INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[ShawnaScott]

You are spot on and that's their comb on top, waddles under their beak/chin, I see some roos too

It is hard to let them go! Are you limited on your total chicken count? I have tons of roos now too but am hatching every week.

I am not technically limited on how many I can have, but DH has made it apparent that I have TOO MANY chickens. I don't think I do, but there you go. By my reckoning, I have 4 boys and 16 girls, but I think one is real mean. He keeps pecking my eye! I can't tell if it's because my glasses are shiny or what.

 

[bradselig]

My bubble was burst. I thought for sure that I won bradselig's contest (and I am still expecting the prize money. haha) No one even acknowledged my amazing discovery. Am I blind or just an ignorant newbie? Both? Here is bradselig's chick and the matching photo I found online. Below: A Perfect Match! (at least I think so) Btw, bradselig~ I love your coop pens and your one-of-every-breed-chicks! [COLOR=006699]iPad Users Unite [/COLOR] All of us who have iPads should PM the administrators Nifty-Chicken to urge them to make an iPad app.

Haha, yes you were very close. Talking with breeder, this chick is 1/4 Marans, 3/4 Ameraucana (EE). While he prize isn't money, you do win the chick! Lol. I'd love to have an app, though the mobile version is still nice.

 

[Kiniska]

I am so sad. Looks like those little puppies will have to go to animal control in Louisville. I called all the local no-kills and even the super nice lady out of Corydon. No one has room. I so wish people would spay and neuter their pets! It is not fair that I have to be the bad guy.

Wish we could keep them, but there is just no way we can afford three more dogs.

Last call, anyone? They are going first thing in the am if there are no takers. Thanks.

 

[Quinstar]

I've learned that optimum space for inside the coop is 3-4 square feet per large chicken. The more the better. Our coop is almost 4.5'x8.5' interior, so a bit bigger than 32 sq ft for our 8 birds, or a smidge larger then 4 sq ft/bird. The run should be at least 10 sq ft per bird, to keep them happy and not pecking on each other so much. We were thinking to keep our coop/run around $350, and ended up with about $1100. Oh well. At least if someone built it for us it'd be probably $2k. The fencing for the run adds up fast. Depends on how secure you want to be. You must bury the fencing all around the run to keep predators out. At least 2 feet down, or at least 2 feet horizontal out so the digging raccoons/coyotes/etc. go somewhere else. Build lots of human access, (we made 2 small clean-out doors on one side, and a large door on the other for us to get in the coop) consider a poop board that slides out, make sure to add a way to open the pop door from the outside of the run. Make sure for plenty of natural ventilation at the top, or they can get sick. Make it predator proof.

Oh and that first picture with the 80s Lincoln, I thought you were going to post some vintage pictures!

Wow, thanks for the info! I was originally thinking of making the coop 8'x5', but I guess it wouldn't hurt to add a few feet to that. Leave some room for growth! Does vertical height play into this at all? The plan was to have 2 almost full size doors open into the coop and a full size door open into the run. I want it to be a walk in run. What is a poop board that slides out? Would this work if we are planning on doing deep bedding?

Ha! The animal swap feels vintage. Does that count?

Quinstar posted: Also, we're hoping to move to our new house this weekend and then we'll start building our coop! Any tips or tricks or words of wisdom from those of you who have built your own coops? I've gotten a lot of the materials for free, so we're hoping to do a 6X6 raised coop with an enclosed run and come in around 300-400. I think we can do it, but I know they always end up more expensive than you'd think. Do you think 6x6 will work for my 10 girls or should it be a little bit bigger? We are planning to let them free range when we get home after work and they will have a large enclosed run for the rest of the day. I was also thinking of doing some PVC chicken feeders. Has anyone tried these?

Grass~Winter Months
The part about letting them free range after work-- don't forget about the winter months when it gets dark early, like about the time you get home from work. However, if you have a large enclosed run, that would help. I would advise making two grazing frames for the enclosed run. We had no idea that the chickens would eat ALL the grass in our fenced-in back yard! We have two grazing frames now and I also take them out daily past the fenced-in area where there's plenty of grass. In the winter you could alternate growing grasses and feeding grasses using two frames. (Meanwhile, we are fencing off large areas to try to get some grass growing!)

Modify a yard barn or start from scratch?
Just some general thoughts~ Sometimes I wonder if it wouldn't be easier and less expensive to modify a yard barn. I know people often do that and then there are others like me who have no idea how much work and how expensive building a coop is, or in my case, having a coop built. I guess it depends on whether people have carpenter skills and equipment, whether you have time and money to spare.

I saw the grass idea on another coop just the other day! We have about 10 acres of grass/field that they'll be able to wander when they are free ranging. I would let them range during the day while we're at work, but the idea just makes me a little nervous. My neighbors chickens come and go as they please. They have a shed that they've turned into a coop and their run is just a fenced in area with a 4 ft wire fence. I don't think they ever get locked up. Do any of you let your chickens out all day?

We definitely thought about modifying something rather than building from scratch. The nice thing so far is that I've gotten a lot of the materials for either dirt cheap or free. We've gotten almost all the plywood/OSB that we'll need for free. I found some old cedar fence boards on craigslist to do the siding for dirt cheap. We have a couple of packs of shingles laying around that we can use for the roof. I like to think the DH and I are pretty handy. We actually made our own wood floors out of plywood in the house that we moving into.

