Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Sally PB]

Chicken health question: What do yellow urates mean? When I looked it up here on BYC, the answer was probably fatty liver issues. That answer was from one (very knowledgeable!) person here on BYC, but I was wondering if anyone else could give an opinion?

 

[fuentemoon]

We have resident Anna's also....but we have mild winter climate but yours are living in snow country w/ little to no flowering nectar or insects to sustain Hummies? Amazing the tiny things survive
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It isn't warm here year round, but we are considered temperate. We usually get a bit of freezing rain every year, maybe a bit of snow, but it doesn't last. Winter usually just means wet and 40-50°f. I had flowers until we got into the teens a couple of weeks ago. This one sat and watched me for at least 5 minutes!

 

[featherhead007]

Well, second change of plans: Chicks have been ordered! Coming from Mount Healthy on March 24th or 25th. Meyer was out of what I wanted until August. There's been a run on chicks, so I ordered from Mount Healthy now basically to assure that I can get them at all. And the order grew, because of order minimums, to:

• 2 Chocolate Orpington hens
• 1 Chocolate Orpington Rooster
• 2 Easter Egger hens
• 2 Barnevelder hens
• 1 Buff Orpington hen
• 1 Blue Australorp hen
• 1 Blue Laced Red Wyandotte hen

All in all, very excited! We now have three months to start and finish the coop. Luckily, we had a friend offer to help us build who worked in construction. Now, to expand the plans. Chicken math is no joke! I originally thought 6 was a good number, now it's 11 if they send an extra, which they often do!

I wouldn’t say this if I didn’t love you, but I do…. Build it big!
Old saying “if you build it, they will come!”

 

[RoyalChick]

Chicken health question: What do yellow urates mean? When I looked it up here on BYC, the answer was probably fatty liver issues. That answer was from one (very knowledgeable!) person here on BYC, but I was wondering if anyone else could give an opinion?

I believe the color is from bile salts, so probably an indication of an unhealthy liver. I don’t think it is as specific as fatty liver disease. Could be many things just affecting the liver.
Not a good sign unfortunately.

 

[ValerieJ]

I wouldn’t say this if I didn’t love you, but I do…. Build it big!
Old saying “if you build it, they will come!”

Agree. Always build way bigger than you think you will want or need. Ask me how I know.

 

[micstrachan]

Chicken health question: What do yellow urates mean? When I looked it up here on BYC, the answer was probably fatty liver issues. That answer was from one (very knowledgeable!) person here on BYC, but I was wondering if anyone else could give an opinion?

Could also be kidneys. Some of my girls have had yellowish urates on and off over the years, even my nine-year-old hen, whose urates are white now.

If I remember correctly, dandelion greens can help kidney function, but I’m not totally sure. I would look it up because my memory could be making stuff up.

 

[Sally PB]

I believe the color is from bile salts, so probably an indication of an unhealthy liver. I don’t think it is as specific as fatty liver disease. Could be many things just affecting the liver.

Could also be kidneys. Some of my girls have had yellowish urates on and off over the years, even my nine-year-old hen, whose urates are white now.

This gives me hope!

Some more information.

It's just this one bird -- as far as I know. I look at night to see who roosts where, but they're down and waiting to come out when I go to open up the coop, so I don't know if they've moved around.

They all eat the same thing (Kalmbach 20% flock maker), oyster shell and crushed egg shell on the side. The main "treat" is their feed, wetted into a mash; BOSS about 1-2x a week, and rarely anything else.

I haven't seen any "Gee, I am not well/don't feel good" signs, nor any other indications that she isn't up to snuff.

I think she's laying; I have seen her in a nest box since they started back up. With the cold temps, I go out more often to gather eggs. She is not one to lounge in a nest box, so not seeing her in there regularly doesn't mean much.

If anyone has any more ideas, I'd love to hear them.

 

[ILoveDaffy]

I wouldn’t say this if I didn’t love you, but I do…. Build it big!
Old saying “if you build it, they will come!”

I will have it be big enough for 12 for ease of building and measurements. No larger though. 12 is plenty. It allows for one more after the order, and is even, so measurements will be significantly easier than if I sized for eleven. I will shop the restore for ways to cheapen the cost. The breeds chosen will pay us back in eggs quite well, and part of the whole point was to share eggs with friends and neighbors, so that's a plus of the extras. I would love to hear any tips and tricks for building or cost reducing anyone may have.

 

[LhickenChicken]

Chicken health question: What do yellow urates mean? When I looked it up here on BYC, the answer was probably fatty liver issues. That answer was from one (very knowledgeable!) person here on BYC, but I was wondering if anyone else could give an opinion?

It could also be a sign of reproductive disorders. One of my birds that laid internally also pooped a lot of yellow poop.

 

[BY Bob]

I will have it be big enough for 12 for ease of building and measurements. No larger though. 12 is plenty. It allows for one more after the order, and is even, so measurements will be significantly easier than if I sized for eleven. I will shop the restore for ways to cheapen the cost. The breeds chosen will pay us back in eggs quite well, and part of the whole point was to share eggs with friends and neighbors, so that's a plus of the extras. I would love to hear any tips and tricks for building or cost reducing anyone may have.

Here are my recommendations from my coop build article. They save money by making the build right the first time.

Of the following, use screws not nails will actually cost more upfront but save in the long run.

Things to Consider When Building/Designing Your Own Coop

Write out what you want from your coop before even beginning to design it. I tried to show that above as I explained what I needed my coop to do. That leads to my second recommendation.

If you can, have your chickens a while before you design your final coop. Yes, they will need a place to live for a while. We got away with a prefab coop. It was definitely less than ideal. However, if the blizzard had not occurred and if we had not gone through some bitter cold winters, I would truly have not built the coop I did. If you can do a less than perfect "temp coop" and experience a year with your chickens before building a "final coop", I believe that you can learn valuable things that will make your final design better.

Use Screws when building. The entire coop complex is held together with deck screws. The beauty of using screws is that if you need to disassemble something you can unscrew it. Nails are much harder to work with. Think about when I extended the nesting boxes to include a third box. I was able to disassemble the existing box and use the side again without destroying everything.

Read through coop designs here on BYC. You never know what may inspire you.
Ventilation. Pay special attention to where you want to place your ventilation to accommodate the prevailing wind. Mine is specifically designed so that no wind will ever blow on the chickens in the winter. Also leave yourself a place to add additional ventilation should it be required. I can still add additional ventilation to my back wall if needed.

Space. Overbuild. When I built I anticipated adding more hens to my flock of 3 at some point. Technically, the coop and run I built could hold 8 hens comfortably, (32 sq feet in the coop and around 100 sq feet of run space). I do not ever see myself having 8, but I do now have double the amount I did, 6. If you are not going to overbuild understand how you would expand if needed. (I now can see myself having 8, just pointing that out)

Pinch your Hardware Cloth between your pieces of lumber as you build. It will save on fender washers and screws.