Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[GregnLety]

Nothing as wonderful as an attentive momma hen with her chicks!

She is gorgeous, btw. Is she a sebright?? Where is @RoyalChick when you need to know a chicken breed? Pretty soon we won't be able to use this joke anymore!

I'm not sure of the breed but apparently Lety is very fond of them, lol. But in seriousness I would love to know her breed.

 

[ValarieF]

I'm not sure of the breed but apparently Lety is very fond of them, lol. But in seriousness I would love to know her breed.

Yes she is a Seabright

 

[featherhead007]

Coop Porch Project

Here's what they have now, to go into the coop they go either up the ladder or jump up to the perch and awkwardly walk over and up a bit to the pop door. By the way - you can also see the ventilation devices mentioned before that keep condensation down in this little run when the tarp is covering the run part so completely.
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So my idea has been to put two or more 2x2 boards across and into the welded wire on each side, the way the existing perch wedges into it on the right. Then put a piece of 1/2" plywood about 27" deep on top. (The run is about 36" wide at that height.) The ladder would then come forward. The ladder rails are pipes and turn down and usually hook into two vertical pipes attached to the coop. You can see the vertical pipes behind the wood crosspieces placed here as a test. The plywood would rest on those pipes and help with edge support there.
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I cross-sawed and then split with a chisel to make the thinner ends of the wood to fit into the welded wire rectangles. I made the boards too long here in this picture, I took them out and cut off 3/4" on each end and need to test it again. They are pushing the hardware cloth and tarp out too much. I wonder if I should make a little notch in each underside to stop it sliding side to side? I don't think they will fall but it would be a fail-safe.
Now that this might be a real hangout spot year-round (the existing perch is too small for the grown birds, only once is a while does anyone hang out on it) I have more hardware cloth to run up the sides and over the top. Need to do that before proceeding much further. The electric fence is down and I worry about predators.
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Here's what I need to figure out now:

1) How far apart from each other the crosspieces need to be to support a piece of regular 1/2" plywood 36" wide and 27" deep. (We happen to have a good piece of ply 6' x 27" that's why it's 27" to start. I also have many 2x2's left over from the Big Run roof job that morphed into using larger wood.) In the test above the back crosspiece could be further from the far end, yes, or no? I can make a third crosspiece if necessary.

and

2(a) Whether to place a crosspiece right at the front edge of everything and hook the ladder first through the 1/2" plywood (with two round holes made in it) and then over the crosspiece like this picture below (small piece of 3/4" wood standing in for 1/2" plywood thickness). I'm inclined to do this but I don't know exactly why.

(For anyone familiar with Omlet, I've removed the ladder rail catch wires from the ladder top end caps - these are wires that hook under those vertical coop pipes - and replaced the end caps without them. I think they are useful only when moving the coop tractor so the ladder doesn't come unhooked from the coop with a bump. But my ground is so gnarly I usually removed the whole ladder anyway).
View attachment 3368779
View attachment 3368780

Or,

2(b) I could have the cross piece not at the edge of the plywood but have the crosspiece further back / plywood sticking further forward from it, and have the ladder just set in holes near the plywood edge without a crosspiece under it. I suspect 1/2" ply will hold it, DH thinks so as there's not much consistent weight on it (and the ladder bottom sets on the litter, I could put wood or a brick under it too). There could likely be two chickens on the ladder and one or more on the porch during any roosting shenanigans.

Here I've put the ladder against the crosspiece to hold it and demonstrate the idea but it wouldn't be there, it would be forward of the crosspiece and just through the plywood.
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What do you all think?

This picture came to mind!

 

[ChicoryBlue]

I didn't know about this batch until today, baby Bantam cuteness View attachment 3368705View attachment 3368703View attachment 3368704

Oooooh the Sebrights are very cool. I have a weakness for them. Big black eyes, the color definition in the feathers, the way they hold their wings. Maybe most of all, love that tail!

 

[GregnLety]

Too low on the food chain to be profitable I guess!

Probably not a profit thing, Probably a lack of poultry knowledge. Our vets charge dearly but they are knowledgeable. At least yours isn't taking your money for a service they can't provide and they seem to be honest about it. We have spent hundreds on a 30 dollar hen but we wanted the best care. If you look long enough you'll find a vet knowledgeable about poultry.

 

[ChicoryBlue]

Integration is fun. It really doesn't fry my nerves, at least not that I remember.

Well where do you put the roosting dramas that "happened" to take place during integration (and later on too)? I thought you found those shenanigans upsetting...Or maybe you stress a bit, but know that it will settle down (more or less) eventually so overall it's fun?

 

[featherhead007]

Yes she is a Seabright

That’s a Seabright, this is a Sea-ttle:
And this is a Sea Bisquet:

 

[ChicoryBlue]

Roosting Roundup
Gattie is still sleeping on the ground but it makes snacking easier,.

Aurora has switched back to sleeping on the high roost. That has moved Sydney to the new roost over the window. This has taken away Betty's roost and she is back in the nest box. That makes me very sad for her.

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Roosting in the Hut remains unchanged but you can see the new heater on the wall. I will be switching it on tomorrow as we head down into the 20s at night. I don't want Glynda's comb to be freezing again.

The nest box is back there where the heater is, and the nest box is the run's "unprotected by windbreak" side, as it protrudes outside the run there, right? I think I've got myself oriented with the Hut and the run, if that's right.

 

[featherhead007]

Probably not a profit thing, Probably a lack of poultry knowledge. Our vets charge dearly but they are knowledgeable. At least yours isn't taking your money for a service they can't provide and they seem to be honest about it. We have spent hundreds on a 30 dollar hen but we wanted the best care. If you look long enough you'll find a vet knowledgeable about poultry.

I would think that, living out in the country like I do, there would be many veterinarians who cater farm animals, surprisingly there isn’t many. Livestock is treated like investment property, not beloved pets. (But I’m still looking)!

 

[featherhead007]

Jaffar just stole the TV remote, I’ll be back later.