General rule of thumb for coops is 4ft² per bird. This is really 2ft x 2ft. This is for the coop area it's self and not including the run.

I agree that sometimes the reuse of an exsisting building or purcahsing a building might be the way to go for some people. This way there is a sturdy structure to begin with and things can be modified after they are in.
The Menards ad this week has a 10 x 8 steel building listed for $269. This does not include the cost of the floor and there would have to be modifications for air vents and possibly insulation so it would not get too hot in there, but it is a great base price.
Now depending on where you are loacted you can scower the Craigslist ads and find some mini barns on there. Just saw one listed for free, you come take it.

I would love to have the ability to have build my addtional coops by now, but work means tools are out on jobs and all the other tools are at the shop. Anything I decide to build either has to be built at the shop and brought over, or loading up tools to bring back home.

Never be daunted by the idea of the project. It is a whole lot easier to do than you think. You just need a starting point.

Great idea on the grazing frames. My turkeys had the coops entire grass eaten in their first day.

Wow, I just found the building that you were talking about. Going to have to show this one to DH. The project list is about a mile long right now, so this just may be worth it. I would much rather build our own, but that's kind of hard to beat. Honestly, this may be the perfect "temp coop" to hold us over until next summer when we build the goat barn/chicken coop/ storage mini barn.

 

[Quinstar]

I'm checking with our local rescue. If they can take them I'd be willing to pick them up. I'll let you know as soon as I can.

I am so sad. Looks like those little puppies will have to go to animal control in Louisville. I called all the local no-kills and even the super nice lady out of Corydon. No one has room. I so wish people would spay and neuter their pets! It is not fair that I have to be the bad guy.

Wish we could keep them, but there is just no way we can afford three more dogs. Last call, anyone? They are going first thing in the am if there are no takers. Thanks.

 

[Kiniska]

I'm checking with our local rescue. If they can take them I'd be willing to pick them up. I'll let you know as soon as I can.

Thanks! I messaged you.

 

[animallover2202]

]ive already sold some of the eggs just dont have a farm name yet still trying to think of one

well i checked my nesting boxes yesterday and my polish layed a big egg for her size and i found a bantam egg but i have no bantams in with my LF so someone must be a new egg layer but im getting like 13-15 eggs a day now glad my dogs likes eggs lol

Wonderful news! AL, have you considered selling eggs that's all part of the fun!

 

[Mother2Hens]

I am so sad. Looks like those little puppies will have to go to animal control in Louisville. I called all the local no-kills and even the super nice lady out of Corydon. No one has room. I so wish people would spay and neuter their pets! It is not fair that I have to be the bad guy.

Wish we could keep them, but there is just no way we can afford three more dogs.

Last call, anyone? They are going first thing in the am if there are no takers. Thanks.

So sorry you are the one who has to deal with someone else's problem! Can they go to the Humane Society in Louisville? Wherever they go, at least they have a great chance at being adopted since they are a good breed mix and are adorable.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

I am so sad. Looks like those little puppies will have to go to animal control in Louisville. I called all the local no-kills and even the super nice lady out of Corydon. No one has room. I so wish people would spay and neuter their pets! It is not fair that I have to be the bad guy.

Wish we could keep them, but there is just no way we can afford three more dogs.

Last call, anyone? They are going first thing in the am if there are no takers. Thanks.

Have you tried listing them in some of the craiglists ads that are close to you but not your local list?

 

[Mother2Hens]

COOP QUESTIONS

Quinstar posted: Wow, thanks for the info! I was originally thinking of making the coop 8'x5', but I guess it wouldn't hurt to add a few feet to that. Leave some room for growth! Does vertical height play into this at all? The plan was to have 2 almost full size doors open into the coop and a full size door open into the run. I want it to be a walk in run. What is a poop board that slides out? Would this work if we are planning on doing deep bedding?
We definitely thought about modifying something rather than building from scratch. The nice thing so far is that I've gotten a lot of the materials for either dirt cheap or free. We've gotten almost all the plywood/OSB that we'll need for free. I found some old cedar fence boards on craigslist to do the siding for dirt cheap. We have a couple of packs of shingles laying around that we can use for the roof. I like to think the DH and I are pretty handy. We actually made our own wood floors out of plywood in the house that we moving into.
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[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]It's great to be able to walk in the coop! In the morning, mine like to fly down from the coop part to the bottom of the door to go outside (instead of walking down the steps), so I'm glad there's enough vertical room because of the walk-in area. I have a tray (instead of a flat board) that slides out. I have two cat litter boxes that fit in the tray. (I only have five hens, so a poop board might be better for bigger flocks). [/FONT]The litter boxes catch the poop from the chickens being on the perches at night. I put pine shavings in the litter boxes as well as the nesting boxes. It's good to keep the coop (boxed area) clean since that's their egg laying area. The floor of my structure is mostly dirt and a few rocks and sand. They have a dust bath area in one part. (you can look at my coop photos on my profile if you are interested).

It personally doesn't matter to me if someone builds a new coop or uses an existing structure. Since you and your DH are handy and have materials, you are a step ahead! (And leave it to vickichicki, a CARPENTER, to say, "Never be daunted by a project." hahaha Make sure to get Victoria's cell phone number!)