Oregon

[LeslieDJoyce]

What a GREAT idea!!   Your speaking of doors from re-store gave ME an idea. Why couldn't I cut out the inside of a door and then put hardware cloth on it to use AS a screen door to my run??? I'm absolutely no good at making things from scratch...do you think that would work?

It sure could. You might have some issues with hollow core doors, but you probably figure out how to deal with that as you go.

 

[OR4-hmom]

I threw together a grow up pen with the cattle panels, mine was an a-frame instead. I tackle all kinds of building so not a big deal. Words of advice, if putting smaller wire on the panels put it on the inside. Unless secured smaller birds can get themselves caught between the wire and the panels.

 

[Zanna]

Here's a similar idea for you guys

 

[OR4-hmom]

Here's a similar idea for you guys

NICE!

 

[Usagi]

Oh dear. I just realized that giving my chicks antibiotics will pretty much undo the whole organic eggs thing. That's the only reason I wanted to start raising chicken.
I guess in this situation I start from scratch?

 

[Usagi]

What a GREAT idea!!   Your speaking of doors from re-store gave ME an idea. Why couldn't I cut out the inside of a door and then put hardware cloth on it to use AS a screen door to my run??? I'm absolutely no good at making things from scratch...do you think that would work?

I'm sure it would. A staple gun seems like it would make the placement for the hardware cloth rather easy. As for predators though....are staples strong enough to discourage a persistent raccoon?

 

[iwiw60]

Good point...I'm using 9/16" staples (heavy-duty kind) so hopefully that will hold...it better!! There'll be a gazillion staples in that chicken run!!

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

I'm sure it would. A staple gun seems like it would make the placement for the hardware cloth rather easy. As for predators though....are staples strong enough to discourage a persistent raccoon?

I use screws and washers. Alternatively, if your hammering skills are okay, those little hammer-in u-shaped double-sharpened nails. The guys who work here taught me a trick with bottle caps and finishing nails, where you use the bottle caps instead of washers ... except I don't drink stuff that comes in bottles ...

Trim on the edges of the hardware cloth is always a nice cuz that stuff snags anything that gets even kinda close to it.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Here's a similar idea for you guys

Zanna's coops are spectacular. So much roomier than they look in these photos ... that pipe is really big.

There are a lot of great versions of hoop coops ...

 

[Farmer Viola]

Oh dear. I just realized that giving my chicks antibiotics will pretty much undo the whole organic eggs thing. That's the only reason I wanted to start raising chicken.
I guess in this situation I start from scratch?

If that is your goal, you should look into natural rearing methods. Organic garlic is a natural anti-biotic you might try first. I mince it using a "slap chop" type of device, unpeeled, and put it in their feed.

This book has been absolutely invaluable to me in natural chicken rearing:

The Complete Herbal Handbook for Farm and Stable Paperback
by Juliette de Baïracli Levy
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Herbal-Handbook-Farm-Stable/dp/0571161162/


Here is what Levy has to say about garlic:

"It is highly antiseptic. Russian scientists have acclaimed garlic as an internal purifier of the greatest importance and that 'garlic, onions and horseradish contain powerful anti-toxic elements essential for good health.' Throughout the history of mankind garlic is credited with great anti-plague powers. In the Great Plague of London, it was the principal remedy for protection and cure and fetched more than gold in price. In Yorkshire, England, I saved many thousands of hill sheep condemned as incurable, by using garlic. Gorillas often plant areas of garlic where they have their colonies. Because of its remarkable penetrative disinfectant and mucus-expellent powers, garlic is a valuable basic remedy for the treatment of all ailments in which the cleansing of the blood-stream and expulsion of mucus accumulations are required. It is supreme in the cure of all infections ailments of the blood-stream, lung and digestive areas. American scientists discovered that garlic contains a substance - crotonaldehyde - which is excellent for diseases of the nose, throat and intestine. "

more reading: http://naturalchickenkeeping.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-benefits-of-garlic-cayenne-and.html