Colorado

[wickedlees]

I hear that! If we don't get some dang snow soon we are going to be in a heck of a shape for summer! I KNOW my birdies are gonna be MAD-MAD-MAD when I put up a run for them this spring. Right now they have run of the yard, but come spring we're adding Turkeys and also put in the garden, no way these pickers are gonna get my garden! I'm sort of hoping we'll be able to move to Elizabeth or S. Parker onto some land. Pray hard for our settlement!

 

[Pozees]

i wish we would get some snow here! the girls have been tearing up my lawn really badly so i'm having to keep them in their run. They don't seem too happy lately even with the extra treats they have been getting.

Do you have anything around they could dig through in their run, like maybe some old grass clippings, or straw or hay? Or maybe even some fallen leaves, or compost?

 

[wsmith]

Do you have anything around they could dig through in their run, like maybe some old grass clippings, or straw or hay? Or maybe even some fallen leaves, or compost?

I have a guy at work that brings me big bags of leaves from his yard. Each week I add one to the yard for the chickens to pick through. I add some scratch for incentive.

 

[kmatt87]

Do you have anything around they could dig through in their run, like maybe some old grass clippings, or straw or hay? Or maybe even some fallen leaves, or compost?

nope. its all been tilled into the garden already.

 

[ShysCreations]

I went thru my silkies hatched mid-October and have 6 available, 3M & 3F. They must go as pairs $20/pair. There's a dakr blue pullet, a pet quality light splash and an oddly marked blue which looks like a blue roan horse color. The boys are all light blue. PM if interested in the pairs.

 

[suncatcher]

"Its snowing today, we opened up the coop so they could go free range....nope, they don't want any part of it. Funny though my silkie rooster went out, stuck close to the outside wall, then jumped up on the nest boxes with three hens playing follow the leader (I guess they thought he knew where he was going) only to get to the end of the nest boxes and turn around to go back where he came from. He decided this white stuff was not something he was meant to be out in. A couple of hens dared to go the 25 feet to the hay barn to go scratch around. "

I bet that was adorable, all thinking they are going somewhere........ how sweet!

 

[suncatcher]

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.

I have been kicking around the idea of making my current older garage into a four run chicken pen. My thoughts are an walkway on the north side, as our winters here are very cold, and would hope it would make their inside area warmer by not extending all the way to the north wall. Would also like to make small chicken doors on the southside of the building in hopes they would have sun most of the day. IDK though..... I also want to consider where the drifts are with winter storms, as I am new to this area.

 

[AlivianAcres]

I think he would do fine with a LF flock so long as he has someone to snuggle with when it is cold. His momma has not taught them perching and he has issues getting more than 4 inches off the ground to begin with. He is actually the dominant between my two boys and while he is fairly mellow overall with the flock he also hasn't seemed to have figured out he is a rooster yet. No dancing, crowing or attempts to mount he girls. I am guessing that will change in the next month or so and when it does...

. We have 8 wk pullets right now who sleep on the coop floor. I imagine he would be able to snuggle in with them. Could we meet him and possibly bring him home? We live in Elizabeth.

 

[AlivianAcres]

I hear that! If we don't get some dang snow soon we are going to be in a heck of a shape for summer! I KNOW my birdies are gonna be MAD-MAD-MAD when I put up a run for them this spring. Right now they have run of the yard, but come spring we're adding Turkeys and also put in the garden, no way these pickers are gonna get my garden! I'm sort of hoping we'll be able to move to Elizabeth or S. Parker onto some land. Pray hard for our settlement! 

woohoo Elizabeth is my stomping ground....I'll pray hard would love to have ya here!

 

[dennarahl]

I have been kicking around the idea of making my current older garage into a four run chicken pen.  My thoughts are an walkway on the north side, as our winters here are very cold, and would hope it would make their inside area warmer by not extending all the way to the north wall.   Would also like to make small chicken doors on the southside of the building in hopes they would have sun most of the day.  IDK though.....  I also want to consider where the drifts are with winter storms, as I am new to this area. 

I would definitely wait for a snow storm to see where those drifts will be. Never in a million years would we have guessed where our drifts would actually be. Also, if the garage is attached to the house, the chicken smell will come in if you have enough birds out there. We raised 28 meaties in our garage this fall and I had to clean every day to keep the stink at bay. Now we've only got a broody and her 4 babies out there and its not a problem at all.