Consolidated Kansas

[sharol]

I don't know if you will be able to see this video. It showed up on the feed from a dogcatcher I follow from California, but it explains a lot about why a goat fence is so tough.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=4622435899142

 

[HEChicken]

I'm getting the hatchery surprise box from Cackle hatchery. I will be getting between 40 and 60 birds, which could include anything from chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys and guineas. This will be the first time in my adult life of owning anything but ducks/geese. I'm pretty excited but nervous as well. This will also be my first time with shipped birds and the first time I've had more than 15 birds at a time (currently have 3 geese and 4 ducks). I am a little nervous about all the "firsts" but am pretty excited about the variety that will be coming! I ordered this box because I couldn't make up my mind which breed(s) I wanted to try first, so I'm excited to get a wide variety!

We are getting closer to being ready, as well! Our chicken coop is getting closer to being done! Yesterday, we moved it to its more permanent home and hung the doors and filled in some low spots around the base of the coop. We still have a ways to go, but it is getting much closer to being usable!

I've never heard of a surprise box that includes multiple species. It will be fun to see what you get. Nice job on the coop. Is that solid metal or the plastic sheeting? (Its hard to tell in pics). If solid metal, are there going to be windows? I like hoop style houses - no need to worry about rain or snow build up.

I don't think I could handle all that activity. I already work from sun up to sun down and longer.
I knew you had the cattle and sheep but didn't realize you still had goats. I keep thinking of getting a hog but on the fence if I want to handle one if it keeps trying to dig out. I am now considering getting a Yak. I love them. I just need to find a market for their fiber. I am not going to spin my own wool!!!! It's a dream on the yak but again I don't have fencing for it so that would mean more fence buiding.

Oh yes, we still have the two meat goats from years ago and also added two dairy does last year. We milked them from April until October and then let them dry up as by then they were pregnant. Now that they've kidded, and the kids are two weeks old today, we could start milking them any time but we decided since they both have twins, we'll let them raise the twins to weaning age before starting to milk them, as we are already getting a couple of gallons per milking from the cows so we don't need the milk right now.

I also keep thinking about getting a couple of hogs to raise. They're social so we'd have to get two at once but fortunately due to the cooperative with the neighbor it would work to get two - one for each of us. What holds me back is the rooting and digging they do - I really don't need the place torn up by pig snouts. The only place I can think to put them is to build a pen out of hog panels adjacent to my current veggie patch and let them root and till it to their heart's content. Then after they are gone, I can expand the veggie garden into that area

The only problem with that plan is that we positioned the veggie garden in a spot that gets full sun and in summer it would be way hot for piggies. However when I do a lot of cheese making and have gallons of whey, I often wish I had pigs to feed it to.

Tree trimmers have been in our area for the past two weeks and I spoke with them a few days ago, asking if they need a place to dump the wood chips. They were delighted to have a place to dump them for free because they have to pay to dump them at the landfill. So yesterday they arrived and the truck didn't look huge but the pile of chips they left me is enormous. I am so thrilled to have them! Last year we went to our local recycling center and got free chips - but those we had to load ourselves and then unload. And, we had to make several trips. Having the tree company dump a load for me is a huge savings in labor and time. I put them around the 4' perimeter of my veggie garden last year and it worked great as a walkway and weed barrier, keeping the grass from growing in from outside the garden plot. However over time the stuff decomposes and the layer is now quite thin. I knew I was going to have to replenish it each year but wasn't really looking forward to the trip to the recycling center to load. As soon as they left last night, I started transferring from the pile to the veggie garden and already got one of the long sides bedded down with about 8" of new chips all the way along. I decided I'd better go really thick as these chips are very green, having only been run through the chipper right before coming here. Therefore they are hot and the pile already had some warmth to it when I stuck my hand in there. So I'm thinking these will break down even faster than those of last year that had had more time to dry out and mature.

 

[chicken danz]

That's awesome HEChicken. I wish I could find a truck like that in the area. The city does a dump for free wood chips but it is load and unload yourselves and it's also a 15 minute drive to and from. It would be so nice to have them leave me a load. I could use them for a myriad of things.
Myra good luck on those eggs.
Prairie I hope you have good luck with those.
I just had to retrieve my dogs from the nuclear plant. They decided to go visit all the people coming to work this morning. Needless to say they are all locked in the kennels right now. I normally only have a running problem when one of the girls is in heat. However my fencer put my new road gate in yesterday and left a huge area at the bottom they could easily get out of. I do wish I had seen what he was doing. He raised it because of a hump in the ground but I would have shaved that off with the bobcat rather than have the gate set that high. Now I have to find a way to backfill that area. Not something I really wanted to mess with right now.
At this point I am ready to get the darn dogs all neutered and say to heck with it all. I wanted to breed my adults one more time so I could have a new female to have pups in a couple years. But I am about ready to throw my hands in the air. DH was working so at least he was able to corral the dogs until I got there to take them home.

