So cute <3I managed to wear down my mother and got three bantam chicks from the feed store! No names, yet, since they're straight run and I'll have to give up the roos. I can't get over how tiny they are. I can carry all three in one hand! I think you guys were right and these are porcelain d'Uccles. And a Sebright. It was shy, so you can't really see its signature pose.Snuggles~
Fighting over who get's to snuggle under the Sebright.
not yet.. those fish are pretty big for her to eat. but she and her duck minions go to the pond only when i go with them hhaaa!
Lol wish i could own one >.> but then fr sure the neighbor would stroke!!black betty doesn't chase you unless she has a new baby and you get to close, its only because shes afraid you'll hurt her baby, and of course, she does kinda like a feed bucket, after coming here, she found out what grain is
Can I see too! And what did you coat the floors with?
Quote:
Quote: I still have more pens to build, but here are several we already have done. Cages all have wire floors & we just take a hose under them & spray everything out every few days while watering. Coops & boxes all pretty much have dirt floors covered in chips. We just shovel out & replace as needed. Most pens are made with almost all recycled materials & whatever was laying around or on hand when we were building.
Most of my quail are in here. This was taken before they were put in. I have also used this for bantams & the larger pen on the left end has a pair of showgirls in it currently. I have this outside under a pine tree for shade & the canvas flips down at night.
The next 2 are different views of my turkey pen before my trio went in. We just built a nice glass house for my waterfowl grow-outs today similar to this 1 right next to this.
This is the BIG brooder in the house. It's an old wardrobe closet laying on it's back & is 3x5 & about 2.5 deep.
These 2 pix are of my big brooder that's now had a roof added & is sitting outside. The top pic shows the "open" section that is wire on all sides but 1. I keep the food & water here. The 2nd pic shows the nest box area with heatlamp. Both sections have a ;large door that opens p into them. This is also 3x5 & is about 4 ft tall including 1.5 ft legs that allow droppings through the wire floor. This is great for water babies & allows chicks, geese, turkeys & ducks to brood together because water drains right out the wire bottom.
Below are 2 views of our main coop 4x8 & 5 ft high. It now has wildlife netting covering the run & a tarp that provides shade over a section of the run. There is a center bean down the length of the run holding everything above head level so we can walk down most of the run without ducking. The run is 8x15.
This is the pen my runners & scovies currently share. It was already here when we moved in & sits on a very steep bank. We put an old truck cap in it to use as a night box for lockdown at night. Once the 3 new pens are built next to the coop (hopefully next week) this will only be used to keep sale birds in since it is next to the house & convenient for customers to view the birds.
This is the large, odd shaped pen (aprox 7x15) next to my turkey pen that we use for waterfowl grow-out. It now has a glass house similar to the 1 for the turkeys, but bigger.
And this is my gorgeous Tom enjoying having his head scratched by my fiance.
We are still working on about 6 more pens. I have several more not pictured for the pekins & toulouse, a tractor for the banties & a pen for the meaties, plus 2 more quail pens & a huge old rabbit cage that houses my calls.
I'm in Berks county. I didn't have problems with predators the first several years here. To be honest my dog was the biggest problem. He's gone now, and the raccoons and foxes have become a problem. I have a very secure coop right now, so as long as I close everything up at night I don't have any problems. There are lots of hawks around but I have never lost a chicken to one. They have tried, especially when there are young chicks free ranging with their mama hen. Mama hen gives a warning and those chicks are quick to hide. We live on a wooded lot in a rural area.Hello from the northern tip of Lancaster County (I can throw a rock to the Berks County line)!For those of you in the Lancaster/Berks area, I was wondering what types of predator action you've seen or had to contend with when designing your coops/runs. We are fairly rural (we have 3 plus acres that border a larger tract of woods behind us before opening into a pasture land below. I know we have hawks, but I have neighbors that free range down the road from us, and other neighbors up the road that have an open pasture scenario, and both of those set ups seem to be working. I am more concerned about "paws in the night" trying to get into the coop. At this point I am planning for raccoons and maybe foxes, but are there any other critters I should be particularly wary of? We are converting an old shed that is on our property. Any advice is welcome!
