I wish I had the coop room for so many! I suddenly feel stifled by only being able to have 16 in my coop size. LOL Money is really tight for us so we can;t just build another coop because we want to. Patience is a virtue...or something right?Amy Beth the coop looks awesome! You guys have been working hard these hot days!
OMG Ron I had no idea you had so many! Wish I could be somewhere that would allow so many!
I have eggs in my incubators!
A new one to me are Pita Pintas. I also have EO Basque and Partridge Pendesencas in there.
I was worried that I would not be able to tell the chiks apart until I found a picture of Pita Pinta chicks:
Marraduna EO Basque look like:
Megan, some of these are the ones you have now! They sure do change...
I hope I have a good hatch!
Yes our natice cedar is Calocedrus decurrens in the east there Chameocyparis and Junipers called Cedar. we have another one called a western Red Cedar (real far norcal up to Alaska) called Thuja Plicata..
Here's a pic of one of the kids I nanny holding Chema the rooster. Chema is sooooo awesome!
I think Ron's idea is perfect. If they associate you with food, you will soon find that they will come running and be under foot, even if you don't have any food!
2 roosts sound very practical. I like what you said about making them modular so they can be easily reused for the big coop. That's smart. I have been reading more about food grade DE, diatomaceous earth. Have you used this? Sounds like a good all around insect/parasite preventative. Still need to look into the PDZ more and see if it can be use similarly.Ohhhh hubby's gonna build me a poop board! Woot! He's so nice! I think instead of doing it 2 roosts deep I will line 2 walls with them- put the feeder/waterers under one and the lay boxes under the other? If I put the poop boards 2 roosts deep that sucker would have to come out like 4 feet! That's a lot of reaching to clean plus climbing underneath to access the lay boxes for collection or cleaning. Still mentally working it out.
We did decide on adding fill dirt to the bottom of the coop, PDZ layer and then the pine on top. Having the poop boards will help cut down on the pine shavings usage I think. This will also be a nice experiment on how we want to build our big coop later.
Your Basque Rooster is beautiful! So sorry to hear you lost another chick. Sounds frustrating. Hopefully you can get some answers from the necropsy. As for your poor Barnevelder, if you haven't done so already, I would suggest thoroughly checking under those eyelids to make sure nothing is in there. Don't know how many foxtails I've pulled from dogs and cats eyes. (Can chickens get foxtails?) I saw someone post about an eye problem, and she actually removed something that looked like a big piece of cottage cheese from the eye. Pus or something? I'll see if i can find the thread. Good luck!One more quick thing and then I'll stop! One of my Barnevelder chicks has an eye infection. I've been spraying Vetericyn on it for 3 days now and see no change. She came back from the "chicken sitters" like that. Can you guys take a look at the picture and let me know what you think it is?
With the height you have, I think you'd do well with the ladder type roost. I'm going to replace the roost in my Polish pen with one. Gives the chickens a choice of height and they don't poop on each other. I have a similar setup to your first choice except I have my laying boxes two high and two wide. Remember, they'll all lay in the same one or two boxes so you don't really need a lot of boxes. As for a specific broody box, they'll most likely go broody in the box everyone's laying in. It's best to have a private, sectioned off spot so the other hens cant get to the new chicks (this said from a woman who just had two broodies hatch chicks in the laying boxes). Someone mentioned a cabinet, I'd also make sure you have room for a couple cans to keep feed in and room to hang feeders and waterers. I think you have a nice setup. Certainly have done a lot of work. You're chickens should be very happy!
Gosh chicken and duck worlds are two totallllly different worlds. The ducks hang out in the pond. All. Day. I have to bribe them with peas at 8pm to get them back in their house now. I bring them lunch and then that's about all I do with them right now. Their coop doesn't have to be as thought out since no one roosts. It's a big room, with waterers, a food dish and hay. Boom done. LOL I muck it out once a month or sometimes a little more often. Brooding ducks is harder, but if you have a pond...caring for the adults is cake. I think I am enjoying chickens because ...well the ducks stay on the pond. I can watch them but they just want to do duck things...which doesn't involve me or coming out of that pond. LOLI think Ron's idea is perfect. If they associate you with food, you will soon find that they will come running and be under foot, even if you don't have any food!
2 roosts sound very practical. I like what you said about making them modular so they can be easily reused for the big coop. That's smart. I have been reading more about food grade DE, diatomaceous earth. Have you used this? Sounds like a good all around insect/parasite preventative. Still need to look into the PDZ more and see if it can be use similarly.
For a duck lady, you sure are taking a shine to chickens! I imagine, in a few years, you will be telling us about your many breeding projects and your coop-condo-complex! (Chicken math is coming!)Take care!
Your Basque Rooster is beautiful! So sorry to hear you lost another chick. Sounds frustrating. Hopefully you can get some answers from the necropsy. As for your poor Barnevelder, if you haven't done so already, I would suggest thoroughly checking under those eyelids to make sure nothing is in there. Don't know how many foxtails I've pulled from dogs and cats eyes. (Can chickens get foxtails?) I saw someone post about an eye problem, and she actually removed something that looked like a big piece of cottage cheese from the eye. Pus or something? I'll see if i can find the thread. Good luck!
Found it- WTHeck is wrong with my hen's eye?? HEAVY PICS- graphic Hope it helps.
