"Louisiana "La-yers" Peeps"

[Cody A]

@ LaDoodler. Thank you for the book suggestion. I've got it ordered. I think I'm gonna read through it before I get started building. And I'll keep the leaf litter/bedding in mind. That's a great tip.

Hey Topdog24 the coop looks good. How big is the coop you have that housed 50+ birds, if you don't mind me asking? Thanks for sharing the pics.

Hey Ron you mentioned the term "Fart Egg" so I had to look it up. I spent the last twenty minutes learning about Pippin the chicken that came from a fart egg. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/348116/tiny-mystery-egg LOL

Hi LindaB220. I took a look at the hoop houses. I'm thinking I want something a little more permanent. Also my house is several hundred feet from the coop location so I'm really worried about hungry preds. I am re-thinking some things though.
I've decided to not use concrete for the floor and most likely go with sand or maybe deep litter. Will be a lot cheaper. Since this is my first try at chickens it's will be a test.
I'm excited about giving this a try and hope it's something I enjoy. On the other hand if it's not for me then I can use the shed for something else. I like eggs and chicken, but I'm a little worried I won't be able to handle the killing end of things.

Hi Donielles Medley


I'm having a hard time deciding where to put the coop and run. I have plenty of space. I have the option of putting the coop/run in full shade during summer months while there's leaves on the trees and nice sunshine in winter. If I were a chicken that's where I'd want my house to be. What do ya'll think?

 

[Angelicisi]

Getting a lil more caught up here so I can drop in here

Neva gonna catch that cheesy place at this rate!

Finally playing catch up? Wait to you see what I picked out of my hens foot. Hope I got it all this time. Pam

 

[Ron Skekel]

Dang it.    Fingers crossed for ya!!

Thank you!

 

[Ron Skekel]

@ LaDoodler. Thank you for the book suggestion. I've got it ordered.  I think I'm gonna read through it before I get started building. And I'll keep the leaf litter/bedding in mind. That's a great tip.

Hey Topdog24 the coop looks good. How big is the coop you have that housed 50+ birds, if you don't mind me asking? Thanks for sharing the pics.

Hey Ron you mentioned the term "Fart Egg" so I had to look it up. I spent the last twenty minutes learning about Pippin the chicken that came from a fart egg. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/348116/tiny-mystery-egg LOL

Hi LindaB220. I took a look at the hoop houses. I'm thinking I want something a little more permanent. Also my house is several hundred feet from the coop location so I'm really worried about hungry preds. I am re-thinking some things though.
I've decided to not use concrete for the floor and most likely go with sand or maybe deep litter. Will be a lot cheaper. Since this is my first try at chickens it's will be a test.
I'm excited about giving this a try and hope it's something I enjoy. On the other hand if it's not for me then I can use the shed for something else. I like eggs and chicken, but I'm a little worried I won't be able to handle the killing end of things.

Hi Donielles Medley


I'm having a hard time deciding where to put the coop and run. I have plenty of space. I have the option of putting the coop/run in full shade during summer months while there's leaves on the trees and nice sunshine in winter. If I were a chicken that's where I'd want my house to be. What do ya'll think?

You could go to my profile in my album is my coop build. It would be very easy to go back to a shed. Which I dought you will do. If you can't do the deed you could stick with layers our coop is for up to 30 birds. Pam

 

[Ron Skekel]

Getting a lil more caught up here so I can drop in here

Neva gonna catch that cheesy place at this rate!

Haha funny girl. Lol Pam

 

[topdog24]

@ LaDoodler. Thank you for the book suggestion. I've got it ordered. I think I'm gonna read through it before I get started building. And I'll keep the leaf litter/bedding in mind. That's a great tip.

Hey Topdog24 the coop looks good. How big is the coop you have that housed 50+ birds, if you don't mind me asking? Thanks for sharing the pics.

