Diary of my North Texas Chicken Adventure....Guidance and input welcome!

[ellie32526]

nice!

 

[ellie32526]

Along the back wall I can put roost across half and put food and water at the other end. I was going to put wall board over the studs but my mom said that would create rodent nesting spots. Anyone have any thoughts?

I left my studs exposed, but I wish I had painted the inside. I think the bare wood creates places where lice and mites would be attracted to. I haven't had a problem yet, but bare wood is much more difficult to clean and chickens create a tremendous amount of dust.

 

[dpenning]

I left my studs exposed, but I wish I had painted the inside. I think the bare wood creates places where lice and mites would be attracted to. I haven't had a problem yet, but bare wood is much more difficult to clean and chickens create a tremendous amount of dust.

Good point. The walls are painted with a metallic paint that is supposed to help keep temps more constant, not sure how effective that is but I will paint the studs, excellent point. I put the black jack on the floor yesterday. I need to do another coat as I think at first I was putting it on too thin. Very thick goopy stuff to work with. I may also put the wall board (shiny white stuff that is very scrubable, used in bathrooms) just behind the roost and on the poop board.

 

[ellie32526]

Good point. The walls are painted with a metallic paint that is supposed to help keep temps more constant, not sure how effective that is but I will paint the studs, excellent point. I put the black jack on the floor yesterday. I need to do another coat as I think at first I was putting it on too thin. Very thick goopy stuff to work with. I may also put the wall board (shiny white stuff that is very scrubable, used in bathrooms) just behind the roost and on the poop board.

Wow, never thought about wallboard. That should be great to work with. What are you using for dropping boards? or do you have any?

 

[dpenning]

Wow, never thought about wallboard. That should be great to work with. What are you using for dropping boards? or do you have any?

I'm cutting up some furniture crates I found in my attic. They are very thin plywood framed with 1x4 so I'll put the wall board on top of the plywood as well. I put sheets of the wall board behind my parrots cage for easy cleaning, on the walls of my laundry room to keep my mastiff from eating the drywall and for easy cleaning.... and now in my chicken coop. Very useful stuff.

 

[dpenning]

[/IMG]the pressure is on to finish the coop.

 

[ellie32526]

[/URL]the pressure is on to finish the coop.

[/URL]the pressure is on to finish the coop.

[/URL]the pressure is on to finish the coop.

Great looking bunch. Congrats.

 

[dpenning]

It is a little group, two RIReds, two black australorps and two brown leghorns. The RIR are the tiniest but most feisty so far!

 

[dpenning]

The girls are 5 weeks old and moved from the trough on the neighbors screened in porch to their big girl coop, today I opened their pop door. It took them about an hour to come out the first day, today they have been outside all day. Two of my dogs have gotten zapped by the electric fence. Today we saw a coyote walking between the trailer and the pond. We have not seen one in that area in the two years we have owned the place. Think he smelled chicken? He took off before we could get the shotgun ready.

 

[dpenning]

The girls are enjoying their new space. They are outside most of the day and in the coop at night. The outdoor run is not fully enclosed, it is an electric fence around a Bradford pear tree that they hang out under. One side of the fence is not electric and I have seen cats in the area so was somewhat concerned. This past week was their first week being "home alone" during the week. When I came back on Friday, all six chickens were happy and scratching around the tree. I didn't check the game camera until today and I'm glad I didn't or I wouldn't have slept all weekend. The first pic is at night with the pop door closed. There was a mouse on the steps before and after the cat was there so I'm hoping that is what he is hunting. The next day the cat actually went into the coop. So either he is not a chicken hunter, the girls were outside and he was looking for mice or he is just desensitized to chickens as the neighbors also have chickens. It will be interesting to see how things go on. All 4 of my dogs have touched their noses to the electric fence and will now not go near it.