Consolidated Kansas

[HEChicken]

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.

I've been trying to find a tree company for several years! I just got lucky in this instance that they are working in our area but now that I have a contact name and number, I'm keeping it in my phone. My hope is that in future years I'll be able to call them and they'll be willing to deliver even if they're not working specifically in our area. We are only a short distance in from the main road leading to the landfill so even if they were coming from another town, it might not be far out of their way to deliver to us rather than go the rest of the way to the landfill and pay to dump them. Our city does also have them for free but we have to load them ourselves so having them dumped here for us, saved a lot of time and effort.

I do not intend to put any windows or anything in the tin itself.

In addition to the air flow mentioned by others, I'm concerned about how dark it will be in there with tin over the hoop and the ends being solid wood (I think?) as well. I think you'll find they'll be retiring to roost earlier that they would if they had light, because they can't see well in the dark so they want to be on the roosts while they can still see well enough to jump up there. Also, you may find that they have a long period of non-laying over the winter when the days are short as the coop will stay much darker for longer than if they can see the daylight coming. My advice if you don't want to cut into the tin, would be to have windows in each end and then orient it so that it gets air flow through the coop via the prevailing winds. For example, our winds almost always come out of either the south or the north, so we'd want to orient it north-south to take advantage of the air flow that way. I would try to make the door in either end be basically one big window. And inside that, have a "screen" door (frame covered in hardware cloth). So you can prop the outside door open to allow air flow, while still maintaining security for the birds, for most of the year. I'd only close the solid doors on the coldest days in the winter.

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.

Yeah I'm really not worried about them trying to dig out of the pen - more just the digging and rooting they do in general that can tear up a property pretty quickly and it takes ages for it to recover. What puts me off about pigs is any pics of them I see on for sale ads, the pigs are always living in a muddy mess without a blade of grass to eat. I figure if pigs can do that in the time it takes to raise them, I sure don't need my property looking like that by the time they leave

That's why the only place I can think to put them is a place I want dug up anyway - i.e., future veggie patch. However as that site is in full sun, it would be too hot for them in the summer. So the best time would be to get fall pigs and raise them over the winter, but that is when we are getting less milk to feed them. Its a problem I haven't solved yet, which is why I still don't have pigs.

Yesterday was a busy day working goat kids. We got our little doelings disbudded and a buckling banded, as well as blood drawn on the adults for CAE/CL testing. It all went smoothly but these things just take time and meant I didn't get any of my chips spread at all. Today I think I'm going to close the front gate, let the stock out to graze the grass that is starting to green up, and get a bunch more wood chips spread. I'm trying to get them moved before they kill too much of the grass they are currently sitting on.

 

[Trish44]

@HEChicken most hogs aren't raised in a place with grass to begin with. You might find a few on pasture, but you have to have a pretty big area to graze them on. The ones you see in the pics are living in pens that are just dirt to start with & people give them mud pools to cool off in. I'm sure they would like to be grazing grass but most people don't have the luxury of that kind of pasture area for them.

I still have 3 more days till I can candle my eggs in the incubator. I'm curious to see what all is developing & I hope the roosters are doing their jobs.

 

[lizzyGSR]

In addition to the air flow mentioned by others, I'm concerned about how dark it will be in there with tin over the hoop and the ends being solid wood (I think?) as well. I think you'll find they'll be retiring to roost earlier that they would if they had light, because they can't see well in the dark so they want to be on the roosts while they can still see well enough to jump up there. Also, you may find that they have a long period of non-laying over the winter when the days are short as the coop will stay much darker for longer than if they can see the daylight coming. My advice if you don't want to cut into the tin, would be to have windows in each end and then orient it so that it gets air flow through the coop via the prevailing winds. For example, our winds almost always come out of either the south or the north, so we'd want to orient it north-south to take advantage of the air flow that way. I would try to make the door in either end be basically one big window. And inside that, have a "screen" door (frame covered in hardware cloth). So you can prop the outside door open to allow air flow, while still maintaining security for the birds, for most of the year. I'd only close the solid doors on the coldest days in the winter.

