Dixie Chicks

[Alaskan]

@Alaskan
I was going to triple the size of my coop to keep three breeds separate.
Now I'm thinking of just doubling it and keeping a mixed flock, and building a couple large tractors for breeding pens.

Yep, I have 2 tractors for breeding... and right now I am using the vegetable garden for "I don't want you in my breeding program" birds.

I wish I had 8 tractors.... you could use them for breeding pairs and quads etc. and also some to grow out chicks etc. etc. very practical.

Then a giant pen for winter and the time of frozen water.. but I really like 3 pens in the winter 1)ducks 2)bantams 3)standard size

Psycho broodiness is now officially contagious here, lol...

3rd one to go in the last week...

I want the stupid blasted (insert curse words) leghorn chicks that I paid super big money for out of my house... and I don't have a broody to stick them under.

I bought 3 Cochins 2 years back for the SOLE purpose of being broodies. One went broody last year, exactly when I wanted her to..... but no luck this year.

I took one that looked "interested" and stuck her in a tractor with a cozy nest and eggs....

But WOW am I impatient, I am going to give her 2 hours to settle and then try her with some chicks.. (don't laugh, I know that is stupid and firmly in the land of fantasy... but it MIGHT work)

Sam, I'd go with a dirt floor and a just pour a concrete floor if you get out of chickens. Concrete will suck all the ammonia into it. I would also put up partitions already, you do't have to take them into use, you can just keep doors open, but it's a heck of a lot easier to just build them from the get go than to add them later. Plus, having walls that block site lines a bit will keep things calmer in the coop even though the birds would be allowed to move freely between the sections.

I worry about walls creating corners where chickens can get cornered and get the tar beat out of them.

 

[hennible]

Sam, if you can build a earth floor that stays dry (good drainage, and elevation), I'd say that's the easier route to take. Pouring the floor for a big coop is costly, and labor intensive, plus it takes a couple of weeks for it to dry. You'd need about 8" of concrete probably, so for a 200 square foot coop that's about 7-8 (metric) tons of concrete. Not very cheap, the best way to have it delivered would be with one of those cement trucks.

I know what it costs to pour a slab, really I don't think its so bad, you get a sound building on a foundation. But the location for the coop is gravel fill that's had 25 year to settle and it has excellent drainage... And I could add a nice thick layer of pea gravel for few hundred bucks.... I will way my options after some research and decision with the contractor.

 

[minihorse927]

I want to go to the Kentucky derby.

 

[Alaskan]

gonna wear a silly hat?

 

[minihorse927]

I would if someone would go with me. Josh isn't interested in racing and that's where my horse roots started was in harness racing and thoroughbred racing.

 

[vehve]

Al, one option is to put doors in both ends of the wall and keep them open.

 

[Alaskan]

yep, that would work

 

[minihorse927]

I've got EE, bresse, chocolate and cuckoo chocolate orps, and ohiki, and porcelain d'uccle that hatched while I was at work! Yay!

If only my flowers would do that. Hmph

 

[bamadude]

I would if someone would go with me. Josh isn't interested in racing and that's where my horse roots started was in harness racing and thoroughbred racing.

Come pick me up. I dont care for horses but I like julep and funny hats

 

[minihorse927]

Think my broody might manage to hatch the flowers?