lofting

[bigmrg74]

It looks nice, but how are they getting any ventilation into it?? You can block the wind from coming right in, but you still need at least a vent or two to let fresh air in and stale stinky air out. And I would probably ditch the heat lap as well, or at least swap out the bulb to the lowest power you can get.

 

[k15n1]

Wow, I didn't realize the risk. I do have it double attached. It's clamped and if that slips there's the hook it's mounted on. Maybe I should tie it up, too. Or get rid of it. It's just that my roo ended up with frostbite on his giant comb and it makes me feel kinda bad when I see the black bits. That was before I put up the plastic and the wind was ripping through to the point of whistling. Maybe he'd be OK now that they can get out of the wind.

I'm in southern MN, so it gets cold.

I was calculating costs, in case I ever get enough eggs to sell. The heat lamp (250W) costs more than the feed. And if I get rid of it, I suppose the hens will have a better day-night cycle.

There's enough ventilation that it doesn't smell. I'm The Cook in our house and I have a reasonable sense of smell. The plastic is scraps and it's patchy at best. There's plenty of air flow. I've never been in a chicken coop that stank as little as this one. So far. No need to get cocky after raising a few chickens for a month, right? Anyway, the built-up litter method is working pretty well. I was afraid it'd be dusty but even that hasn't been too much of a problem.

Thanks for the advice so far! This has been a learning experience. I just don't want to learn too much at the chickens' expense.

 

[bigmrg74]

The Pallet table I built last week for my girls. It gives them a whole lot more room in their run. All I really did was cut down a pallet a little bit, got some 2x4's at about 44 inches for the legs, and some 1x3's to brace the legs with. I angled the legs out a little bit to give it a wider base.


Mmmmm... Flock block!


In the cheapo container there I stuffed the ends of the cords in it and added a thermal cube as well. I don't currently have a shot of it right now, but the container is now currently bungeed to one of the table legs to keep it out of the way. Having the waterer up on the table keeps them from kicking straw into the waterer and making a mess.

 

[RonP]

Lots of info here on ventilation and heat.

You'll find dry is more important than heat, and proper draft free ventilation assists in keeping a coop dry (low humidity).

 

[k15n1]

So I'm a few weeks into the 2-tier-coop experiment. The results so far are than I've had to change feeding locations, nesting box locations, and I've had to deal with their constant scratching in a way I didn't anticipate.

After a week or so, it seemed like not everyone was getting enough to eat. I think it's a mistake to have the water and food at the end of a narrow platform. Just a single chicken can block everyone's access to the food or drink. So I got a second feeder and hung both of them on the main level.

I also cut back on the feed (someone suggested it here, I think). I'm giving them 52 oz layer feed, 4 oz conditioner, 4 oz sand, 4 oz oyster shells, and 8 oz corn. They eat it civilly enough but it's mostly gone in 24 h. If they're starved, I assume they'd peck each other terribly when new food arrives. And they're still laying. In fact, I'm getting more eggs now than before I started Ration #1.

The rooster can't seem to get in the feeders due to his starfish-sized comb (Red Ranger). So I'm wondering if a trough might be better. He's just really hungry---hungry enough to eat out of my hand and sometimes that's when there's some feed left in the bottom of the 30-lb feeder. I don't think he can get down in there.

I'm thinking of doing the same thing with the water. Access from the main level and use 2 fountains. They were eating snow the other day and when I bring water, they're in a hurry to drink out of the bucket. It's not a mad rush but some of them are more enthusiastic than I expect.

The screen-covered bucket under the water has worked but it's just so gross. They poop while drinking and it doesn't always go through the screen. In the summer it'd be fine because I could hose it off. But it's filling up and there's no easy way to get the ice/poo mixture out. Instead, I might use one of those vacuum-type fountains with a heater built in. Save the nipple-type fountain for outdoors in the summer.

The most popular nest box is a cardboard box in the corner of the top balcony. It's about 1' square and open on the top. Found 12 eggs in there one day. There's another nesting box on the wall but it's just not used much. Any hints on where to put nesting boxes?

 

[aart]

I also cut back on the feed (someone suggested it here, I think). I'm giving them 52 oz layer feed, 4 oz conditioner, 4 oz sand, 4 oz oyster shells, and 8 oz corn. They eat it civilly enough but it's mostly gone in 24 h. If they're starved, I assume they'd peck each other terribly when new food arrives. And they're still laying. In fact, I'm getting more eggs now than before I started Ration #1.

The rooster can't seem to get in the feeders due to his starfish-sized comb (Red Ranger). So I'm wondering if a trough might be better. He's just really hungry---hungry enough to eat out of my hand and sometimes that's when there's some feed left in the bottom of the 30-lb feeder. I don't think he can get down in there.

I'm thinking of doing the same thing with the water. Access from the main level and use 2 fountains. They were eating snow the other day and when I bring water, they're in a hurry to drink out of the bucket. It's not a mad rush but some of them are more enthusiastic than I expect.

