Folkvanger Farm
In the Brooder
Well this journey started a little over a year ago when a guy at work needed to rehome a rooster. Growing up on a farm and visiting my grandparents as a child left fond memories of going out to the coop and grabbing some eggs for breakfast. It also left lasting memories of animal husbandry and a sense of awe for nature. Being a father myself now triggered a voice inside my head to say yes to taking my friend's rooster home.
Unfortunately, my first rooster fell victim to some "fowl" deed while I was away on a business trip. I came home and it was explained that a coyote must have gotten him. This did not raise an alarm at the time, but after my father-in-law decided to give me TWO banty roosters to replace the one that died and they then disappeared under mysterious circumstances while I was on another business trip did start to raise a flag. I questioned my wife who had, after 17 years of marriage, revealed that she did in fact hate all forms of chickens. She vehemently denied any "fowl" play, but alas I was convinced she had ordered the local predators to off my aspirations of becoming a chicken farmer.
Well then Christmas rolled around and lo and behold my wife, bubbling with excitement, said sheepishly that I should go outside to see what Santa had left me. Santa indeed had determined that I was a good boy and left me Fred & d'Artagnan, two fine feathered friends in need of a good home. So a couple of weeks later I decided they needed to have some female companionship and my wife was fine with getting some hens to round out the budding flock. I quickly noticed that the sex drive of two young roosters was more than what my 3 new ladies were willing to tolerate and promptly went and got 7 more locally and ordering 14 more that should arrive sometime in June. So as of this date I have 10 hens and my two roosters.
Before I went and got the 7 new hens I decided I needed to upgrade from the small coop I had bought at tractor supply to something more suited to my ambitions of having a self sustaining flock for food & fun. So I set out on a mission in which I watched countless hours of youtube, both good and bad videos to find just the right coop for our flock. This is what came of it and I even have a youtube video walkthrough that I will link sometime later today.
There is still some work to do however I work rotating shifts and will be finishing up the to do list. Namely putting up the fence (currently using deer netting), redoing the roofing (Ondura is asphalt based and it was my first time so I need a bit more overhang on the front and to patch up some wayward holes from getting happy with the hammer), nailing down the middle roof cap, and putting more roosting bars inside (currently 4 natural wood from small trees I cut down and I want to have a total of 6 roosting bars).
It does have the deep litter system and a total of 10 nesting boxes (5 per side). I also did tile in the floor of the coop because the employees of Lowes would rather play hide and seek with the customers instead of helping me find some laminate flooring. I will also be building a smaller coop with a run to introduce new birds as I get my flock up to the desired 20 hens for my two boys.
Unfortunately, my first rooster fell victim to some "fowl" deed while I was away on a business trip. I came home and it was explained that a coyote must have gotten him. This did not raise an alarm at the time, but after my father-in-law decided to give me TWO banty roosters to replace the one that died and they then disappeared under mysterious circumstances while I was on another business trip did start to raise a flag. I questioned my wife who had, after 17 years of marriage, revealed that she did in fact hate all forms of chickens. She vehemently denied any "fowl" play, but alas I was convinced she had ordered the local predators to off my aspirations of becoming a chicken farmer.
Well then Christmas rolled around and lo and behold my wife, bubbling with excitement, said sheepishly that I should go outside to see what Santa had left me. Santa indeed had determined that I was a good boy and left me Fred & d'Artagnan, two fine feathered friends in need of a good home. So a couple of weeks later I decided they needed to have some female companionship and my wife was fine with getting some hens to round out the budding flock. I quickly noticed that the sex drive of two young roosters was more than what my 3 new ladies were willing to tolerate and promptly went and got 7 more locally and ordering 14 more that should arrive sometime in June. So as of this date I have 10 hens and my two roosters.
Before I went and got the 7 new hens I decided I needed to upgrade from the small coop I had bought at tractor supply to something more suited to my ambitions of having a self sustaining flock for food & fun. So I set out on a mission in which I watched countless hours of youtube, both good and bad videos to find just the right coop for our flock. This is what came of it and I even have a youtube video walkthrough that I will link sometime later today.
There is still some work to do however I work rotating shifts and will be finishing up the to do list. Namely putting up the fence (currently using deer netting), redoing the roofing (Ondura is asphalt based and it was my first time so I need a bit more overhang on the front and to patch up some wayward holes from getting happy with the hammer), nailing down the middle roof cap, and putting more roosting bars inside (currently 4 natural wood from small trees I cut down and I want to have a total of 6 roosting bars).
It does have the deep litter system and a total of 10 nesting boxes (5 per side). I also did tile in the floor of the coop because the employees of Lowes would rather play hide and seek with the customers instead of helping me find some laminate flooring. I will also be building a smaller coop with a run to introduce new birds as I get my flock up to the desired 20 hens for my two boys.
Attachments
Last edited:
