Colorado

[yawningreyhound]

Hi Everyone!

What I learned today:

Avoid cleaning the top shelf of the coop, leaning over and resting on the roosting bar, WHEN YOU'VE JUST PUT AN EGG IN YOUR POCKET.

What I learned yesterday:

Avoid storing the Wolf Pee in your storage building WHEN IT'S BELOW FREEZING.

What I learned the day before:

No matter how much hardware fabric you attach to the outside of your coop buildings and coop run, if you free-range with the pop door open all day, you may just still
FIND A FLOATING DROWNED MOUSE IN THE HEATED WATERER.

It's been a productive week.

 

[Aacre]

Hey guys, just came across this site yesterday in the early stages of my chicken adventure. I had a couple questions and was looking for some advice from people in the area (I'm in Stetson Hills).

I'd like to get our allotted 10 hens and keep them as layers. I took a couple pictures of our back yard where we plan to keep them:




Judging by the amount of birds that frequent our yard I think there are quite a bit of bugs for some of their diet and some weed/overgrown vegetation. I'd like to keep them soy/grain free and am still doing research on what else I'll need to add to their diet.

Here are the questions I was curious about.

Do you clip their wings to prevent them from flying or have you found that not to be an issue? I would prefer to let them run around during the days and then coop them at night. We also have a neighbor with a small dog though have never had any issues with it getting into our yard or anything other than barking(though chickens may increase the odds of that).

I plan to DIY as much as possible. Are there any good 10 chicken coop plans that people have found? Again I'd like to let them roam during the day so I'd think that would cut down on the actual coop size? I also would like to build a self waterer and with our winters I was concerned about how to keep it from freezing. On that same note do people in CO typically use a heat light?

Any location specific tips you guys have would also be great. Looking forward to having my own flock!

Chickens don't fly. Not in the same sense as regular birds like robins or crows do. They can "jump" about 5-8 ft. up- in my experience. I have a hen that likes to go into the neighbor's garden, so she jumps on the 6" fence and hops down. I don't know if there would be any feather clipping you could do to prevent even the littlest bit of jumping. I leave all of my chickens' feathers intact because the ones that can "jump" have a small chance to get out of a predator's reach.
My husband and I DIY'd our own coop as well. But we didn't follow any coop plans. We just made them a large enough coop to house them all in at night. Since they are only in there at night and usually free range the yard, their coop is cozy because it's used mostly for sleeping and egg laying. They also have an adjoined run for the winter months when they won't go in the snow. I'm sure someone here can direct you in the right way for a coop plan.

Mine's more or less a wooden shed.
What kind of waterers are you thinking of? I use a 5 gallon bucket with what I call chicken nipples.. It's not as horrible as it sounds, I promise!! The pic below is NOT my pic- I found a google pic. But this is exactly what mine looks like. People don' like to give chickens credit for being smart enough to use these, but they are indeed very smart! It keeps the water clean and if the nipples are installed the right way, you shouldn't have minimal leakage. In the winter time, I just put a submersible aquarium heater in it to keep the water thawed. If the nipples end up freezing, it can ruin them and you'll have to replace them.. As bad as this winter was, I didn't have a problem with it. This is as "self waterer" as I get. I know there are more elaborate systems to be fully self-watering. Hopefully there is someone here that can help with that!


I personally do use a heat lamp in my coop in the winters. It is a big risk to take because it can fall and cause a fire within your coop, or some other electrical issues that would cause a fire. I have mine attached firmly- not just with the clamp that the lamp cover comes with, but with zip ties/hooks, etc. to ensure that it doesn't fall down into the bedding. Just be sure to get the red tinted heat bulbs, because this will allow the chickens to sleep better with the light on.
As for location of the coop, I tend to put coops in fence corners. It's out of the way, and is extra reinforcement to keep predators out. If you have a tree nearby is even better because the summer will help shade the coop and keep it cooler. This is one thing I didn't do and I regret it! Also, 1/4" hardware cloth is recommended instead of normal chicken wire. Predators can tear through chicken wire as if it's cloth- hardware cloth is durable enough to keep them your chickens secure.

 

[Aacre]

Hi Everyone!

What I learned today:

Avoid cleaning the top shelf of the coop, leaning over and resting on the roosting bar, WHEN YOU'VE JUST PUT AN EGG IN YOUR POCKET.

What I learned yesterday:

Avoid storing the Wolf Pee in your storage building WHEN IT'S BELOW FREEZING.

What I learned the day before:

No matter how much hardware fabric you attach to the outside of your coop buildings and coop run, if you free-range with the pop door open all day, you may just still
FIND A FLOATING DROWNED MOUSE IN THE HEATED WATERER.

It's been a productive week.

I went out to the coop and collected two eggs and put them in my jacket pocket. I forgot as soon as I got in the house (my forgetfulness is one of my biggest traits). I went about my day and then realize.. I HAVE EGGS IN MY POCKET!!

Did I smash them and cause a gooey mess? The last time I put eggs in my pocket, I did.. I told myself never again would I put eggs in my pocket- That was a lie! Thankfully, my eggs were safe and snug.

 

[yawningreyhound]

Murdoch's Shopping Alert:

If you go in and ask, they'll likely give you the mailer they sent out last month that gives you all the information on their buying cards for animal food (chicken feed appears to not be represented, at least not the stuff we buy). It has, on the the back page, a coupon for 30% off a clothing item if you buy $30 worth of "critter feed." Anything an animal eats counts. Expires end of March.

