Coop location. Venting.

[Joe.G]

Any Updates

 

[Nicole01]

Any Updates

I'm curious too! I love what you have done so far.

 

[Doctor Gonzo]

Well we lost two birds that needed to be culled, they were in bad shape. Had kept them segregated from the rest. One had an accident in the coop wound up with a broken neck, deemed a suicide. So we have nine left and our rooster seems to be a really good one. He watches the sky and gets grumpy whenever anything bigger than a butterfly is overhead. And the hens respond by running back into the coop.

We strung up 120 feet of pennant banners over the little fenced in run. No problems with hawks, but I haze the hell out of them when they come around, and the roo is on the ball.

I slapped one coat of white paint on the exterior, soon aluminum siding. I will post some new pictures when I get that stuff done.

Issue with the bump shack, whoever built it didn't bother to flash over the roof/wall joint, so it leaks. This water in turn leaks into the coop. I will fix this when I get aluminum for the coop. It's an easy fix, and for now I just threw some buckets under the lentil for the interior overhead door, and no major problems.

When it rains (as expected) a little water gets into the coop, about 3 sq feet, but the place dries rapidly. Which I assume is due to the good ventilation.

Hens are not laying yet, but they all have rosy red faces, which I gather means really soon for eggs.

Thanks guys!

 

[Joe.G]

Post some updated shots of inside and outside of coop and the birds. What kind did you go with.

 

[Doctor Gonzo]

Joe,

WE have 9 Wellsummer hens, and one mutt rooster. The rest are inside (for now), and are English Game Hens, one EE, and 2 Black Star roos. We like the little ones, and maybe we can get some nice looking chicks out of the deal and supplement the "useless eaters" by selling them.

The coop is much the same, only painted now. The "run" is very crude, and protected mainly by pennant stringers. Seems to work. The hawks are very angry about it, and my 12ga hazing. In fact we haven't seen any hawks in almost 3 weeks over the meadow. They stick to the woods on the hill now.

The chickens have adjusted well to the pennants. At first they eyeballed them constantly, which is good! They are definitely not stupid, and the rooster turns out to be a very adept protector, and watchdog. When anything larger than a butterfly is visible in the sky he scoots all the hens inside.

Our garden did rather well, regardless of the drought, and the chickens have been reaping the bennies the whole time. They really will eat anything.




Thanks!

 

[Doctor Gonzo]

 

[Joe.G]

Looks good, I think I am having a hawk issue my self now, Lost two hens in the last two weeks and I am seeing feather on the ground, I have the 12 GA at the ready myself.

 

[Joe.G]

How are things working out with your coop.

 

[Toast n Jelly]

I've just come across this thread ....job well done! I would love to see follow-ups as well.