in shock, except Tiny. When I showed her the new "princess roost" with feeding cup, she was perfectly content. I said that to husband then started to laugh. He asked what was so funny. I said, oh, the irony! You gave the blind chicken a tin cup!

The baby monitor is installed and works, 15 watt bulb in brooder fixture clamped up high and pointed up at an angle for the nightlight for the entire building, all done. The only things really left to do are to move their little calcium feeders over and install a cage on the wall for an ailing chicken. Sadly, I have one right now that is by herself in a cage in one of the vacated buildings. Caroline, with her bad pendulous crop has terrible sour crop. It's much more difficult to treat than any other bird with a normal crop because it just hangs down, causing food to ferment by just sitting below the hole that leads out of the crop. She is 9 years old and if I can't fix it this time, we will probably lose her. I want to put the cage up ASAP so she won't be all alone over there.

PICS, PICS ! Atlas's pen first. You can see where DH painted behind the roost with the yellow and would have kept going if I hadn't yelled WHOA! Shows the yellow floors.




Hardware cloth screen-they will all have them, but we haven't finished, only Atlas's and the one in the extra pen on the other side of the aisle.

Wynette and Ida are still in the other coop. When Wynette's chicks hatch, I will move her to the extra pen across from the bantams.


The Old Hens-we moved the handicapped ramp over, too, and put a new top on the portable nestbox unit.




Deacon's girls. June stood on the roost and caterwauled for 20 minutes when I put her in there. She's the head hen.



And finally, the Belgian D'Anvers and Xander's crew.

 

[aart]

WooHooo!!!! Looks great!

I assume you've tried a crop bra for the pendulous crop?

 

[1muttsfan]

Brilliant! wish they would stay that clean

 

[speckledhen]

WooHooo!!!! Looks great!

I assume you've tried a crop bra for the pendulous crop?

Thanks. No, I have not done that. Her crop has been progressively worse as she's aged but we've always managed to keep the flow going with massage and managing her feed when it seemed to be worse. My blue Orps tended toward that and it's genetic.

Brilliant! wish they would stay that clean

Yeah, no kidding! Atlas is funny. He keeps getting into the nests and peering over into the Old Hens pen. He seems fascinated that he can see into their world, LOL. I've gently placed him on the roost, showed him that he can see out his window and he obediently looks and stays up there for a bit, but then, he's back in the nest. He's the biggest lovebug. One of my friends here who took his brother, Ty (short for Tyrannosaurus Rex, because he was Rex's son, and turned into the spitting image of their dad), said she lost him in Oct suddenly. She is so heartbroken because he was her sweet baby boy. She has his son, Ruger, is also sweet like all this line of males tends to be, but he isn't her Ty. It really does run in the family, the wonderful temperament.



I got all the calcium feeders installed. Now that the other buildings are vacated, we can scavenge plywood for the loft and the floors of the aisle.

 

[chicklover 1998]

Wow it is looking great in there wish I had my coop up and going but not till spring.

 

[speckledhen]

Wow it is looking great in there wish I had my coop up and going but not till spring.

This week, we seem to be having spring. Night temps are chilly but we are in the 60's up to mid 70's in a couple days.

Tomorrow, we need to put together the panels of the old broody cage on the wall by Atlas's pen so I can move Caroline into the barn, out of the building we are going to demolish. She needs to have her feed controlled for a few days to see if I can fix her bloaty crop but I hate her being completely alone.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

We are warming suddenly too, 50's for the week, it's a heat wave.

Your pens are looking really good, your chickens appear happy, but I bet they are wondering when they get to go home. Nice job, it's been a long time coming for you.