 

[lizzyGSR]

I've never heard of a surprise box that includes multiple species. It will be fun to see what you get. Nice job on the coop. Is that solid metal or the plastic sheeting? (Its hard to tell in pics). If solid metal, are there going to be windows? I like hoop style houses - no need to worry about rain or snow build up.

The coop is covered in corrugated tin that we got for free from one of my in-laws' neighbors. They were going to push the building in and not save any of it. They gave us permission to salvage what we could, so we took everything we could take down in a day. Free tin! yay! I plan on putting at least one vent on either end of the coop, but I do not intend to put any windows or anything in the tin itself. I also want to add a chicken door to each end and plan on leaving the people doors open during the day after the chicks are feathered in anyway. I'm pretty excited about this coop! The duck house we have is 4x4x8. If I want to catch a bird, I have to crawl in there on my knees, which usually results in me getting myself all yucky. NO fun! It's so nice to be able to stand upright in the chicken coop!

Here's a link to the cackle hatchery surprise box: http://www.cacklehatchery.com/hatchery-surprise.html

 

[sharol]

Quote:
You might want to put in some sort of vents in the top ridge/curve of the new coop. Heat is a real killer for chickens. You will be surprised how hot it will get in the summer. In addition, in winter without top vents, the humidity may build up and cause some problems, too. I'm not trying to be critical, it is just what everyone said when I got started, and I was really lucky I paid attention to them.

 

[lizzyGSR]

You might want to put in some sort of vents in the top ridge/curve of the new coop. Heat is a real killer for chickens. You will be surprised how hot it will get in the summer. In addition, in winter without top vents, the humidity may build up and cause some problems, too.

I'm not trying to be critical, it is just what everyone said when I got started, and I was really lucky I paid attention to them.

How do you put top vents in something like that without everything inside getting wet in the rain? Also, this coop will be in the shade pretty much all day and it sits behind a tree line so I should be able to have at least one side-vent open even through the winter.

 

[sharol]

How do you put top vents in something like that without everything inside getting wet in the rain? Also, this coop will be in the shade pretty much all day and it sits behind a tree line so I should be able to have at least one side-vent open even through the winsaw I

 

[Trish44]

II found a Cream Legbar rooster. I have it in quarantine with a silver hen. I have had the hen isolated all winter, because I was keeping her for a different Silver rooster. That is her egg in the photo. It looks like maybe I'll have another project going if I hatch her eggs. This rooster does have orange feathering, so maybe it's not a "true" Cream Legbar.

Ralph he looks more like some of the later lines of Cream Legbars but has a bit more color than the standard calls for now. For your project he should work fine. I'm trying to get all Rees line now & I eventually will have them, but it all takes time.

I've never heard of a surprise box that includes multiple species. It will be fun to see what you get. Nice job on the coop. Is that solid metal or the plastic sheeting? (Its hard to tell in pics). If solid metal, are there going to be windows? I like hoop style houses - no need to worry about rain or snow build up.

Oh yes, we still have the two meat goats from years ago and also added two dairy does last year. We milked them from April until October and then let them dry up as by then they were pregnant. Now that they've kidded, and the kids are two weeks old today, we could start milking them any time but we decided since they both have twins, we'll let them raise the twins to weaning age before starting to milk them, as we are already getting a couple of gallons per milking from the cows so we don't need the milk right now.

I also keep thinking about getting a couple of hogs to raise. They're social so we'd have to get two at once but fortunately due to the cooperative with the neighbor it would work to get two - one for each of us. What holds me back is the rooting and digging they do - I really don't need the place torn up by pig snouts. The only place I can think to put them is to build a pen out of hog panels adjacent to my current veggie patch and let them root and till it to their heart's content. Then after they are gone, I can expand the veggie garden into that area

The only problem with that plan is that we positioned the veggie garden in a spot that gets full sun and in summer it would be way hot for piggies. However when I do a lot of cheese making and have gallons of whey, I often wish I had pigs to feed it to.

