NY chicken lover!!!!

[shodack]

Welcome !

Can I see a pic of your coop ?
Do you have you food / water in the coop now ?

Thank you! The food and water aren't in the coop, I keep them underneath for now.

Here's the coop when it was first built. Right now food and water are kept underneath that left side. What I was thinking of is nailing boards to three sides and leaving the side where the ramp is open so they can hop down and go underneath, but still have some shelter. We are planning to keep a good portion of the fenced in area shoveled out for them all winter.
The door isn't in this picture, but slides up, not automatically. I go out around 7:30 every morning to let them out and get them food and water for the day.

 

[rancher hicks]

Thank you! The food and water aren't in the coop, I keep them underneath for now.

Here's the coop when it was first built. Right now food and water are kept underneath that left side. What I was thinking of is nailing boards to three sides and leaving the side where the ramp is open so they can hop down and go underneath, but still have some shelter. We are planning to keep a good portion of the fenced in area shoveled out for them all winter.
The door isn't in this picture, but slides up, not automatically. I go out around 7:30 every morning to let them out and get them food and water for the day.

How wide is your coop. It might be easy to attach a hoop run to the front. Even one panel is 50" and will provide some shelter.

 

[HISIRISHGEM]

What a very busy day we had today. Not to mention my poor husband went to the Dr. for what we know is a virus. Poor guy kept moving with me though. The front and back lawn has been mowed. We have a push mower. It's all I've genuinely used since I was 16 to mow my parents lawn and the field they purchased. I have to say as I get older, I'm not liking the push mower so much but as they say..."move it or lose it!" I suppose it's good to move it!

After we got back from his appointment, we let the girls out. The Wyandottes and Black Australorps RAN out there!

The EE'er's were on the skittish side and came out, ran back in the run again and then walked back out when they found out the others were still alive .Hahaha I wish we'd taken pics but we were pressed for time so it totally never crossed my mind until I got in.

We'll be back out tomorrow. We have to put a couple more boards and fasteners to the top of the chicken run and then we'll just cover it with the clear plastic you all mentioned. No actual roof this year, but it will be at the top of our list come next spring or summer. The more I spend time with them, the more fun I'm having. They are still little poopers. I had no idea how much poop they'd have. lol I suppose like anything else that poops right?!

I think I forgot to mention that Country Max carries Organic NON GMO chicken food. It is NOT cheap! I bought a bag but I'm not sure how long my husband will put up with it. We started witht he Purina unmedicated brand. Speaking of which, Does everyone stay AWAY from the medicated brand or are you all pro-medicated feed here? I bought the organic non-gmo food for ....34.00. There was also one for egg layers that was 37.00. I thought I'd try it and see the difference. I found a video of someone who has been making her own feed for a while using all grains and a pea protein getting rid of corn and soy. She bought all organic bags. In the end, it was MUCH cheaper. While the initial cost was pricey, you had a nice bulk, organic meal for the chickens at much lower cost than you could buy elsewhere. I'm thinking about doing it. We have a couple Amish stores out this way but BOY do I wish we lived near Amish Country in PA. We lived in Akron Ohio and used to drive to Lehman's and all the Amish bulk food stores. I miss that!

I also wanted to mention that I absolutely LOVE this board! I like the camaraderie. Thanks everyone!

 

[Beer can]

HISIRISHGEM I keep thinking your screen name, 'nome de plume' as one word rather then three, lol. I have not ever bought medicated feed, and will not ever, never had any problems. I would love to stay organic non-GMO but my spouse balks at my purchases of the higher protein feed, wouldn't want to see her reaction to 'good' feed. And yup, you can make your own, many threads here on it, I have tried fermenting, not sure if it was beneficial for them or my pocketbook, and then there is sprouting and fodder, was going to go that route myself this winter to give them somewhat 'greens' but we have a over abundance of cabbage and kale from the garden this yr, way plenty to share with the chooks....

 

[HISIRISHGEM]

We first planted kale last year. Once it grew to seed, we left it and this year we had TONS of kale! Swiss Chard was out of this world too. It's still growing! We added a winter harvest as well. Kale, more swiss chard, romaine and arugula which are supposed to thrive in colder temps. We'll see how we do. I can understand your wife being careful with the costs of feed. I keep thinking, "I can't BELIEVE that I payed that much for feed! Even the Purina non-medicated stuff was 17.00. Live and learn. I'll see what the difference is when it gets opened and maybe I'll experiment with making our own and compare the costs.

 

[Gramma Chick]

Your coop looks remarkably like our 1st coop .

We did box the bottom in for extra space in the run ..
You might want to make a door or panel on the front as the snow may drift in & it will be buried
Leaving it outside is fine ...long as their crop is filled at night ...their digesting food makes heat .

Does you coop have any air vents at the top ?
we made ours so air tight they got frostbite when it was closed up
we actually left the door open in the winter as they were safely in a new run also

Notice our heated water dish outside

we added a permanent run with a partial roof on top over the raised coop

 

[Gramma Chick]

Heres a thread I posted about our Coop
Misspelled Title ...Grrr

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/our-chicken-coop-gors-through-changes

 

[tao chick]

I'm testing my homemade incubator. It was easy to make. Humidity is the challenge so I probably won't hatch in it. We shall see.

 

[Purpletie3]

I'm testing my homemade incubator. It was easy to make. Humidity is the challenge so I probably won't hatch in it. We shall see.

Try little things of water. Like a custard cup etc...until you find the right surface area to get the correct humidity. If the glass isn't holding temp you may want to put some styrofoam around it. May insulate it enough.

 

[Purpletie3]

I think I forgot to mention that Country Max carries Organic NON GMO chicken food. It is NOT cheap! I bought a bag but I'm not sure how long my husband will put up with it. We started witht he Purina unmedicated brand. Speaking of which, Does everyone stay AWAY from the medicated brand or are you all pro-medicated feed here? I bought the organic non-gmo food for ....34.00. There was also one for egg layers that was 37.00. I thought I'd try it and see the difference. I found a video of someone who has been making her own feed for a while using all grains and a pea protein getting rid of corn and soy. She bought all organic bags. In the end, it was MUCH cheaper. While the initial cost was pricey, you had a nice bulk, organic meal for the chickens at much lower cost than you could buy elsewhere. I'm thinking about doing it. We have a couple Amish stores out this way but BOY do I wish we lived near Amish Country in PA. We lived in Akron Ohio and used to drive to Lehman's and all the Amish bulk food stores. I miss that!

I also wanted to mention that I absolutely LOVE this board! I like the camaraderie. Thanks everyone!

I buy the 50lb bag of oats at Troyers. It's under $30. I make them oatmeal and they go nuts! Now with the later crops they get apples and pears in there. My daughter isso jealous I cook for the chicks...but they give me healthy eggs!!! Yes,poo is a mega food for the garden...save your poo and compost it. Use it when it's 6 months old.