Need help or idea for a coop!!

[AstralKoga]

I don't necessarily own any chickens, but I'd like to make a place where the wild hens in my backyard can rest under a roof at their own leisure with their chicks. Is it possible that I could use a milk crate laying on its side and a small dog bed inside of the crate for a cheap, starter chicken house or coop?

 

[Floof]

Hawaii doesn't have many natural predators so you don't need to make it very secure. Also, chickens will hangout wherever their needs are being met. I would just get some pallets and make a lean-to type structure and put shavings, food, and water out for them. Keep in mind that the easier you make their lives, the more chicks they will be able to raise so you could very quickly have too many roosters around.

 

[AstralKoga]

Hawaii doesn't have many natural predators so you don't need to make it very secure. Also, chickens will hangout wherever their needs are being met. I would just get some pallets and make a lean-to type structure and put shavings, food, and water out for them. Keep in mind that the easier you make their lives, the more chicks they will be able to raise so you could very quickly have too many roosters around.

What would the shavings be good for? Also I have a hard time feeding the chickens since pigeons are hanging around my house now haha.

 

[CNJ]

Hello, I live on Oahu and a flock of doves would hang around and eat my chicken feed. I had to buy a mechanical chicken feeder. They step on a pedal and the top opens and slowly closes when they step off. The first one I bought didn't have a hydraulic lid, so it would slam shut and spook them. Also, the weight of 7 or more doves could lift the cover and some would get trapped in there. The one with the hydraulic lid is more heavy duty, so the doves can't get in it. This one works the best for me............ https://www.amazon.com/Happy-Henhou...eywords=chicken+feeder&qid=1619768191&sr=8-41

 

[CNJ]

My coop is made of PVC and it has a tarp roof. This might give you some ideas. You probably could pound some fence pegs in the ground and tie a tarp over it................But chickens won't hang around under it unless it is under a tree or shady area. I had to train my chickens to sleep on the perch. I let them out during the day and they go back in when it gets dark. I close it at night, so they don't get eaten by a big cat or stray dog.
They never hang out in the coop during the day, they will only go in to lay their eggs. I collect around 7 eggs a day.
They prefer to hang out under my shady Lychee tree. They won't go in even if its raining, they would rather play in the rain. Furthermore, my chickens like to burry them selves in the dirt and take sun baths. They don't like to be held, but they will follow me around and help me pull weeds.

 

[Floof]

What would the shavings be good for? Also I have a hard time feeding the chickens since pigeons are hanging around my house now haha.

Chickens poop a lot and the shavings make it easy to scoop and toss out the yucky stuff. It is for your convenience, not the birds. My chicken coop had a wire bottom with a shallow storage tub underneath to catch the nightly droppings. I would compost the droppings or just toss out the doodoo into the trash when I had more than my garden could handle. If you don't want to construct a whole coop then you need a plan for what to do about the floor when it gets poop piled up. I guess you could just use a shovel instead of scoopable shavings.

 

[AstralKoga]

My coop is made of PVC and it has a tarp roof. This might give you some ideas. You probably could pound some fence pegs in the ground and tie a tarp over it................But chickens won't hang around under it unless it is under a tree or shady area. I had to train my chickens to sleep on the perch. I let them out during the day and they go back in when it gets dark. I close it at night, so they don't get eaten by a big cat or stray dog.
They never hang out in the coop during the day, they will only go in to lay their eggs. I collect around 7 eggs a day.
They prefer to hang out under my shady Lychee tree. They won't go in even if its raining, they would rather play in the rain. Furthermore, my chickens like to burry them selves in the dirt and take sun baths. They don't like to be held, but they will follow me around and help me pull weeds. View attachment 2642394

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View attachment 2642393

Thank you for all the lovely ideas and it's great to see someone else on BYC who lives on Oahu! I'm new to all this chicken stuff and have lately thought about trying to own a few, are there any laws, licences, and/or restrictions to owning chickens on Oahu?

 

[Floof]

HPD says you can have 2 chickens per residential household. Check your zoning to see if you are limited to only 2. I moved off island about 5 years ago but lived in a residential neighborhood near the airport. I started with 3 thinking I might lose one and ended up with 5 because chicken math happened haha. My neighbors raised roosters so didn't care but you might want to check with your neighbors before growing your flock. I got chickens from the farm store and also from the walmart parking lot (someone ran over the momma hen if I remember correctly) and they were all fantastic and active foragers. They ate the creepy crawlies but also ate every lizard in site. A leanto is sufficient if your yard is well fenced but an A frame is also pretty easy to construct if you want to keep them penned up.

 

[CNJ]

Thank you for all the lovely ideas and it's great to see someone else on BYC who lives on Oahu! I'm new to all this chicken stuff and have lately thought about trying to own a few, are there any laws, licences, and/or restrictions to owning chickens on Oahu?

We are allowed to have two chickens in a residential zone and we can get fined up to $1,000, but this won't happen unless the neighbors complain. I gave my neighbor on the right six chicks, so he is in on it and I gave my neighbor on the left some eggs. I lost some roosters from no crow collars, but I still use them, its mandatory in my case. Some roosters can't handle the collar and some can, its the way they are built.

I have the top two French breeds for meat taste and they are served in high end French restaurants. The Bresse chicken is best poached and served with sauce and the Brabeziuex chicken taste best roasted. The Bresse chicken reach mature weight (6 to 7 lbs.) and are ready to process around 16 weeks, but the Barbeziuex chickens take longer, they keep growing up to 14 months and can weigh up to 10 lbs.

I bought a feather plucker, so I am enjoying the different textures and taste of different breeds of chicken. They say the Bresse chicken can marbleize its meat like Kobe beef, and the Barbeziuex chicken smell like wheat when roasted.

The smoked Barbeziuex took my Portuguese Bean soup to another level and the roasted Bresse was inspiring. The meat on the Barbeziuex is kind of red and its texture is like duck. The meat on the Bresse is similar to chicken, it will be up to the chef to determine its taste.

My epicure adventure continues, I have 15 Cornish crosses coming in June, they grow twice as fast as heritage breeds. It takes around 8 weeks to reach mature weight.

I am working on a Bresse Hybrid that I hope can grow as fast as the Cornish crosses.
This is a link to Broiler Breeders and their Management: https://fareasternagriculture.com/live-stock/poultry/broiler-breeders-and-their-management

 

[CNJ]

We don't need any permit to mail-order chicks from Mcmurray's Hatchery and Paradise Poultry. They take care of that part. However, there is a 15 chick minimum order from Mcmurray to get free shipping, other wise its not worth shipping to Hawaii. Paradise Poultry is on the Big Island, I bought 5 Bresse chicks from them, but their bloodline produced a female with yellow legs, so its doesn't seem pure. Bresse chickens must have steel blue legs or they are not considered Bresse chickens in France. I wrote to them and they told me they got their line from the original importer Greenfire Farms. I did manage to get a large Bresse rooster with steel blue legs, so I can't complain. I will mate him with my other pure Bresse hen line I got from Bresse farm no S after farm. I bought their hatching eggs on Ebay. We don't need a permit to mail-order chicken hatching eggs. I went through the hassle of filing a permit, but the AG department called and said I don't need a permit for hatching eggs. Also, Kaneohe Farm supplies bring in chicks from Mcmurray Hatchery every month and retail them for twice the cost. Its a good deal if buying less than 15.