lereg15
In the Brooder
Hello all, newbie here that loves information and research on things I intend to start doing. I've seen far too many people walk into something blindly only to, well, pretty much fail. Hence the reason I came to you all for tips and knowledge!!
I should be getting my first ever chicks on the 20th of this month, but from what I've been hearing and seeing on the net, Buff Orps aren't exactly laying beasts, so I may have to rethink them. I would like Rocks, if I can find them locally, but so far I haven't seen them around. There's been black sex links, but I've heard they have quite the voice, and living on a golf course probably wouldn't be a good idea having them.
Anyway, back to what I was posting for. I wanted to show you some pics of my brooder and the making of my coop, and would like to hear your praises or your negative comments about them. I will try to explain what I am doing with them in my next paragraph.
First off, my brooder! I built a 4x3 1/2x 2 brooder last night and started on the lid today, but like the fool I am, I didn't get any brackets to tie my 1x3's together with and the nearest hardware store was closed. I did buy the feeders and light fixtures today though and I'm feeling pretty positive about it, so far. It's in my garage right now and the door was just opened and the temp in it was at 90, with only about an hour of the light being on. I plan on getting some linoleum for the floor of it, so it would be easier to clean once the chicks have left it. The wood shavings in it was my granddaughters idea, so I let her go ahead and throw them in it to please her, she's 2. I do plan on fencing the lid as well. I mat also put some cardboard around the sides, just to make it 'a little cleaner'.
For my Coop, so far, this is my plan: I'm going to use half of my downstairs, covered porch, using the existing railings and wall. I'm using pallets and a little bit of plywood to cover the rest of the gaps. For the outside of it, I will put our left over siding we have from when we sided our house, to make it uniformed. I will be placing straw in between the pallets for some insulation for the winters. My only problem now is where I should put the door for me and where to put the nesting boxes, plus I need to figure out the door for them as well. I'd like to put their door on the far side, so I can make their run through my lattice gates and out to the yard. My door would be at the front with the nesting boxes on both side of it, MAYBE. Well, here's a pic of it, so tell me what you think. Oh yeah, it will be 11x8.
I should be getting my first ever chicks on the 20th of this month, but from what I've been hearing and seeing on the net, Buff Orps aren't exactly laying beasts, so I may have to rethink them. I would like Rocks, if I can find them locally, but so far I haven't seen them around. There's been black sex links, but I've heard they have quite the voice, and living on a golf course probably wouldn't be a good idea having them.
Anyway, back to what I was posting for. I wanted to show you some pics of my brooder and the making of my coop, and would like to hear your praises or your negative comments about them. I will try to explain what I am doing with them in my next paragraph.
First off, my brooder! I built a 4x3 1/2x 2 brooder last night and started on the lid today, but like the fool I am, I didn't get any brackets to tie my 1x3's together with and the nearest hardware store was closed. I did buy the feeders and light fixtures today though and I'm feeling pretty positive about it, so far. It's in my garage right now and the door was just opened and the temp in it was at 90, with only about an hour of the light being on. I plan on getting some linoleum for the floor of it, so it would be easier to clean once the chicks have left it. The wood shavings in it was my granddaughters idea, so I let her go ahead and throw them in it to please her, she's 2. I do plan on fencing the lid as well. I mat also put some cardboard around the sides, just to make it 'a little cleaner'.
For my Coop, so far, this is my plan: I'm going to use half of my downstairs, covered porch, using the existing railings and wall. I'm using pallets and a little bit of plywood to cover the rest of the gaps. For the outside of it, I will put our left over siding we have from when we sided our house, to make it uniformed. I will be placing straw in between the pallets for some insulation for the winters. My only problem now is where I should put the door for me and where to put the nesting boxes, plus I need to figure out the door for them as well. I'd like to put their door on the far side, so I can make their run through my lattice gates and out to the yard. My door would be at the front with the nesting boxes on both side of it, MAYBE. Well, here's a pic of it, so tell me what you think. Oh yeah, it will be 11x8.
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