NY chicken lover!!!!

[Metella]

Another option - depending on what you like, how many chickies you have ect .... I do NOT put a floor in mine and use the deep litter method .... after a year - the floor actually gives off warmth !!!! Mine only had a wooden frame along the outside to secure the wire and I laid wire out about 2 feet on each side and held down with cinder blocks (it tends to curl up) to keep diggers out.

but my chickies have no problem stirring the floor up with I toss in scratch - so they do most of the work for me. some here say their chickens don't like to do this chore.

So I also have 3 hoops on my coop - and the only thing I would do differently is that I didn't overlap the wire - after a while the "seams" have a gap that I don't like as I picture weasels coming through ... so I would over lap a good few inches next time .... I live in a very rural place - so I used hardware cloth all over my coop and would do that again -

 

[armorfirelady]

Another option - depending on what you like, how many chickies you have ect .... I do NOT put a floor in mine and use the deep litter method .... after a year - the floor actually gives off warmth !!!!     Mine only had a wooden frame along the outside to secure the wire and I laid wire out about 2 feet on each side and held down with cinder blocks (it tends to curl up) to keep diggers out.

but my chickies have no problem stirring the floor up with I toss in scratch - so they do most of the work for me.  some here say their chickens don't like to do this chore.

So I also have 3 hoops on my coop - and the only thing I would do differently is that I didn't overlap the wire - after a while the "seams" have a gap that I don't like as I picture weasels coming through ... so I would over lap a good few inches next time .... I live in a very rural place - so I used hardware cloth all over my coop and would do that again -

I over lapped my cattle panels and I really believe that's why it holds snow so well. It did start to flatten after the last storm but the snow was heavy and wet and feel so fast, I was keeping it brushed off but the 2 nod round of 4 ft of snow wAs heavy. But it bounced back off as soon as my snow got the snow off. W

I also use DL and it def kept the hoop coop a few degrees warmer and the girls love to scratch through it and even nest in it on cold days. Mine also has ended wore over the cattle panels ms then hardware cloth around the sides and the ends.

 

[Beer can]

No floor in my coop. Love the bucket nest boxes! Should be big enough
For J giants.
Gramma, your right I think it is rusty, darn!
That gas station ain't advertising very good, shouldve put $2.22 and $3.33!!

FritaFrittata, good luck with your coop build. I never built anything before in my life, except a doghouse that was a failure.
A couple books, and a lot of googleing, and I built a really nice 24'x28' garage, with NO help. I had a couple friends offer to help, I just wanted to do it myself. I bet you can find someone to help.

 

[Lynzi777]

Hey Peeps!!
Wanted to pop on an say Hello and let you know I'm still around, just been busy with the holidays coming up, the new pup and getting the chickens ready for winter. I DID find some plastic sheeting to put on at least 2 walls of their run so I did that last week. Not sure yet if I'll add anymore on the last wall, that side has the door on it so I don't want to mess with it too much plus the wind doesn't really blow from that side and it's blocked by another coop so I'll probably leave it open. I have EGGS!!! Not the eggs my family wants but the eggs I want!

My Orps still aren't laying and my Polskies aren't laying anymore. At least Henrietta gave up being broody though. BUT my Silkies are laying! Only one I believe and I'm pretty sure it's one of my newer Splash hens so I could get blue or splash babies! I started out with one egg on 11/23, then I got 2 more eggs on the 30th (one was from the day before I'm sure) so I put them in the incubator and the two newer ones started to develop but not the first. So I'm going to chuck that one and yesterday morning I had another one in there, it was pretty cold so I didn't think it would develop but I placed it in there in the afternoon and this morning I see a little dot where the development is going to start so I'm happy about that. 3 eggs developing from the Silkies!!

I'm going to continue to add more until it's full and then once lockdown comes I'll transfer them over to my other bator and use that one as the "lockdown area" so this way I can continue to add in the other one as it empties out. I'm so excited. Now if I can just get the Orps to get laying again. Stella is in a molt and I'm heading out to pick up some more Feather Fixer today. Ella looks great though and should pick up laying soon. I have another Blue Orp pullet waiting for me from a breeder up the road. My friend actually picked her up for me last week since she was getting two of her own so as soon as I have time to meet up with her that will be one more egg layer I'll have. She should be laying soon, she was from a Spring hatch. I'd like to find a nice blue egg layer but I'm picky of course about my colors. LOL Are there any Ameracaunas that are more colorful than the usual brown coloring that they are?

 

[wny egger]

Anyone one have any odd shaped or odd colored eggs ?
I have this one hen I dont know which one it is that leaves a signature on the end of her egg .

i have one thats been laying a large egg with flat sides on it and what seems to be a real ruff spot [like sandpaper ] and a weak spot in the shell ..i think its one of my older production birds..sometimes she lays them with a point on the one end ..i just found one this morning ..i'll try and get a few pics ..










not sure what causes this ..i dont get them every day but a couple times a week tho..

 

[Beer can]

I think the EEgrs are prettier than Ameracuanas.

 

[AQHAchick22]

I'm so jealous of those of you who are getting eggs. I'm getting an egg a day, maybe 2 if I'm lucky...I have 28 hens

I understand the 2 year olds not laying but the 1 year olds should be giving me more than 2...

My coworkers are getting anxious for eggs and keep bringing egg cartons in for me. Yesterday I brought a bunch of them home and walked by the coops slowly giving the hens the stink eye as I walked past them with a huge stack of cartons. I hope they got the message.

 

[Glasshen]

Gramma, one of my hens sometimes lays eggs with a dark area at one end, like yours. Perhaps it is just a concentration of the pigment happening as it passes through. Of course, no problems like that lately, however. In fact, the nest boxes have been so not used for their true purpose, that I have found young roosters claiming them as sleep chambers. Still not amused.

 

[Lapeerian]

Hubby unhappily reported that we only got 1 egg last night. I've lost count, but think we have around 24 hens and 1 bantam hen. Will do a thorough egg hunt this weekend, make sure there are no secret spots under the tarp covering the hay stack. Had to cover the hay with the tarp in the first place to keep chicken poop off.

 

[rancher hicks]

Rancher/pyxis; would 42 in. x 84 in. Remesh Sheets, (concrete reinforcement wire panels) work instead of cattle panels? They are only $7 each.

You know you may be right. I think I know what your talking about. Though they aren't rust resistant are they. Of course since they're covered they might work. But cattle panels are 16 feet long.

My biggest problem with cattle panels is getting them home. You need a truck .