Indy area Chicken work Co-Op

[Chaneys Ranch]

Quote: Its not as hard as some sites make it out to be! They need good clean grass hay or free forage..Goats know whats bad. I use "noble goat" feed from purina a cup a day, does very well for them. I vacc CDT annually and have them trimmed for their hooves every few months. I cant grip the trimmers well enough to do their hooves properly. When my does kid I am there, hot water clean towels and a cell phone to call the vet if its not ok... its like a dog or cat. If the baby is stuck, help momma! Rarely they have a problem. I worm every 6 months.
I have had goats a long time. Way easier than dogs... and more loving than you can imagine. Sugar is better as a companion then most dogs I have owned. She is my constant companion and I rarely tether her anymore. She will snooze with her head on my leg, or shoulder. Stays with me, and is just a sweetheart. I put her in the pen if I leave the house and at night.
Most milk breed does are wonderful IF they are imprinted early with people. Like any animal, they need to know you love them.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Thank you. I need to get on that fence then.

 

[flyladyrocks]

Okay thought I was getting e-mail reminders for this thread and I apparently am not b/c I missed these posts.

jchny - I may want to take you up on that milk offer if that is okay. (although that may be dangerous I may not be able to leave without a couple silkies!). Dh wants to try goat milk before even seriously considering goats which is probably a bit in the future for us but who knows! And I homeschool so can we have a field trip to your farm to see your kids?? DD would love that! She is a farm girl at heart like her mama. Last summer we were waiting with anxious anticipation for 2 weeks at my best friends farm in Ohio waiting for her Alpaca to be born. Of course it happened 2 days after we left and we did not get to see the baby until a few weeks ago - 10 months later!

Sally -What book would that be?
And the scoop on the coop (playhouse, but that rhymed so well I could not resist!). The landlord is having trouble getting access to the yard. Translation: The tenants went out of town and left their pit bulls there! One actually keeps jumping the fence. They seem like sweet dogs, but they are pits and none of us want to go near them! The reason she listed the playhouse and shed on Craiglist is they were going to be gone. So the playhouse is ours we just don't know when we will have access to the yard in order to move it. We are using a flatbed towtruck to transport most likely, but need manpower. We probably can get several people from our church. The problem is we don't know when which is so frustrating. It really needs to happen this weekend b/c I am not missing Chickenfest!!

I gotta get to bed, I am in zombie mode at the computer.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

The book my library had is one of the editions similar to this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Storeys-Guide-Raising-Dairy-Edition/dp/1603425802

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

The book my library had is one of the editions similar to this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Storeys-Guide-Raising-Dairy-Edition/dp/1603425802

I am not as particular as some with my goats, they get CDT shots annually. Hooves trimmed every few months, and I use Noble Goat from purina. I worm them late spring and late fall, they get good grass hay if being milked, otherwise just free forage. Easier than a dogs care, IMO. Sugar is almost like an "outdoor dog" and a great companion, just love her to death.

 

[flyladyrocks]

jchoney I know you saw, but wasn't sure you did Sally - the playhouse was too big, we'd have to get proper permits b/c it was too tall and too wide. Since they wanted it gone this weekend there was not enough time.

As it turns out my hubbie hurt himself pretty bad last night and would not have been able to do anything today anyway!

So now I think we are back to building a coop unless we find something else soon.

Thanks for your offers of help. Look forward to meeting you next weekend!

 

[SallyinIndiana]

jchoney I know you saw, but wasn't sure you did Sally - the playhouse was too big, we'd have to get proper permits b/c it was too tall and too wide. Since they wanted it gone this weekend there was not enough time.

As it turns out my hubbie hurt himself pretty bad last night and would not have been able to do anything today anyway!

So now I think we are back to building a coop unless we find something else soon.

Thanks for your offers of help. Look forward to meeting you next weekend!

Post on here when you will be needing help with the building. If my Dh is available, I'm sure he can help a bit.
Did you have an idea of the style of coop you want? Maybe a picture from google. It might help to start buying supplies gradually keeping the receipts in case you get a free shed.

Myself, I'm looking at trying to come up with a good goat house / shelter. I found a place that sells them but I don't want to put that much money into the goats until I know I will stick with them.

 

[flyladyrocks]

Post on here when you will be needing help with the building. If my Dh is available, I'm sure he can help a bit.
Did you have an idea of the style of coop you want? Maybe a picture from google. It might help to start buying supplies gradually keeping the receipts in case you get a free shed.

