Helpful hints for building coops

[Molpet]

Kinda nice to feel 'cold', eh?
Another heat wave coming soon tho:
View attachment 1440435

The dog and I like the cold.. the 4+inch of rain..not so much

But the poults are hunched over and the chicken moms don't seem to want to warm them.
The first one showed symptoms of trying to get under anybody yesterday.. Hatched 5/26..I brought him in, Nurita drench in water and a drop in the mouth... and put him under mhp.. he was dead this morning. 3 more of this hatch and a couple of chicks are still out with mom.. looking ok and I can't catch them.
Today 2 more, in a different coop/pen and a later hatch (june 4th) are hunched over like they are cold. I brought in 5 of 6 of those, hopefully they will recover. She still has a poult(couldn't catch) and 3 chicks.
poop is normal

 

[CapricornFarm]

I took Ollie down to the mower, wrapped a tow strap around the front axles and in just a second, Ollie lifted Minnie Pearl right out of there..
I finished mowing the "lawn" and then tackled the orchard.. let me tell you, that was a picnic.. fallen branches everywhere.
the orchard is 80 black walnuts. I do believe they drop more branches than a willow..
at the end of the black walnuts I have a few rows of jack pine. there is some sort of viney weed that is hard to eradicate. two years ago I had my nephew help me and we pulled those nuisances out by the roots.
wherever a root broke off, there was a new vine.. they resemble elderberry bushes, sort of..
anyway, I found one of my tow chains hanging in a pine tree.. and I found a hemp rope on the ground. It wrapped around the mower blades and choked the tractor off. I sharpened a bone handled knife and cut the rope off..
I checked the blades while I was at it.
a few nicks in them. I will have to sharpen them soon. I am going to try to just lift the mower up with Ollie and take the blades off. that way I won't have to remove the whole mower deck.

I have lots of rough sawn lumber . but I cannot come up with a good item to make to sell. I have red pine, red oak, some maple and some bitter nut..
One project I am thinking of is a cutting board that will fit over both sections of the kitchen sink.
.....jiminwisc..........

Does Minnie Pearl still have her price tag on?

 

[CapricornFarm]

Progress today...
We decided to work on the panels for the run since we don't have the 12 foot boards for the coop. Got 4 made, then ran out of lumber.
After lunch i worked on getting more wire stapled on the lean-to on the barn. Got the longest side done, just the end with the door left. I bet those bunnies will be glad to be outside.

 

[aart]

The dog and I like the cold.. the 4+inch of rain..not so much

Even my dog is not fond of the rain...and the coop was crowded chaos with little shelter in the runs. We only got about an inch here but it's been steady all day.

 

[lillithlix]

Here's today's progress on the coop. One side of corrugated iron left to dig in and secure. Next is the roof. I'm leaving the roof to hubby. I'm just ecstatic there's progress.

I need to go for an hour drive each way to go get the netting I need for the walls. I may need more timber for the rafters but its looking pretty good so far.

 

[k2panman]

Hoping to find Helpful Hints for Building Coops here, but this thread is mostly off topic. After 15 pages, I found some great tips, thanks to everyone for them.

 

[aart]

Hoping to find Helpful Hints for Building Coops here, but this thread is mostly off topic. .

You'll find many threads here at BYC go 'off-topic'.

 

[jvls1942]

we go off topic a lot, but if anybody wants to bring up building coops. we are all willing to help,. just ask, and you shall receive.
I have two main coops, the third one I tore down and made a storage shed in it's place.
I have posted pictures of my coops in detail on many forums on byc over the years.
I also have two large runs with cyclone fence all around.
Plus I have two fly pens, and several tractors, and small pens..
I have two brooders that can hold over 100 baby chickens each.
now, what would you like to know ?
I will take more pictures if you are interested..
now some off subject items.
I ripped the large tag off of Minnie Pearl. the plastic tie is still attached to the steering wheel. the tag with the adhesive wore off..
I got the seat adjusted, and figured out how to mow in reverse. that is a great time saver..Not so much that I mow in reverse, but when I get into a tight spot, I can back out without taking the deck out of gear..

got up early today. not my choice. went with Annie to pick a few pounds of strawberries. by 8AM we were done eating our first fresh strawberry short cake of this season.
,,,,,,jiminwisc......

 

[aliciaplus3]

Jim I am glad you got your mower figured out..... sounds like you have given her a workout!

 

[CapricornFarm]

Most helpful hint for coops...build twice as many and twice as big as you think you need! Budget twice as much money and 3 times as much time as you think you need.