I had considered adding a light to the coop, partially for that purpose. I tried to find some storm windows that were small enough to put on either end, but I haven't had any luck finding any yet. The vents I want to put in the ends (which are indeed plywood) would be covered with hardware cloth so they could be open most of the time. My coop is already oriented North/South, which is the direction of our prevailing winds as well. It is butted up against a treeline to the North, but that treeline surrounds our property so there is no good way to get away from it. I intend to leave the walk-through doors open as much as possible during the days, so I'm not sure a screen-type door on it would be very helpful. In the winter, I could close the North walk-through door to give the birds shelter from the cold wind while still giving them ventilation and light through the south door. The doors are 32" wide by 55" tall, so they are pretty good sized doors and do allow quite a bit of light and breeze in. I will make the vents ont he ends as big as I can without sacrificing structural integrity of the end pieces.

 

[Prairie Fleur]

New Arrival!!!!!!! My mini Mancha doe kidded a single doeling last night we are Delighted to have a doe born here at long last - only our second in 3 years and the other one died in a freak storm accident. Needless to say she's definitely NOT going anywhere!!!!!

The birds were being very photogenic this afternoon too. Anyone want to give me an idea on what breed this hen is? I'm thinking black Marans but not sure. She doesn't have any competing whatsoever.

This is the nicest BCM hen I have. I don't like her comb, but she's ok otherwise I think. I have more eggs ordered from Fritz Farm and Poultry so I'm hoping I can get some more hens and a nice roo out of them.

I'm thinking of putting her in with my Isabell Marans rooster.

And Danz I'm just in awe of this SS roo I got from you. He is MASSIVE and I just love him. He's pretty calm and definitely the king of the flock. He doesn't fight excessively with the other roos, I think they know better than to mess with him.

And a group shot; they love this spot. I'm convinced they think it's just for them. I'm really looking forward to the yard greening up so they have more green stuff to eat.

Is anyone on here joining the Easter Hatch-a-long? I have eggs coming from Chicken hill poultry that I'm hoping to set as well as some Isbars and Genetic Hackle chickens from @lacymorgan. I want to set some of my own barnyard mixes as well.

 

[oskie]

39 buckeye chicks out in the big pin all happy so far

 

[coco mama]

@Prairie Fleur Nice pictures. I have only a surviving Black Copper Marrans that I hatch 4 months ago. I wish I would have the hen to go with it, especially to enjoy the darker eggs!


@lizzyGSR , you will figure out what your coop needs as time goes by. It is overwhelming to get everything just right when started. With observations, I make constant adjustments with trials and errors. Keep your eyes open for a salvage window. and an old screen door covered with hardware wire will be great to leave open in the summer months to let the breeze through. You have some time to get that since we are just early March and the babies are not even born yet!!

 

[chicken danz]

I had considered adding a light to the coop, partially for that purpose. I tried to find some storm windows that were small enough to put on either end, but I haven't had any luck finding any yet. The vents I want to put in the ends (which are indeed plywood) would be covered with hardware cloth so they could be open most of the time. My coop is already oriented North/South, which is the direction of our prevailing winds as well. It is butted up against a treeline to the North, but that treeline surrounds our property so there is no good way to get away from it. I intend to leave the walk-through doors open as much as possible during the days, so I'm not sure a screen-type door on it would be very helpful. In the winter, I could close the North walk-through door to give the birds shelter from the cold wind while still giving them ventilation and light through the south door. The doors are 32" wide by 55" tall, so they are pretty good sized doors and do allow quite a bit of light and breeze in. I will make the vents ont he ends as big as I can without sacrificing structural integrity of the end pieces.

