Consolidated Kansas

[HEChicken]

Thanks for all the feedback on the automatic door - its a big expense but I think I'll be happy to have the auto door once its installed so I'm excited to go ahead and order it. I might do that today.

Trish, on the ventilation, the coop is not as air tight as it probably looks from those photos - especially not at the moment, as the ridge vent isn't on so there is a 4-6" gap along the top of the roof line. I'm still trying to decide what to do as far as that goes. I found a 10 or 12' length of ridge vent in my barn (bonus: cuts down on the materials I have to buy - yay!!!) but as the coop is 14' long, that won't cover all of it. I'm considering putting on a cupola but don't know a ton about them. If I cut the ridge vent I have and put a cupola in the center of the roof, the ridge vent will cover the rest without having to buy any more. I even found a cute cupola at Lowes or Menards that has a rooster weather vane included! They're not cheap either though so I don't want to spend the money unless I'm sure it will make a difference. Does anyone have any experience with cupolas?

For additional ventilation, we are not closing in the soffits. I will cover them with hardware cloth so a raccoon can't climb the wall and get in that way, but otherwise they will be open on both sides. The window openings right now are just covered in hardware cloth. I have two storm windows that fit the opening and the plan is that the storm windows will eventually go on the outside, once the siding is up. But, since the storm window will cut down on the amount of air that gets in, I'm considering leaving them off in summer and just putting them on when I know a storm is coming in. Our summers tend to be so dry that I probably won't have to put them on very often.

Last, I plan to make a "screen" door for each of the doors. It will be a door covered in hardware cloth and will sit inside the solid door. Then I can use a hook to hold the solid door open, so that there is full air flow passing through from north to south. I just need to figure out a latching system that is easy for a human with her hands full to open, yet impossible for any other critter to open

. My helper suggested we could cut some more vent openings in the walls up high if we need to but I'm going to play that one by ear. One thing I do know is that despite being metal, putting the roof on cut down on the heat in the coop quite a bit, due to providing shade from the sun.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Well I didn't get my turkey pen done yet.

My DH has been working a little at a time here & there trying to get the foundation like he wants it. ...he is so S-L-O-W. If it was something for him he would be on it a lot faster, but it's not & it's not important to him, so it gets lower priority than his running.

That is how things work around here too. Which why I finally had to take everything up myself. My DH is a great builder and knows what he's doing. He could probably do things twice as fast as me, too. However, WHEN he will ever get around to things... I never know. My DH does his running in the morning, so he heads to the gym, then goes to work, but that makes him later coming home because he will spend 2 hours at the gym getting those runs done between 8-13 miles in (depending on where he is at in training). Then on Saturdays-- when he's home all day, he WASTES the entire morning doing his long runs that he can't fit in during the week. So then he does anywhere around 18-20+ miles. Well, that takes up the morning and then it's hot after that. Because he has to do all these stretching and what not before and after and it is literally like noon before he's ready to do anything. It annoys me to no end. What kills me is that he mostly runs them inside here on our treadmill, so he can do them at ANY time-- like in the afternoon when it's hot outside. ARGH. So anyway, I feel your pain and totally understand. I'm going to have to get more creative with figuring out how to do more than I do. Already, I've got too much I'm doing by myself as it is.

Hechicken I am impressed. My radishes are just coming up. I planted them quite late and they really should be grown cool so I was happy they even came up. I do hope the chickens like them because I will be the only one eating them here and I got a really good stand so far. I planted my sweet potatoes I started yesterday. I am sure I didn't do it right but the plants look pretty healthy. I just bought store sweet potatoes and experimented. If I get a few sweet potatoes I will be thrilled. We could certainly use some more rain. I definitely need to get the garden mulched.

I never did get my radishes planted. Bummer. I'm going to try for a Fall planting. Sigh. With the vacation and all the planning and trying to get my pens ready (meaning I dropped everything else I was doing) for the people taking care of my animals. I spent two weeks mucking out my barn, building the new pen, and getting things fixed, or made that needed done. I think I really need another garden, anyway to have the room for all the stuff I want to plant.

Last, I plan to make a "screen" door for each of the doors. It will be a door covered in hardware cloth and will sit inside the solid door. Then I can use a hook to hold the solid door open, so that there is full air flow passing through from north to south. I just need to figure out a latching system that is easy for a human with her hands full to open, yet impossible for any other critter to open

. My helper suggested we could cut some more vent openings in the walls up high if we need to but I'm going to play that one by ear. One thing I do know is that despite being metal, putting the roof on cut down on the heat in the coop quite a bit, due to providing shade from the sun.

Sounds like you have everything well under control. I love your metal roof. I wanted to build a cupola on my coop, too! I looked into buying one, and that was the sole reason why my coop does not have a cupola! Too pricey. I had decided to build one myself and I found some free plans online to build one. It looked pretty straight forward, but I sort of ran out of time/ got burned out and nixed the idea. I do think it is a great idea for air exchange. But if your soffits are going to be open, you won't really need it. I don't think metal roofs make a building hotter anyway. I think it really depends on your ventilation and air flow. It always depends on that.

