Pipd's Peeps!

[Crazy Maizie]

Do you have pics of your set up? Is it all one big area or lots of different housing options?

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

I don't really have pictures of everything as a whole because it is kinda spread out, but it's several coops, 6 total. There's the main coop where most of my birds live (an 8x10 shed with the 8x16 "deck" built onto it, and an 8x6 wing with divider door), the three rooster coops (all 4x8 but easily dividable to six 4x4 spaces), the previously mentioned Guinea coop (8x8 and technically dividable but would take more work because it's not set up to be), and the old duck coop currently housing OEGB roosters (4x6 and not really dividable because of where the doors are).

I don't take a lot of pictures of my coops because they're, well, kinda ugly. We do a lot of recycling for these projects with some new lumber used where needed, and none of us are professional carpenters or painters, something that I've had my nose rubbed in about my coops before. So yeah, none of them are like the pretty coops you see around BYC sometimes or in magazines or whatever, but they're all functional and secure.

Here's a bad drawing of the whole setup from a google maps overhead view; red is the main coop, blue are the rooster coops, purple is the old duck coop, green is the Guinea coop. Orange is my feed shed and gray is a storage shed. The big block with the sloppy black stripes is the house, and all other lines represent fences and pens.

 

[Crazy Maizie]

I see you are very artistic.

Thanks for the explanation. I know there are lots of critics, but I am of the mindset that if it works for you and your poultry it's no one else's business. And, they could learn a thing or two as well. I've picked up a few birds from various farms over the years and am amazed at the uniqueness. Most set-ups would be critiqued hard on BYC. So, I get it. I'm just envious of you and all your birds.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Ahaha, not sure I'd call it artistic, but it does the job anyway!

I agree 100% about the coops. Yeah, I'll drool over pretty coops like anyone else, but really any coop that's secure and functional gets that kind of attention from me, pretty or not. So many people are judgemental about it, but you know what? The chickens sure don't seem to care if a board is a little crooked or a little paint dripped where it wasn't supposed to be, and that's all that really counts.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

A little funny story from this morning. Every morning, when I open the pop door for Gus and the girls, Gus is always worked up because it's first thing in the morning and he's got to get his energy out I guess, so he dances and clucks at me. Every morning, I pick him up and give him a little cuddle, and usually he heads on his way to the other side of the pen after that. Well, this morning he continued to dance around my feet after his morning cuddle as if more excited than usual, when Dandelion hopped through the pop door to see what was going on. I don't know if she was just sick of his crap or angry at him for giving someone else his attention, but she walked over to him briskly, flared her hackles, and looked him right in the eye. As if he knew he was caught in the act of something he shouldn't have been doing, he immediately turned and walked away to the other side of the pen without another sound. I guess someone's henpecked!

This morning was Gus vs. Dandelion round two!

I was still holding Gus when Dandy came out of the coop today. Dandy also likes being held, so she came over to me to wait her turn. When I put Gus down next to her, he got excited and started to dance at me again. Dandy watched this for a moment, then seemed to get sick of waiting for her turn, so she turned to Gus and just walloped him one on the shoulder! Poor Gus squawked, then walked away to the other side of the pen to pout. I swear, I could see a halo over Dandy's head as she looked back to me for her turn being held, the stinker!

So I guess the score so far is Dandy 2, Gus 0.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

I had to bring Rooska, my big ol Lavender Orpington, in to a hospital pen yesterday for what started out as a bloaty, water-balloon crop and seems to be developing into sour crop. Anyway, the hospital pen I used for her was just a circle of boxes with a feed bag laid down in it, and some cage pieces laid over top to prevent her flying out. Well, this morning she figured out that she could just jump into those cage pieces and knock them out of the way to escape. Several attempts to contain her and a huge mess from her spilling her water bowl later, I'd had to resign myself to that pen just not being enough to contain her.

The good news is that the babies, as of today, have officially moved out full time! We were having a bit of a cool spell and I wasn't brave enough to put them out overnight in temperatures that could dip into the 40's, but we're past that now, so they're officially out today and will spend their first night in the coop tonight!

And that means that the brooder is now the hospital pen for Rooska, because it has a zippered-on top that she can't just throw herself into to get out.

As far as her health goes, despite her crop issues, she seems to be in good humor, talking away as usual for anyone who will hear her. She certainly still has plenty of energy if her many leaps out of the box hospital pen are any indication. Her prognosis seems good as of right now, and I feel hopeful that with a bit of work on that crop, she'll be back outside very soon.

 

[Crazy Maizie]

Chickens can be feisty when they want to.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

For sure! Stubborn, too! But we love 'em anyway.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Rooska's crop has progressed to sour crop as of this morning. Ugh! She also has gone fully into molt and is dropping feathers with every movement, the poor thing! She's still seeming chipper and is definitely still talkative, so I'm not overly concerned. Gotta pick up some miconazole to get her treated and on her way again.

On the plus side, the babies have been outside for two nights now and are doing great with the new arrangement! They grow up so fast!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

I don't know if anyone following this thread is all that interested in this, but after about a week's worth of work, I've finally finished updating my Chick Sexing Experiment article to be complete up to this year's chicks. PHEW, that was a lot of work!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/an-experiment-in-chick-sexing-methods.72520/


Now I've got to finish the overhaul on my flock page that I started way too long ago at this point.