building paradise for the birds

[misfitmorgan]

leghorn I believe...they are already laying


our main rooster that seems to have gotten frostbite last year...he got more of a Mohawk now


a white Americana...I havnt seen to many of these


my girl...she came home from work for lunch and wanted to see the progress..second door in working on third

2inch netting from cutler supply they have the best deal on the market from what I have found....

well off to work again...thanks for watching

I've been following along now since you started building and i wasnt sure until i saw the two doors in but.....how do the birds go to their coop? Is each pen going to have its own smaller coop inside? i looked at the blue prints but honestly i dont recall seeing a coop.

 

[birdman55]

I'm wondering if that type of netting would be sturdy enough to keep large chickens in or not. If i just put 2-3ft of chicken wire around the bottom then do that 2inch netting up the sides and over the top i'm thinking it might work. I will have to go find a price for it. Thank you Birdman and i still think your birds are beautiful!! Every time i go into the chicken coop trailer i swear i can hear them chewing me out for not having more accomadations.

that type of netting can be bought right from cutlersupply.com....I believe that's the website I got mine from...they have all different types...should last more then five years...they have one inch and two inch and in all different sizes....as for a fence..i would not do it...because a predator could chew threw this...however if you put some thick hardware cloth on the side or even 2 by 4 inch four foot tall on the sides then the netting over it...it should be fine ....you can connect the top to the sides with either the metal clips that you put in a gun and click or just zipties...the heavier the better...I have a lot of zipties on mine but would like to upgrade to the metal clips....think they would last longer and be way more tough....make sure you get the heavy duty stuff...it comes in different thicknesses also...

that 2 inch netting looks interesting,, I wonder how long it will last being exposed to the sun and elements ?

I think it would work OK to make a fence for chickens from it..
still wondering what the life of it is

I covered one of my chicken yards with bird netting like you toss over a tree to keep birds away from the fruit.. it lasted one summer,, when winter came, the heavy snow took it down,, It was so heavy that it pulled one of my 8 inch fence posts over..

I think the 2 inch would work better because the snow can fall through it and not collect on it..

I wonder it you could make a dip net out of it for sucker netting ?
our neighbors use chicken wire nets ..

...........jiminwisc.........

jim hey ive seen this netting but one inch and the guy lives in the Midwest (Michigan) and he uses it over his pond which is like 50 by 50 and he has it standing in the wide open for the last six years and still looks brand new...its rated for five years tho...

 

[birdman55]

I've been following along now since you started building and i wasnt sure until i saw the two doors in but.....how do the birds go to their coop? Is each pen going to have its own smaller coop inside? i looked at the blue prints but honestly i dont recall seeing a coop.

the coops are going to be right where they are...the birds I have are winter hardy so they will have a temp cover on it and then after winter I will be building the roof for them...so stay tuned..it will take like a year to finish up but there will be around twenty to thirty pens when all said and done....as well as a pond...so off to hang the last door

 

[birdman55]

the birds (pheasants) don't use the shelters I provide them in the bigger coops so I was just gunna eliminate it all together and do both in one.....
same goes for my peafowl...they would perch outside every night and not in the coop that was provided.....

 

[Canadianislupus]

Just finished reading through everything. WOW! Awesome job with everything. I wish I had half your building skills haha I'm planning on turning an old boat shed into my dream coop with multiple breeder pens as soon as I have the funds and your progress has really motivated me Love your birds they are beautiful! Do you find the peacocks are loud at all? I reaaaally want a couple white ones some day but I have been told they can be earsplitting during breeding season. Also seeing your pits like that with the chickens makes me very very happy! More people need to realize that it is the people who own the dog and not the breed or even the dog itself that creates the attitude and behavior of dogs.

 

[DustyLavender]

Nice work! and your birdies are cute. I have a plan to build a coop for my chickens next spring so love to see your work.

 

[birdman55]

Just finished reading through everything. WOW! Awesome job with everything. I wish I had half your building skills haha I'm planning on turning an old boat shed into my dream coop with multiple breeder pens as soon as I have the funds and your progress has really motivated me Love your birds they are beautiful! Do you find the peacocks are loud at all? I reaaaally want a couple white ones some day but I have been told they can be earsplitting during breeding season. Also seeing your pits like that with the chickens makes me very very happy! More people need to realize that it is the people who own the dog and not the breed or even the dog itself that creates the attitude and behavior of dogs.

well im no builder that's for sure..i actually worked in demolition...so quite different but if you rip it down and get to know structures then you can build it...I took a part of Detroit tiger stadium down...that was cool myself and four others got to play ball on the field and the only person other then us that was there was the security...great time...peacocks are small yet and havnt made a sound...so to speak but in a couple of years they are going to be loud that's for sure...doesn't matter cause the neighbors got noisy birds so I figured I would top him..sick and tired of hearing his ones.....so I figured I would get my own...lol....don't get me wrong about pits they can be very mean or very polite...depends on how you train them just like any dog for that matter...you can tell by how society has put them thru every media that we currently have...news internet and so on..for example you can google pit bull attacks and then google german shepard attacks and see how the media has played these creatures...any animal can be mean even a friendly one can have a bad day and turn into something you have never seen....when you look up the stuff on google it is graphic the images you see with the pit then you go to the other and you see law enforcement just training the dog..shows you how society has made each breed turn out to look..see when I first had my dogs they killed the chickens but with time they stopped and now leave all the birds alone...they know those are dads things just like them..
anyways thanks for watching and here is a pic of the last door hung...tonight I will get into the incubator a little bit and explain in detail how I am building it...until then peep ya later

