Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[featherhead007]

The day has finally arrived. Nacho and the three younger ones are back at the neighbors yard. Hopefully caged up. Because I imagine they will be back to my yard. Ps. The neighbor is a real moron and he pushed his luck with my final nerve. He snuck into my yard while I was away today, and took what he thought was his. I think my chooks are still very nervous and afraid. Funny that he waited until POL to come get them

 

[knoturavggrl]

Heck no! I paid $25 each for those little demons!

I picked over all the chicks and them made an educated guesstimate on which were pullets and with the white ones instead….. just saying they darn well better be pullets the price I paid!

The SFH’s are priced the same, straight run. I could get started pullets but they are 40.00

This year its pretty awful price wise, almost all the rare breeds or colored layers are through the roof. Meyers wants 24 but they are sold out and My Pet Chicken wants 30 per chick and the leg color on their chicks is wrong.

It’s crazy out there right now! For what it’s worth I think you did well price wise.

 

[featherhead007]

The day has finally arrived. Nacho and the three younger ones are back at the neighbors yard. Hopefully caged up. Because I imagine they will be back to my yard. Ps. The neighbor is a real moron and he pushed his luck with my final nerve. He snuck into my yard while I was away today, and took what he thought was his. I think my chooks are still very nervous and afraid. Funny that he waited until POL to come get them

I think I’m going to actually miss those little squirts!

 

[knoturavggrl]

The day has finally arrived. Nacho and the three younger ones are back at the neighbors yard. Hopefully caged up. Because I imagine they will be back to my yard. Ps. The neighbor is a real moron and he pushed his luck with my final nerve. He snuck into my yard while I was away today, and took what he thought was his. I think my chooks are still very nervous and afraid. Funny that he waited until POL to come get them

The angry face is for your neighbor not you. Your restraint is admirable. Though, I know you must be upset, I would be! I have no doubt you will handle this situation the best way possible.

 

[bgmathteach]

It is plastic you are correct, with a steel frame. The idea to use bolts is genius, Thank you and your neighbor .

Sorry, I mis-typed/spoke. Large lag screws (like bolts, but tapered ends so can drill right through the wall and into the roost board). Do use the fender washers on the outside, though, this helps give a larger surface area of contact so the large screw doesn't work through the plastic siding.

Tip for doing this: measure screw placement from the outside (ground up & side in - so measure vertically and horizontally for placement - so both ends are equi-distant in and up)...then screw the screws in just enough so the tips are breaking through the inner wall..back them out a touch, and have someone hold the roost board against the inner wall over the screw holes while you screw them back in all the way. The screws should be long enough so they penetrate the wood roosts at least 2" (more is better, since they are entering the end of a board). So, width of shed wall plus a min of 2". Do the same for the other end.

@BY Bob is a construction guru - he can probably give you a better idea of ideal screw length..longer, in this case, would be better than shorter - as long as you put the screw in straight so the end doesn't angle through the board and out the side.

Best of luck with this!


Edited to add: My neighbor really likes his plastic shed coop. The space between inner and outer walls holds air and acts as insulation, so the coop is fairly comfy in both winter and summer (it is in the shade of pines - so doesn't get direct sunlight - a plus as it helps keep the plastic from degrading!). Also, his shed already had vents at the peaks. He did add one window with hardware cloth and a plexiglass, hinged window to close it off in winter., and made the human door a dutch door - with the top half he created a hardware cloth half that he can shut in summer while leaving the 'solid' plastic upper half open for more ventilation. He is in the construction trades (not carpentry - he works on power station - more plumbing & mechanical end of things, but I haven't looked at it in a while to remember just how he did it. If it seems too complicated - what you could do is build a basic 2x4 (or 2x2) door frame the size of the opening, cover with hardware cloth, and use some slide bolts(3, 1 bottom, 2 upper middle each side)...or hinges and a slide bolt to fastend it in place (use a carabiner to hold slide bolt locked open or closed for security), and then you could keep the people solid door open in hot weather and utilize the hardware cloth door for safety and extra ventilation.

 

[Grandma The Chicken]

Hello, everyone. It's getting late and I've been wanting to ask how everyone is doing. I've been very busy, trying to get work in on time. I've always made the mistake of procrastinating. Oi... So leave a response and I'll read them in the morning. Until then, here's the squad and an additional photo of Grandma. I don't have time so I don't know if the first photo is a photo you have all seen before.

 

[featherhead007]

The angry face is for your neighbor not you. Your restraint is admirable. Though, I know you must be upset, I would be! I have no doubt you will handle this situation the best way possible.

Nobody was hurt, my birds are going to have to get used to them being gone. I, yes am saddened by this. And I know that the neighbor won’t take loving care of them like I did.

 

[featherhead007]

The angry face is for your neighbor not you. Your restraint is admirable. Though, I know you must be upset, I would be! I have no doubt you will handle this situation the best way possible.

I figured that

 

[ValerieJ]

I would say a tentative yes...BUT..I'm not quite sure of their age in this photo - I was thinking this was from when she had just abandoned them/gave up 'mom-ing' them, which was at about 8 weeks....so a caveat: an I don't know game birds.

That said, the barred ones are almost certainly pullets - they don't have the 'extra barring' gene of a roo (but mom wasn't barred - so.....they would only get one barring gene anyways - from daddy.....) But I don't see any real waddle development, nor any pinking of combs, which could be starting on both if they were boys at 8 weeks.

I would like to see a current picture of them, though, to compare to this photo (i.e. I tink it is another 2-3 weeks since this one was taken - @featherhead007 please correct my timeline if I am off - with my schedule these days, one day blurrs right into the next!!)

I am hoping to catch up and see what @rural mouse said to this!

You all know so much!!! I just wait until they crow.

 

[ValerieJ]

Thank you both! I will see what it looks like. I think the way I am planning to do the roosts that it should be pretty easy to put in a board under them.

Doing this might also allow me to put in a broody/chick area under the roosts. My imagination FAR outpaces my carpentry skills though so we shall see how it goes.

I've posted this before, but this is what mine look like.