Colorado

[coloradogal]

went out tonight and one of my frizzles was bleeding from the head... not sure what happened. So brought him in and cleaned him up. He's inside tonight resting. There's always something with a chicken.

 

[Pozees]

Question for those who have walk-in coops - I am trying to come up with a plan for a coop I can divide into 4 reasonable sized areas with temporary plywood and netting dividers, and my initial plan is for an 8 x 16 structure which could be divided into 4, 4 x 8 areas, but I got to thinking I only want 1 walk-through door, which might mean I need kind of a hallway along one long side. Then I thought I hate to use coop space for that - so ... maybe walk-through gates in the dividers when they're up? Open to suggestions. I'm no builder.

For those who opted for metal structures, did you insulate? Seems like they would be cold in winter and hot in summer, but maybe they're better than I think they are.

 

[Pozees]

went out tonight and one of my frizzles was bleeding from the head... not sure what happened. So brought him in and cleaned him up. He's inside tonight resting. There's always something with a chicken.

Yikes! My Cochin found something to poke a hole in one of her toes last week but luckily it bled very little and seemed to heal within a day, with no intervention. It was just a tiny hole, and if I hadn't seen it right after she did it I would never have known, she had been rummaging around in the garden so might have caught a thorn.

 

[Ashdoes]

I love the walk in coop idea. That's why this spring we're going to take the cabinet coop out of the barn, and puts roosts into the chicken stall. I still haven't figured out how to keep the chickens out of the rest of the barn, but I like your idea of the netting. Would be the cheaper way of blocking the open area above the stall dividers. I have no advice for the structure itself, as I have no imagination for those type of things. I hope you figure out something.

 

[coloradogal]

Yikes! My Cochin found something to poke a hole in one of her toes last week but luckily it bled very little and seemed to heal within a day, with no intervention. It was just a tiny hole, and if I hadn't seen it right after she did it I would never have known, she had been rummaging around in the garden so might have caught a thorn.

i'm hoping i don't have the beginnings of a mean roo...so far, they have all been getting along great. I'll go out tomorrow and check.

 

[Chick_In_The_Burbs]

I am planning for my next coop to be a walk in. I am hoping to convert an old shed, figure that will be easiest. We will see how it works out.

 

[Mommato5]

My heart breaks for the children that died today and their families. My baby is 4 and will start Kindergarten next year. I would, honestly, rather die myself than bury my baby. I can't even imagine what those parents are going through tonight. How can any person kill such young children? I just can't imagine what brings a person to that point. Hubby is angry that the shooter got off so easily. A person like that wouldn't survive long in prison. Even criminals don't tolerate people that hurt kids!

While today shouldn't be about gun control, people who advocate for it want to use this tragedy as a strike/sign against private gun ownership. Which is silly. If we take the guns away from the responsible, law abiding citizens, ONLY criminals will have them! Hubby was an Army weapons instructor so we have several guns and he teaches our kids gun safety and how to shoot. That is the best "gun control" out there!

 

[Chick_In_The_Burbs]

If anyone hears about a memorial service here in Colorado, please post it. We can't do much but we can show our support for the victims and their families.

 

[gardendufus]

I have a walk in coop. appx 8 X 10. I have, a couple of times had to section it off to isolate either new birds or an aggressive bird. I did this relatively simply by screwing in cup hooks to the studs, then attaching chicken wire (2 sections of 4' high one on top of the other so they couldn't fly over it) to the cup hooks, and with fence stakes across the width (I have a dirt floor, deep litter setup) to support the middle.

My first mistake was not planning on how to get to the second area. This was fairly easily solved by making the fence post nearest the wall far enough away that I could detach one side from the cup hooks and fold it back enough to walk thru. Of course, the birds in the first area were locked out of the coop first in order to maintain the separation.

The people door was propped open all day to allow that group of birds into the run (also divided by chicken wire). the other birds used the pop door. It worked, but was certainly a temporary fix. Certainly not something I would want to do on a permanent basis. Just one more thing I didn't think about before I set up the coop. I would plan it differently now. Good that you are thinking ahead.

If you are thinking of building to do this, think about access to feed, water and nest boxes, and a pop door in each section for the birds to get out. If you built knowing you were going to separate it, I suppose a simple frame across the width of the coop, with a simple latched door on each section would work well.

 

[gardendufus]

On a positive note, my EE squatted today, a first for this geriatric, non egg laying, worthless but beautiful bird. Goooooooooo Beauty, lay me an egg.