NY chicken lover!!!!

[ChickPrincess]

What does everyone do to help keep the coop cool on hot, stagnant days?
My coop has two 18" windows, always open (will be adding a large four foot x one foot window shortly to the side wall where a breeze will come in). I have a small window on the front of the coop (way up high) with a small fan pointing out, always on high, to suck warm air out of the coop. During the day, I have a mammoth fan hanging head height in front of the door, blowing straight OUT the door. That fan makes a huge difference.
On really hot days, I hose off the deck and run 40 feet or so immediately around the coop like twice a day. They like to come and lay on the wet deck.
Anyone else have any tricks to keep them cool?

 

[Lapeerian]

I set up a pen outside the stall for the kids to be outside, but not yet free-ranging. Didn't want them pestering Luna with her new babies and eating all the food.
2 red, 2 BR, 1 Brown Leghorn pullets all from TSC. 1 pair Golden Blue Maran, 2 OE cockrels, 1 OE Frizzle pullet, 1 pair Del from Tab. The splash Americauna pullet is locked in her Eglu pen, Hubby named her Miranda.


And the new babies!!!
Happy momma hen Luna. Switched her to a muck bucket laying on its side with some fresh shavings and hay. Luna is so good, Hubby and Little Girl came out with me this morning to admire them. We pulled her out of the bucket, she ate and drank while we switched the babies out of the other bucket. After all the babies were moved, they started peeping loudly and she climbed right back in with them. Good girl.


And all the babies, 7 total. I can see two are Partridge Rocks with the darker heads, but cant tell the others apart and didn't want to handle them too much. Sorry for the poor quality, iPod isn't great in low light. I did roll up the tarp sides on the coop to get more light and air in today.


So I started with 14 purchased and one homegrown EE egg. Had two eggs broken at day 7. Pulled one clear at day 14. Had 3 crushed chicks during hatch and the EE wasn't right. Had one Welsummer egg left this morning, no pips. Tried candling it, which is difficult with the dark color, believe it was clear so tossed it. It smelled, but may have been from the other eggs hatching and smearing on it.
Yay for 7 little fluffy butts!

 

[JLaw]

He was probably challenging you if you were kicking a hen ...Its a little gentler / nicer to move them with your hands.
doesnt your roo lead them out ?
Babies will roost during the day ..& sleep on the floor ...huddled at night

I don't really kick them. I sorta scoot them with my foot sometimes. Normaly I walk in coop with arms out and herd them out. When the light Sussex gets by the door she will sit there until eather my foot or hands get close then she will go out. They don't follow my roo around like they should. He will call them and they pay him no mind. I'm still trying to figure out how many roos I have cause I think I have 1 silkie roo, 1-3 bantams cochins roos, 1 grey bantam roo. My chickens are clicky the three cochin bantams stay together, the Amer. roo and the light Sussex stay together. The reds jump groups but normaly follow my leghorn around. The two silkies,and grey bantam stick together but mostly with reds group. Then again that how I bought them in groups reds, silkies, grey bantam, leghorn one group, 3 cochin bantams one group and then the amer roo with light Sussex.

jlaw

 

[Nuttyfrom6kids]

I have one chick so far it is a BLRW baby bunch more Pipping as soon as baby fluffy butt is dry will post a picture. Ok back to watching the eggs hatch.

 

[JLaw]

woot go nutty.

 

[rancher hicks]

Thanks for the offer Rancher but the eggs I wanted most weren't from my birds. We're going to set a hatch of our own eggs In the bator to test out the thermometers and pin point problems.

Have I sent you the article on hatching? If you'd like it send me your e-mail address and I'll send it on. It helped me.

 

[Nuttyfrom6kids]

Here is first fluffy butt BLRW second one is drying and it is an Australorp all others are pipping so hopefully will have more soon

 

[Nuttyfrom6kids]

Not sure why it didn't show up first time but here it is

 

[rancher hicks]

Sorry to hear of everyone's troubles.

Happy to hear about all the hatches.

Thank you for idea of feeding ducks only at night to get them back in the coop. This, of course, assumes that they ever LEAVE the coop. LOL At 2 weeks old they can't get back into the coop without help, so they aren't leaving the coop much.

Welcome to all the new people on this thread. Glad to have ya.

Here is my question of wiser than I ones.....how come a hen that laid a normal sized egg for over a year all the sudden is laying an egg 1/2 the size of a bantam egg? And how do I get the size to increase. It is the cutest little green egg, but really really useless, as it would take about 7 of them to equal the "2 large eggs" that most recipes call for.

I'd try giving her some vitamins and see what happens. The occasional small egg is nothing to worry about.

How do I discourage groundhogs from living under the coop? One is out there grazing around front despite the three lazy dogs and the countless cats.

At the risk of sounding gross. Have the man go out at night and wiz into the ground hog hole. Worked for me as I had one under my garden shed/coop. Doesn't work for rabbits though.

Oh and after your sure he's gone block the hole with hardware cloth immediately. I didn't and that's why I have rabbits under there.

 

[rancher hicks]

Chooks all doing well here. Haven't been chatting much since I am working on two school projects. I love WGU! I've completed 12 units in 22 days. 38 more to go.

Planning to move the chickens around in a bit, maybe in a few weeks. If I have nine big fat adult chickens, any thoughts on if I move them from my little coop into my big coop how long they'd need to be cordoned off? They are huge, probably bigger than the chickens currently in that coop, but who knows. Trying to figure out a place I can find room to 'isolate' nine big chickens! (this is not for germ isolation purposes, they are all my chickens and have been exposed to everything since birth)..

With that many chickens, could I get away with just throwing them on the roosts at night? There's 25 others in there - it's a very big coop.

Got some pics? If it were me, I'd put them in the big coop with something over the door so they can see out. Keep them in for a few days with food and water. Then I'd let them out leaving the food and water inside. Shouldn't be to long for them to say, "hey the food and water is in the big coop, lets sleep there tonight".