Farming and Homesteading Heritage Poultry

[gjensen]

I sent a request to a breeder for buckeye chicks, and heard from him a few days ago with a tentative ship date!!! Early March. I'm very excited and hope to use everything I have been learning these last 3 years to give these 25 chicks a good start.

ALso need to finish building the new coop-- I have also learned that in New ENgland, larger buildings are better for the poultry than the small pallet coops; and they benefit from a covered run area. Which translates into fewer birds thru the winter months. ( I'm learning.

) I do hope the buckeyes like the snow better than any of the other chicken breeds I've tried-- but I'm not holding my breath.

I have thought, based on your comments and questions, that the Buckeye would be a good breed for you. I hope that you enjoy them.

Poultry house building is all about the climate. When I first got started, I was seduced by all of the nice house plans. Problem was that they were better for the north vs. the south. I had a lot to learn, and still getting new ideas all of the time. There is no perfect method.

 

[Arielle]

I have a mixed group (single combs a nd turkeys) in a double horse stall barn, and they like to roost up in the rafters, and the ends of the barn is open. Many have comb damage-- clearly told me the damage was not due to moisture issues. Right now, my thought is that coop designs vary and some can hold the heat more than others and management of the floor material also plans a part in ammonia in the air. ( AMmonia can be captured into the litter instead.)

My other group is the AMeraucana-- no comb problem so far. I look at my BO and SS and see not only comb damage but wattles showing damage. Still much to learn before I can manage a single combed variety.

We have lost so much information over the years-- what used to be common knowledge is no longer common.

 

[call ducks]

I am adding a new green house this year - but it's for the birds. I belive the frame is 24*24 so it's a nice size - clear plastic tarps in the winter and shade cloth on during the summer.

I maybe looking at adding a few smaller ones in the next few years. Once I get it built I have to decide on how to section it off into pens. I really well only be keeping three breeds (max) and well have some smaller breeding pens for projects.

 

[NanaKat]

our 40 x 60 metal barn faces south. Tin roof and siding. Ridge runs east to west with slopes to the north and to the south.
The hen house is 11 x 12 in the SW corner. We put an old plate glass window with small side windows that raise and lower on each side of the plate glass on the south side. the north side has a screen door into the barn.
West side is solid. East side is screen with a door into the 11 x 12 brooder room.
The floor in the hen house is a dirt floor with deep litter (wood shavings, pine needles, straw, chicken manure and ag lime) that composts during the winter months and is transported to the garden in the spring.
The brooder room is a concrete floor, but I keep about 4 inches of litter in there. I rake it around with a pitch fork and replace it when I think it needs it. Ag lime helps with the ammonia
Brooder room has solid wall on the north, East is solid with a storm door entrance. South wall is opaque corrugated plexi-glass with a swamp cooler in the window.
Cross ventilation thru storm door and screen doors as well as windows, eave line on the south, garage doors in the barn on the west and a door to the stalls on the east...all adjusted depending on outside temperatures.
Red heat lamps are hung low to keep waterers from freezing in each room.
So far no frostbite ...for more than 17 years.

not the best pictures, but gives the ideas
Hen house...facing south toward plate glass window. 4 x 6 floor pen on the right


screen door into brooder room



All outside coops face open sides to the south with hay and leaves on the ground. Roofs slope high on the south. Three sides are solid. During winter I hang 1/8 inch thick sheets of black plastic on the south side leaving 12 inch wide openings at each end. These can be removed on nice days and rehung at night. All outdoor coops are screened at night with 2x4 wire panels across the fronts for predation protection. No frostibite except on one cockerel whose wattles show slight damage on the edges.

 

[Beekissed]

I'm adding to the coop this spring too, creating more natural lighting, more space and space for a winter grow frame in one corner...this winter has been pretty slim pickin's on forage with the snow on the ground for extended periods. I'm also going to make space for a worm bin in one corner as well, which I can feed with the deep litter and table scraps and then harvest throughout the winter months for supplemental feed.

 

[Fentress]

I have a 10 by 16 floorless, open front coop on skids, that I position with the front facing south. I have had some very minor damage on SC cockerels, in fact I am not sure if they will loose any of their combs at all. My temps are not as cold as others however, we had 2-3 nights in single digits and a good number in the teens. I am very please, compared to last year when I had more comb damage when it was barely freezing in a coop that was too small for the number of chickens I had.

 

[Arielle]

THe footprint of your coop is much like the woods style. I won't be able to test my woods coop until next winter so I hope we are onto a good design.

THe location is ontop of a sandpile ; it makes me wonder if that drying effect will be a plus or not when using a deep litter bedding.

I have a second coop that can be converted with only a little effort into another woods coop, 8 x 16.

 

[Lacy Blues]

I'll be adding a real roof to my barn this spring, decreasing the numbers in my flock and then dividing the whole flock into four groups. With dividers to make 4 pens inside my barn, my birds should be happier with more space and I plan to increase the size of their runs too!

 

[Fentress]

THe footprint of your coop is much like the woods style. I won't be able to test my woods coop until next winter so I hope we are onto a good design.

THe location is ontop of a sandpile ; it makes me wonder if that drying effect will be a plus or not when using a deep litter bedding.

I have a second coop that can be converted with only a little effort into another woods coop, 8 x 16.

Mine was Woods inpsired, for sure. I have a side wall with a big opening that I close off for winter, but the front stays open. I have lots of ventilation in other places as well; the roof eaves are not closed in and under neath the roof pitch I have rather big openings. I think it may be considered a cold style. A warm style would be more enlcosed except for the open front ( I think that is correct).

I think the drying effect would be good, chikcens produce a lot of moisture from droppings and their breath. If the litter is too dry then I guess it would not be as active biologically, but if sufficient carbon is present then I think it would be OK. Too damp would be worse. I never put down litter, I just move.

 

[Arielle]

I have NO flat land, everything is sloping and often rocky. From huge boulders to football size rocks. I have walked the woods in the spring before leaf out to find high areas to put the coops. Only 4-5 spots on 15 acres!! In spring a lot of water can run off the hill, feels like the Okephenokee swamp in many areas. Not good for chickens. The weather here is noticably different than WA and even the VA/TN area--definitely colder for longer, and not the high rainfall WA is noted for on the coast.


My coops are not mobile.