Maine

[lazy gardener]

looked at the building today nice and big. has a black metal roof 1 window a 5ft wide double door. its mine if I want it. if iget it I plan on adding 3 more windows and will be sectioning the coop off with a grain and tool room a grow out pen and the main coop. just need to cut a few trees and I will be ready for delivery next week. hope the black roof wont get too hot in the summer.

I'm envious! Oh what I could do with a building that size!!! Enjoy!

 

[lazy gardener]

We found someone to build a nice, solid coop for us! It's more money than my husband had budgeted out for us but it's so going to be worth it in the long run. I hope my ladies will be pleased!

Enjoy! We're commiting this weekend to working on my tractor. Hope to get the end and mid wall finished, Then need enough warm weather to be able to paint. I may close the whole thing in with poly for some solar gain. that should warm it up a bit!!

 

[Widget]

Shelter is coming along slowly. Just finished putting in the six anchor stakes. Had to come in to dry off and warm up a bit. My soil is very sandy with only a few small rocks mixed in and it still took me about 20 minutes per stake. I would hate to have had more rocky soil to try to put them in. Next will be the cover. Hopefully the rest of it will go together easier.

Picked up 20 new chicks today at Longhorn. Ten Silkies, five Easter Egger pullets, two Welsummer roos and three pullets are now in the baby brooder in the cellar. The two week old Icelandics and the Tetra Tint chicks moved into the juvenile brooder. Plus there are eggs in the bator due to hatch this weekend.

I have six turkey poults (Bourbon Red and something else) on order for early May and some Saxony ducklings due the first week in June. At this rate I should just add a couple goslings and call it good.

 

[buckabucka]

DH picked up the five chicks I ordered from Longhorn yesterday, -3 brown leghorns, just to keep some white in my egg basket, and 2 NH, just because I wanted to try them. I was tempted by the Welsummers, but I need to start thinking about how much room I will have.

Day 21 is tomorrow evening for me. The Longhorn chicks are in a brooder in the same room as the incubator, so I can move the new hatchlings in with them. Around noon I heard a distress call and went up to check the Longhorn chicks. They were happily eating and pecking at things. The loud chirping had come from the incubator! One of the lavenders had hatched a day and a half early. I hope there is nothing wrong with it. It looks normal, but I've never had one hatch this early.

 

[Carrie54452002]

Is it ever too early for DE? And would you say the brooder in the garage with the heat lamp is not warm enough for baby chicks??

 

[gracejr]

Alright guys, I need some ideas! Right now all the chicks are in a storage bin brooder, but they're already outgrowing it. I need a BIG brooder (18 chicks), that can be easily broken down for storage, is easy to clean and lightweight, inexpensive, and closed sides to try and keep the dust at a minimum. Cheap and easy is the name of the game, collapsible is a must as we don't have a garage and storage space is very limited. I can go up to 48"x48" floorspace.

Any ideas? Also, do you think window screening over the hardware mesh top will reduce dust? They're in our main living area so there are computers and the TV in the same room.

Lastly, when do you think it will be warm enough for them to go out? My chicks last year didn't go out for a LONG time, but that was because the coop wasn't done. They're only about 3 weeks old right now, but I can't wait until they're ready to go out!!

 

[MustardTiger]

you could use a dog crate lined with some sort of mesh, or tarp. Sometimes you can get them cheap on CL. Maybe a baby pool with something on top?

 

[Dita Von Cluck]

We bought 3 buff Orpington chicks today and I'm a VERY happy girl!! It's finally happened for me & it feels surreal. I'm trying to resist checking on them every time one of them cheeps. I hope I do them proud as their honorary mother!

 

[buckabucka]

I think chicks in a garage with heat lamp will be fine, as long as the brooder has sides to keep out the draft. I've never tried this, but I've read about other people who never brood in their house.

Gracejr, I put my 4 week old chicks out in the coop without heat, and they are doing fine. If you want to keep them in another week and your current brooder just won't do, get a large appliance box. You can toss it when you are done. One of the appliance stores in Winslow has another property with a large open trailer where they dump their boxes. If I have a large hatch, I add a box onto our much smaller plywood brooder.

 

[Widget]

Alright guys, I need some ideas! Right now all the chicks are in a storage bin brooder, but they're already outgrowing it. I need a BIG brooder (18 chicks), that can be easily broken down for storage, is easy to clean and lightweight, inexpensive, and closed sides to try and keep the dust at a minimum. Cheap and easy is the name of the game, collapsible is a must as we don't have a garage and storage space is very limited. I can go up to 48"x48" floorspace.

Any ideas? Also, do you think window screening over the hardware mesh top will reduce dust? They're in our main living area so there are computers and the TV in the same room.

Lastly, when do you think it will be warm enough for them to go out? My chicks last year didn't go out for a LONG time, but that was because the coop wasn't done. They're only about 3 weeks old right now, but I can't wait until they're ready to go out!!

I use a dog playpen (North States Superyard XT). It is plastic but well built . There are add on panels available to make it even larger. It is collapsible so storage is not an issue. It would be easy to enclose the sides to keep dust and loose feathers from getting all over the house. I use a screen top to keep the adventurous in and the curious (cat) out.