***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[lonnyandrinda]

Arby's in Mustang

I was told the same thing is at Swadleys

Eek, bracing myself for Thanksgiving turkey prices... compliments of the Avian Influenza outbreak!!

 

[NanaKat]

Arby's in Mustang

I was told the same thing is at Swadleys

Looks like if you want turkey for Thanksgiving....might want to get one now before the prices zooms off the chart!

I'm serving quail and pheasant.

 

[NanaKat]

Well, my new coop plans have been submitted to committee and were quickly rejected. Apparently although I have no problems with a 12' by 50' coop and run others would prefer that the chicken coop not be the second largest building on the property (my solution of increasing the size of my shop was not met well). I think there is a disagreement on the number of chickens that will eventually inhabit the back yard. I suppose I'm headed back to the drawing board. My new approach is going to be one medium sized coop with a few smaller coops or tractors. The chicken yard is around 1/4 acre and the front yard is >1 acre. I'd love to allow them to free range in the front I just have to figure out the logistics of keeping the chickens from crossing the road.

How many chickens are you anticipating raising?
I'm assuming the 12 x 50 space allotted is not all building...or is it?

A lot of space utilization is invented by necessity.
Probably more than what you want for suggestions......

Most of my birds free range daily. Most do not range very far from the coop /pen. A few of the younger juveniles have been found 50 yards from the barn!

My hen house in the corner of the barn has a run that runs the length of the 60 foot barn that is 6 feet wide. the actual hen house is 12 x 12 with a 12 x 11 brooder room next to it inside the barn. The hen house comfortably holds 25 lf birds. There is a 10 hole nest box on one wall with a 3.5 x 6 foot segregated floor pen. Room for a stair step roost, hanging feeder and two water locations. Wall cages that are 18 x 24 can hold a broody hen on eggs or chicks up to a week old or a pair of Bantams. This keeps your floor space open for the hens.




The brooder room also has a 10 hole nest box on one wall and there are several stacks of pens as well as a 4 x 7 floor pen behind the stack unit on the right in the first photo. These are big cages for brooding chicks or for a hen with a few older chicks. Can also be used with heat lights. I have hung cages on the wall above the nest boxes.

This stack is on the wall across from the stack in the first picture. I now have cages on these shelves for the chicks.



And All my outside buildings are now painted white and have roll roofing.

I use breeding pens with small buildings. Each has a 2x4 inch screen that is pulled closed like a gate each evening to secure the birds. Where there are chicks I don't want wandering in the mornings without their broody hen, i attache a 24 inch high strip of 1 inch chicken wire to the 2x4 gate.
The coops are made from 1/2 plywood and have a roost bar or 2. Feed and water containers can be hung inside. In winter, I attach a 1/8 inch thick sheet of hard plastic over the front of the coop and leave a 14 inch opening on each end to cut the winter winds and snows. I plan on adding a nest box to the side like I did on the crate coops.
The pens have an enclosed run for when I don't let the birds out to freerange.


Some pens are not free ranged when I'm doing a closed breeding. These pens have the small crate coops and are inside 6 x 10 or 8 x 10 dog pens that have shade cloth on top if there isn't enough shade available.



For a small number of birds, here is a rough design for two pens where a trio or quad could be comfortable. Each pen has it's own pop door and nest box. The center section is an enclosed building. With outside gates on the pens, you could alternate which pen free ranges so there isn't cross breeding.

 

[NanaKat]

I just love Mother Nature!

Last night after dark when I was locking up the coops and shutting gates, I could hear a 4 week old chick calling loudly for his mates. Black chicks cannot be seen easily in the dark. He would slip thru the 2x4 wire into the next pen, squeeze thru the chain link on that pen and avoid me catching him to put him where he belonged. Finally my big Cochin cock came thru the doorway of the hen house and clucked and coaxed the chick. Not being a broody raised chick it took the patience of the old bird to finally coax the chick to come to him and go inside the hen house where his buddies were in the brooder room.

And today as I was getting ready to change the papers on the day old quail, I snapped this picture. I usually keep an older chick or two with newly hatched babies to teach them about the water and feed containers. This priceless little Duckwing pullet is only 3 weeks old. Too small to go out to the big brooder box with the huge Wyandotte chicks, she looks a little perplexed by all the tiny baby quail trying to nestle under her. That is a Delaware Bantam in the back ground and a week old quail on the right.

 

[jrjoplin]

@NanaKat My original design was a 12'x12' coop with an attached run 12' of which would be covered by an extension of the roof and an additional 16' open (of course covered with netting) for a total run size of 12' x 28' (the size was 12'x 40' not 50' as I originally stated). I plan on having my brooder(s) in my shop which is 20'x20' and only used for storage for lawn equipment right now. I've already split the backyard leaving 1/3rd for the dogs and the remaining 2/3rds for the chickens. One of my labs will have to be trained to leave the chickens alone or kept separate from them. She is the reason I had an early introduction to one of my neighbors with "Hi I'm Jerry and my dog just killed one of your chickens". Luckily for us, but not so much for the chicken, we took a shared blame as he was using our, now replaced, back fence as the back of his run. The fence had large holes in it and the chicken was actually in our yard, I still offered to compensate him but he refused and I have since replaced the fence. I seem to be off topic and rambling now, back to chicken coops. I think I'm going to take off 16' of the run and only put a roof on the coop Staying with the 12'x12' coop but decreasing the run to 12'. The chickens will free range in the fenced yard. I will then add a few smaller coops for breeding pens or necessary separation. I'm telling myself that we're shooting for around 2 dozen chickens hopefully with that in mind I'll keep it under 50.

 

[Adorkable]

Arby's in Mustang

I was told the same thing is at Swadleys

Oh man, my husbands pets... Mr. and Mrs. Shnoodle are in DANGER!





They're looking mighty tasty to me. Hope he doesn't see this

 

[Matt in Okla]

Oh man, my husbands pets... Mr. and Mrs. Shnoodle are in DANGER! They're looking mighty tasty to me. Hope he doesn't see this

Those Rios?

 

[Jeansrie]

Just sharing pics of one of my showgirl grow-outs. I held on to her because her splash markings were unique - I really like her!

 

[BetsyOK]

She's beautiful!

 

[jrjoplin]

For a small number of birds, here is a rough design for two pens where a trio or quad could be comfortable. Each pen has it's own pop door and nest box. The center section is an enclosed building. With outside gates on the pens, you could alternate which pen free ranges so there isn't cross breeding.

I had originally designed a two sided coop when I first started doodling. I like this layout better than what I had come up with as it utilizes the space a little better. It never occurred to me to turn one of the interior areas to accommodate for human entrance. I may revisit this idea now that I'm redrawing plans.

@Adorkable You may need to invest in a padlock for them. They're beautiful birds and if prices continue to rise they may be a pretty hot commodity.

@Jeansrie She's ready to headline in Vegas. I grew up with barnyard mutts but some of these fancy chickens are growing on me.