INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Leahs Mom]

@jchny2000
You said they get to go out when fully feathered then wait about 3 weeks before allowing them out to range.

At what age is are they, usually, when allowed to range?

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Open air coop sounds interesting. I assume you don't have troubles in the deep of winter? I am in the planning stages of building a 3 sided shelter that can be multi-purposed. If you happen to have pictures, I would love to see them. (I suppose I will see them in person on the 25th, but hopefully my construction will be underway by then.)

One thing I have discovered, is that my little blue hoop coop, which is more like a wind tunnel, served as a hospital coop all winter this past year, and the few hens I had in there seemed to do all right. So I will probably not go back to wrapping it up tight in plastic like I usually do (did).

For my new shelter, I'm trying to decide how much I should leave open of the top of each wall for ventilation. After all, the whole front is going to be open anyway.

I will try to get pictures later today. We do cover the coops with construction grade plastic to block wind in winter. Loosely, so they still have ventilation. All my coops are under a large Maple tree and have excellent shade. Come winter they get the sun since the leaves are down. All of the coops are portable. We put forks on one of our farm tractors, pull the coops out and scrape deep litter out once a year. Usually late fall so the litter goes on the garden.

@jchny2000
You said they get to go out when fully feathered then wait about 3 weeks before allowing them out to range.

At what age is are they, usually, when allowed to range?

These guys hatched 4/5 & 4/16. I try to start free ranging at 12 weeks, less if my roosters are attentive to them. Both boys have been very good the last 2 years. I think we started after July 4th due to all the fireworks.

 

[Faraday40]

Went to the

for DD's 4H project.


Saw the butter cow & cow couch (it's an IL thing....)




Oldest reached the top while rock climbing. She lost her footing a couple times but hung on tight with her hands. She found a foothold & then continued to climb. I was impressed.


Youngest was awesome at archery (all 3 arrows landed in center!) & shooting. It was his 1st time with a BB gun & he blew out the center of his target.




.... and of course:

DD earned the award of excellence but also a "superior" ribbon which is given to only the top projects.

It was a very long day since we had 6+hrs in the car, but all went well.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

@Finnie A couple pictures... These coops are pretty old. I got them from a BYC member when she divorced, and got out of chickens. Foghorn ran over to the man door to say HI!

Notice 2 doors, the short door was original. We added a man door too.

I'm lucky enough that my adult Leghorn aren't flighty, the teens geez! forgot how they act. You can see I have a tarp on the back of the coop as a shade cloth.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Went to the

for DD's 4H project.


Saw the butter cow & cow couch (it's an IL thing....)




Oldest reached the top while rock climbing. She lost her footing a couple times but hung on tight with her hands. She found a foothold & then continued to climb. I was impressed.


Youngest was awesome at archery (all 3 arrows landed in center!) & shooting. It was his 1st time with a BB gun & he blew out the center of his target.




.... and of course:

DD earned the award of excellence but also a "superior" ribbon which is given to only the top projects.

It was a very long day since we had 6+hrs in the car, but all went well.

Wow GREAT JOB KIDS!

 

[Leahs Mom]

@Faraday40
Please tell your daughter and your son that I saw the photos and LOVE their projects! Great eye on those target shots & archery!!! And always love your daughter's projects.

 

[Leahs Mom]

@jchny2000
Thanks...and thanks for the photos too.

I'm going to point out again (because I know you already pointed it out) that you have electric wire running around those pens. You wouldn't use chicken wire without the electric wire.

And now I have one question about your pens (coops)...
How do you keep raccoons from climbing up in the trees and dropping down from above, completely missing the electric wiring? Do you have a second wire at the top?

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

@jchny2000
Thanks...and thanks for the photos too.

I'm going to point out again (because I know you already pointed it out) that you have electric wire running around those pens. You wouldn't use chicken wire without the electric wire.

And now I have one question about your pens (coops)...
How do you keep raccoons from climbing up in the trees and dropping down from above, completely missing the electric wiring? Do you have a second wire at the top?

Agreed, chicken wire is junk. Yes, it will keep a chicken in, but not stop a raccoon or other predator with teeth I guarantee it! We are going to add a top wire this fall after we move coops for cleaning. That's been a concern in my mind too, between the tree and the garage it could happen. We are building new coops soon, with hardware cloth and better design. I would guess those 3 coops are 7 years old now at least, and the wood is really dry rotting. The roof is made of a fiberglass material and is breaking down too.
Here is a coop I am looking at for free range:

Detailed plans to build it:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/17HtwYAm8z7NrvK7AvjMAX3sZ5YMqj6-OX_6CCRwxuJA/edit
This is from a homesteader VLOG I follow on YouTube. Its called a chickshaw 2.0, but I would not put that many birds in that coop. I would also use metal siding and a few other ideas I see already. easily moved without a tractor on level ground. I also plan to get electric netting next year to rotate the birds more than they cover currently. They only range over about an acre right now. I like putting them in the cow and goat pastures. They control flies, and scratch the manure around spreading it out naturally. The livestock ignore them.

 

[Finnie]

Thanks for posting the photos @jchny2000 ! Wrapping it in plastic for winter makes sense. I couldn't figure out how it would work if all four sides were open.

 

[JanetMarie]

I have an EE 9 week old cockerel that thinks possibly the muscovies are his harem. In this picture he is "mating" with one (needless to say it's NOT working considering he's smaller than the muscovy hen). My gander, Wilbur, broke it up, and my drake, Snowflake, just stands by and wags his tail.

The EE cockerel is not aggressive. He went through his hormonal teenage stage for one week at 8 weeks old. Started crowing then too.

He is different this week at 9 weeks. Now chases just a little, then gives up when Snowflake stands there wagging his tail about it.

Sometimes he just hangs out with the muscovies and goes over to see what one is doing, without chasing and mating.

Yesterday he was telling the hens where to lay their eggs, which is something that I haven't seen a cockerel at his age do. It's normally much older.

This morning he was guarding a muscovy hen while she was laying an egg. He didn't mate her when she was finished. Which also unusual for a young cockerel.

Needless to say, he's maturing quickly. He may a good boy for a mixed flock, or his own species. I don't know if he can stay here. If anyone is interested in possibly adding him to their flock please pm me. I will watch and keep him longer though.

Above picture is 7 weeks old.

Below was taken yesterday.