post your chicken coop pictures here!

[ShrekDawg]

LOL

 

[bigmrg74]

Alright, I'm pretty good with a hammer! If that'll work better I won't bother with the stapler at all and save myself some time and money. Thanks for the info! I've never even heard of poultry staples before.

You can also use screws with large washers as well.

 

[bruceha2000]

One of these is laying a very pretty green egg. 3 of the chicks I bought were labeled Araucana and priced as rare birds. They do look like chipmunks but haven't really studied them yet. Seems to me that if anyone had the clout to find and buy rare birds, the big companies should be able to. It isn't really important, my goal was to get variety in my flock. If I'm fortunate enough to get some colorful eggs I'm more the happier. I have 6 new breeds in the new batch so now have 10 breeds

My BIG concern is not what color the girls lay but that you were CHEATED big time. None of those birds is even REMOTELY an Araucana. Even if we ignore to coloring, lack of tufts, presence of muff and beard on the EE on the left. They ALL have tails. No Araucan will have a tail, they are missing the last bone on their spine and have "bunny tails". Think of what your chickens looked like when they moulted and had no tail feathers. That is sort of what an Araucana looks like ALL the time.

Whoever you you got them from is a cheat and needs to be outted. And s/he needs to give you a lot of money back. Those birds are all very nice looking but they are not rare in the least.

If you weigh yourself holding the chicken and then weigh just yourself, the difference in the 2 weights is the weight of the chicken-that's how I do the dog...

Assuming you have a VERY VERY VERY accurate scale or YOU don't weigh much

Quote:
They are the cheapest way to go. U shaped and some people hold the nail with a pair of needle nose pliers when starting them so they don't hit their fingers too much. You can certainly use the staple gun to position the wire like LateStarted said. You do want to get it tight and that generally means 2 people if you have one hand for the poultry staple and one for the hammer

But if you are doing it by yourself you can hold the wire tight with one hand and staple with the other. Every foot on larger sections is fine for this. Once you have it where you want it you can go back with the poultry staples. That is NOT a bad idea because once you have a poultry staple all the way in, the only way I've found to get them out is to pound a flat screwdriver under it with a hammer and lever it out. That will usually break the hardware cloth wire under the staple. I usually don't put them in any deeper than I can slip the screwdriver under it and lever (since that won't break the wire) until I've got enough in place to be sure I won't want to move the wire.

Quote:
I ASSUME that means a pneumatic nailer??? I think I would still use 1 1/4 or 1 1/2" staples just to be sure

I had to fix a chicken wire fence (yeah I know, I didn't put it in, it was put in by the prior owner). There were some of those type staples that I had to cut with side cutters but quite a lot pulled out fairly easily with needle nose pliers. Of course some of the wood posts were not in the best shape so longer would have been better as they would have been deeper into the post where PRESUMABLY it would be more solid.

 

[TJordan]

With only the crude start of a coop begun my fears were realized a min ago. My dog got off her chain and pushed the run access open. Several got out. I was able to get all I could find inside but I missed one. Just heard her squall from next door. When I looked a big dog had her in its mouth.

I'm depressed now. Both kids are home as well. Son showing signs of crud and my daughter has a sore thought.

 

[Reechelle1014]

Wow....SO cute!

 

[gpeters3]

My BIG concern is not what color the girls lay but that you were CHEATED big time. None of those birds is even REMOTELY an Araucana. Even if we ignore to coloring, lack of tufts, presence of muff and beard on the EE on the left. They ALL have tails. No Araucan will have a tail, they are missing the last bone on their spine and have "bunny tails". Think of what your chickens looked like when they moulted and had no tail feathers. That is sort of what an Araucana looks like ALL the time.

Whoever you you got them from is a cheat and needs to be outted. And s/he needs to give you a lot of money back. Those birds are all very nice looking but they are not rare in the least.

Hope my text size isn't bothering anyone, I just cant see that small stuff. I've been cheated all my life by someone and I'm still here. Anyway, I couldn't care less if they are what they say as long as they lay colored eggs. They only cost a dollar more. My goal was to have as varied a flock as possible for color, shape etc.. and to get some colored eggs. (chipmunk chickens are still pretty ) When the chicks are laying I should be getting some white, brown and colored eggs. I really like the green eggs both for color and for size (they are jumbo) My wife wants turkey eggs so when one of the turkey chicks died on me I went back to the store and got 3 more. So, if they all live I'll have 18 chickens and 4 turkeys to fool around with. I'm thinking turkeys roost like chickens so I'm going to add a bunch of flat 2x4 roosts around the coop so they have lots of room to perch and roost without fighting. They have ducks too and I considered getting some (my wife thinks they have to have a pond ) but decided to enjoy what I have We used to keep some ducks in the horse paddy when I was a kid. They had their own dog house to get out of the weather.

Hard to believe I went from considering a parakeet in a cage to this.........

 

[gpeters3]

I ASSUME that means a pneumatic nailer??? I think I would still use 1 1/4 or 1 1/2" staples just to be sure

I had to fix a chicken wire fence (yeah I know, I didn't put it in, it was put in by the prior owner). There were some of those type staples that I had to cut with side cutters but quite a lot pulled out fairly easily with needle nose pliers. Of course some of the wood posts were not in the best shape so longer would have been better as they would have been deeper into the post where PRESUMABLY it would be more solid.

Yes, it came in the kit with 2 other nailers and the compressor. I use 7/8 or 1" for most of my work and the 7/8 work really well to hold fencing. You have to break the wire to get it out of the staple if you need to change it. And, yes, the wood matters. Using new wolmanized wood the staples are very secure. I don't recall the max length I can put in the nailer, maybe 1.5". I love it Sure beats mashing fingers and fighting with pockets full of sharp staples

 

[Chicken Egg 17]

With only the crude start of a coop begun my fears were realized a min ago. My dog got off her chain and pushed the run access open. Several got out. I was able to get all I could find inside but I missed one. Just heard her squall from next door. When I looked a big dog had her in its mouth.

I'm depressed now. Both kids are home as well. Son showing signs of crud and my daughter has a sore thought.

Well by now u are probably wondering what else can go wrong but it's not ur fault things happen u learn from mistakes and I am sorry for ur losses but once u get that coop built u will be able to set back and sun tan in the nice summer sun by the pool without a worry

 

[gpeters3]

Quote:
I got attached to a few chickens too and had to let go when they were taken or lost. I know how you feel but they are still just chickens and when they get a little older and no longer lay well you will probably butcher them. That's what raising chickens it all about. If they are just pets then you may have different feelings about it but even so, for about $2 you can go the farm store and get another one and enjoy raising it all over again. We all enjoy watching puppies and kittens and chickens play and grow from babies, that's the way we are made. I don't have any other pets and the chickens will eventually be eaten but, in the mean time, I will enjoy them as pets

 

[Chicken Egg 17]

They arnt just chickens at my house they all have names and they stay until they die and there house has a pad lock on it