Friday I finally got the nest boxes installed, so I thought I would post some pictures. Right now I have 9 RIR pullets, and 5 Barred Rocks, straight run, 2 of which appear to be Roos. They are now about 12 weeks old, and we are really looking forward to eggs. The Coop is 6 x 7', 6' high in the front, and 5' in the back. It backs up to my neighbor's retaining wall, and they have been very understanding, in fact, seem almost as excited about the prospect of fresh eggs as we are. They have taken to dumping their vegetable trimmings in our compost pile, where the chickens can pick through them. We also have 28 Cornish x's, which are about 4 weeks old, and seem to grow like monsters.
Here is the view from the front:
From the nest box side:
The two sets of roosts:
The nest boxes from inside the coop:
Close up of the nestbox, open:
Our chicken tractor, with the cornish x's:
Our "chicken yard":
There used to be a swing set in that corner, but as our children are too big for it, we gave it away. The wire for the fence, and the wood for the gate were scraps from a friend, who was cleaning out his yard. I hope to put an enclosed run to the right of the coop eventually, as right now I am reluctant to leave the chickens out unsupervised. And, the bigger ones really pester the Cornish chicks, so I have started letting them out in turns, which is a pain, as herding 28 Cornish chicks is crazy. I have had one die, and I think it may have been a heart attack brought on by the stress of being chased around the yard to put back in the pen. The tractor was built from a packing crate that I ripped into strips on the same friend's table saw. The nest boxes were built from torn down pieces from my parent's remodel project. The chicken coop is the only thing built from new materials. I drew it up after watching the forum for a couple weeks, and looking around the internet. If anybody is interested, I have it in CadStd, you can download a "lite" version of the software for free, or pay $30 for the full featured package. Or, I can export it as a PDF. The drawing itself is available for free. I did not draw out the nestboxes, as they were built to accomodate the materials on hand. I did build to the approximate dimensions of McMurray's "large breed" nestboxes.
Here is the view from the front:
From the nest box side:
The two sets of roosts:
The nest boxes from inside the coop:
Close up of the nestbox, open:
Our chicken tractor, with the cornish x's:
Our "chicken yard":
There used to be a swing set in that corner, but as our children are too big for it, we gave it away. The wire for the fence, and the wood for the gate were scraps from a friend, who was cleaning out his yard. I hope to put an enclosed run to the right of the coop eventually, as right now I am reluctant to leave the chickens out unsupervised. And, the bigger ones really pester the Cornish chicks, so I have started letting them out in turns, which is a pain, as herding 28 Cornish chicks is crazy. I have had one die, and I think it may have been a heart attack brought on by the stress of being chased around the yard to put back in the pen. The tractor was built from a packing crate that I ripped into strips on the same friend's table saw. The nest boxes were built from torn down pieces from my parent's remodel project. The chicken coop is the only thing built from new materials. I drew it up after watching the forum for a couple weeks, and looking around the internet. If anybody is interested, I have it in CadStd, you can download a "lite" version of the software for free, or pay $30 for the full featured package. Or, I can export it as a PDF. The drawing itself is available for free. I did not draw out the nestboxes, as they were built to accomodate the materials on hand. I did build to the approximate dimensions of McMurray's "large breed" nestboxes.
