Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[bigshawn]

Quote:
Nice congrats, can't wait tell my turn.............

Bigshawn and Welcome to the Marans thread!

Thank you, glad to be here, I've been following this thread for several weeks now I can't get enough of these marans I don't have any right now but when I settle into my new place they will the first chickens I get, hopefully from one of you fine breeders on here............

 

[Debbi]

Quote:

No, not trying to romance the cats, I'm quite sure! He's just getting in his share of bullying; lots of wing flapping and a swift peck on their heads! Mostly at feeding time for the cats. The chooks have all decided that if the cats can eat their food, they should be eating some of the cats' food! Pip did get a quick response last night when he went after the tom cat. This pig of a cat will spread out his arms and paws all over as much of the food as he can, so the others can't get it. Here comes Pip, gives the cat a peck, and the tom rears up and swats Pip right in the face!

Both came back at each other in a quick flurry of feathers and fur, and then Pip retreated. Wish I had a camera for that action pic.

 

[pinkchick]

Debbi~

Do not go look at the price of lumber!!!!!! I repeat, DO NOT GO LOOK AT THE PRICE OF LUMBER!!!!!!!!

Peiton (spelling sorry) and Adobe construction is looking like a VERY good way to go. Too bad it rains so blippin much here in the PNW.

 

[pinkchick]

Quote:

Bigshawn and Welcome to the Marans thread!

Thank you, glad to be here, I've been following this thread for several weeks now I can't get enough of these marans I don't have any right now but when I settle into my new place they will the first chickens I get, hopefully from one of you fine breeders on here............

When you finally get them you will love them!

 

[Debbi]

Quote:
I don't think our orange clay dirt here would make good adobe mud? Sure would be nice if it did! I have thought about log coops, using smaller logs than you would for a home. Oh Lawdy, give me strength!

I can imagine that the T111 I used for the main coop is probably around 35 bucks a sheet by now, last year it was only 28 bucks...

 

[pinkchick]

Quote:
I don't think our orange clay dirt here would make good adobe mud? Sure would be nice if it did! I have thought about log coops, using smaller logs than you would for a home. Oh Lawdy, give me strength!

I can imagine that the T111 I used for the main coop is probably around 35 bucks a sheet by now, last year it was only 28 bucks...

Depends on what kind of T1-11 you use right now....if it is the pre-primed chip board T1-11 then it is not to bad...$40 something a sheet, BUT, we just resided a house and used pre-primed real ply T1-11 and it was.......$52.90 a sheet and we had to buy an entire unit @53 sheets per unit.

eta: hence the reason I build all of my coops out of recycled materials. Once they are painted pink they look good as new!

 

[flgardengirl]

We have a couple of 'free pallet' coops but dh and I got tired of pulling all the nails and boards off the pallets now so went back to trying to just find cheap or free wood LOL!!! I'm still having flashbacks from when I stepped on those 3 nails haha. Adobe coops sound cool but it is too wet here also...maybe if I still lived in AZ! I should tell my mom to make hers from adobe bricks since she is in PHX. I think since the walls would be pretty thick they would insulate against heat and cold?
How about straw-bale coops...aren't they coated with cement?


babyrnlc: Brabranters look so cool ! I read your website. Congrats on getting your midwifery. I am working on advanced practice RN myself (not midwifery) but I think midwives are so awesome! We got to follow some midwife birth experiences when I did my BSN for our clinical in OB. Just amazing experiences for the moms and babies and their whole familes! You go girl!!

 

[Debbi]

Well hopefully it's not that crazy high here!! No chipboard here, so it would be the higher priced stuff.

Wonder if board construction would be cheaper??

 

[Debbi]

Quote:
You know, there are quite a few homes around here built with straw bales. I can't see how that could possibly last long out here, or house all kinds of bugs and critters? Doesn't the staw decompose within the walls??? Then there's the problem of getting the straw, not a lot of locals grow it here. Don't know why, they could make a good chunk of change selling it. Last straw I bought, and it was wheat straw (I prefer oat straw), it was 6 bucks per bale! I'm sure that's probably gone up too since then?

 

[pinkchick]

Quote:
I just finished a coop that I made out of old cedar fencing. An apartment complex was replacing the fence and the fence panels were advertised on CL for free, so DH and I loaded up the truck and trailer and made a 2.5 hour drive to pick up as many panels as we could fit into the truck and the 5'x10' trailer. I tore them apart and cleaned the nails and trimmed all of the rot off the bottom of the boards that needed trimming. I used them as siding and hung them vertically on the coop. Used that see through corrugated plastic stuff around the top of the walls to let in daylight and because the fence boards were only 5 footers I had to figure out something that would complete the walls and look ok. The roof is the 4' metal from around my old above ground pool that "accidentally" and finally sprung a leak (

I sure did hate that pool

) . I love the look of the fence board coop, now I just need to get it painted.