Myself, I'm looking at trying to come up with a good goat house / shelter. I found a place that sells them but I don't want to put that much money into the goats until I know I will stick with them.

This is the coop plan we bought: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Chicken-coo...525?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item23355959e5. We are fortunate enough to have a friend in the neighborhood who has a woodshop and will be able to help. The coop is built in segments that you then put together, so it is that last putting together part that we may end up needing extra hands for. Building it in segments is also nice b/c we can just buy as we go and don't have to put out all the money all at once. We will only enclose one of the runs for next years batch of chicks - we already have a kennel as a run and plan to just add on to that.

I can understand not wanting to put too much into an animal you are not sure you will keep! What do you need for a shelter? We bought 2 large ply-wood shipping crates that are sitting in our driveway. We originally were going to try to use them for a coop but decided it would be too much work for a temporary shelter - it would not be sturdy enough for a permanent coop and we'd just have to rebuild next year. They are 4x6x8. One 8 foot side is open and the other 8 foot side is slats of wood. If it were up to me I'd be willing to just give you one but my hubby would like to recoup a little money from it since he bought them! Let me know if you are interested and I can take some pictures.

I gotta get to bed, I am dozing at the computer.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

I like that it goes together in segments. And it has lots of good venting options. The runs look a bit small but you can always make a bigger run or free range. I really like the shape of the coop too, I might raise the nests so I could do a deeper litter but it has a great look to it just the way it is. I would also trim it out in red.

I would like pictures of the crates. But if they are not sturdy enough for chickens I'm not sure they would be sturdy enough for goats. For now it looks like I need something that is closed in on three sides for a goat. Then more of a barn later when they give birth and lastly a milking area once the kid drinks the first 3 days of milk. So minimun would be 2 stalls 1 for kidding and 1 for milking / food storage. Then a free area in the middle for the non kidding goat(s). The plan being start with 2 goats but have kidding at separate times, far enough apart that we could sell the extra kids and not have more than 2 adult goats and 2 kids at a time.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

jchoney I know you saw, but wasn't sure you did Sally - the playhouse was too big, we'd have to get proper permits b/c it was too tall and too wide. Since they wanted it gone this weekend there was not enough time.

As it turns out my hubbie hurt himself pretty bad last night and would not have been able to do anything today anyway!

So now I think we are back to building a coop unless we find something else soon.

Thanks for your offers of help. Look forward to meeting you next weekend!

Hope your hubby is ok! Be good to meet you, really looking forward to chickenfest and getting away a couple days.

Quote: Will check it out!
WOW really like this design! It shows chicken wire as the fencing and I would upgrade that to hardware cloth. Raccoon, coyote and fox will get thru chicken wire pretty fast.

I like that it goes together in segments. And it has lots of good venting options. The runs look a bit small but you can always make a bigger run or free range. I really like the shape of the coop too, I might raise the nests so I could do a deeper litter but it has a great look to it just the way it is. I would also trim it out in red.

I would like pictures of the crates. But if they are not sturdy enough for chickens I'm not sure they would be sturdy enough for goats. For now it looks like I need something that is closed in on three sides for a goat. Then more of a barn later when they give birth and lastly a milking area once the kid drinks the first 3 days of milk. So minimun would be 2 stalls 1 for kidding and 1 for milking / food storage. Then a free area in the middle for the non kidding goat(s). The plan being start with 2 goats but have kidding at separate times, far enough apart that we could sell the extra kids and not have more than 2 adult goats and 2 kids at a time.

The crates are interesting. If sally can't use them, I would love to see them too. I need something that would work for bantams within my main coop. They would have the large frame chickens and turkey surrounding them.
Sally, you have the process in mind for sure! Your plan for stalls and milking is ideal. Starting with doelings will really help things go well. Kids sell well, even the lil bucks if they are neutered. The banding tool is cheap. I sell off my kids, want my herd small. I will probably keep a doeling next season tho.
Our goat house is 8x8x8, and has a platform in the corner large enough for 3/4 adults to be off the ground. Bo stays in the house with the girls part of the year, I remove him during the summer and tether him daily. He has the livestock trailer for housing at night. I have Buddy that will be a companion to Bo when the pasture is done, he will be neutered and they should get along fine. He is also housed in our trailer with a divider between the boys.