Hey Ron you mentioned the term "Fart Egg" so I had to look it up. I spent the last twenty minutes learning about Pippin the chicken that came from a fart egg. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/348116/tiny-mystery-egg LOL

Hi LindaB220. I took a look at the hoop houses. I'm thinking I want something a little more permanent. Also my house is several hundred feet from the coop location so I'm really worried about hungry preds. I am re-thinking some things though.
I've decided to not use concrete for the floor and most likely go with sand or maybe deep litter. Will be a lot cheaper. Since this is my first try at chickens it's will be a test.
I'm excited about giving this a try and hope it's something I enjoy. On the other hand if it's not for me then I can use the shed for something else. I like eggs and chicken, but I'm a little worried I won't be able to handle the killing end of things.

Hi Donielles Medley


I'm having a hard time deciding where to put the coop and run. I have plenty of space. I have the option of putting the coop/run in full shade during summer months while there's leaves on the trees and nice sunshine in winter. If I were a chicken that's where I'd want my house to be. What do ya'll think?

Cody, the chickens can use the shade in the summer for sure, i did a lot of thinking on that subject before deciding where to build my chicken house, trees do invite erial predators and over reaching limbs provide access over your fence for coons, mink and weasels,yes we have a few weasels in the south, and also can be a means of escape for the chickens. Then you have to look at having it in the open such as i have, you need to provide some structure for your birds to get under or in if a hawk or owl gets hungry when your birds are young, not so much if you have grown birds and especially if you have a good dependable rooster or 2 to defend your birds, a rooster will fight even the larger predators to defend his flock, my house is built to withstand any predator except for maybe a grizzley, another thing to consider is snakes, they usually do not like to cross open ground, another reason my house is on open ground where i can keep the perimeter mowed short. the house is basically 11' 6" ft by 7" 6' the roof is 12 x 8 ft, if i had it to build over again, i would built the frame 11 x 7 ft, and allow for a bit more over hang on the roof, the corner posts are cemented in the ground, with 2 x6 and 2 x 4 framing, then stripped with 1 x 4 to mount the tin on, ventilation on all sides, the tin is set a few inchs deep in the ground. I will gather my detailed pictures of the build and send them to you

 

[campingshaws]

Off topic, but I lost my only biddy last night. She was a "welcome to chickens!" gift from the farmer up the road and I've had her six weeks. My 5yo is going to be crushed.

 

[LaDoodler]

Oh no! No idea of what happened to your biddy?

 

[campingshaws]

Oh no!  No idea of what happened to your biddy?

Husband seems to think it was our housecat. He's getting older and has gotten prone to accidents in the house overnight, so we put him out at bedtime. I had finally moved the biddy from the bathtub to a dog kennel on the back porch. I had chicken wire around the bottom but it was peeled back from a gap near the door, and she was pulled through. I had my friendliest pullet in the kennel with her, so I'm glad it wasn't worse. It's our second loss in six weeks, though the first was an accidental oversight by our chicken sitter while we were gone one evening. I feel way more responsible this time.

Yesterday morning biddy was loose on the porch and old cat was out there with her, so it seems if it was him that he would have taken the easy kill yesterday. We're in the middle of nowhere and the woods are right on the other side of the fence, so it really could be anything.

 

[LaDoodler]

Cody,

I'll post some pictures of my coop and pen too. I'm not quite finished, but you can get the idea. If you are like me, your head will be swimming with ideas before you settle on a plan which I'm sure you have gathered includes location, size and design (including multi-purposing it). Reading and thinking and sketching before you pick up the first 2 x 4 is the way to go.

And, given the different behaviors of different breeds, that might even be a consideration too. For example, my RIRs run for cover under the trees anytime they anticipate a threat. That's one of the reasons I got them. From what I have read, some breeds are very docile, and don't have a strong run-and-hide tendency. Because we have a few very large hawks in the area, and I don't have a rooster to defend them, I've left it very brushy under the trees, so not as easy for a hawk to get to them. Owls and coyotes around too, but I securely lock up the girls at night. I'll mention the security measures I built into my coop - but noting original - I got most of the ideas from BYC posts.