Consolidated Kansas

[rittert3]

I wasn't able to read all of every post but.. Update on the landlords sick hen... I talked to the lady who is the bird person and she didn't wan't to jump to putting her down and swore that they are secure and there was no way coryza could have gotten in. She did call the vet to get some antibiotic and it going to watch the bird. I did do a google image search on coryza and it didn't match up with what this he looked like. She improved by leaps and bounds over the last 24 hours and is putting off very little odor and had only a little swelling on the one side along the line of the nasal passage. I'm also going to work on convencing them to change to kiln dryed pine from cedar and show them the down falls from the cedar and adding more litter more often because the ammonia is over powering in the hen house. I will explain the situation here... I lady is the bird person and has a mixed flock of about 14 mostly americana chickens and 30 pairs of snowy mallards that all free range during the day... but she is diabetic and has had a rough 2 years with 2 knee replacments and now a broken foot and is in a boot so her mobility is very little. Her husband is in charge of the upkeep and chores right now and isn't the best at it so hopefully with me helping now (I'm out for 2 or 3 hours almost every day) I can help correct some of the slacking and managment issues. I'm also done buying any birds other hatching eggs and adult pigeons and they will be isolated to breeding pens. I may give up on the chickens and just stick to pigeons and quail that I can isolate from the other birds.

 

[tweetysvoice]

Well crap! I just typed a bunch and erased it. It wouldn't come back either. What was that? Control ??

Danz - It's Control Z

 

[tweetysvoice]

Update on my coop saga now. I spoke with the very very helpful gentleman that Chooks referred me to and it's going to be a bit out of our price range for him to build us a coop.. crap! He said it would be about $1000 for it and we were thinking $500 or less. He did give us some great ideas on using the greenhouse again though, so we might still go the greenhouse route. He suggested that we add a smaller outdoor covered run (like 4x2) on the end of the coop and leave that open with a pop door on that covered run out to the bigger 20x20 pen, so 1) the chickens have a place to run and hide if they feel threatened, 2) to provide more ventilation in the coop, and 3) a place for them to go outside on the days we can't get out there immediately at sun-up. He also suggested that we not replace the top glass with wood, but instead use tarps on the inside to provide a lower ceiling for half of it so the birds don't feel so out in the open. We'll have to see. I guess once we get this greenhouse built it will come together better than I'm thinking.

Ritter - Good for taking steps to avoid any spreading of sickness to your chicks. Education is huge!

 

[patricia]

Hawkeye, I found some photos of my coop my husband made. He is not a carpenter but I am very happy with it. The two doors on the side open and like I said, there is a tray I keep shavings. I also have a photo of the run. It has a fiberglass panel on the top and this past summer he had to add misters for the heat. It is nothing fancy but very easy to keep clean. I am going to have to finish painting the picket fence. He added that this past summer so they could go beyond the run and scrounge in the grass. The only changes I would make would be to raise the run so when it gets cleaned, you don't have to bend over. I put one foot cement squares in after the fact so it scrapes clean with water and a hoe and then the waste goes into the compost. Before, it was too hard to clean. I live in town so clean is really a must. If you want I can take some photos of the inside.

 

[rittert3]

Tweety, are you wanting your flock to grow or just wanting to buil a coop to suit your 4 current hens? What I would suggest, and what I use, is to download the free version of google sketch-up and play around with it a bit. Then go to home depot, lowes, or even your local lumber yard and start pricing lumber and hardware and see what you can afford to put together.

 

[Trish44]

patricia, I love your coop, it's really cute!

tweety, I really can't picture what that guy is talking about with the greenhouse. You'll have to give us updates as you build it.

IVY, thanks for the suggestion, I'll have to figure out now what I can use to block off the bottom of the gate. Darn pups, I'll be glad when they get bigger & they can't squeeze through things like that. Geez, if you had told me they could get through that small of a space I wouldn't have believed it, but I saw it with my own eyes. These two are really causing me problems, I sure hope it gets better as they get older. They're destructive & they aren't listening at all.

 

[Jeff21]

Greetings from Southeast Kansas!

 

[tweetysvoice]

tweety, I really can't picture what that guy is talking about with the greenhouse. You'll have to give us updates as you build it.

Don't laugh - I'm not good in MS Paint, but basically this is a picture of the greenhouse we are building and I drew out a small exterior run that is covered and can be closed up yet always open to the greenhouse. Maybe this will help give you an idea. This small run and the greenhouse will all be inside the 20X20 fenced in area so I'd just open the pop door I've created on the small run in the mornings. Whatcha think?

 

[tweetysvoice]

Greetings from Southeast Kansas!

Greetings Jeff!!! Love seeing a new face around here!! Do you currently own chickens or are you just starting out? Feel free to jump into the conversations, we tend to babble about a lot of things in here and love other's opinions!

 

[Jeff21]

I just got back into raising chickens! I had 6 old hens and a rooster. And this past weekend I bought 25 new hens! So I'm excited. I've always loved poultry. It's a great hobby!
I decided to get bigger laying hens, as apposed to my favorite banties. But the eggs will be well worth it.

I will eventually post some photo's of the new "girls" with hopes of correctly identifying the breeds.

Thanks again for the warm welcome.