Pix of my chicken house and their run

[Beekissed]

Quote:
Well...you are going to get some eggs real soon, then, aren't you? You might see if you can place some of your natural bedding you have been putting in your run in the nest boxes and seeing if it will stay in there better. It's the slick plastic tubs that allows it so be moved out of the nests so easily, is all. You can eliminate that pretty quickly, though by removing the tubs and just placing one more board across the front to create some depth. The deeper the better, then you can fill those puppies up with bedding and they will have lovely, deep nests.

If my plastic tote was just bare plastic, I'd lose more of my nesting materials also, but I lined mine with thick cardboard for insulation of the nest and it tends to hold onto materials better than the plastic does.

 

[RoseMarie1]

Well...you are going to get some eggs real soon, then, aren't you? You might see if you can place some of your natural bedding you have been putting in your run in the nest boxes and seeing if it will stay in there better. It's the slick plastic tubs that allows it so be moved out of the nests so easily, is all. You can eliminate that pretty quickly, though by removing the tubs and just placing one more board across the front to create some depth. The deeper the better, then you can fill those puppies up with bedding and they will have lovely, deep nests.

If my plastic tote was just bare plastic, I'd lose more of my nesting materials also, but I lined mine with thick cardboard for insulation of the nest and it tends to hold onto materials better than the plastic does.

oh I sure do hope so. The boxes were almost empty of their contents this morning when I turned them out to their run. They're getting slightly confused with that area being closed off now. When I open the gate and some of them go into the run some of them go into the nesting area trying to get into the run which is the way it used to be. They see the others and they go from one side to the other trying to figure out HOW to get to them. lol silly chickens. One of the golf balls is on the ground this morning. I sure HOPE they KNOW what the nest are for and ALL my eggs wind up IN them instead of on the ground some where because this bunch I have would eat your toes if they could.

Don't want any of my eggs eaten by this bunch.


OK that might be a good idea to do Bee. And speaking of putting my hand in those nests, that's WHY I got the guy to do the box like I did instead of it opening up from the top. I don't want to put my face in on top of no snake! ekkkkkk So I got him to fix it to where it would open from the back instead.

 

[RoseMarie1]

Well I got out there today while hubby was messing around with some of his friends doing deer hunting prep and stuff and cleaned up around the chickens pen. We had boards lying every where that needed picked up and stacking. I went out there to plant my grazing boxes and did that and all sorts of other stuff to. Planted rye grass in 2 of the grazing boxes inside their run and then the 10' long one I planted crimson clover in it. I have left overs so when hubby disks me up an area in the garden I can plant that in there. Thinking about putting up the netting around it to keep them out until it sprouts. So now their run is all fixed up for them with deep litter and stumps and poles to get on. Got all the pine needles spread out and around the grazing frames. Was so funny when I was planting them they were outside the pen eating the seeds that came through the fence. I guess I need to toss some in around the outside edges of their pen to but worry about the deer coming in there bringing their critters to my chickens pen.

Also hung their feeder back up since we had taken off the roof and there was nothing to hang it to until now. I think they like it hanging much better because they can get at it better I think.

Got out the sweeper and swept up the leaves, grass and pine needles for under their roost since it needed some more. So that's done now.

Only have 2 eight foot sections to go and the whole run will be nice and sturdy again. Going to put up the welded wire over the poultry wire in 8' sections so it will be easier to take down when we get the rest of the posts. We got the roof put back on it yesterday evening. So it's getting there slowly but surely.

 

[Beekissed]

Of course, we'll be needing some pics of this newly reconstructed run and growing frames!

And make a sign, call it the Rattlesnake Ranch...

 

[RoseMarie1]

Of course, we'll be needing some pics of this newly reconstructed run and growing frames!

And make a sign, call it the Rattlesnake Ranch...

you so crazy, rattlesnake ranch indeed.

Will do.....on the pix.

 

[RoseMarie1]

OK I just planted my grazing frames on Sat. evening. This is only Tues. and they are coming up and I have pix to prove it. I was floored when I went out there to check earlier today. One of the grazing frames aren't coming up yet so I watered them again. THEN it came a flood this evening so they got watered twice. Hopefully the seeds wont rot now.

Had to post this one even though it's blurry. This is Mr. Stud Muffin himself. lol He stands so proud and tall.

