Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[snowflake]

ojects.

I want to make another set of these...




Those chairs are funny!

Love the pattern, would love to make some great gift idea, you are very talented,!

Quote:

 

[snowflake]

my coop is on 4x4's off the ground from 1t 2ft. (ground is not level) we have a plywood floor, keep it covered with wood chips and hay, all food and water outside,year round... chickens are allowed under... I like the vinyl covering idea, may do that this summer...some cover the walls as well.... poop boards keep inside coop cleaner and dryer

nice set up by the way!!

 

[chicken grandma]

Hillbilly Hen - Love the pattern!

 

[chickflick]

Laura, that's really cool!!

Beautiful day today, considering it's still winter

Went out and bought a 50# bag of BOSS yesterday. I had so many different breeds of birds show up. Was hoping the two hawks across the field didn't see them. I just love watching all the birds come. Got some peanuts for the blue jays too.

 

[fuzzybutt love]

my floor is cheap kitchen (vinyl?) Good thing is it's so far been easy to scrape off with a flat shovel, and during the summer i can scrape and mop every day. Bad is that you have to do it every day!

Last winter i had a deep bedding in there, i used a very deep layer of fresh dry maple leaves, and i only had a few birds and poop boards; this year because my birds wanted to roost high and i have more birds i have a thin layer that gets changed frequently.

 

[Trefoil]

Sorry, I guess I wasn't clear.

I'm building a new coop because my current coop, though adequate, is not what I would like to have. I would still use it as a grow-out coop or a bachelor pad or whatever else I might need. It's on the NE side of the barn, with no Southerly facing wall (the south wall opens into the barn. It's great for letting them out in the winter where they just spread out into the barn for the day but they don't get any sun. The barn is a veritable cave. The options for the run are limited as 1. the chickens have to climb a ramp up and over the 3ft cinder block foundation and 2. the run encroaches into the sheep pasture, smaller than I'd like and 3. it's on the north side of the very large barn = no sun. It leaks badly when it rains and the ventilation is iffy. It didn't cost me anything to build it so I'm not out anything but time and sweat.

Anyway, I've got a spot out in the yard, by the garden that I've staked out. There's actually already a foundation sunken into the ground there that might have well been a coop at one time, given the size. It's not under any trees but gets shade in the summer half the day from a massive maple and oak tree nearby and sun all day in the winter. I'm not keen on pouring a concrete foundation so I'm wondering what else is available that is tried and true here in Michigan. I could ask the general forum but I don't particularly want to sort out responses from out west or the south; they don't always work up here.

Any input would be greatly appreciated and contemplated.


Here's an aerial view of a portion of our yard. The red square is the location of the current coop. You can't even see the structure it's in, a lean-to addition, for all the shade that barn makes. The yellow box is the location I'd like it to be in. I think I was working in the garden that day. No other reason for there to be a shadow there.

I also have a plywood floor with cheap linoleum. It sits on 4 x 4's. How far from the water will your new coop be? In the winter it makes a difference.

Did you make the chicken pattern, HH? That is very cool. I should dig out my sewing machines.


After I finish the wood...


I thought the butts were bigger but it was only 29" in diameter.



Most of the limbs made for nice cut rounds, but I think I do some splitting today since it has been cold enough for the moisture to freeze. Maple splits well anyway.

You're really going to town on that wood pile, will this heat you for the winter?
H.H. - that pattern would make a really cute quilt.

 

[RaZ]

I also have a plywood floor with cheap linoleum. It sits on 4 x 4's. How far from the water will your new coop be? In the winter it makes a difference.
You're really going to town on that wood pile, will this heat you for the winter?
H.H. - that pattern would make a really cute quilt.

X2 on the winter water.

This wood won't be ready for another year or so. The tree was just cut down last week and has a lot of moisture in it. I thought that as cold as it has been that the moisture would be frozen but as I split those big pieces, the water was oozing out.

 

[Hillbilly Hen]

Thanks so much for your kind words about my sewing y'all. I do enjoy it.

On the coop flooring...mine was wood with cheap vinyl over it. Easy to clean up but I think if I had to do it over I would have just painted the floor.

 

[ladyrsanti]

I also have a plywood floor with cheap linoleum. It sits on 4 x 4's. How far from the water will your new coop be? In the winter it makes a difference.

The water will be the same distance in the winter, the milk house (small square building in front of the barn) has the hydrant. In the summer I attach one of two hoses. One to the barn and one to the garden. I just have to remember to detach it when it freezes. <.<

 

[fuzzybutt love]

LOL
this thread is kinda how things go at my place................ Lotsa hugging and generally spoiled silly birds
I've even had some throw themselves sideways on me too, like my lap is a big beanbag.....

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...-do-they-even-know-they-are-chickens-pictures

(they are not mine, but thought it was great that someone actually caught this stuff on camera, i never have the foresight to bring mine)