 

[chickmama1662]

Thanks HE Chicken and Hawkeye for the information about Mereks ... maybe it's wishful thinking but I'm more inclined to think it's an injury since it only seems to be affecting the one leg. She does not have any of the other symptoms (neck or wing weakness). I gave her some ibuprophen last night and this morning and we are keeping her isolated; she's inside the run but still close to the others of her age during the day.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Thanks HE Chicken and Hawkeye for the information about Mereks ... maybe it's wishful thinking but I'm more inclined to think it's an injury since it only seems to be affecting the one leg. She does not have any of the other symptoms (neck or wing weakness). I gave her some ibuprophen last night and this morning and we are keeping her isolated; she's inside the run but still close to the others of her age during the day.

It very well could be an injury or parasite infestation, but it's also very smart to keep in mind of any disease symptoms that she might fall into. But I don't think I'd have her penned close to the others right now until you can be sure that she is not ill, and is simply injured. I have bought the wire dog crates on Craigslist for half the price of new to house any birds that need separating. I stack those kennels in the garage and then use rabbit cups for feed and water. I throw pine shavings in the bottom of the trays and it stays pretty clean if you keep up on it. They also don't really kick it out as much as you'd think. And when they do, I sweep it up and throw in more. You could also find an X pen or something similar on Craigslist to put her in-- far away from the other birds. Those aren't too expensive, either.

 

[chickmama1662]

Thanks for the idea, I have dog crates from our Golden Retriever showing days, I can set up one of those for her. I just thought she would be happier if she could see the others but it does make sense to keep her farther way just in case she has something that is catching. I checked her over again last night and did not see any mites so I think we can cross that one off.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Thanks for the idea, I have dog crates from our Golden Retriever showing days, I can set up one of those for her. I just thought she would be happier if she could see the others but it does make sense to keep her farther way just in case she has something that is catching. I checked her over again last night and did not see any mites so I think we can cross that one off.

You know, I find it really interesting how many people on here show dogs or did in the past. I can't tell you how many times someone will mention on BYC that they currently show dogs. There must be some connection-- like with horse people too and chickens. But horses and chickens really go together, that's an easy match up. But the showing of dogs and chickens? I would never have matched that up. Huh. Anyway, yeah, the crate is a better idea probably and it will be easy to disinfect if she is indeed ill.

 

[lizzyGSR]

Hello all! I just got back from a work-related trip last night and have been trying to catch up on reading. You guys have been a busy bunch!

So, I picked up 4 adult ducks from my DH's grandma on the way home last night. She has been wanting to give her ducks away now for some time and said that she'd keep some for me until I was ready for them so I finally went to pick them up last night. They are very scared of human contact as my DH's grandma used them as utilitarian (for meat/eggs) and not as pets. I want them for eggs and for bug/weed reduction. In the time between when I claimed them and when I picked them up, the adult ducks and a couple of DH's grandma's geese decided to go broody. They ended up sharing several nests between the 2-3 ducks and at least one goose. There were 6-8 that hatched but only two survived. I am fairly confident that one of the survivors is a duck. The other I think is a goose, but DH's grandma thinks the 2nd is also a duck. Can you give me your opinions, please? Also, I'd like your opinions on what breed the adult ducks are, especially the white one. I have 2 pekins and the white one I got from DH's grandma is smaller and her beak isn't as bright of an orange as my ducks. She also has some small black/gray spots on her beak that remind me of mold. Any ideas?

Here's a pic of the whole flock. My original flock is on the left and the new additions are on the right.


My original flock:





What do you think? Gosling or duckling?



And my duckling: What do you think? Is s/he a swedish? Also, s/he has a spot on his wing that is more bare than the rest of him/her. Any ideas what could've caused that and if there's anything I can do about it?

 

[Nana2KJS]

Hi guys! Don't think I'll even TRY to catch up with everything! Everyone is so busy!

Anyone remember me asking about giving Miss Nellie an egg to hatch? Well ... we did ... and she did! We were afraid we had lost the babies what with moving them around etc, but one of them made it! The baby hatched the day after I had both my knees replaced and my daughter found the new chick. We have them both separated from the rest of the ladies and they seem to be doing just fine. I'm recuperating at my mom's and she is taking care of me AND my animals, and seems to enjoy all the company. Knees still hurt, but there IS a light at the end of the tunnel.

Thanks, averytds for finding the fertile eggs for us! Nellie is a good mama and we are all having great fun watching the baby grow.

 

[Deerfield Acres]

Busy day! Because...

It's my birthday and yes, I think D-Day is appropriate for my arrival on the planet. No, no, not the same year just month and day!

Okay, so the very best thing I got for my birthday today is my very first egg!!!!!! It's one of the EE's eggs and it's a chalky blue/green -- so pretty!!!! It just doesn't get better than that for a crazy chicken lady!

Not a good picture, but you get the idea. It's so cute!!!!!!

 

[HEChicken]

Yay - congrats on the first egg!!! I agree, that is a great birthday gift. And happy birthday from me too!

Congrats Nana on the broody and chick. My Sultan is currently raising two chicks and I just love watching the interactions with the chicks. Glad to hear the knees are coming along. I can't even imagine having them both done at the same time. I'm glad you have good people to look after you.