 

[Canadianislupus]

well im no builder that's for sure..i actually worked in demolition...so quite different but if you rip it down and get to know structures then you can build it...I took a part of Detroit tiger stadium down...that was cool myself and four others got to play ball on the field and the only person other then us that was there was the security...great time...peacocks are small yet and havnt made a sound...so to speak but in a couple of years they are going to be loud that's for sure...doesn't matter cause the neighbors got noisy birds so I figured I would top him..sick and tired of hearing his ones.....so I figured I would get my own...lol....don't get me wrong about pits they can be very mean or very polite...depends on how you train them just like any dog for that matter...you can tell by how society has put them thru every media that we currently have...news internet and so on..for example you can google pit bull attacks and then google german shepard attacks and see how the media has played these creatures...any animal can be mean even a friendly one can have a bad day and turn into something you have never seen....when you look up the stuff on google it is graphic the images you see with the pit then you go to the other and you see law enforcement just training the dog..shows you how society has made each breed turn out to look..see when I first had my dogs they killed the chickens but with time they stopped and now leave all the birds alone...they know those are dads things just like them..
anyways thanks for watching and here is a pic of the last door hung...tonight I will get into the incubator a little bit and explain in detail how I am building it...until then peep ya later

That's exactly what I was trying to say

. I know too many people who think breeds like pits, rotties, or boxers are nothing other than aggressive killing machines. I have seen many times dogs that these people consider to be "safe" such a retrievers,labs, and shepherds, go after children or cyclists. It is all about how you raise, train, and treat your dogs. More people need to be aware of these things so it makes me happy when I find someone who talks sense.
Well experience or not, your work sure looks professional! I've done a bit of demo myself and been around a lot of construction, just never done much myself. I don't think it occurred to my dad that one of his daughters might have been interested in learning these things, nor did it occur to me to ask if i could help when he was building stuff. Hopefully my project turns out as nice as yours haha I might still have to ask for my dads help.

 

[birdman55]

ok so here goes the list of what you will need to do the job....
you will need a 11/2" bit to cut the whole in the back of the cooler...as you see below

drill the whole place the electrical piece which can be bought for about five bucks at any hardware store...in the lighting...make sure to get the one that screws in..see the phillips bits for the electrical wires ...you can also find them for cheaper at thrift stores inside old lights...same concept...so drill put piece threw and glue with liquid nails


then you are going to want a viewing screen to see your babies..so I went to a dollar store and got a picture frame took everything apart and will be using the glass from it...simple...the outside lines are where the glass piece will rest and the inner rectangle is where you wanna cut out using a jig saw...and then you place the piece on top after you clean it up ofcourse and clue the glass or plexy whatever you decide to use on and place something on top of it and wait for it to dry....I will be doing this step in a little bit


im using a red Rubbermaid cooler that I bought for 20 bucks and inside you find the middle mine just happens to be 93/8" and then from there you want your bulb about 31/2 inch from the sides so I measure from the center mark 5" on my cooler yours might be different....when you glue the electric piece you will have to take your time cause it starts to run and you will have to keep making circles with the glue until it drys and then the following day place the 40w bulbs into place...the bigger the bulb you get like a 60/75 the faster the lights will turn on and off and it will be steady in temp...just remember you want to be able to have them babies hatch and not burn and cook...so I use a lower bulb...also my bulbs are about 8" off the bottom of the cooler with enough space to the top of the cooler so it don't burn...the 8" is at the center of the bulb where it plugs into the piece


this Is a computer fan which you can get online for a couple of bucks 32 cfm ( cubic feet per minute) which will be installed next to one of the lights and into your electrical...later


this digital temp controller will control you temp and when it will let the computer from the sensor to go on or off and keep the temp just perfect...there are a lot of different kinds of these online...should be between 10-20 bucks


3" screws to hold up the fan and into place...we use four of them




rubber mating to lay on the bottom of the cooler to give the chicks something to grip on...can be bought at any dollar store...used for in the kitchen



either one of these connectors will work...I havnt decided on which one I wanna use

this is a ac to dc converter...which I believe was only like 7-10bucks...I bought five cause im building a lot of these units...for this season

and then ofcourse a bit of wire and a cheap extension cord...not sure if I missed anything else but I will let you know as we go...not sure how long this will take to build..the styros are a lot faster to build...see you in a bit

 

[SallyinIndiana]

the coops are going to be right where they are...the birds I have are winter hardy so they will have a temp cover on it and then after winter I will be building the roof for them...so stay tuned..it will take like a year to finish up but there will be around twenty to thirty pens when all said and done....as well as a pond...so off to hang the last door

My breeding pens are open like what you describe but we move them inside a building for winter. I'm still thinking of placing a tarp on the sides for spring and fall.
Now for the quantity you mention ~ 20 to 30 pens. That is a lot of feeders and waterers. How do you plan to keep the feeding and watering time down to a reasonable amount of time? I recommend having a system in place that you will like and which does not take a lot of time. Then you can spend more time with your birds. Think of an assembly line process.

here is a link to the netting i got. It is black and 2 inches as well.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bird-Nettin...me-Pens-New-/360668927005?hash=item53f98b141d