 

[RoseMarie1]

Thought I'd post a few of my chicken pix I've been taking here lately. They dearly love this bread tray I put in their pen for them to sit on. In fact they loved it so well some of them wanted to roost on it but I wouldn't let them since it's in the run and not really secure enough for the night.



You can see how I fixed it on this pic. I just used the the PVC pipes and stuck them into the wire and then wired the rack on the PVC pipes to hold it in place. It's only about 1 1/2' off the ground.



One of my Aussie hens.




and another one.




They dearly love standing and sitting on these stumps in their run that Bee gave me the idea for.



Enjoying the deep litter in their run.







Some of the Aussies are getting red combs and wattles.



Thought this one was cute with her little fuzzy butt sticking up beside the stump. The DL is about a foot deep here or maybe a little deeper. It's not AS deep along the edges of the outsides of the pen.

 

[Beekissed]

Your birds look great! That last Aussie is a beaut and has the conformation I look for in my layers/DP birds...that first Red is also very much to my liking. I also love the bread tray...so cute and functional, plus they love it. I can't help but envy you all that pine straw as it's such a beautiful color and texture for the DL. They look so utterly content and the litter looks so very clean, who wouldn't want their birds to have access to that kind of run?

I learned long ago that chickens like different levels of being in their coop and in the areas they live in outdoors...they just like to be UP sometimes and not necessarily on a skinny ol' roost pole but just up..it can be the glider, the swing, the dog house, stacked hay, even up in the apple trees. I always feel so sorry for chickens locked in a run with bare, pitted out soil and no different places of being.

 

[RoseMarie1]

Your birds look great! That last Aussie is a beaut and has the conformation I look for in my layers/DP birds...that first Red is also very much to my liking. I also love the bread tray...so cute and functional, plus they love it. I can't help but envy you all that pine straw as it's such a beautiful color and texture for the DL. They look so utterly content and the litter looks so very clean, who wouldn't want their birds to have access to that kind of run?

I learned long ago that chickens like different levels of being in their coop and in the areas they live in outdoors...they just like to be UP sometimes and not necessarily on a skinny ol' roost pole but just up..it can be the glider, the swing, the dog house, stacked hay, even up in the apple trees. I always feel so sorry for chickens locked in a run with bare, pitted out soil and no different places of being.

Thank you Bee......
and me to now that I know there is a better way of doing things. I feel sorry for them having to wade in their own poop.
I raked up a bunch more DL yesterday but put it in my flower beds instead since their litter is deep enough, although I do need to put some in that area where the bread tray is. LOL I actually felt funny putting it in the flower beds. Someone gave me that old bread tray many moons ago. I used to have white doves and I had it in their pen for them to get on and sit. I had to take it down since I was using this area for the chickens roost. I even kept it up for when I had the ducks to. It was up really high so they never got on it so I just stored stuff up there on it.
There's that word again, being....we'll you'll be glad to know I did just that on Monday, just being. I sit in my swing out there and just enjoyed the weather. Not a long time but long for me. My daughter picks on me because she says I don't sit anywhere for long.

 

[Beekissed]

It's a good thing to just sit still and know He is God. I've been cultivating that seems like all my life as it's hard to get some time alone when you are the youngest of nine kids. Then Dad had us working every spare moment when we were homesteading, so getting time to just BE was difficult, but I knew it needed to happen for me to maintain any sanity in life. Time to think, look, take a deep breath and talk to the Lord.

When I was working my most stressful nursing jobs I'd take a moment out of the day to just shut it all out, even if it was only to go to the bathroom and stay there for awhile. I think a person can get caught up in the whirlwind of life and forget that nothing of what goes on in our regular day is as important as quiet time doing one on one with God. Ya miss that, you've missed the whole point in life!

I've tried to teach it to the boys also, so we'd often have camp fires in the yard on the weekends to just sit out and stare into the fire, talk a little, laugh a lot and just BE together without any distractions. Sometimes we'd go out in the colder months when the meteors are really falling, bundle up in down comforters, lay out in the yard and see how many we could count, talk about things, talk to God, etc.

This old world is an amazing place and I don't want to miss any of it if I can help it...and then I can compare it to when it's all made anew. Can't wait!!!