Helpful hints for building coops

[aart]

Hopefully this will post correctly:

Sausage Rolls

Wow!
Think I'll winnow it down and use premade sausage.
Putting that and frozen puff pastry on my shopping list.

 

[jvls1942]

that is the kind of snack I like, No bones in it
I think I would over eat on those.
I predrilled 48 pilot holes for the 6'' screws I am going to use to hold everything together. also going to use some gorilla glue for good measure..
I had to remove my sweat shirt. 60F feels like a heat wave.. It doesn't have to get any warmer .
........jiminwisc.......

 

[Berniejane]

The first thing you want to do before planning a coop is to speak to your family and get their imput. Especially if you want help on your project.
Second, you need to check restrictions and ordinances in your area to see if you can legally own fowl in your area. You don't want to go to the time and effort and expense of building a coop only to find that chickens are not permitted.
Next, decide how many chickens you want and whether they should be large fowl or bantams. Then you can look up how much space each needs to live.
Then get some graph paper to sketch out your design. I count sqares running horizontally and vertically, then decide on a scale. Usually, two squares equal one foot. Unless it's a small coop. It doesn't have to be perfect, it just gets your idea down on paper to refer to as you work. I do a floor plan, and a sketch of each wall and the roof. Mark where each board will go. This will help you estimate how much wood you will need. I will post a sample of my design for a coop later. Right now i need to get back outside and work on the guinea tractor.

Would love to see your plans!

 

[CapricornFarm]

Holy Moly! Everyone is alive today! Even the one with the crook to her neck (not crooked at all now and acting normal) AND even the slow one that hadn't hatched yet and had the scary veins last night!

The 3 yellow ones are my store boughts, the other six are our hatched kids, there's one still drying out in the 'bator.

Yay!

 

[CapricornFarm]

Would love to see your plans!

They should be on this thread somewhere!

 

[NewBoots]

They were delicious and I definitely ate too many. I mixed the sausage since DP doesn't care for sage and I got some really nice whole fennel seeds that smelled wonderful when I crushed them with the mortar and pestle. Worth the extra work to me.

And we moved the chicks to DPs shower:

 

[NewBoots]

So the only unhatched egg has been kept in the incubator even though it only had a tiny air cell and everyone else hatched yesterday. After hatching 7 out of 8 of our eggs, DP didn't want to give up on it. Well I was just near the incubator and heard a peep. Opened it up and much louder peeping and a tiny pip in the middle of the egg. DP opened the shell a little more but the membrane had a bunch of veins so she painted it with coconut oil and put the egg back in the incubator. We should know by tomorrow if it's going to be able to kick it's way out or not. I just can't believe so many hatched of shipped eggs with such rank beginners doing the hatching.

 

[CapricornFarm]

So the only unhatched egg has been kept in the incubator even though it only had a tiny air cell and everyone else hatched yesterday. After hatching 7 out of 8 of our eggs, DP didn't want to give up on it. Well I was just near the incubator and heard a peep. Opened it up and much louder peeping and a tiny pip in the middle of the egg. DP opened the shell a little more but the membrane had a bunch of veins so she painted it with coconut oil and put the egg back in the incubator. We should know by tomorrow if it's going to be able to kick it's way out or not. I just can't believe so many hatched of shipped eggs with such rank beginners doing the hatching.

Beginner's luck! Good for you!

 

[jvls1942]

Boots, the luck part was getting shipped eggs to hatch. good preparation was the icing on the cake. as we say in our extended family,,,,"atta boy"..
dishes done, first cuppa done.
today I am going to assemble the first truss for real.. 6'' screws and gorilla glue . No turning back..
If I get just one finished I will be satisfied.
the glue is just a little added insurance ..
lots of intermittent rain forecast. I hope it all comes after dark..
....jiminwisc.....

 

[aart]

6'' screws

What kind of screws?