Consolidated Kansas

[ChooksChick]

Lexan!!

It's the plastic commercial kitchens and sign companies use and it's practically unbreakable. My home pop door is made out of it, and many of my coops have a wall made out of a piece (or part of a wall) of white Lexan for natural light. Good stuff. No raccoon will be getting through that if your rails are done right.

Hope everyone gets some stuff done in this glorious weekend ahead- weather is supposed to be magnificent. I'm thinking about scouting out some hay bales now for windbreaks, since it will be scarce as can be this winter. Everyone I know with extra is shipping it to Texas and selling it for 4 times their normal take. I pray we have a long fall and get one more good hay crop in, with a particularly mild winter.

I'm down to only 3 hens sitting now. It's weird to think I could possibly need to get my brooders going again at some point...I have the rcom going and have all summer, but I just pull the eggs from the girls every day and give them the ones I want hatched 4 days before they're due.

I'm roofing all of my coops with white vinyl from a sign company's cast-offs. Their banner and billboard material is indestructible.This should also allow ice and snow to slide right off the grade while being really reflective for the sun. I'm tickled about this new option!

Remember to get all the pumpkin seeds you can during pumpkin season- the seeds are a natural wormer, and they just eat them right up.



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[chicken danz]

That would be Lexan. It is a better quality product than pexiglass. You can use a jig saw with a medium toothed blade. (A band saw is recommended because it can move slower but most people don't own one.) Tape both sides of the lexan to keep it from chipping. Keep the blade moving as slow as you can to keep it from burning through. You will end up melting your way through if you go fast. You can always use a fine grit sandpaper to smooth down rough edges. If it weren't greatly larger than your hole I might just leave it large and call it good. It is a pain to cut.

 

[msjfrizzle]

Oh, I'm a terrible chicken mom. After all the work I've put into predator-proofing my coop, I forgot to close the door last night. I was doing all the other chores while talking to someone and showing them everything, and just got distracted, I guess. My favorite hen (ameraucana) and my two babies are missing this morning. There are hen feathers in the yard nearby, and there is simply no sign of the little ones- they were 3 weeks old and already integrated with the big girls. I'm just sick.

 

[ChooksChick]

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I'm sooooooooo sorry.

I did that once and only saved my girl because I am so paranoid I have a baby monitor in the big backyard coop. I heard the ruckus and went running blindly into the night screaming, "Nooooooooooo!!!!" and scared the raccoon into dropping the hen.

I'm really sorry about your hen and babies.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Renee- the new roofing material sounds like a score! Very cool! I want to see pictures of it! Where did you get it from? I've had very bad luck finding free recycled stuff. Where the heck does everyone get all the free wood pallets on this board?! Everyone I asked said that they return them to get a small fee back, so they don't give them away, and in fact guard them! Thanks for letting me know what kind of plastic I have- and what a great idea to use it as a large window/wall!

Danz, I think I won't cut it now! ha! I think the size is so close to what I need it to be anyway, I'll just build the rail around it and I think it'll be fine. I don't want to melt it. It seemed really expensive for what it was. I paid $7.89 for that little 16X17 inch piece! But it was so thick, I really liked it and I was there... I hate running all over for stuff.

MsjFrizzle, oh no!!! I'm sooo sorry about your hen and chicks! You're not a terrible mom, I think it could happen to the best of us- and often does! I mean, I lost my turkey a couple of days ago. I lucked out she came back, though. Gosh, I'm just so terribly sad for you and just know that we're all human and not infallible in all our actions. I really am so very sorry.

 

[sharol]

I'm so sorry for your loss. I got lucky the two nights I didn't close the pop-door, and nothing attacked my girls. I about had a heart attack when I saw them in the run in the morning before I went out to "open" the pop-door. Maybe they will turn up. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

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[tazcat70]

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Oh no! I am so sorry.

 

[tazcat70]

Well the Yoder auction wasn't taking place tonight and so I brought my birds home, and tonight one of the roos I too decides to flog my 3 yr old son. I immediately put him up on craigslist. He just protects his flock too well.

 

[Katy]

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David called me back and it was last night......too bad I didn't think about it being Yoder Days before I got there! I can't believe I didn't think about it.

 

[tazcat70]

Oh well...the worst part was not getting to visit with you.

James thought it was hilarious.

I guess he feels that it was karma for him not wanting me to go.