New person: Coop construction thread

[Melabella]

I think most chicken owners would agree that they are expensive eggs. However you are going to have the best manure know to man for your garden; weed and insect control; a pet that will help you make breakfast; and an assortment of personalities who will warm your heart; and if you are so inclined something that taste good with dumplings; as a side benefit.

Good luck with your new venture Sue Gremlin

Well said!

 

[Sue Gremlin]

what are you going to get. Figuring that out is SO much fun. I picked 5 different breeds. One of the 10 of them turned out to be a rooster! I let him stay, so far, so good. Got my first egg a week ago! Waiting for the other 8 girls to start!

Let us know!
MB

We are inheriting six existing, mature hens from a friend who is moving out of the country next week. Four sex links (two black, two buff) and two barred rocks. All have been in full egg mode for a couple of months. I do realize this great coop we have will lead me to collect unusual looking hens.
My rule, however: NO ROOSTERS. No how, no way. I am not going to crack eggs and have half-baked chicks land in the pan. Eesh.

 

[Sue Gremlin]

I think most chicken owners would agree that they are expensive eggs. However you are going to have the best manure know to man for your garden; weed and insect control; a pet that will help you make breakfast; and an assortment of personalities who will warm your heart; and if you are so inclined something that taste good with dumplings; as a side benefit.

Good luck with your new venture Sue Gremlin

Thanks Hokum! We are quite excited. I have already divided my kitchen compost into two bowls: Chicken and non-chicken.

 

[Melabella]

We are inheriting six existing, mature hens from a friend who is moving out of the country next week. Four sex links (two black, two buff) and two barred rocks. All have been in full egg mode for a couple of months. I do realize this great coop we have will lead me to collect unusual looking hens.
My rule, however: NO ROOSTERS. No how, no way. I am not going to crack eggs and have half-baked chicks land in the pan. Eesh.

If you collect on a daily or even every few days basis,, you have no worry about that. Heck, the only chance of that will be if you have one of them go broody, and actually sit on them for at least a week. THe breeds you are mentioning tend not to be of the broody type, so even if you did have a roo, not to worry. Perhaps one of the barred rocks, but even that is unusual if they are hatchery birds. I ordered 10 female chicks last summer from Meyer hatchery and felt the same way you did. Of course, they guarentee only a 90% sexing rate, and low and behold, one of them turned out to be a roo. I was SO UPSET at first, but decided to inch along and see how it went instead of my first instinct to give him to a breeder in town. He has turned out to be a wonderful protector of my girls, I free range them since they have him to protect and give watch. From your pics you seem to be in heavy predetor area. He also breaks up any sillyness that goes on in the hen house. I have heard that a good Roo is worth their weight, and at 5 months along, he is showing promising signs.

Keep us posted! Oh, remember when chickens are moved to a new area, the laying can slow down for a week or two while they get adjusted, so don't be disheartened if you don't see eggs for a bit.

Good Luck!
MB

 

[Sue Gremlin]

If you collect on a daily or even every few days basis,, you have no worry about that. Heck, the only chance of that will be if you have one of them go broody, and actually sit on them for at least a week. THe breeds you are mentioning tend not to be of the broody type, so even if you did have a roo, not to worry. Perhaps one of the barred rocks, but even that is unusual if they are hatchery birds. I ordered 10 female chicks last summer from Meyer hatchery and felt the same way you did. Of course, they guarentee only a 90% sexing rate, and low and behold, one of them turned out to be a roo. I was SO UPSET at first, but decided to inch along and see how it went instead of my first instinct to give him to a breeder in town. He has turned out to be a wonderful protector of my girls, I free range them since they have him to protect and give watch. From your pics you seem to be in heavy predetor area. He also breaks up any sillyness that goes on in the hen house. I have heard that a good Roo is worth their weight, and at 5 months along, he is showing promising signs.

