Diary & Notes ~ Air Cell Detatched SHIPPED Chicken Eggs for incubation and hatching

[NestingHillsSC]

What breeds are you looking for??

 

[mstricer]

I should be back in the hatching business nest week. LOL I put 4 hens and a cockerel Leghorn in an area for breeding. I was told to wait 1 week before gathering eggs when you first put them together. So Tuesday I will start collecting eggs again. LOL.

Went to a Bantam Show yesterday. Have one of the judges coming over this morning to look at my LF Heritage Reds and Delawares to help pick the breeding girls for this year. YAY!!

Trying to figure out the cheapest way to build 3 or 4 breeding houses. Have 8x8 areas fenced off but need houses for 4-5 birds.

I'll figure it out sooner or later. Still have a few months.

You should be able to get away with perches and tarps covering your pens. I have hoop houses for the summer for my large fowl breeders, but in Ohio it won't work for winter.

 

[loveourbirds]

Quote: i made some wooden frames, wrapped them in poultry netting, and covered them with a tarp. they are 8'x8' 2' high on the sides 3' in the center. in the summer time, i leave all the sides open. in winter i cover the 3 sides wind might come in with OSB. last year i had standard white rocks and didnt have a single comb freeze.

i did have to go out during heavy snows and knock the snow off a few times, and that is a pain at 3 a.m. but no complaints other than that.

 

[DwayneNLiz]

What breeds are you looking for??

mutts, cheap and or freeish lol theyre for my FIL

 

[DwayneNLiz]

He wants to get rid of chickens for the winter, his were almost all eaten by a predator (1 roo1 hen left). I wont let him do it though

 

[NestingHillsSC]

i made some wooden frames, wrapped them in poultry netting, and covered them with a tarp. they are 8'x8' 2' high on the sides 3' in the center. in the summer time, i leave all the sides open. in winter i cover the 3 sides wind might come in with OSB. last year i had standard white rocks and didnt have a single comb freeze.

i did have to go out during heavy snows and knock the snow off a few times, and that is a pain at 3 a.m. but no complaints other than that.

Do you have to crawl in to get the eggs they lay only being 2' high.

 

[loveourbirds]

i typically only use them for grow out pens, but i did raise some lemon cuckoo orps in them this year. when i needed to get eggs i used a bent piece of wire to get them. it is 2 1/2 feet long, made from 1x2 16 ga. wire. i bent the whole length into a slight V shape and bent the end over 90 degrees. i use the same thing all over the farm, to retrieve eggs from the breeding pens - and even to get feeders and waterers that get knocked to the back of the pen.

 

[rbaker0345]

i made some wooden frames, wrapped them in poultry netting, and covered them with a tarp. they are 8'x8' 2' high on the sides 3' in the center. in the summer time, i leave all the sides open. in winter i cover the 3 sides wind might come in with OSB. last year i had standard white rocks and didnt have a single comb freeze.

i did have to go out during heavy snows and knock the snow off a few times, and that is a pain at 3 a.m. but no complaints other than that.

I do the same thing, but I use PVC and zip ties which seem stronger than wood and staples. I leave a "hatch" on the top so I can reach in and get them.

 

[mstricer]

Quote: That is why I make hoop houses, with doors so I can walk in, the first one I made didn't have a door and I had to crawl in

 

[loveourbirds]

the hoop houses work great in summer, but i see most people dont like them in winters (northern people). i found if i keep the roof low the chickens can make plenty of heat to keep themselves warm. it is a problem when you have to catch them - thats what i have kids for.

i have wondered if anyone has covered a hoop house with clear plastic or mylar over the winter, and how it works.