Just Clucking Around

[apgreen79]

Ooohhhh!!!! That is so awesome!!!!
I just may take you up on that in about a year.

 

[apgreen79]

Well I have some pictures and a video of the flock but I have lost the cord for my camera.
So you all will have to just visualize.

Unfortunately due to our freakish weather patterns here in TN I haven't been able to check this flock back outside. Therefore my house currently smells like a chicken coop. I suppose thats to be expected when you have 27 birds going stinky in a 16 sq ft. space. But holly chickens it still stinks.
Needless to say I've been craming my brain with ideas for a grow out pen.....
So this is what I've came up with so far. I had to use paint on my computer since I don't have a drawing program, so I apologise for the unprofessional look, but I promise I can't drawby hand this good.
.

The chick roost area will be 4'L x 3'W x 4'H Enclosed area
Run will be 5'L x 5'W x 4'H Open area.

The roost area will be on the ground and have a straw floor. I plan on have several roosting poles inside. I only want the roost area to be used for roosting.
On the run I will use chicken wire. I know most advise against this, however, this is a small and temporary grow out pen. We plan on building chicken tractors for the grown birds, and using the existing area for a secured chick area. The coop we are building will be the permanent grow out area. Therefore we don't want to build this great big expensive grow out pen that we will only use once.
Okay, back to the plans.
So we're gonna use chicken wire on the run and have some staggering branches, and a few odds and ends in there for entertainment.
My hope is to only use this until the chick flock is to big to fit through the existing fence. 2"x4" welded wire.

I do plan on designing the grow out run so I can add to it if I need to. Because I've never had this many birds so I'm not totally sure how well this will all work out. As apposed to cleaning the run out I'd like to be able to simply move it around the fenced in yard so they always have a fresh area to play in.

Oh decisions, decisions.
I'll be sure to take pictures of the process just incase someone likes it in the end.
Guess I'm off to find that blasted cord that has mysteriously disappeared. And get my supply list together for shopping trip.
On the upside once I get the chicks out and get my house back I can get a few things done indoors that need getting done.
For instance: Paint, pull up this awful carpet, and put down my paperbag floor in the office. Woohoo! I am way to excited about this paper floor but I really can't wait.

 

[smccuen]

Quote: I wonder if it might be easier to just dab a little brightly colored nail polish on a foot or the top of the head to "mark" them. I suppose it might work if they didn't peck it off.

 

[MojaveMarlena]

Oh dear!! LOVED reading your story!! I had super human strength today. My husband thought it would be a good idea to go to the feed store and see if there was any items we may need for our soon to be chicks. Wouldnt you know it, they were fully stocked with dozens of chicks. (Ohhh! I want THAT ONE...AND THAT ONE!!?) But I was able to restrain myself. Our landlord will be here in five days (he lives in Idaho) and I'm waiting til after he leaves to finish building the run. I already have the coop and if he asks then I'll mention the chickens. Its not a huge deal, but I do know that it is easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask permission. And really, I don't think theres anything to worry about. Plus we are considering buying this property from him, like he asked us to do since we moved in. I am not an irresponsible tennant, don't worry. Mojave is a "anything goes" kind of place. LOL, we send civilians into SPACE here, for goodness sakes. In fact TX, I am so eager to get my chicks, I'd be willing to bypass building a run and just let them free range in the backyard...buuuut we build rocket motors and test those in the backyard and I wouldnt want them getting ahold of any nasty chemicals. LoL, oh geeze. There must be a joke in there somewhere about chickens and rocket science. Anyway, I enjoyed reading your journey. Now back to daydreaming about my chicks....

 

[apgreen79]

I wonder if it might be easier to just dab a little brightly colored nail polish on a foot or the top of the head to "mark" them.  I suppose it might work if they didn't peck it off.

I got tons of nail polish, because I only wear it on my toes during the summer. Think I'll try that out. The spouse doesn't like the idea of using zip ties. He worries I'll forget to cut them off, which could be bad for the chicken in the end. But have no problem painting a few toes.

 

[apgreen79]

Oh dear!! LOVED reading your story!! I had super human strength today. My husband thought it would be a good idea to go to the feed store and see if there was any items we may need for our soon to be chicks. Wouldnt you know it, they were fully stocked with dozens of chicks. (Ohhh! I want THAT ONE...AND THAT ONE!!?) But I was able to restrain myself. Our landlord will be here in five days (he lives in Idaho) and I'm waiting til after he leaves to finish building the run. I already have the coop and if he asks then I'll mention the chickens. Its not a huge deal, but I do know that it is easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask permission. And really, I don't think theres anything to worry about. Plus we are considering buying this property from him, like he asked us to do since we moved in. I am not an irresponsible tennant, don't worry. Mojave is a "anything goes" kind of place. LOL, we send civilians into SPACE here, for goodness sakes. In fact TX, I am so eager to get my chicks, I'd be willing to bypass building a run and just let them free range in the backyard...buuuut we build rocket motors and test those in the backyard and I wouldnt want them getting ahold of any nasty chemicals. LoL, oh geeze. There must be a joke in there somewhere about chickens and rocket science. Anyway, I enjoyed reading your journey. Now back to daydreaming about my chicks....

Thank you for your interest,
I was in TSC just the other day and they had 6 different bins that was supposed to have chicks in them. But they had thrown all the chicks into one bin that said Orpington on it. I really wanted to say something about them mixing the chicks but no one was around and I completely forgot by the time I got to checkout. That being said, I'm now glad that I didn't spontaneously chicks. I just might've gotten a little upset when/if I found out that what I had wasn't what I bought.
Aaa agh!

 

[MojaveMarlena]

I keep asking myself if this chicken raising thing has to be a well planned endeavor, or if one day I will be able to say (after six years of yearning my own chickens, and after caring for 140+ hens as a farm intern) "let's do this!"

 

[pogmobum]

I got tons of nail polish, because I only wear it on my toes during the summer. Think I'll try that out. The spouse doesn't like the idea of using zip ties. He worries I'll forget to cut them off, which could be bad for the chicken in the end. But have no problem painting a few toes.

Tipex works great aswell they use it in wildlife centres all the time for marking young foxs and badgers just putting a blob on there head

 

[apgreen79]

Tipex works great aswell they use it in wildlife centres all the time for marking young foxs and badgers just putting a blob on there head

Never heard of tipex. I'd use it but since it's just for this experiment I think I'll do the nail polish. Thanks for the tip though. I'm gonna file it away for possible future use. I'm actually thinking that I should paint a band around one of the legs. If I paint toes, well that'll just get scratched off. If I paint hair I worry that with the feathering out process I may lose tract.

 

[apgreen79]

I keep asking myself if this chicken raising thing has to be a well planned endeavor, or if one day I will be able to say (after six years of yearning my own chickens, and after caring for 140+ hens as a farm intern) "let's do this!"

I have found that it's not so much planning as it is knowledge. I have found that I procrastinate, so I try to do enough research to get me started and then I dive in.
That way I'm forcing myself to commit.
Besides if you're already tending to that many chickens you already know everything you need to.
I really wish the mobile app had emoticons, cause I'd like to use them.