New coop and chicks!

[sBrickmanHouse]

Quote:
Thank you all for your nice compliments! We're chicken newbies, so they mean an awful lot coming from the experts around here!

To answer your questions, SilkieChicken...

No, much as we'd love to keep them all, 23 chickens would be way too many for us! Since we ordered from McMurray, we had a 25 chick minimum (lost two, sadly). We live in a semi-rural area, and know no shortage of people who would love to take a healthy young pullet off our hands, so all our extras are eagerly spoken for already. They're all going to already established flocks, though, so they'll have to wait until they get bigger.

The heat lamp is hung by the cord. I had heard of them breaking, but my understanding was that the risk comes from the cord detaching from the lamp body. It's kind of hard to see in the picture, but we have the cord wrapped a couple of times around the hanging bracket much like a rope or chain would be, so it's not possible to detach. If I've misunderstood, though, and we need a different set up, please let me know! We definitely want to keep these girls safe.

Thanks again to all for providing a terrific resource to new chicken keepers!

 

[lurky]

Awesome coop brickman!!!!! You have some lucky chicks.

 

[CarlaRiggs]

Delightful coop!

You've thought of everything you'll need and it shows. I especially like the cupboards above the nests. One can never have too much storage space in the coop!

The picture will be complete when the trees leaf out soon. Very, very pretty.


Carla

 

[JaciesCoop]

Very nice digs for those babies. You did a great job. I can tell it was well thought out.

Jacie

 

[LinckHillPoultry]

that's really nice!

Really fancy!
great job!

&& the chicks look like they're in heaven!

 

[sBrickmanHouse]

Quote:
Well, Alexis, like everyone says, they don't stay teeny tiny for long!

The pictures I originally posted were taken around 10 days ago, and when I walked into the coop this morning, look what I found!

Those teeny tiny chicks are using the roosts (and everything else in the place) as their own personal jungle gym!

 

[silkiechicken]

Boy they grow fast! As for the light, if you have it tied down it should be fine. I'm not really sure myself what the actual mechanism of failure of cord hanging is, so can't help much with that. Just have heard stories before on the board. My brooders are all tiny and short so they just get clipped.

I can't wait for more fluffy bums!

 

[airmom1c05]

Your coop is adorable and so efficiently planned! I especially like the cupola on top. I have to go pray forgiveness now for coop coveting! Great job!

 

[sBrickmanHouse]

Quote:
Honestly, it's all of you who deserve the credit for getting me educated and organized! I spent a lot of time on this forum getting information on coop design, and though it's only been a few weeks, the coop is working out very well, so you all clearly had some great ideas!

The chickens are our 9 year old daughter's first 4-H project, so it was really important to us to design the coop on a scale and in a way that a young caretaker could be successful at it. Everything's pretty open, pretty simple, and close to hand. We also travel a few times a year, so it was also important to have everything easy for house sitters who may not be that familiar with chickens.

The cabinet's one of our better features, though, I must admit! It's not that big (won't store a 50 lb bag of feed or anything) but it's great for grit, calcium, the starter chick feeders and waterers, and miscellaneous seasonal and maintenance stuff. Because the doors are smooth and inset, there's no way for the chicks to get in, so it keeps everything neat and safely tucked away.

It's the one little "extra" we built in that I would highly recommend to anyone who's looking for coop ideas!

The other thing that has worked really well for us is the step-on lid plastic trash can. It's the perfect size to hold a 50 lb bag of starter crumbles, the lid fits tight and smooth, and the step-on mechanism makes it easy to hold the feeder in one hand and scoop with the other without fumbling with a lid. Plus, no forgetting to put the lid back on! (Remember that 9 year old!)

 

[asher]

That is fantastic! Love it!