I bought a 10x16 repo wooden shed last night!!! NOT a rant :D

[Smitty's Farm]

Hey there!

I was just wondering how your breeder's coop planning was going. Is it dry enough for delivery yet? Can't wait to see pics.

Your plans so far sound so awesome!!!!!

 

[chickluvr]

I'm in west Tenn, and i'm having problems with flies! I have down peagravel and on top pine shavings and grass clippings. I go out and rake to stir it up, but its all wet on the bottom. I dont think it ever dries out. Anyone have better ideas for the run floor in areas where its wet and humid? How do you get rid of these files?

 

[wegotchickens]

Quote:
They've been much worse this year for us!! Guess it's because it's so much wetter this year. Can't begrudge the rain though...

We have play sand down in the run, and will do that for the new ones. Easy to rake, and the top layer seems to dry out okay.
The only problem has been in the covered area near the feeder. The flies have been REALLY bad there! I remove the feeder and lay a heavy coat of DE (diatomaceous earth) in the feeder area over anything damp and fly-ridden. I do this once very couple of weeks and it's made a real difference!

When we clean the runs/coop (about once a month) we also put DE on the roosts, in the nesting boxes, and a thin layer over the run. We have no problem with mites at all and I think this is why. A coworker has had trouble with mites this year, but not us!

 

[wegotchickens]

It'll be delivered today!!

There's rain on the way, so I called the delivery dude and sweetly asked how dry the ground needed to be before he delivered.
He's bringing it today!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Smitty's Farm]

YAHOOOO!!!!!!!

 

[wegotchickens]

We barely got it in and level before the rains started last night! But it's in!!

We played in it so long last night, measuring and chalking lines on the floor, that I had to get the kids fast food for dinner! They didn't mind that.

Told the kids they'd be painting the inside as their contribution to the effort. Youngest whined, eldest said she has nothing to wear for painting

Both problems solved. It's good to be mom.

Definitely needs windows ASAP. Got VERY hot inside while we were measuring. DH will buy the windows after work today, and maybe get one set. And he'll also pull the shelves off the far end and move them to the future bator & brooder locale.
He keeps telling me how everything should be done. And then I tell him how I want it done. He has some good ideas, but every now and then I have to say this is how I want it. Like with the windows. They don't have to be centered. They have to be where I want them!

I took a pic, but it was raining out. I'll get a good one today if it dries out.

 

[Freckle Face Farm]

 

[wegotchickens]

Helped DH pull the shelves and measure last night, so I forgot to take a pic. Will try to get that posted.

Below should be an idealized vision of how the project will turn out. A little tweaking will be done to coop #5: It won't fit quite as easy as it looks. And the shelves will not be 3', but more like 2.5'.

Coops 1 & 2, along with their runs, are stage 1. When those are done we can move the birds from the existing housing and use it to help build coops 3-5, plus other features. Coops 3-5 will be all door in front, so that they are easy to clean out.
Eventually we will have a drip water system coming from the tank. And a large feeder system so that (hopefully) everything will be self-mainting for a week at a time.

 

[Smitty's Farm]

Looks like an awesome plan!!!! Can't wait to see pics!

 

[Big Red Roo]

Please send some of your rain to Texas. If the cracks in the ground get any bigger here I think I might start loseing chickens.