Consolidated Kansas

[ashncarson]

Here is what I have for my coop so far! We did most all of this today!

The coop is 8x5, the run (including under the coop) will be 13x10. We are trying to use all re-claimed wood as possible so we can save $$ for the hardware cloth!

The front view (what we see from our house, south side) the nest box will be right here in the front, under a window.



Here is the West side (going into the run) the top board is going to be moved down, to move UP the ventilation bar
(we pretty much ran out of wood here so that will be one large long vent)

The tree here will be cut down to just the remaining main branches which will remain in the run! It was my favorite tree and over the winter it died


I asked my husband to put the coop door 12 inches up from the coop floor. I hope that was correct in doing so. Will that be a problem for them (I would think not but just checking). The door is 14x14 I believe is what we decided on.


This shows the East wall. This is where the "Human" door will be. I believe 3' wide, not sure height just yet.
The walls have a slope of about 5 inches to help with rain.



How is it looking so far? We are now out of the wood we used on the floor and walls, but are hoping the guy we got it from has some more we can use

 

[sharol]

What a night.

I have Marlena (BO) on 5 eggs. One hatched today. (she/he is a Black Copper Marans from Danz (we think) she could be blue copper, but that remains to be seen.) That baby is SO cute.



Then the electricity went out. I also have 6 eggs in an incubator (day 18 for them).

Then my head hen, Golden Campine, went nuts when she heard the baby chick peeping. Fortunately, I was in the coop giving Marlena some treats, and Scout attacked her and the baby. We (my DH and I) moved her, the baby, and her other 4 eggs to our already prepared Hen Hoop. My plan was to let her raise the babies with the flock, and the hoop was for my now 3 week old babies. New plan. We put Marlena and her little family in the dog carrier and I made her a nest in the corner of the hoop coop. She settled right in when she realized I had brought the baby and the eggs. She was so good. She didn't even bite me when I took her off her nest and picked up her baby. You just gotta love Buff Orpingtons.

Incubator at 94. Start the generator -- not enough gas down at the house, so I had to get it from the shed. By the time the electricity came back on about the incubator was back into the upper 90's. It is sitting at 99 right now, so maybe they will be ok. Tomorrow is lockdown, so I'll take a look at them with the flashlight before settling them in. 2 1/2 weeks of boring then one day of trauma.

 

[ashncarson]

Incubator at 94. Start the generator -- not enough gas down at the house, so I had to get it from the shed. By the time the electricity came back on about the incubator was back into the upper 90's. It is sitting at 99 right now, so maybe they will be ok. Tomorrow is lockdown, so I'll take a look at them with the flashlight before settling them in. 2 1/2 weeks of boring then one day of trauma.

I have seen the term "lockdown" before, what does that mean in the egg raising world?

 

[sharol]

You turn off or remove the egg turner if you are using one, boost the humidity or prepare the materials inside the incubator to add water later (when the first egg pips). In my case I'm putting in a raised floor to keep the eggs at the same level they were during incubation, do a last candle and sniff to remove any spoiling eggs so they won't explode. Then you close the incubator and leave it closed until the eggs are all hatched (or not). On my last batch, I had to open the incubator to assist a chick that had pipped at the wrong end of the egg and was in trouble after 36 hours of struggling.

In theory, the humidity should be 60% or more (depending on who you talk to) during pip and zip, so opening up the incubator can cause a rush of dryer air that can cause the chick to "shrink wrap" or get stuck in the membrane and thus unable to hatch.

Lock down refers to the shutting of the incubator with the intent of not messing with it until the chicks are done. Easier said than done, for me.

I have seen the term "lockdown" before, what does that mean in the egg raising world?

 

[tntblake]

Just a quick question that I know the answer too but want to double check. It has been several years since I have had young birds. I am pretty sure that that it is ok to switch them to layer feed now but want to make sure since they haven't started laying. I really don't want to buy another bag of starter because it is much more expensive than the layer pellets that I can get from a co-op here in town. They are 16 weeks and seem to be getting really red in the face in the last week or so, especially the sexlinks and the br's. I'm ready for eggs!

 

[22qZoo]

Welcome DUDLEYSPINNER ,keep us posted I love seeing how people re-use stuff
POLISHPAL , are you done hatching or are there more to come still?congratulations ! Baby chicks and the fair, should keep you busy.
DANZ thanks for the explanation, I've had this fantasy where I could have two runs next to each other and use one for a garden and one for the chickens and then rotate them every year. (maybe someday) I've been seeing a lot of oxine being used too, sounds like a good thing to have around in this hot and humid part of the country.

 

[dudleyspinner]

I have old windows from our house, we switched to new double pane windows a few years ago. Maybe we could have a BBQ in a few weeks, you could come out, view my operation and see what I have that would spark my dear husband into making the best darn chickencoop he could build with the stuff we have on hand here. I got another 11 eggs from my neighbor and friend today. They are a mixed bag, some browns that are probably buff orpington hens, a green, easter egger, and some whites form black austrolop hens, I plan on filling up the incubator. It seems like the best bet to keep the temps consistant. [email protected] My husband works opposite weekends and is doing figure 8 races and demo derby next weekend so the first week of August would be the first possible time to connect.
!

 

[cherwill]

So, I'm positing a message I'll be putting on other threads, too- it's really hard to post this, but I'm just stretched tooo thin, and it has to happen for a bit. I'll be keeping my favorite hens in my backyard, and I'm keeping the R-Com and the Sportsman...for those who know about my home-made incubator, I'm keeping that (the FarmGirl NQB8R), too.

It's tough, but temporary.

I hope you get a chance to catch your breath, and things get better quickly.

Here is what I have for my coop so far! We did most all of this today!

The coop is 8x5, the run (including under the coop) will be 13x10. We are trying to use all re-claimed wood as possible so we can save $$ for the hardware cloth!

How is it looking so far? We are now out of the wood we used on the floor and walls, but are hoping the guy we got it from has some more we can use

It's looking great. You really got a lot done.

What a night.

I have Marlena (BO) on 5 eggs. One hatched today. (she/he is a Black Copper Marans from Danz (we think) she could be blue copper, but that remains to be seen.) That baby is SO cute.



2 1/2 weeks of boring then one day of trauma.

LOL! That baby is awfully cute.

We had a busy day with family commitments today, but did manage to get out to the garden. We picked a couple of spaghetti squash my aunt had told us were big enough to pick. Then I came home and looked it up and I think we picked them prematurely; they still look a bit green. We also got several good-sized scallop squashes and a couple of eggplants. I do see tiny tomatoes on my Romas, but nothing on the Black Krim. It has flowered twice, but no fruit has developed.

 

[ashncarson]

I hope everyone gets some rain today!

 

[TaraBellaBirds]

We just started raising chickens this year and even though I live in a small farming and ranching community there are not that many people raising chickens. I would love to find someone that could share some chicken wisdom and experience.