Tree trimmers have been in our area for the past two weeks and I spoke with them a few days ago, asking if they need a place to dump the wood chips. They were delighted to have a place to dump them for free because they have to pay to dump them at the landfill. So yesterday they arrived and the truck didn't look huge but the pile of chips they left me is enormous. I am so thrilled to have them! Last year we went to our local recycling center and got free chips - but those we had to load ourselves and then unload. And, we had to make several trips. Having the tree company dump a load for me is a huge savings in labor and time. I put them around the 4' perimeter of my veggie garden last year and it worked great as a walkway and weed barrier, keeping the grass from growing in from outside the garden plot. However over time the stuff decomposes and the layer is now quite thin. I knew I was going to have to replenish it each year but wasn't really looking forward to the trip to the recycling center to load. As soon as they left last night, I started transferring from the pile to the veggie garden and already got one of the long sides bedded down with about 8" of new chips all the way along. I decided I'd better go really thick as these chips are very green, having only been run through the chipper right before coming here. Therefore they are hot and the pile already had some warmth to it when I stuck my hand in there. So I'm thinking these will break down even faster than those of last year that had had more time to dry out and mature.

When I lived just outside of Derby I often had tree trimmers wanting to dump stuff at my place & even park trucks there. I didn't mind since I got all the free mulch I wanted. I don't have that luxury here, I have to go to the recycle place & load it myself here

.

When I raised the 3 pigs at my place at Derby I just had a small pen made of hog panels & they did have some shelter from the sun. Hogs don't sweat so they have to have a way to cool off. In the warmer weather I would go out & spray them down with the hose & they loved playing in the spray. I don't recall them trying to dig out of there & I don't think they would as long as they have what they need. I had a hog feeder with the doors that they had to lift up to eat & it was metal. When they thought it was time to eat they would start banging those doors with their snouts till I came out & fed them. What I liked about hogs was you could grow them out in only 6 months. I got mine in the spring & by fall they were ready for the locker.

How do you put top vents in something like that without everything inside getting wet in the rain? Also, this coop will be in the shade pretty much all day and it sits behind a tree line so I should be able to have at least one side-vent open even through the winter.

I agree with the others, you really are going to have to have some ventilation or you will have cooked chickens in that metal building. My main coop & the original one is converted from an old storage shed. It had no ventilation in it when I made it into a coop & I had to add several windows & vents in order to try to get air in there. Even with several windows & vents it still gets very hot in there in the summer & I have to leave the people door open even at night. Fortunately I do have an enclosed run with a door that is shut at night & two big GPs who guard it. I think you're going to be surprised how hot it does get in there even before it's really hot outside. It would be better to solve the problem before the chickens are here rather than later. You could add the round type of vent to the top like for a house roof & that would help some but you will need more.

 

[lizzyGSR]

I agree with the others, you really are going to have to have some ventilation or you will have cooked chickens in that metal building. My main coop & the original one is converted from an old storage shed. It had no ventilation in it when I made it into a coop & I had to add several windows & vents in order to try to get air in there. Even with several windows & vents it still gets very hot in there in the summer & I have to leave the people door open even at night. Fortunately I do have an enclosed run with a door that is shut at night & two big GPs who guard it. I think you're going to be surprised how hot it does get in there even before it's really hot outside. It would be better to solve the problem before the chickens are here rather than later. You could add the round type of vent to the top like for a house roof & that would help some but you will need more.

I was envisioning slots lengthwise along the top maybe 2" wide by 2' long, then a break and another one. Then covered with this stuff. Then another rounded piece of tin over that that overlaps the edges of the liner a little bit. It is what they used in my coop building last summer, and no rain has gotten past it into the coop. It may not be necessary in your situation. I just figure the more draft free air they can get the better.

Thank you both for your input! The tin doesn't fit real tight against the plywood. I closed the gaps so that nothing could get in or out, but there are gaps there. Also, the tin is used, so there are plenty of nail holes. There are also a few larger holes (1"-2" diameter). Is there something I could put over those larger holes that would allow ventilation? Since we've got the tin on already, it would be a pain to add ventilation there. Plus, we've only got a week 'till my chicks show up, and my DH's schedule isn't conducive to getting that kind of thing done before they get here. I'm looking for alternate options that are less work.

On my duck house, we have little metal, circular vents with "fins" on them to keep the rain out. I could also add a few of those to the ends, but I really don't want to modify the tin if I don't have to. It was a lot of work to get it put in place, and I don't have much time to change it.

 

[chicken danz]

Lizzy if I could get my stupid scanner to work I would send you that picture I drew of how you could add air vents to the coop and this would be something you could do with the tin already on there I think. When ever I find some spare time I will try to reload the program in it and see if that helps. It scans fine, just doesn't seem to link to the computer files. All the cords are fastened so I'm not sure what is wrong.
I was on the go all day today and just got home. I still had some feeding to do and some groceries to put away but I have to sit and rest for awhile. I am so exhausted.