Consolidated Kansas

[Trish44]

Danz, I have been wanting to find some shipping crates to use for coops, but the only ones I have found so far are just huge ones they have at Spirit Aerosystems & they are too big for me to get home. I think they would work good for making breeder coops if you hooked some together. The guineas won't care if it's ugly, they will be glad to have a shelter.

I gave my chickens a treat today of oatmeal, smashed bananas, & yogurt. They have been on antibiotics for 5 days so I figured the yogurt would do them good. They loved their treat! I give them oatmeal & yogurt often & they fight over it. Today I just had two bananas that had seen their better days & added them to the mix. The whole thing didn't last but a couple of minutes & it was gone.

My little EE hen with the bumblefoot I think is getting better. I took the wrap off yesterday & soaked her foot again & then put a new dressing on with bacitracin. I also had gentimycin spray that I have for my little dog's hot spot & sprayed it with that too. It's looking a lot drier, less swollen, & not hot now. She seems to be getting around a lot better too, so hopefully it will resolve & I hope it doesn't come back. She may have had that even when I got her & it just got worse.

Only 10 more days before I go pick up my GP puppy! I'm so excited to get her, I can't wait!

 

[Tarja]

Danz, prayers for you, your family and your doctors that your surgery goes well and you are up and going quickly.

 

[chicken danz]

Thanks Tarja. It is the 22nd so I've got nearly a week before the actual surgery.
Trish, the crates I have gotten are like 8 X 8 or 8 X 7 feet. We dismantle them before we bring them home so we can just transport the panels on a trailer. I have a LF chicken house, my Serama house, the duck house I've been building (that is waiting for the roof now), and the guinea shelter all made of those shipping crates. Worst problem is there are tons of nails. I just use a grinder and cut them off rather than trying to pull them. It has saved me a ton of money. Ideally putting water seal on them will make them last a while. For most of them I've purchased boards to make a floor frame and some to make a tilted roof. This one I just used the existing boards and I didn't put a floor in it because it is just a temporary shelter until next spring anyway. I don't like cobbling anything up but this was kind of an emergency building. I still have a couple others I would like to make but just don't have the time to do it.
It would be so awesome to win some contest or lottery or something and be able to build a really nice habitat for all my birds. I guess I should worry first about improving or building a nicer home but I still think the birds would be my first priority. Of course I never buy lottery tickets so the chances of that are null.

 

[Trish44]

Danz, that is about the same size of the crates I saw at Spirit, but only they sell them with only 3 sides, so you would have to build a roof & front for them. I don't know if they have to take them apart to get the big parts out or what they do with the other two sides. They looked really heavy duty though & I thought they would work good for building something with, but there is no opportunity to take them apart before transporting them since they load them onto your trailer with a fork lift & it's out in their parking lot. The crates I saw sitting outside this place at the industrial park were smaller sizes & looked like they had all the sides on them. I will have to go back when I get the time & ask them about them. I also saw some pallets sitting outside a heating & cooling place & want to go ask about those too. If I can find some building materials like that it will at least give me something to start with in the spring. I got this free pickup topper the other day & I know some people use those to make the roof on their coop. The only bad part of that is that the windows don't open up, just the door on the end. For now I'm just using it for a kind of shelter for my outdoor cats & if the chickens need to run in somewhere they can run under that because I have the door propped open with a rock. That would at least protect them from a large bird like a hawk or owl overhead. I think your pens are awesome that I have seen the pics of, especially the mandarin pen, that's just beautiful! I wish my hubby was more handy with building, but he just isn't.

 

[chicken danz]

The crates I have gotten have all 4 sides, a top and some type of bottom. the bottom on the last 3 haven't been anything I could use. I am guessing the ones you are talking about, they are probably opening them that way to remove the equipment. The one we got in Wichita we actually pulled it into a parking lot and dismantled it. We only carried it far enough to find a place to park cause we had it on a tiny little trailer.
I don't pay for my shipping crates. I did pay for the first one from an individual who had picked it up and was doing it for a profit. The others have been free. I would think any manufacturer of large machinery would have crates. I know we used to get a lot of smaller wooden crates at the Nuke plant with equipment in them. But they were stored in the warehouse for future use most of the time so they'd put the crate back on to keep it clean. Just keep your eyes open you might spot some. Think outside the box. They might be dismantled and just look like a pile of wood. Saves work that way any way.
I'm going to my monthly retirement breakfast first thing this morning. I really really just wanted to sleep in.
I wouldn't go but I told a couple of people I would be there.

 

[CanChaser]

Does anyone have any hens for sale? I dont care about the breed. I just want them for pets.

 

[Ivywoods]

Quote:
Wish I could help you out. I've sold down to just my breeders at this point other than one black jersey giant hen. I would sell her if you were interested in just one.

 

[CanChaser]

Im wanting just like around 6 or so.

 

[chicken danz]

I have a few that are mixed I might sell. I also have some younger ones that should start soon. It's quite a drive for you to me. I'd offer to meet you in Topeka or somewhere but I'm going to be out of commission here for awhile. If you want to drive down send me a PM and I'll give you prices.

 

[chicken danz]

It's been snowing here. So much for working outside. The temperature is dropping and the wind is coming up