Nest Box 2.0 ??

[Ted Brown]

Thought a bigger run was next on the plate?

Yes, most important and will come first.

 

[jthornton]

I am investigating sourcing standard bred White Chantecler fertilized eggs in April/May and hatching out a small flock that I will segregate. These are the only Canadian developed breed, developed by a priest in a monastery in Oka Quebec, about 100 miles from where I live. Seems appropriate and well suited to my climate.

Yea that would be appropriate to have a heritage breed that was developed near you. I assume that is a cold hardy breed. It's quite interesting that I can get them as well at my local hatchery.

https://www.cacklehatchery.com/whitechantecler.html
JT

 

[aart]

How's the cold been up there?
Any chicken issues with it?

 

[Ted Brown]

How's the cold been up there?
Any chicken issues with it?

We have had three multi-day periods with temperatures -20Cs; normal temperatures are in the -5C to -15C range with several above 0C days notably last Saturday when we got +6C and close to 40mm of rain (RAIN???) - this definitely not normal.

The only issues have been very small white on some small comb tips that I assume is frostbite. The birds tolerate the cold well, I credit the Woods design as ventilation is excellent as I get no sign of frost or moisture inside.

The flock spends a majority of their time inside the coop, seem to venture out when temperature rises. The ISA pullets exit when I open the pop door in the morning, the Amerucana males like to go out in the afternoons often on their own and then I will see a mix at other times through the day. Of course everyone assembles as I round the corner bringing food, water, treats...

The deep bedding approach also is working well. I started with about 4" of pine shavings augmented by straw on top, have added two additional "bales" of shavings and one bale of straw. The straw is both an add to the bedding and a toy; I simply split the bale in half and put one pile in the front and the other in the back, a couple of days later it is spread evenly over the whole floor.

The drop board coupled with daily cleaning works!! I have very little smell, surprisingly few droppings on the floor proper and that is quickly mixed into the bedding by the birds. Moving the board from 18" off the floor to 30" was brilliant, much easier for to clean it.

No sign of predators, I check for footprints in the snow often and so far have seen deer and the occasional squirrel/chipmunk tracks.

 

[aart]

Warmer than norm here too...also rain.
Are you using a heated waterer?
How's the egg production?

 

[Ted Brown]

Warmer than norm here too...also rain. Are you using a heated waterer? How's the egg production?

I have one 3 gallon heated plastic waterer with 3 horizontal nipples inside the coop and I have a second non heated 2 gallon waterer inside, has the tray around the bottom; both are elevated off the floor so stay clean (ditto with the food dispensers). The birds prefer the water tray when it is available, I fill it each morning and it freezes through the day but the birds always consume at least half.

I track egg production, temperatures, food/water/treat consumption, comments in a spreadsheet daily. Almost without exception I get 6 or 7 eggs, average production ranges between 6.5 to 6.53 per day since the beginning of November .

 

[electrycmonk]

Our old accu-rite WX station broke down, sorta. The temp & humidity still function so I have been testing it for a couple weeks in a room of the house to see it's history data/avg'ing. So far, I'm happy with it's dual output. So now I'm trying to figure out where @ floor level I'll be placing the assembly & more importantly, how I'm gonna modify it's casing & base to keep the curious kids from picking it to oblivian. This unit will have its digital screen simbiote up on the wall to give the (often talked about elsewhere) dual temp/humidity varience.

 

[Ted Brown]

Our old accu-rite WX station broke down, sorta. The temp & humidity still function so I have been testing it for a couple weeks in a room of the house to see it's history data/avg'ing. So far, I'm happy with it's dual output. So now I'm trying to figure out where @ floor level I'll be placing the assembly & more importantly, how I'm gonna modify it's casing & base to keep the curious kids from picking it to oblivian. This unit will have its digital screen simbiote up on the wall to give the (often talked about elsewhere) dual View attachment 2004230temp/humidity varience.

Perhaps this post is in the wrong thread? Otherwise I do not understand the connection?

 

[electrycmonk]

Perhaps this post is in the wrong thread? Otherwise I do not understand the connection?

(Shrugs) you may very well be correct..... I forgot where I last read the dialogue & 'thought it was here's?

 

[Ted Brown]

Finally!

The weather here is almost unbelievable, almost a week of above 0C temperatures today was +6C. I took the opportunity to get the new nest box done and installed. I still have to build a section of the roof to keep the birds off.

The ISAs (my only laying birds) once again swarmed the box as soon as I put it inside on the floor, gave "overwhelming" help while I screwed it to the wall and immediately investigated the various boxes to figure out if they are to their satisfaction, tomorrow morning will tell the tale.

I used HC on the bottom and covered it will straw and some pine shavings; also installed the heater under the HC in hopes that it will delay/stop eggs from freezing.

I copied liberally from @aart 's design and also located it where she suggested. I had to move the dropping board ramp to the opposite side to accommodate, did that this morning to give the flock a day to get used to it, they adapted immediately. I am curious to see if that affected where the two groups sleep.

(Apologies for the quality of the pics, my camera is on it's last legs.)