Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[micstrachan]

Agreed (and Russian orloffs have the same coloring but have beards and muffs)

View attachment 3368352On my wish list

Oh, I forgot about these cuties!!!

 

[micstrachan]

Yes her hackles seem very different from the typical photos you see of Jubilee orpingtons. I think they are gorgeous. They remind my Patsy in a way.

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Yes! Me, too! Great comparison I love LF’s hackles.

 

[Pastel the Rooster]

Guineas count. Great work on your grades.

Yay! Thank you! I want to be an Orthopedic Veterinarian when I grow up, so I need outstanding grades. ( Which certainly aren't mine!) Plus my parents hold me to very high expectations, and I am not one to disappoint (If I can help it.)

 

[micstrachan]

All this talk of Dottie’s green legs makes me think of sweet Sunshine, my little armpit warrior who also had green legs.

 

[ValarieF]

All this talk of Dottie’s green kegs makes me think of sweet Sunshine, my little armpit warrior who also had green legs.

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Thats funny my Dottie has green legs too

 

[RoyalChick]

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).
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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?

I love this!
A couple of thoughts
- you might not need the ladder at all. My guess is they will be perfectly able to hop up and down off the platform without it. Or give them something like a concrete block or a tree stump to hop to first. The whole thing would just be simpler without a ladder.
- if you are worried about the cross pieces sliding you could fix them to the wire in a different way. You could sandwich the wire between two pieces of lumber screwed together tightly. That will create a little ledge that you can screw the plywood to directly, or screw the cross beams to if the span is too wide

One other idea - put a couple of holes in the plywood near the front edge so you can tie some string for hanging treats like an apple or cabbage.

Looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

 

[RoyalChick]

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?

He has just obliterated the stress from his mind now they are all happily together.

 

[RoyalChick]

The nest box in the Cluckle Hut is on the eastern side of the run. There actually is wind break on the east side of the run to stop snow in a blizzard where it comes from the east and not the northwest. I am going to provide a more detailed overview of the complex and where I have wind break. So it is more clear. I just need to draw it out.

That would help. Also direction of prevailing wind.

 

[RoyalChick]

Maybe you could temporarily tie/nail/fasten some chicken wire or other barrier across the ceiling to the underside of the rafters?


When my pullets were smaller when they were first left loose in the coop at night, the were roosting on the electrical conduit and the fans. I was not pleased. Had to block off the conduit with some wall paneling and build protective cages around the fans ( before and after pics below).


The bank should easily be able to provide you proof of payment to give to the insurance company. It probably got posted to the wrong account.

Roosting pics, before modifications
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Modifications
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Thanks for sharing. That conduit does look rather comfy to roost on!
I think in my case blocking off the rafters would be a massive job. It is on a steep hill which makes ladders complicated (not impossible) and because of the hill it can be from 8-12’ up.
It is also a very big area - 3 separate buildings: 14x10; 10x12; 8x12. And as I discovered last night also a 10’ length where top of wall would need to be blocked.
That is a lot of wire!
I think I am better off waiting it out, moving feeders out of the way, and hoping that they eventually see reason.

 

[RoyalChick]

Exactly! I've been bringing my chickens extra squash and green lettuce or some green things like that ( I'm not as stupid as y'all think I'm actually an all honors/gifted student. My grades are anywhere from an 80-100. Not proud of the B's, but I can keep up with them) I don't have anymore grape leaves because of the cold snap. But I know that my chicks will be thrilled to get their favorite ( they like all treats) back. Oh, I was gonna take pictures of their fluffy butts, but I forgot. Here is a guinea butt. This is Guineaiss. Stunning name, huh? He is my baby boy. I love him a bunch. Not the best pictures but it was the best I could find that was not my last weeks of my chickens. This page is all about birds, right? Not necessarily JUST chickens! I hope!...View attachment 3369013

Good job on your grades.