adkhunter1590
Chirping
So I posted some pics of the process of getting my coop and a few other pics in another thread but I figured I'd start a separate one.
Our journey began with the idea that our family should get some chickens to collect eggs for us and family members and for the kids to enjoy them and learn to raise them. Started with buying 6 Rhode Island Red straight run chicks at Tractor Supply. About a week later my wife decided she wanted 6 more so we ended up picking up 6 pullets of Red Sex links from tractor supply also.
After going near insane trying to figure out if I should build a coop or just buy one I ended up buying one. I didn't have the time to spend building anything that elaborate at the moment.
Being delivered:
So after the coop was delivered and we got it moved into place I began to map out where I would build the run. We will let them free range a bit once a little older and when we are around to watch them. Which will be fairly often but I wanted a good size run for them also. Now I've seen people say don't use trees as posts for your run but I also see plenty of others doing it. And I live on the edge of a huge cliff so it's very rocky here. I don't have much for topsoil. Very hard pack. Therefore I can't dig posts into the ground and I wanted to avoid much concrete work. I did have to make two posts with concrete blocks and ready mix. The ground is also not even close to level lol. Since I spent a good chunk of money on the coop I was also trying to make the run on a limited amount of money. It wasn't built to be 100% predator proof either. The coop is solid and will keep them safe at night when it really matters. We don't have really any daytime predators here.
In the end the dimensions are roughly 32x27ft. It's not completely square and has irregular widths. It's kinda like a slight oval shape, wider in the middle than either end. Should be plenty of room. Here's some pics of the build
Once I had most of the run finished we decided to move the chicks outside to the coop as they were getting a little cramped and rowdy in the Rubbermaid containers we were using for brooders. Before moving them outside we mixed the breeds together for 2 days to get them used to each other. 3 of each in a brooder. There were no issues at all. Everyone has got along great since day 1.
Moving day!
I put the heat lamp in there to use at night when we had temps drop into the low 40s at night. Unplugged in the morning. Now the temps have come up since we moved them out there last week so we aren't even turning it on at night. I had noticed they were still a bit small to get up on the roost bar so I made a mini roost bar/ladder for them
Now they can get up to the top bar and I find them up there all the time now. They love it.
Now that they were in the coop I had to finish up the last section of the run where the human door would be. Built a decent sized door and used a screen door hardware kit from lowes that has a spring to keep it closed.
It's been almost a week now since we moved them to the coop. They have learned that's their new home and have adjusted well. We are now getting them into the routine of going out when we open the pop door in the morning and getting them to come inside at night. They were unsure about doing either at first but we have encouraged them and shown them what to do the last two days and this morning they piled out the pop door when I opened it and last night my wife said all but 2 went inside at dark. Hopefully tonight they will all go in on their own!
I have also built a no waste bucket feeder that I've seen here on the forum. It didn't take them long at all to figure it out. About a day is all
I'm going to raise it higher up off the ground as they grow. Will probably raise it up a bit tonight actually. They still have a feeder inside the coop but that will be taken out soon. This will be their only feeder eventually. Not a single wasted morsel of food I've seen yet!
Water supply is in the form of a newly added 5 gal bucket with three vertical nipples hanging outside. Added some bricks underneath to help the little ones reach. Will be taking them out as they grow. I have a Gatorade bottle with a nipple in the cap inside the coop that I will take out soon. I'm going to make a pvc system with horizontal nipples but I'm going to wait until they are bigger so I can have the height set perfectly and only drill one hole through the side of my coop. The pvc will be fed by either a 5 gal bucket or I have a 35 gal barrel I can use as well. Haven't made up my mind on that whole thing yet.
Here's a few shots of the whole setup.
This our first time raising chickens so I hope we've done alright with the run and coop. I appreciate all advice or criticism. Can't wait for the first eggs!
Ps...future projects include a roof over part of the run so they can be out in the winter
Our journey began with the idea that our family should get some chickens to collect eggs for us and family members and for the kids to enjoy them and learn to raise them. Started with buying 6 Rhode Island Red straight run chicks at Tractor Supply. About a week later my wife decided she wanted 6 more so we ended up picking up 6 pullets of Red Sex links from tractor supply also.
After going near insane trying to figure out if I should build a coop or just buy one I ended up buying one. I didn't have the time to spend building anything that elaborate at the moment.
Being delivered:
So after the coop was delivered and we got it moved into place I began to map out where I would build the run. We will let them free range a bit once a little older and when we are around to watch them. Which will be fairly often but I wanted a good size run for them also. Now I've seen people say don't use trees as posts for your run but I also see plenty of others doing it. And I live on the edge of a huge cliff so it's very rocky here. I don't have much for topsoil. Very hard pack. Therefore I can't dig posts into the ground and I wanted to avoid much concrete work. I did have to make two posts with concrete blocks and ready mix. The ground is also not even close to level lol. Since I spent a good chunk of money on the coop I was also trying to make the run on a limited amount of money. It wasn't built to be 100% predator proof either. The coop is solid and will keep them safe at night when it really matters. We don't have really any daytime predators here.
In the end the dimensions are roughly 32x27ft. It's not completely square and has irregular widths. It's kinda like a slight oval shape, wider in the middle than either end. Should be plenty of room. Here's some pics of the build
Once I had most of the run finished we decided to move the chicks outside to the coop as they were getting a little cramped and rowdy in the Rubbermaid containers we were using for brooders. Before moving them outside we mixed the breeds together for 2 days to get them used to each other. 3 of each in a brooder. There were no issues at all. Everyone has got along great since day 1.
Moving day!
I put the heat lamp in there to use at night when we had temps drop into the low 40s at night. Unplugged in the morning. Now the temps have come up since we moved them out there last week so we aren't even turning it on at night. I had noticed they were still a bit small to get up on the roost bar so I made a mini roost bar/ladder for them
Now they can get up to the top bar and I find them up there all the time now. They love it.
Now that they were in the coop I had to finish up the last section of the run where the human door would be. Built a decent sized door and used a screen door hardware kit from lowes that has a spring to keep it closed.
It's been almost a week now since we moved them to the coop. They have learned that's their new home and have adjusted well. We are now getting them into the routine of going out when we open the pop door in the morning and getting them to come inside at night. They were unsure about doing either at first but we have encouraged them and shown them what to do the last two days and this morning they piled out the pop door when I opened it and last night my wife said all but 2 went inside at dark. Hopefully tonight they will all go in on their own!
I have also built a no waste bucket feeder that I've seen here on the forum. It didn't take them long at all to figure it out. About a day is all
I'm going to raise it higher up off the ground as they grow. Will probably raise it up a bit tonight actually. They still have a feeder inside the coop but that will be taken out soon. This will be their only feeder eventually. Not a single wasted morsel of food I've seen yet!
Water supply is in the form of a newly added 5 gal bucket with three vertical nipples hanging outside. Added some bricks underneath to help the little ones reach. Will be taking them out as they grow. I have a Gatorade bottle with a nipple in the cap inside the coop that I will take out soon. I'm going to make a pvc system with horizontal nipples but I'm going to wait until they are bigger so I can have the height set perfectly and only drill one hole through the side of my coop. The pvc will be fed by either a 5 gal bucket or I have a 35 gal barrel I can use as well. Haven't made up my mind on that whole thing yet.
Here's a few shots of the whole setup.
This our first time raising chickens so I hope we've done alright with the run and coop. I appreciate all advice or criticism. Can't wait for the first eggs!
Ps...future projects include a roof over part of the run so they can be out in the winter
