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Had a really productive coop-building day today
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Planning on painting first thing in the morning (well, after breakfast) to give it time to dry before the chance of rain later in the afternoon. Roof is all framed up, but it turns out that I don't have the 1/4" drill bit I need to predrill the holes in the corrugated roofing panels, so it's another trip back to Home Depot for me at some point tomorrow.
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Not quite sure how I'm going to get the roof up there once it's done though... think we might have to enlist the neighbor's help since my 5' tall, 140lb (9mo pregnant) frame isn't going to be much help! Didn't really realize that raising a 4'-6' tall (with roof pitch) coop 2 feet off the ground would turn into something SO tall, lol.

Oh, speaking of the roof, I got clear plastic corrugated roofing thinking that in the winter it will really help with light and warmth, but didn't really consider how hot it would make the coop during the summer. The coop is VERY well ventilated for summer time (pallet walls covered in hardware cloth, plus 2 screened windows), but should I consider putting a tarp or something over the roof for shade until the weather gets cooler?

Melissa
 
My chickens have discovered the next door neighbors bird feeder. Of course underneath is a buffet from all the spilled seed. We had to do a few recoveries. Looks like today I'm going to get my rear in gear about making a larger, more permanent run. Thankfully neighbor wasn't upset, just didn't want the chickens climbing up on and scratching his car like they did to mine. :rolleyes:
 
flowerfaeiry said:
Sounds like they are making themselves at home with you! Is the CCL ok? I was a little worried about her being so sad. She's a loving little girl.
It was very quiet in my backyard today, nothing worse than a silent coop...
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FF:

All have settled in nicely, I have gotten two silkie eggs and two other medium brown eggs...gave them the sunflower to play with and I have been throwing weeds in the coop to keep then occupied....
 
fisherlady said:
tpolinsk said:
So great to hear that you were able to relocate your flock, flowerefairey. I know I would be upset if I had to get rid of my girls. Everone is so nice on this site.

On another note, family went to the Wayne county fair yesterday and they were selling chicks. Was really tempted to get a few. They had cute Australorps! Want to wait til mine start laying.
Speaking of which, my girls are 17 weeks old. Shouldn't they be laying by now? Am I being impatient? It seems like forever!
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Some breeds start at 17 weeks but not many...there are heritage breeds which don't start till 24-28 weeks. Your birds will start depending on their back grounds. Hatchery birds do seem to start earlier than heritage bred... but that is a byproduct of the efforts of many hatcheries to increase egg production because it is usually a good selling point. so to make it even more confusing...it could be any time from this week to next month...LOL
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Everyone has covered this for the common breeds of "layers" but if you have any "fancy" breeds they are a whole nother story. Silkies & polish (in my experience) can take up to a year to lay. Add in weather conditions when they are due to begin, when molt hits, any stress from moves or cage/pen shuffles or predator issues & any of the breeds can be delayed on laying. I have a hatchery white rock, that due to several of the issues above, was about 14 months old when she laid her first egg. She typically could have been expected to lay in the 18-22 month range, but due to other factors she just didn't.

My peeps said:
My run is a muddy (poopy) mess with all this rain. On saturday we came home and there was at least 2 inches of water in the run. We have a roof over it but the rain was so heavy and coming in sideways that it filled it up like a pool. Even with changing the nesting boxes as often as I can the eggs have been filthy and covered with mud and poop. I'm afraid to use them so I cooked them and fed them back to the birds. A guy down the street sells hay. Can I use that in the run and nest boxes until the weather improves. It's cheaper than the wood chips. I've been searching Craigslist for a wood chipper. We have an endless supply of branches and pine trees I can turn into wood chips. My hubby said he will put a french drain in front of the coop (its at the bottom of a hill) but that won't be for awhile. What do you all do to keep your run dry and coop clean?
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My run literally has a creek that runs through it after it rains. It starts under the coop, runs out under the ramp, takes a sharp left half way across the run & goes out the far side of the run. This run is actually much less muddy than all of my other runs have been because it actuall drains. There's just enough slope to get the water to run out so we don't have a huge muddy mess & it dries quickly. All of the other runs were mire flat & held the water. I would walk in & step in 2-4 inches of mudd across the entire run. The other run I had that drained pretty well was exactly the opposite. It had a hump down the middle from the run door to the coop door. Everything drained out the sides. So based on my experiences, I present 2 options, depending on the lay of the land around the run. If the land most of the way around is higher, dig a ditch through the lowest area to let the water drain out. If the land around is lower, heap sand, gravel,dirt down the center & pack tightly to make a hump for the water to run out of the run.
 
My peeps said:
My run is a muddy (poopy) mess with all this rain. On saturday we came home and there was at least 2 inches of water in the run. We have a roof over it but the rain was so heavy and coming in sideways that it filled it up like a pool. Even with changing the nesting boxes as often as I can the eggs have been filthy and covered with mud and poop. I'm afraid to use them so I cooked them and fed them back to the birds. A guy down the street sells hay. Can I use that in the run and nest boxes until the weather improves. It's cheaper than the wood chips. I've been searching Craigslist for a wood chipper. We have an endless supply of branches and pine trees I can turn into wood chips. My hubby said he will put a french drain in front of the coop (its at the bottom of a hill) but that won't be for awhile. What do you all do to keep your run dry and coop clean?
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Peeps, for my two cents, I wouldn't put hay down,,,,some folks use either sand or pebbles....I think you'd probably do better with a couple of inches of pebbles jmo.....
 
If you don't see Fresh Eggs Daily stuff, here was their post this morning.


Eggs in Clouds

Yield: 2 servings

Ingredients
4 eggs
1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 450 and line a sturdy cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
2. Separate eggs, putting the whites in a large mixing bowl and the yolks in separate little cups.
3. Whip the whites at high speed until stiff peaks form, about 2-3 minutes.
4. Gently stir in the cheese, then divide the whites into 4 "cloud" shapes on the baking sheet. Make a little well in the center of each cloud.
5. Bake for 3 minutes, then slide the cookie sheet out and gently slip a yolk into each well. Cook for another 3 minutes.
6. Gently remove with a spatula and serve!
 
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First eggs finally for first time chicken owners.the small one was outside in the run the other was in the nest box. Our roo was going nuts during this. I thought something was trying to get them.
 
My peeps said:
My run is a muddy (poopy) mess with all this rain. On saturday we came home and there was at least 2 inches of water in the run. We have a roof over it but the rain was so heavy and coming in sideways that it filled it up like a pool. Even with changing the nesting boxes as often as I can the eggs have been filthy and covered with mud and poop. I'm afraid to use them so I cooked them and fed them back to the birds. A guy down the street sells hay. Can I use that in the run and nest boxes until the weather improves. It's cheaper than the wood chips. I've been searching Craigslist for a wood chipper. We have an endless supply of branches and pine trees I can turn into wood chips. My hubby said he will put a french drain in front of the coop (its at the bottom of a hill) but that won't be for awhile. What do you all do to keep your run dry and coop clean?
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My layers are in a tractor. Tractors get slid 2x a day. All my eggs get laid on the ground. They are collected as I slide. Muddy or not they get washed and boxed up for eats/sales
 

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