PLEASE talk me out of this???

[WildBurroShirts.com]

OK...the guy who's building my coop (@ $30 an hour) is taking forever. We're talking almost two months now as he only works on it almost one day a week as he has another job.

And when I got home from work I discovered he put the door on backwards...arrrgh.

So. I'm running out of comfortable accomodations for the 5 week old EE's...currently they're getting too big for the rabbit cages and dog kennels I have...so the group of 15 is split up a few to each one.

I'm 'thinking' of putting them in the horse trailer with a coupla heat lamps.

But...I love my horse trailer. It's immaculate inside and was mega expensive aluminum. I may have to sell it if to pay my mortgage if the economy continues to tank.

They're gonna trash it no matter what I do...although I was thinking if I put trash bags taped over the swing dividers (cuz you KNOW they're gonna roost/poop on those nonstop) it could MAYBE be pressure washed out come spring???? (m a y b e?)

It's a bad idea, huh?

 

[Chickie Mamma]

Hello. Well, as far as it getting dirty, you already know the answer. But chicken poop is pretty water soluable, easy clean with a little soap and water. Maybe put a tarp under the bedding, and when the coop is done, just take it all out.

 

[okiemommy]

I wouldn't put them in your horse trailer. Especially if you plan to sell it, or are thinking about having to sell it soon. My advice we be to go to craigslist, and look for some kind of structure big enough to put the chickens in temporarily. I wouldn't worry about the 4 sq ft per bird at this point because it's still better than the kennels and cages as they get bigger. You can find ALL kind of things on craigslist for very cheap or for free. Check the free section, the horse trailer section too...sometimes they have some very beat up horse trailers for very cheap that people just want to get rid of. Steel buildings for $75. Get creative, you can turn all kinds of things into a chicken coop, and you don't have to sacrifice your expensive trailer for it. Good luck!

I'm not sure you should keep the guy that's taking 2 months to build the chicken coop at $30 an hour, especially if he is not working acceptable hours on it. ETAr doing a good job on it. But that's a difficult decision in itself. Good luck!!

 

[azelgin]

Mine love to roost on my dirt bike in the carport. Maybe you could put one of those in there? Do you have a slant load trailer that lets you open the gates flat against one side? That would keep their butts off of them. They are not going to be getting much altitude until the are a few weeks older. Give them something else a little lower to roost on and keep it as far from your swing gate as you can so they don't leap frog over and up to it. but, a birt bike will work for sure.

 

[Chickenaddict]

Yep bad idea but im in the same shoes you are right now pretty much, Got 23 chickens living in my basement and they are running out of room too, garage is full already with more chickens.....More eggs due to hatch 2nd week in feb and im having a hard time trying to sell some of the cockrels (who are causing ALOT of trouble) to make more room for the babies. It's either gonna be the downstairs shower or the old chevy pickup rusting to pieces in our front yard lol. If you paid big bucks for a nice horse trailer I probably wouldn't go that route but then again if there was some way to clean it real good once the coops done and it was only temporary then i may. What i would do is light a fire under the coop builders behind, try to get him motivated to hurry up and finish it.

 

[WildBurroShirts.com]

Quote:

Love your avatar: I have 3 BLM burros giving me that look every day. Two are chocolate colored though.

They were hatched 12-17 so I'm thinking they COULD get their little poopy butts on the dividers even if they're shut. Plus the end one has that extension.

I'm just looking at what used to be my desk lamp that I put in next to the pet house chicken cage: it looks like it spent a year in the Sahara only...that ain't just 'dust' on it.

 

[WildBurroShirts.com]

Quote:
A tarp might help, huh? Good idea. I have a cheap pressure washer...never used it. And it's in the 20's here today so not likely to happen soon.

 

[Pullet Pimp]

WOW sounds like you need to have a heart to heart with your builder and get the ball moving faster, especially at the rate you are paying him. Wish I was closer I would have underbid on that project.

How big of coop and style are you having him build?

Here is something less than an hour away from you that would work great, and it comes with nesting boxes. And it only costs 2-3 days work from what you are paying your builder.

http://reno.craigslist.org/grd/1007334073.html

As for the horse trailer, it sounds too nice and I wouldn't put them in there.

Good luck on what ever you decide.

 

[WildBurroShirts.com]

Quote:
O....K....you have it worse than me! I hadn't thought of the basement though...it's ugly down there but it is warm. Hmmm. So...they'll sort of stick together, right? Because they can't get out from under the house but they CAN get places I couldn't get my big butt to help them out of...there's all this insulated furnace stuff down there.

And the furnace guy said there are black widows the size of Buicks, too.

 

[orcasislandchickens]

Yes it is a BAD idea, horse trailers are expensive, and the chickens will poo in the sliding windows, venting, feed areas, floor matting, and such, and it will be hard to clean back out completely. Also horses hate unusual smells and down the road you may get a "poor loader" that objects to loading into a trailer with anything strange about it like an after smell of chicken. (I used to show horses)

Find somewhere else to move them to and get creative. When mine got to that stage I put them in a cardboard watermelon box from the produce department. I lined it with a tarp. It was about 3.5 X 5 and two foot tall very heavy duty and thick. A big appliance box would work too, just add shavings and clip a light above if they still need one. You'll still have to have the cardboard box in a structure like a garage, but it gives you another few weeks. You throw it out when you are done no major cleanup.

You might also see if you can pay a carpenter for a day, and finish the danged coop up properly and now.