Consolidated Kansas

[Anderson Lowe]

Hello to the Kansas forum from Halstead.

I am new to the chicken life, just building first coop and haven't even started up yet.

I may be hitting up for suggestions and input as time goes on. Looking forward to a great time and education for the boys.

 

[Prairie Fleur]

@ Prairie Fleur,

I will try and take some more pics, different angles for you and post them, or pm you.

Someone asked, forgot who, if this was pallets.....yes, as well as a large crate that housed a transmission for the dump trucks in a mine. My bro in law has a nearly endless supply for me, its me lacking the time to create things. Right now am building a bathroom vanity out of reclaimed wood for


Another pic, dif angle taken same time as last pic.

Thanks!!! That is a gorgeous coop. We have lots of free pallets too. DH just got done building a vanity for our main bath. He poured a concrete top for it (it's a corner vanity so it had to be custom built) and it turned out beautifully! I love it! I'd love to build a chickie tractor for my chicks I'm getting this spring, as well as a bunny hutch. Haven't felt well enough to start on any of it yet tho..

 

[Prairie Fleur]

@ Prairie Fleur,

Additional shots, coop needs a good cleaning, so dont fault me. I will try to narrate the pics.

Screen door, sits inside of the dutch door, I like the dutch because depending on weather, can choose how much to close up.

This area is a LARGE back window, directly across coop from screen door, runs nearly length of coop and u can see the hurriedly scabbed plywood cause the cold came before I was ready. In spring, summer, fall it is completely left uncovered, area is approx 8 sq ft.

External nesting box, large door on left side, and the smaller door on right is for project this spring. Going to create alternate run area, it will be located under the bald cypress tree for lots of shade.

Current roosting areas, I choose to move them every 3-4 months. Right now it blocks the door to enter into coop and am not happy with the current position.


Let me know if you have any questions!

That is a Neat coop!!! Would you mind sending a view from each direction on the outside from a little distance away to get the idea of size and placement of windows, doors etc? I'd Really like to replicate that!! How big is it (?x?x?)? I have a 4x8 walk in coop for my chickens. We didn't get the wood finished before winter set in tho. it seems to work well with my 8 chickens. They've spent a lot of time in there the last couple weeks with the artic blast coming thru.

I'm still not getting eggs on a regular basis. I'm not sure what's taking my girls so terribly long! I know they haven't enjoyed the cold but would that keep them from laying? I've worried about an egg eater but don't know if that's the case or what.

Also I got a second LGD today!! She's a year and 2-3 months. Previous owners named her Rosebud but I think we'll be calling her Paris. She's in with my goats and seems to be getting along with them ok. London barked at her but I didn't hear any growling ever.

 

[MsDebD]

Hello to the Kansas forum from Halstead.

I am new to the chicken life, just building first coop and haven't even started up yet.

I may be hitting up for suggestions and input as time goes on. Looking forward to a great time and education for the boys.

Welcome! I'm new too. We are just now looking at ideas for coops and deciding what breed of chickens we want (and how many.) Planning is a nice warm escape from the cold and since we've got goats and dogs to consider, planning chickens is much more realistic than planning a vacation. I've found great info and great people here. Enjoy!

 

[chicken danz]

So were you backslopling the excess water or adding fesh water every day when you did your ff danz?

I never got rid of the old water. I just added new feed and grain and water each day. I used a sharp shooter shovel and stirred it well every day as well. Once before I dipped out the feed and again when I added feed. Using the scoop allowed the excess water to flow out. After a while you get it figured out about how much to add each day.
Quote:

Hello to the Kansas forum from Halstead.

I am new to the chicken life, just building first coop and haven't even started up yet.

I may be hitting up for suggestions and input as time goes on. Looking forward to a great time and education for the boys.

Welcome to the forum. Feel free to talk about anything and ask any questions you may have. Better get started on that coop soon. It's going to be chick season before you know it.

This weather is insane. That cold wind is making all the animals miserable. There really isn't anything else I can do though to change things. I just have to pray for the best to happen. The geese were all trying to find a place to get out of the wind better this morning and finally got smart and moved to the barn. My biggest fear is that they all run out of water. The heated water bowls tend to evaporate as much as they heat in cold weather like this. I don't dare drag the hose out in this stuff cause it will freeze while the water is running. Regardless of the idea that moving water won't freeze. It certainly will in a hose. It's happened too many times before. I can't handle hauling buckets of water due to their weight. It also looks like I'm going to have to do some repair here and there when the wind dies down. The wind catches the tarps and the plastic ties snap in this cold. Hopefully things will stay in place enough to get us past the next couple of days.

