Consolidated Kansas

[Hawkeye95]

Okay, here is a rough idea. This is what I'm thinking for my 3 silkies and possibly a few more. If I get ambitious, I'll put the nest box on the outside. But right now, I'm feeling really lazy and just put it on the inside. I'm sure once I get started, I'll change this. But this is the general idea and the "hutch" design I'm going with. Whether or not I put the nest box on the outside, this is pretty much it. Looks pretty easy, I'm thinking it should take no time at all. It's only 4 foot tall. Easy!

 

[Jeff21]

What is a LF rooster? I'm still a bit new with the abbreviations. Lol

 

[ByN8ureHomstead]

What is a LF rooster? I'm still a bit new with the abbreviations. Lol

LF = Large Foul.

 

[shotah]

that looks great! Plenty of ventilation I'd put it on wheels though--make yourself a chicken tractor!

 

[rittert3]

Sounds like everyone is having "tons of fun" building and planning, lol. Me too, I got my new pigeon pen planned. I got a call a couple hours ago the my parts came in from gqf so I'm getting ready to head up to blue valley gamebirds in Marysville to pick them up. Hopefully I will have a "like new" incubator by tomarrow evening. I'm going to finalize my order on 72 coturnix quail eggs a week from tomarrow and have them shipped out the following monday.

I'm excited to finally get my quail.

 

[HEChicken]

Tweety- If you'd like some help with creating a coop design in SketchUp let me know. I've been using it to design my coop for the past 6 months & am pretty good at it. If you'd like to scribble some ideas down on paper & send them to me I'd be glad to sketch them up for you. It's a good way to help figure out material lists & cost.

David, I'm not Tweety but you got my attention with this. I tried Google SketchUp several years ago but couldn't get it to do much that was useful so I eventually uninstalled it. When you wrote the other day that you are working on a materials list based off SketchUp I just couldn't picture it because my experience of the program, well, let's just say, it never gave me a materials list. So I decided to try again. I am currently going through the tutorial videos (don't tell me I should have done that the first time around

) and think I am starting to get the hang of it. I guess you can tell, I normally don't like tutorials - I kind of like to just dive in and if the program won't do what I want it to do, I give up on it. But in going through the tutorials I'm now feeling like I might actually be able to use it to create something useful. I'm going to start designing my coop this afternoon after I've finished the tutorials but I hope you won't mind if I pick your brain if/when I run into trouble?

 

[HEChicken]

What is a LF rooster? I'm still a bit new with the abbreviations. Lol

I'm a bit late to the party but....

Wow, every time I login these days there are 3-4 new pages of posts to catch up on. Regarding your rooster situation, are you looking for fertile eggs? If so, you may want to consider keeping 2-3 roos. The generally accepted ratio is 1 roo for each 10 hens, so if you only have 1 roo and 25 or more hens, your fertility will be spotty. Multiple roosters might also help to keep that many hens safe - multiple "eyes to the sky" so to speak.

 

[Jeff21]

That is a really good idea! 1 rooster alone won't be able to keep track of 31 hens. I may need to look into that.

Thanks!

 

[ChooksChick]

That is a really good idea! 1 rooster alone won't be able to keep track of 31 hens. I may need to look into that.

Thanks!

I agree, and if you get them together, either grown or juvenile, they'll generally have a good working relationship and not be aggressive to one another. Ask around here- many of us have good fellows we desperately hope to find homes for, as otherwise we have to eat them Someone near you is sure to have a suitable pair of protectors for you.

I know I do, but I'm a bit further away than some. Also, if you get fellows that are over a year, they won't be the randy teenagers that just run around raping and pillaging...they know to dance for a girl and ask for a date, rather, and the hens won't be as frazzled. On the flip side, if you get a pair that are mature, you'll likely have them overpower and beat up your current old boy, and that's not so nice. I think I'd get a pair of juveniles and have the older fellow keep them in line while letting them run Beta and security.

Ivy, I'm praying for you and hubby- I really hope they figure this out quickly and get him back to normal or better! Have you had second/third opinions? It's important to do so when something of this magnitude is occurring, as many eyes and ears are superior to one set of each.

Godspeed his healing!!