Lizzy, in your defense, you should mention you plan to add more hoop coop type pen to the ends that will be open aired. That this part is being used for babies for now and will include an outdoor area as well. In that case you would just leave your doors open in hot weather. I take some of the blame for this misunderstanding, because my hoop coops actually have coops in them and I was instrumental in encouraging you to do this. For the time being, I would simply cut out a square of plywood and attach a 1 X2 frame around it, on the inside. You could put hardware cloth over that so it had protection. Then save the piece of plywood you cut out so you could put it back in in winter if you wanted and make a couple of simple wooden latches with one screw in the middle so you could batten them into place when needed. I have done that to a couple coops and it works beautifully. I just store the wood square somewhere to keep it dry for when I need to use it. On the other end the same project could be done by attaching hinges to the cut out part, reinforcing the edges that fit back in the hole and making it so it can be opened or closed. I don't think I'd mess with windows unless you happen to find them free. I do think you are going to need some kind of vent in the upper portion of the coop part though eventually. Maybe by the time the weekend is over I will have found time to send you my illustration of how to do it. Windows are nice but not really small enough to put in this kind of construction. About the only thing I could think of that might work would be a bathroom window that went in an old trailer house because they are long and narrow.
Originally Posted by Prairie Fleur

39 buckeye chicks out in the big pin all happy so far

Nice looking buckeyes. Where did you get them?

 

[oskie]

Got 30 eggs last summer from a friend of my brothers some where by Manhattan only had 5 make it 2 roos and 3 hens sayed every egg they layed for eight weeks hatched every Wednesday for eight weeks now I got 39 chicks all one week apart all in the same pin and there all getting along great

this is my roo

 

[lizzyGSR]

Lizzy, in your defense, you should mention you plan to add more hoop coop type pen to the ends that will be open aired. That this part is being used for babies for now and will include an outdoor area as well. In that case you would just leave your doors open in hot weather. I take some of the blame for this misunderstanding, because my hoop coops actually have coops in them and I was instrumental in encouraging you to do this. For the time being, I would simply cut out a square of plywood and attach a 1 X2 frame around it, on the inside. You could put hardware cloth over that so it had protection. Then save the piece of plywood you cut out so you could put it back in in winter if you wanted and make a couple of simple wooden latches with one screw in the middle so you could batten them into place when needed. I have done that to a couple coops and it works beautifully. I just store the wood square somewhere to keep it dry for when I need to use it. On the other end the same project could be done by attaching hinges to the cut out part, reinforcing the edges that fit back in the hole and making it so it can be opened or closed. I don't think I'd mess with windows unless you happen to find them free. I do think you are going to need some kind of vent in the upper portion of the coop part though eventually. Maybe by the time the weekend is over I will have found time to send you my illustration of how to do it. Windows are nice but not really small enough to put in this kind of construction. About the only thing I could think of that might work would be a bathroom window that went in an old trailer house because they are long and narrow.

Thank you, Danz! I was beginning to think I'd completely misunderstood what you said when we were talking about design plans for this coop. I do, indeed, intend to eventually have a run on both the North and South sides of the coop. The coop itself is 8x12 and the runs will each be 8x8. They will be modular so it would be easy to add more length to the runs in the future if need-be. We started the coop in early February and the birds will be here next week. It was an ambitious timeline, so we are just aiming to get the absolute requirements done before the chicks arrive. We are close to being ready for the chicks and do plan to add more features to the coop as time progress. A run will probably be first on our list, as we want to be able to allow the chicks to roam outdoors when the weather is warm enough. We do plan to add a chicken door to either end, at least one vent to each end, roosts, nest boxes, etc. For the vents, I intend to do as you suggested and cut out a piece of plywood, add a frame and hinges to it and then put it back on with some hardware cloth to protect the birds when the vent is open (just in case). Even with all the modifications that are still on our to-do list, I am quite pleased with the coop. It is SO NICE to be able to walk in it (even if I do have to watch my head), and I am so looking forward to the arrival of the birds!

I look forward to seeing the diagram you've told me about. For now, I think the coop will be sufficient for chicks, and as @coco mama said, we can make modifications to it in the future, as needed. My sweeter heater has been running for a couple of days now in the process of de-stink-ifying. I am excited to have the chicks actually be able to use it! I'm getting excited! The chicks should be here in a week or less!

 

[turboscooby07]

Hello all from leon ks..tiny town east of wichita 50 miles or so. We have started our flock of ten a few weeks ago and are enjoying them, especially our two year old! We have our little guys out in the coop already and are taking to the cool nights quite well with a lamp.