Helpful hints for building coops

[chickadoodles]

A few weeks ago I had a black snake that I r asn off the porch and in a few minutes he came right back trying again. Dh tam him off clear out back in the pasture with a broom. The snake kept stopping and acting like it was going to bite him. It was a 6 footer.

 

[jvls1942]

Ahhhhk<shudders>

me too, I can tolerate snakes if I know where they are. It has been decades since I picked one up..
pine snakes have an odor. Often I smell them before I see them.
I don't kill snakes because some of them eat mice. I never had any problems with snakes bothering my chickens.
once many years ago, I saw a medium sized pine snake crawl behind our refrigerator . I never saw it again after that..
........jiminwisc....

 

[CapricornFarm]

I have been handling snakes since i was a kid. Had more than one as a pet. So did my kids, along with turtles, iguanas etc. I don't ever recall my parents warning me that there might be poisonous ones though.

 

[jvls1942]

I have been handling snakes since i was a kid. Had more than one as a pet. So did my kids, along with turtles, iguanas etc. I don't ever recall my parents warning me that there might be poisonous ones though.

my youngest brother collected snakes when he was about 8 years old.
He kept them in a bucket.
My mother found out about it and told him that it was not good to do that.
she made him turn them loose. there were over 80 snakes in that pail.
we lived on a dirt side road. He dumped them in the middle of the road. that was a sight to see. snakes going in every direction. I think every kid for six blocks around was there to watch..
he is the same one who put a piece of bread on a hook and went "fishing" for chipmunks.
...jiminwisc......

 

[Molpet]

my youngest brother collected snakes when he was about 8 years old.
He kept them in a bucket.
My mother found out about it and told him that it was not good to do that.
she made him turn them loose. there were over 80 snakes in that pail.
we lived on a dirt side road. He dumped them in the middle of the road. that was a sight to see. snakes going in every direction. I think every kid for six blocks around was there to watch..
he is the same one who put a piece of bread on a hook and went "fishing" for chipmunks.
...jiminwisc......

 

[Molpet]

I always had snakes in the house as a kid
my grandma used to tell a tale that when they blacktoped the gravel road I was out yelling at the crew to stop killing every snake they seen. I was about 4 .. I do not remember it though.

We used to raise/sell St Bernards. A woman from Missouri was buying puppies when my brother came to the door with a big 6' black snake for me. He knew a customer was inside so he rang the doorbell... Told mom he had something for me, I went to the door and ooed and awed. The woman wanted to see what it was... She had been telling us how she hunted and such so didn't think anything about her taking a look.. she started screaming and I went out.. mom said she ran through the house until she couldn't go any farther and curled up into the fetal position sobbing. when she calmed down she said she had been hunting one time, seen a snake, and came to wrapped up in a barb wire fence

When she came back to pick up the puppies she brought me a trio of black chickens that laid blue eggs..she said they were new to the US.. of course I was about 10 and didn't know what I had been given
Of course we didn't have a coop, dad fixed up a dog house and they free ranged. .. and my great uncles dog came over and killed them. I never seen that dog over before or after.. I guess he couldn't resist chicken
So that was my first failed chicken flock.. now I really wish I had pushed to keep them secure.

 

[CapricornFarm]

A few details and the duplex quail coop will be done. Nest boxes, dust bath lofts, ramps and feeders and it will be ready to move. Then the roof goes on.

 

[CapricornFarm]

Tonight i built 2 ramps ( one for another cage), a dust bath loft, and a double nest box in about an hour and painted all of it. Tomorrow i can install this stuff and build the other set. I put a latch on a cage that just had a make shift one, and figured out why the rabbits seem to be using so much water in the barn. One of the pipes had a tiny slash and the water was slowly leaking out. Replaced the pipe, problem solved.

 

[jvls1942]

good morning,
I don't know if I mentioned this or not.
On Tuesday I took a full fledged fall flat onto my back.. I was sitting on a plastic lawn chair and pulling weeds. got a hold of a thick stubborn raspberry cane. was pulling hard and it broke off. the chair and I tipped over backward. Annie asked me if I was hurt. I said , no, I landed nice and flat. well a few hours later I realized I was hurt..I must have whip lashed my neck.
I slept only about 3 hours last night.
makes me mad.. I just got a clean bill of health from the chiropractor last week.
if I don't heal up over the weekend, I will be seeing him on Monday..
but I did manage to finish pulling all the weeds. but right at this minute, I wish I had never started that project..
all will end up well, I am sure.

good-ish news.. the demolished elderberry bush is pushing up new shoots all over the place.. I hope they can establish themselves before winter..
I am tempted to take the tractor and loader and dig a big hole. fill it in with compost and dirt and transplant that whole root system.. faaaar away from the road..

 

[CapricornFarm]

good morning,
I don't know if I mentioned this or not.
On Tuesday I took a full fledged fall flat onto my back.. I was sitting on a plastic lawn chair and pulling weeds. got a hold of a thick stubborn raspberry cane. was pulling hard and it broke off. the chair and I tipped over backward. Annie asked me if I was hurt. I said , no, I landed nice and flat. well a few hours later I realized I was hurt..I must have whip lashed my neck.
I slept only about 3 hours last night.
makes me mad.. I just got a clean bill of health from the chiropractor last week.
if I don't heal up over the weekend, I will be seeing him on Monday..
but I did manage to finish pulling all the weeds. but right at this minute, I wish I had never started that project..
all will end up well, I am sure.

good-ish news.. the demolished elderberry bush is pushing up new shoots all over the place.. I hope they can establish themselves before winter..
I am tempted to take the tractor and loader and dig a big hole. fill it in with compost and dirt and transplant that whole root system.. faaaar away from the road..

Gosh i hope you will be ok. Happy to report i have not fallen down lately.