Danz, finally got my part for my computer and I'm back up, but working like a dog right now, so I'm never on! The one remaining quail hen hasn't laid yet, but I figure she's 8 weeks, so perhaps she's just slow? His bib is obvious and she hasn't one, so unless there's a bibless male marking, it's definitely a pair.

Tweety, I'm sorry Bob wasn't helpful- I know it's frustrating not having a good solution. I would definitely look into what kind of a prefab shed you can get if you're willing to spend $500, because you'll spend too much time trying to retrofit your greenhouse, and I suspect you'll never be quite happy with the way that works out. There are great kits with all of the connectors for building sheds, and all you have to do is buy the wood (which Home Depot will cut for free), screw the proper connectors to the proper pieces, and you're done!

http://www.backyardcity.com/storage-sheds/GTS-Storage-Shed-Kit-QFK4549.htm

You can make them walk-in or smaller, but walk-in is by FAR going to be appreciated into the future...and I've got nearly every type of coop you could possibly imagine, so I've tested tons of designs. My old converted shed is my favorite. You could cut a little pop-door into the side and put a covered litter box on the floor for a nest box (I have one big coop with 20 hens and they only use the cat box, ignoring the other 4 boxes of various types...). Slap two 2x4s up at waist-height, 15" apart for roosts and there you go! Done!

http://www.backyardcity.com/storage-sheds/GTS-Storage-Shed-Kit-EZ-EZK00.htm
This one is made from 2" x2" boards, which you get in a bundle of 9 for cheap! You just make it as tall as you like, and then screw plywood on to make sides and roof. You can even use an old door from the Habitat Re-Cycle for the door, and put storms on from Re-Cycle for windows.

Basically, you're just looking for something you are comfortable having in your yard, that you can work with w/o having to struggle (walk-in is easier in many ways) and that will keep them safe from predation.

I'm off to start my day- have to go to KC and the feed mill, but woke up with a migraine and had to drug myself and sleep for a bit. *sigh*

 

[Trish44]

Welcome Jeff21, we're always glad to see new faces here. Have you been to our Kansas Poultry Swap yet? We have people from all over on there, probably some down your way.

You're all such busy bees on here, everybody planning, building. Hawkeye, when you get your little coop done I sure could use some help on mine. That looks like a great idea you have so you can move it with you. I've got an idea about what I want, just how everything is going to work is kind of my problem now. I need to get it all drawn out so when I get ready to build it I will know exactly what I need & how to do it.

On the Lily/Jasmine saga, this morning I barely got everybody taken care of when I was coming out of the garage & they were already heading into the run. I just caught Jasmine going in & Lily was already in there. I hadn't even had a chance yet to see what I could come up with for a barrier to keep them out. So I ran them out of there & went to the garage to see what I could use to block off the bottom two rows of holes because I saw that they have been going through the 2nd hole up from the bottom. I found some of the OSB that I just got as scraps was about the right height so I took it out & then cut out just one square on the bottom corner so the chickens can hopefully get through, but I hope not the dogs. I propped the wood up on the inside with two of the cinder blocks I got for my new coop for the foundation, those things have already come in handy for stuff. Thankfully I think I will have extras to keep a few around for such things. Anyway, wish me luck that this works to keep those darned pups out of there. Well I didn't even get this all written before DH called me & told me that Lily is in the run, so I went out there & both of them were in there, so now one is chained in the yard again & the other is in the dog run. I'm just at my wit's end with these two. I can't shut my chickens out of the run all day or they can't get in to eat, drink, or lay eggs. I have a crippled rooster who is just a pet & he has to be able to get in there too, he only has the use of one leg. I'm thinking of getting a shock collar next to see if that would faze them. I'm just totally disgusted about the whole thing.

tweety, I would be concerned about heat & ventilation contrary to what that guy said. He obviously doesn't know much about chickens or their needs. We converted a shed last year to a coop & I've been having to add more ventilation all the time, it still doesn't seem to have enough even with three windows & two vents. I'm thinking I need another vent on the north side now for cross-ventilation. I just can't seem to get enough air moving through there. It was hot in there this summer even with all the windows open & the vents. I had to leave the people door open too so it wasn't too hot. As warm as it has been I have the window on the door open & the side windows open some just to air it out some. I've been using the deep litter method & hopefully I can make it one more month before I have to clean the whole thing out.