Keep us posted! Oh, remember when chickens are moved to a new area, the laying can slow down for a week or two while they get adjusted, so don't be disheartened if you don't see eggs for a bit.

Good Luck!
MB

That is so cute that they protect their girls. I may have to rethink things. A neighbor of ours has a rooster who chases ME when I run by on the road. Little &%$#! hurts when he spurs! OW!
We got our chickens today. I am SO happy about this.
This was taken less than a minute after I took them out of their vari-kennel. They got right to the business of scratching and eating.

 

[Sue Gremlin]

Okay then! We may have made a fatal flaw in the roost design. We originally planned to make bleachers, but decided to go with a simpler design instead, the two 2x4's across two very thin supports so they are all on the same level. But they are roosting on the thin planks and not the 2 x 4's! Kind of surprising.
Can I put something sticky there to prevent them from roosting where they are here? (I invite other suggestions).
We are going to put a poop board on the floor and would like to prevent them from pooping on the nest boxes. We want them to go north and south rather than east and west, like they are in this.

 

[aldarita]

We are inheriting six existing, mature hens from a friend who is moving out of the country next week. Four sex links (two black, two buff) and two barred rocks. All have been in full egg mode for a couple of months. I do realize this great coop we have will lead me to collect unusual looking hens.
My rule, however: NO ROOSTERS. No how, no way. I am not going to crack eggs and have half-baked chicks land in the pan. Eesh.

Sue, looking at the pic you posted with the roosting boards your husband built, you might want to add roosting boxes underneath to collect the poop, it is so much easier for you to clean, specially if they are removable. There is a great thread started by Trish about roosting boxes and the best way to clean them, look it up you can get excellent ideas. I have two roosting boxes in my coop that i remove every 4 days, empty the poop in my compost pile and I am good to go for another 4 days. I have 9 pooping machines, I love them dearly but they really produce a lot of poop which by the way is going into my plants once it gets composted.

 

[Sue Gremlin]

Sue, looking at the pic you posted with the roosting boards your husband built, you might want to add roosting boxes underneath to collect the poop, it is so much easier for you to clean, specially if they are removable. There is a great thread started by Trish about roosting boxes and the best way to clean them, look it up you can get excellent ideas. I have two roosting boxes in my coop that i remove every 4 days, empty the poop in my compost pile and I am good to go for another 4 days. I have 9 pooping machines, I love them dearly but they really produce a lot of poop which by the way is going into my plants once it gets composted.

Thank you! That is actually a pretty simple solution to this. I appreciate it!

 

[Melabella]

That is so cute that they protect their girls. I may have to rethink things. A neighbor of ours has a rooster who chases ME when I run by on the road. Little &%$#! hurts when he spurs! OW!
We got our chickens today. I am SO happy about this.
This was taken less than a minute after I took them out of their vari-kennel. They got right to the business of scratching and eating.

Love the pic of the hen with her head in the TOP of the feeder! I had to buy the top for that feeder that is shaped like a cone because one of my BR pullets insisted on rootsing on top of the feeder and she would poo into the food every day! Those are some nice looking birds, and it looks quite cozy in there! Not sure of your location or if they had heat before, but be wary of keeping heat in your coop. Make sure you have proper ventilation as this can cause a build up of moisture and that is what causes birds problems, not the cold.. Nature gave chickens natural down jackets, and you have some very cold hearty breeds so unless you are reaching crazy sub zero temps, and they are protected from drafts, they don't even need heat supplement. Save yoursefl the money! Mine are out with no supplemental heat at all. I have great ventelation iin my coop, and total protection from wind at night, and they do just fine. There are several threads on here that go into great depth on this subject. If you can't find any, let me know, and I can post some for you!

GOod luck, and keep us posted. Job well done Sue!
MB

 

[aart]

Run the roost over the nest boxes and mount the removable poop boards on top of the nest boxes? Better access to that far nest for eggs too.
Might be a good idea to raise the feed and water on a platform, or hang them, so they don't scratch beeding and poop into them.