 

[hardscaper87]

Thanks for the info danz, I think I will try that method for my broilers in the spring, also what about preferences on fermenting whole grain compared to chopped/ milled grains. I will stick with mostly corn and milo as it is easily accessible in large amounts. I plan on feeding 22 percent broiler ration and supplementing with fermented corn and milo and possibly wheat

 

[chicken danz]

I would recommend having all your grains crimped or chopped. I used to feed some whole grains but they end up in the bottom of the pan uneaten. You can have them done at different levels from just cracked to a fine powder. You can mix your manufactured feed and your chopped grain in the fermented feed or feed them separately. FF actually increases the protein level and makes feed easier to digest. I even fermented chick starter for a while. The problem with processed feed is it tends to sour or mold easier than using a grain feed. But with enough stirring and the right amount of liquid it does fine.
I also had brewers yeast in my FF for some time because the game birds benefit from it. However it takes a little more balancing to keep it healthy. Just plain old ACV works best in my opinion.

 

[Trish44]

Hello to the Kansas forum from Halstead.

I am new to the chicken life, just building first coop and haven't even started up yet.

I may be hitting up for suggestions and input as time goes on. Looking forward to a great time and education for the boys.

Welcome, there are so many ways you can construct a coop, check out the section on coops here on BYC there are lots of pics there to give you ideas. Most of us have various types of coops & pens. Once you get into chickens you just want more as the chicken math takes over. What are you wanting chickens for, eggs, meat, pets or all of those?

So were you backslopling the excess water or adding fesh water every day when you did your ff danz?

I do FF as well & I just leave what's left over that day to start the next day's batch. It's kind of like the friendship bread that you keep going with a culture. I make a batch every night for the next day. I don't have the volume that danz had in a barrel, mine is just in a plastic bin but I feed 100+ birds with it. My ducks & geese get it as well & they love it. Oh & also the whole grains are not going to soak up the liquid, they will just sit there in the FF & the birds probably won't touch them other than the smaller stuff.

It's actually 17 degrees here, higher than it was supposed to be today but that wind is awful out there. I feel sorry for anything having to be out there today. My chickens are huddled on my front porch, they're not happy at all about any of it.

 

[Anderson Lowe]

Welcome, there are so many ways you can construct a coop, check out the section on coops here on BYC there are lots of pics there to give you ideas. Most of us have various types of coops & pens. Once you get into chickens you just want more as the chicken math takes over. What are you wanting chickens for, eggs, meat, pets or all of those?
I do FF as well & I just leave what's left over that day to start the next day's batch. It's kind of like the friendship bread that you keep going with a culture. I make a batch every night for the next day. I don't have the volume that danz had in a barrel, mine is just in a plastic bin but I feed 100+ birds with it. My ducks & geese get it as well & they love it. Oh & also the whole grains are not going to soak up the liquid, they will just sit there in the FF & the birds probably won't touch them other than the smaller stuff.

It's actually 17 degrees here, higher than it was supposed to be today but that wind is awful out there. I feel sorry for anything having to be out there today. My chickens are huddled on my front porch, they're not happy at all about any of it.

Have to coop idea already laid out, waiting on a tad bit warmer weather to work on it. Going to be getting chickens for eggs and pets.
Thanks for the ideas and info.
Andy

 

[Anderson Lowe]

I never got rid of the old water. I just added new feed and grain and water each day. I used a sharp shooter shovel and stirred it well every day as well. Once before I dipped out the feed and again when I added feed. Using the scoop allowed the excess water to flow out. After a while you get it figured out about how much to add each day.
Quote:
Welcome to the forum. Feel free to talk about anything and ask any questions you may have. Better get started on that coop soon. It's going to be chick season before you know it.

This weather is insane. That cold wind is making all the animals miserable. There really isn't anything else I can do though to change things. I just have to pray for the best to happen. The geese were all trying to find a place to get out of the wind better this morning and finally got smart and moved to the barn. My biggest fear is that they all run out of water. The heated water bowls tend to evaporate as much as they heat in cold weather like this. I don't dare drag the hose out in this stuff cause it will freeze while the water is running. Regardless of the idea that moving water won't freeze. It certainly will in a hose. It's happened too many times before. I can't handle hauling buckets of water due to their weight. It also looks like I'm going to have to do some repair here and there when the wind dies down. The wind catches the tarps and the plastic ties snap in this cold. Hopefully things will stay in place enough to get us past the next couple of days.

Thanks, have coop plans laid out just waiting on tad bit warmer weather to get busy on it.
Glad to see someone from Waverly on here, the Fire Chief here is from Waverly.