I picked up a new pair of low-cut BOGS shoes for the summer for a song!

Also, if you call Murdoch's to ask if they carry:

Nu-stock
Blu-kote
Peck No More

be sure to tell the clerk to check the medical aisle, not the chicken aisle.

They do carry it all; at least in Longmont. I found this after ordering from Amazon (free shipping, low prices, so not a horrible thing--if you forget about the abysmal working experience Amazon is for its employees).

 

[maggiemo]

Murdoch's Shopping Alert:

I almost didn't want to read the rest of this post, I thought you were going to tell us what chicks they had....and I would have probably gotten my coat and car keys....phew. Dodged a bullet there.

 

[yawningreyhound]

Quote: I'm brand new to this, so remember that.

I purchased the Open Air Poultry Housing by Woods from Amazon (after visiting a blog by Robert Plamondon who has reissued several classic poultry texts). Reading the first two chapters of that book made so much sense. The housing is classic and the book is full of plans.

Several people on this blog have that style of coop.

You have a huge space for your chickens...they'll be SOOOO happy!

My experience with small housing a large flock is that you want to make your coop/run big enough for the amount of chickens you have because there will be days they are locked in or days they'll prefer to be IN and therefore your coop/indoor run (the run you keep dry for those horrible days) should have the adequate amount of space for your 10 birds to hang out 24 hours straight without getting in each others' faces. With the high winds recently seen in Colorado, the birds hate the wind and want to be out of it. Snowing, raining, snow on the ground, all those have driven the birds inside in my experience. And if they have enough space to hang out comfortably, the pecking is so reduced. Pecking can cause blood, blood causes more pecking, it's a vicious circle.
So as big an indoor (meaning roofed) run area as you can manage would be appreciated by the birds.

I tarp my outdoor run's open sides every night because having a big dry area for the hens is such a game changer!

On nice days, they're out exploring the property, but on icky days, they're hunkered underneath the coops (I have two buildings) or at least in the run. I provide straw bales for different levels for them, and I think we'll put some corner roosts up for the summer as I'm sure they'll be using the outdoor run to sleep when it hits the high temps we can get even here at 7000 feet.

The run is bulletproof, too. Well, not from a bear, but we're adding electricity before they come out of hibernation. That'll keep the bear at bay!

Good Luck! You will learn scads from everyone on this blog. I don't know what I would've done without the people on this blog.

And the heating question is always up for debate. Just remember, if your chickens are dry, out of a draft, on adequate wide roosts, in a properly ventilated, clean dry coop, they fluff up those down coats they carry around with them and do just fine! We had negative 18, negative 15, negative 10 more days than I care to remember in December and January...my chickens did just fine in their draft-free coop. We did get frostbite on a longer wattle from the chicken drinking from a bucket, but we've changed our water delivery system (chickenwaterer.com with heat tape around the plastic part) so that won't happen again. That said, electrifying your coop with some outlets and lamp sockets allows you to safely provide additional warmth and illumination. A window is nice in the coop just cuz it's cheerful! And I play talk radio on the days I'm gone to deter predators. Nice to be able to plug that stuff in, plus a heated food/water bowl.

There's a wonderful treatise in the Open Air Poultry Housing book called "Consider the titmouse." Which basically says, if a titmouse can stay warm no matter the weather, our chickens will do just fine provided the right shelter.

 

[Euarto Gullible]

I told Roger Graham I would post dates for the Rocky Mountain Pheasant and Waterfowl Association's animal swaps on here since they have a lot of chickens.

They have a swap this Sunday in Brighton on March 9th at Agfinity, 55 W. Bromley Lane 80601 from 6-10 AM (Good birds go quick and early) Seller's fee is $3 for members, $10 for non-members.

For more info contact [email protected] or call Lloyd Pilakowski 720-936-5794

They are also hosting a swap in Westcliffe on March 22 at 1 Hermit Lane from 8-12. Seller's fee is $5 For more info contact Howard 719-269-2650 or Roger 719-320-3092

 

[Araucana16]

I was actually just about to go to Murdoch's this afternoon (if weather complies.... man is it snowy out there!) and look at their chick list.

I can't get any until I get back from Germany on the 30th... But I'd like to know what's coming in so I can plan the ones I really want to get!

 

[yawningreyhound]

BLU KOTE

Gad, it smells like ALCOHOL. It's got 47% alcohol.

Do I really paint this on a tail that's been pecked. Someone got her blood feather yesterday and there was a real mess til I got it to quit bleeding.

Then I just Sharpie'd it black again, avoiding the blood feather area.

Should I really use this Blu Kote if there's a chance it'll sting?

And I WILL look like a smurf when I'm done....I can tell.

 

[Pennoppom]

Hey there! I had to use Blu Kote on a chick who was attacked by a fox and lost quite a bit of flesh. It made a nice hard crust and she really healed quickly. I applied twice (1 week apart) to an area the size of my flat hand that was totally missing the skin. That was in December and she's already back to her sweet self and laying eggs. Totally healed.

You will look like a Smurf, but it will be totally worth it. The stinging is tough, but she'll be grateful when she's better!