NY chicken lover!!!!

[stonykill]

What is DL ??

Deep Litter

 

[pharmchickrnmom]

Now that is a sweet little set-up. I like all the natural light. How do you handle the large screened window in the winter? The pictures really help me to get a handle on the coop internals. Thanks for sharing!

TOB

The window is meant to be that way. Dr. Woods explains how the placement of the windows keeps air flowing through the coop so there is no moisture buildup and the litter stays dry. It does work very well. We did modify the side screen windows so we could put in some stationery windows for snow storms or hurricanes and dh hung some on the upper screened windows, again to be closed only during severe storms. It does stay dry in front, despite the windows. These types of coops were used in the east coast by many chicken farmers, large and small. There is a book you can get that Dr Woods wrote about them. Our coop is on the small side for such a design and yes, we used that smoke roof for natural light and passive heating from the sun. The most important thing that everyone on this forum will tell you is ventilation in your coop. Chickens can survive cold temps very well. Its moisture in the coop, whether from them breathing or pooping or leaks that will cause all kinds of issues for them.

 

[Henicillin]

The mini has been an ongoing problem this year. He wanders through wherever he likes. Can't be caught or contained. I have 2 geldings and a mare. She is a 14 hand Arab, but I've watched the mini stud try to breed the draft mares in the neighbor pasture. Obviously there are some height differences, but don't want to chance that. The young paint gelding has been a good herd protector, he plays wild stallion with the mini.

I have to say that the mental image I have of that is pretty amusing - it would be like my little Japanese banty roo trying to mate with my big, fat Brahma girls.

 

[Henicillin]

Marquisella, you mentioned thick floor mats, which reminded me of a suggestion I was considering to line our wooden coop floors with linoleum prior to adding the bedding of choice. The linoleum is supposed to make clean up, especially annual or bi-annual scrub downs, much easier and it doesn't absorb the moisture and hold it like wood. I even saw a coop design that had the linoleum wrapped part way up the coop walls, kind of like you'd do a splatter guard in your kitchen. Our coop will be built a bit off the ground, on account of elevation/slope issues, so our floors will be wood. I was wondering about the linoleum suggestion....


TOB

We have Armstrong TrafficMaster overlapping vinyl flooring in our coop, and the stuff is phenomenal. It's been down for better than a year and still looks brand new. It's impervious to water, easy to clean, and relatively inexpensive. That coop has better flooring underneath those shavings than does my house.

 

[Henicillin]

As there's an inconveniently fallen tree where I normally dump shavings, I put the monster pile of icky ones next to the coop. We grow pumpkins and squash there, so it'll just end up raked over that garden plot anyway. Apparently it's the perfect blend of shavings, poop, and water, as that bad boy is heating up like mad, and giving off steam now. Composting for the win!

Speaking of coops, this looks like it could be a nice coop design with different walls and proper ventilation.

http://ana-white.com/2012/05/plans/barn-greenhouse

 

[rancher hicks]

As there's an inconveniently fallen tree where I normally dump shavings, I put the monster pile of icky ones next to the coop. We grow pumpkins and squash there, so it'll just end up raked over that garden plot anyway. Apparently it's the perfect blend of shavings, poop, and water, as that bad boy is heating up like mad, and giving off steam now. Composting for the win!

Speaking of coops, this looks like it could be a nice coop design with different walls and proper ventilation.

http://ana-white.com/2012/05/plans/barn-greenhouse

With all due respect. It looks expensive. One thing about those plastic panels? Can anyone tell me how long they'll last or what they'll look like in a few years? IMO they'll not last forever and need to be replaced.

Plastic dries out and turn opaque.

This is taken from "sdplastics.com"

"Effects of Environment on Plastics
Environmental factors, such as ambient moisture, chemicals liquid or vapor, exposure to sunlight, high temperatures, hot water and or steam, bacterial/fungi underground conditions and irradiation all tend to attack plastic materials. Materials may not only change in appearance, but have significant decrease in properties such as impact and tensile strength. Again check the suppliers literature carefully."

the drying out is called "outgassing" . Plastic give off gases not seen with the naked eye. This is why those plastic milk cartons shatter after being exposed to sunlight and can be reused. It'a also why we see those plastic lawn chairs with one broken leg on the dump site.

My point is just be aware to check the lifespan of any plastic panels you intend to use.


You should see what the sun does to some of the tarps I used cover my chicken run. They don't last more than a year in the sun. They dried and cracked and came apart in pieces.

The plastic I used to cover them in the winter if left up just dries out and gets brittle. The milk cartons have to be thrown out after use or they just shatter and leave pieces all over the yard.

 

[rancher hicks]

TOB---above are two pictures of the Woods style chicken coop we built for the terrorists (aka rir, br and red sexlinks)..Dh built it raised instead of on the ground like the original plans called for by Dr Woods. It is 20 inches off the ground so the cheeps have use of under the coop as well as their run (not built yet in the pic). The bottom pic shows the front window looking back through the coop. Nest boxes are on the left and roosts in the back. 5 gallon bucket feeder hanging from a chain and the waterer is now a 5 gallon galvanized one sitting on a special raised table built with a cookie tin heater housed underneath. The vynal flooring is up to where the wall meets the floor. We have 21 chickens in there (its a 10 x 12) and the run comes off the front (see pop door in top pic) and is 10x20, not including their access to under the coop. Hope this helps.

Nice, very nice.

 

[Gramma Chick]

Quote:
Stony , was looking at your facebook page ..very nice !
Are your RIR hatchery or Breeder ? We have a austlorp roo & hatchery RIR that we are going to try to Breed chicks from .
Do you ever part with any of those Sumatra pullets ? Maybe in the spring ?
So did the little rebel -> turn out to be a Roo ? I remember the lil rebel. Always out from under Mama

 

[stonykill]

Stony , was looking at your facebook page ..very nice !
Are your RIR hatchery or Breeder ? We have a austlorp roo & hatchery RIR that we are going to try to Breed chicks from .
Do you ever part with any of those Sumatra pullets ? Maybe in the spring ?
So did the little rebel -> turn out to be a Roo ? I remember the lil rebel. Always out from under Mama

thanks!

No I'm not a RIR breeder. I just like RIR's for their good personality's and for the amount of large brown eggs they lay.


I do part with some Sumatra pullets. Heck I had breeding pairs and trio's for sale for months on CL and no one cared. So I ate the roo's and kept the pullets who are now laying fools. PM me in the spring and see what I have.If enough people are interested in chicks I'll fire up the bator and do some hatching. Otherwise I'm not even turning it on this year.
The lil rebel still looks to be a pullet.

 

[carress]

is there anyone in the Hudson Valley area here? I'm looking to get some hatching eggs for the incubator I'm setting up at school- so the kids can enjoytheprocesss. I'm not very particular about breeds but it would be awesome to get something w some color.
Thanks!