The screen-covered bucket under the water has worked but it's just so gross. They poop while drinking and it doesn't always go through the screen. In the summer it'd be fine because I could hose it off. But it's filling up and there's no easy way to get the ice/poo mixture out. Instead, I might use one of those vacuum-type fountains with a heater built in. Save the nipple-type fountain for outdoors in the summer.

The most popular nest box is a cardboard box in the corner of the top balcony. It's about 1' square and open on the top. Found 12 eggs in there one day. There's another nesting box on the wall but it's just not used much. Any hints on where to put nesting boxes?

Are you mixing that all up together in one container?
You're significantly diluting the protein percentage of the layer feed and the rooster does not need to eating calcium additives anyway.
What's in the 'conditioner'....and why sand in the feed???

I like to feed an 'all flock' 20% protein crumble to all ages and genders, as non-layers(chicks, males and all molting birds) do not need the extra calcium that is in layer feed and chicks and molters can use the extra protein. Makes life much simpler to store and distribute one type of chow that everyone can eat and have calcium available at all times for the layers, oyster shell mixed with rinsed, dried, crushed chicken egg shells in a separate container. The higher protein crumble offsets the 8% protein scratch grains and other kitchen/garden scraps I like to offer daily.

 

[k15n1]

Are you mixing that all up together in one container?
You're significantly diluting the protein percentage of the layer feed and the rooster does not need to eating calcium additives anyway.
What's in the 'conditioner'....and why sand in the feed???

I like to feed an 'all flock' 20% protein crumble to all ages and genders, as non-layers(chicks, males and all molting birds) do not need the extra calcium that is in layer feed and chicks and molters can use the extra protein. Makes life much simpler to store and distribute one type of chow that everyone can eat and have calcium available at all times for the layers, oyster shell mixed with rinsed, dried, crushed chicken egg shells in a separate container. The higher protein crumble offsets the 8% protein scratch grains and other kitchen/garden scraps I like to offer daily.

Oh, it's for 14 hens and a rooster. It's 4.25 oz per bird.

I've heard (correct me if this is wrong) that it's a good idea to give them some scratch at night---has a warming effect as they digest it. That's why I'm giving them the cracked corn. And i figured mixing it didn't make much of a difference. Adding the scratch makes my 16% feed 13.9% protein. I guess that is a significant difference. How do you know if you're giving them enough? Are there obvious symptoms? I just figured they were OK as long as they were laying.

I put the sand and oyster shell in with the feed because it's convenient to measure it out in the garage before I trudge out to the coop.

I put out kitchen scraps, too, about 8 oz per day. They ignored the scraps when I was loading up the 30-lb feeder but now they pick through them with more interest.

Conditioner is something that was recommended to me by the lady who gave me my first 5 birds. Her birds had some kind of nutritional problem and ended up picking at each others' feathers. I'll read the label more carefully but I suspect that it's just a protein supplement. Maybe I could do away with that if I had higher-protein feed or better scratch. So much to learn...

 

[aart]

Quote:
There is alot to learn...slow, steady and simple is the way to learn more IMO. All the info, alot of it contradictory, can be very confusing.
Stick with the basics and give things time and observation to balance out before throwing a bunch of other stuff at a problem you might not be sure of the cause of.
Mixing grains(or anything else) with the crumble only makes them scatter the crumble all over trying to get at the grains and you don't know how much of what they are eating.

I put 2 scoops of crumble in the feeder every morning...I have determined, thru trial and error, that this is about what they will finish off in 24 hours. Sometimes I put a little more or a little less depending on what extra foods I have offered and/or due to fluctuations in the weather, they eat more in winter.

I scatter 1 scoop of scratch grain in the run in mid-late afternoon, a couple hours before they go to roost, to fill their crops for the night. I do this daily in the winter and less often in summer as other garden scraps are more available and there is less need for a 'hot' food late in the day.

The balanced crumble with the needed vitamins and minerals is their main food source, having it available all the time will keep them from gorging on it and make sure everyone gets a chance to feed on that throughout the day. I dole out the feed every day, instead of using a huge feeder filled once a week or what ever, to keep an eye on what's being consumed as well as anything else going on in the coop...but then my feed is stored in the coop so I don't have to haul anything daily except the half gallon to gallon of water they consume daily.


Oyster shell (mixed with rinsed, air dried and crushed chicken egg shells from kitchen use when available) is always available in a separate container to be used the the layers as they need it.

I assume the sand you are offering is for their grit needs? Sand is too small and rounded to work for digestive grit and it certainly shouldn't be mixed into their feed.
I don't provide grit as there is some crushed granite in the scratch feed I get from my local mill and they have access to the ground in the run.
Crushed granite grit could also be provided in a separate container for use when they need it.

Not sure why you want to measure by weight the food you are giving, maybe to see what the cost of producing your eggs is?
I keep track of eggs gathered and sold within the time frame that I use up one bag of crumble and approximately a half bag of scratch to see what those eggs cost me in feed and whether the egg sales cover the cost of feed. I set up a spreadsheet to do this. I don't calculate in the cost of bedding or oyster shells into the spreadsheet but know that those 2 items are pretty much covered by eggs sales also. After a year of keeping chickens I've found that the egg sales usually more than cover the cost of crumble and scratch, which was my goal.