Consolidated Kansas

[sharol]

My girls' newest obsession is with the cicadas that are hatching. One will find one, and with it buzzing and trying to get away, she will run with it while the others chase. They trade off with it for quite a while. Great fun, Chicken TV

 

[Ivywoods]

I turned 33 the day after my oldest was born, and I was 38 when my youngest was born. Gee... what a prize. The OLDEST mom!

Hawkeye-Your coop is going to be so nice, I wish I could send some of my chickies to stay for a while. It would be like a vacation in a luxury hotel for them!

This cooler weather has me in the "building" mood. I'd like to build some breeder/show bird cages that I could use this winter, then move them into my new barn next year. The problem is, I don't know how I want to build them. I haven't decided if I want wood frames, metal frames, wire bottoms, wooden bottoms or what. I'm thinking I might make a "double decker" cage, with the bottom row being wire bottoms and the top row having a wood bottom and shavings. I have a couple sections of old cabinet top. It would be kind of heavy, but it would be less porous and easy to clean. I might use that.

Decisions... decisions.

 

[chicken danz]

As you know from our previous discussion I don't show chickens. But if I were going to build breeding cages or show cages I would first go on line and find the cheapest price I could for plastic bottom trays used for wire cages. I would build in a slot for them so you could slide them out to clean. I have used just about everything to build cages. I bought some metal shelving units that have pressed wood shelves and built a wooden frame inside the legs. I've attached hardware cloth and made a door. They work great and are spacious. YOu can build a nice cage in an afternoon. You can go 3 or 4 cages high with those. I also purchased a big old show case, took the glass out and replaced it with hardware cloth. I used the existing sliding glass doors with wire instead.
One thing I've found that is great as well is that the dog breeding business has gone up in smoke. Lots of people have these smaller 24 X 24 to 36 X 36 cages that they used to breed small dogs in for sale. Most of those have a stacking system available and bottom trays. I have purchased several a lot cheaper than I can buy wire. I use them to transport birds or segregate them. I've even used them in the brooder house when I needed more room.

 

[Ivywoods]

Quote:
Hi Danz-Yes, I bought a set of 6 of the dog breeder cages this past year. They are nice, and they were cheaper than buying wire to build with. I think I may modify them, though. I have them in two stacks of 3 each. The bottom one is too low and the top one is too high. I think I will put legs under the bottom one to bring it up some, and then only stack them 2 high. They are plenty big for some of my bantams, but too small for large fowl.

For the show birds I'm thinking it would be better to have a few small pens that didn't have wire bottoms. They wear their feathers out so bad on the wire sometimes.

I have the frame for a tall set of drawers that I am going to convert into a brooder. I'm going to turn it on it's side, put legs under it, wire on the bottom, something clear for the front (glass, plexiglass or whatever I can find) and then build a top and wire it for heat and light. I bought a stacking brooder this past year. It stacks 6 high, kind of like what I've seen at some of the feed stores when they get chicks in to sell. This one is old and somewhat different. It is a P.I.T.A and I don't like the thing at all. It's easy for food and water, but terrible to keep clean and even worse to try to get chicks in and out without them escaping. I don't think I will use it much at all.

Maybe I could just work on this brooder project until I know exactly what I want to do for breeder pens. It sure would be nice to have some ready for this winter though.... especially if I pick up some little SERAMAS!

 

[chicken danz]

I kept my Seramas in the pens I built from metal shelving the first year I had them.. 48" X 18 X 18, and had 7-8 of them in a shelf unit at a time. Yes they were crowded but they did fine. I think whatever you can build will probably do. I have never purchased one of those commercial brooders. I've been to breeders that had them and they look to me like you could end up with dead chicks in there and not know it. I made an awesome overhead brooder that goes in a building that worked really well. But now I have a special brooder house that is divided into pens.
I really don't like having birds on wire at all. If they are, I like to have the vynal coated wire with a really small footprint. Unfortunately due to space sometimes I just have to use wire cages.
Sure wish I could just hire all my work done before winter. I just don't seem to find time to catch up.

 

[Ivywoods]

Well, the wire is nice for being able to keep the cages cleaner, but I think the shavings are nicer if you are trying to get some birds in show condition. That's why I think it would be nice to have some of both. The stacking dog cages I bought have vinyl coated wire, and I really like them. I'll like them even better when I get the bottom ones raised up and the top ones lowered. Space is my issue for not getting that done right now. I have them in my hubby's barn where we have the goats and calf. Anyway, what I'm thinking of building will fit right in my new barn, but I may have to keep it in the shop until then.

 

[chicken danz]

You sound like me only I think my situ' is even worse. I have a bunch of cages just sitting in the yard right now because there is no place else to put them. I've been trying to get my breeding house off the ground for over a year and still nothing has happened. I have pens and houses that have to be built by fall but it's not done. I so wish I had the money to just have a builder come in and build me an entire setup in a few days. But I don't. If access to water and electricity weren't an issue it would sure help.

 

[Ivywoods]

Quote:
Yes, it would be nice to just "have it done" but I really enjoy something more when I have been the one to do it. I do end up waiting for help with the stuff I can't do, and that does get frustrating. (We need an impatient smiley checking his watch and stomping his foot!) I've still got a lot of material to gather up for the barn next year, so I am concentrating on that for now... plus some of the temporary arrangments for the winter.

They are cutting our corn right now. They are loading the trucks from the grain carts right in front of the house. The chaff is blowing everywhere. I do really hope they have a bit of a "spill" so my chickens can have an extra treat!

 

[sharol]

Like this one?

Quote:
Yes, it would be nice to just "have it done" but I really enjoy something more when I have been the one to do it. I do end up waiting for help with the stuff I can't do, and that does get frustrating. (We need an impatient smiley checking his watch and stomping his foot!) I've still got a lot of material to gather up for the barn next year, so I am concentrating on that for now... plus some of the temporary arrangments for the winter.

They are cutting our corn right now. They are loading the trucks from the grain carts right in front of the house. The chaff is blowing everywhere. I do really hope they have a bit of a "spill" so my chickens can have an extra treat!

 

[sharol]

Or this one?

Quote:
Yes, it would be nice to just "have it done" but I really enjoy something more when I have been the one to do it. I do end up waiting for help with the stuff I can't do, and that does get frustrating. (We need an impatient smiley checking his watch and stomping his foot!) I've still got a lot of material to gather up for the barn next year, so I am concentrating on that for now... plus some of the temporary arrangments for the winter.

They are cutting our corn right now. They are loading the trucks from the grain carts right in front of the house. The chaff is blowing everywhere. I do really hope they have a bit of a "spill" so my chickens can have an extra treat!