New Mexico

[BeefQuesoritto]

Hi, I'm closest to Tucumcari, but I live pretty rural. I've lived in Albuquerque and Santa Fe too. And in Las Vegas, so whenever I hear someone say Las Vegas I think they mean NM instead of NV.

 

[TwoCrows]

Hi, I'm closest to Tucumcari, but I live pretty rural. I've lived in Albuquerque and Santa Fe too. And in Las Vegas, so whenever I hear someone say Las Vegas I think they mean NM instead of NV.

Yeah it's funny, I never think NV when I hear Las Vegas.

 

[BeefQuesoritto]

Had a calm wind day yesterday so I put a bunch of holes in my shed, and set up the metal skeleton of my run. The chicks are already escaping the brooder, even though one batch is only 2 weeks old and the other batch is 1 week.


I've found 2 2x4's in my barn, score! Free roosts!

Just need to put the hardware cloth and screening on the windows. I'm still debating if I should cut more. But the door should be open practically all the time, so I think that counts as ventilation too.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Had a calm wind day yesterday so I put a bunch of holes in my shed, and set up the metal skeleton of my run. The chicks are already escaping the brooder, even though one batch is only 2 weeks old and the other batch is 1 week.

View attachment 3445938
I've found 2 2x4's in my barn, score! Free roosts!

Just need to put the hardware cloth and screening on the windows. I'm still debating if I should cut more. But the door should be open practically all the time, so I think that counts as ventilation too.

You're new! Welcome from SE MO (Missouri)! By way of NW NM, lol, that was my home for many years. Did you introduce yourself in the New Members thread? You will get lots of welcomes there!

 

[BeefQuesoritto]

You're new! Welcome from SE MO (Missouri)! By way of NW NM, lol, that was my home for many years. Did you introduce yourself in the New Members thread? You will get lots of welcomes there!

Yep, I posted there! Hey there! I've been through MO a couple times. Way greener than NM, for sure.

I decided to paint that shed white to help keep it cooler, and maybe make it look a little less ugly. Jeez, it really is a very ugly shed, huh? I've got plenty of scrap in my barn that I could use to add some trimming and make it look a little less like a chopped up shed and more like one of the cute coops on here.

Really I need to get a move on with it, because these birds want out now. And I've already had two escapees run amok in my utility room.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

What it looks like matters less than how it works for the birds. Is it metal? Won't it get awfully hot this summer? The other main concern is, is it safe from predators? I know you probably have snakes in your area, what about skunks? Dogs, coyotes? Around here we also have raccoons and opossums. Don't know if those are an issue for you.

 

[BeefQuesoritto]

I am pretty worried about it getting too hot. It's shaded / protected by wind by a barn, but shade in the grassland is um... fleeting. Thankfully I'm at a high enough elevation that it rarely gets above 100 F, but does often hit 90. Unfortunately, the UV at the higher elevation means that metal is the most dependable material to make stuff out of. I've got a dog house made out of wood that's faded intensely after just a couple months, and the shingle roof is falling apart.

My barn is metal and its interior stays pretty cool because no sun gets inside. I saw another desert coop that uses shade cloth instead of hardware cloth in the windows. I was planning on using both. I've also considered putting rigid insulation on the roof only, out of the reach of the chickens.

From some Arizona folks, I've seen some people add misters to their run. I could probably do something like that.

I barely see snakes. We absolutely have coyotes. Dogs are dumped here on occaison (that's what my dog house is for, uninvited visitors). We have skunks, badgers, foxes, and even weasels. I don't think we have racoons or opossums though.

The bottom of the shed was dirt, so I decided to just attach hardware cloth along the whole bottom in overlapping layers. I thought that would be a little more dependable than aproning it out.

 

[BeefQuesoritto]

Eventually I'd like to add another shed of the same design and arrange them something like this to provide a 3 sided shelter with a lot more room. Then use the sheds for chicken-related storage, brooder, sick bay, etc.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Nice!

 

[BeefQuesoritto]

I just got the roost braces up.



The roosts are attached like this so I can remove them for deep cleaning without fussing with the blocks attached to the wall.

The allure of these free 2x4's is waning... Maybe once I sand them, I'll be happier with them. I just wanted to put them up to make sure this would work out.

One coat of white paint is on it. Looks pretty sharp! The trim's painted red. I think it'll look less like a beat up aged shed and a nice lookin coop once I'm done fiddling with it.