post your chicken coop pictures here!

[Chicken Egg 17]

2 of my little bantams do that I have more than those two but they go running up to my neighbors house and then the others go out front and then those two come down after it gets dark to go in there house when the others are already in before dark those two always stay out later they don't like going to bed it's like trying to get a toddler to go take a nap

 

[Tika75]

Nice... It made me run dig out my DVDs. All 8 seasons of Dr. Who.

I need season 9....

NETFLIX! Or at least until the removed it. :-(

 

[TJordan]

[COLOR=3A3A3A]Kaylee, what the hell's goin' on in the engine room? Were there monkeys? Some terrifying space monkeys maybe got loose?[/COLOR]

Everything's shiny captain.

 

[bruceha2000]

Quote:
Put it in your will and name a the "joker"

Quote:
Possibly because the quoted post was put up 3 years ago, you joined this month and failed to read ALL 1,203 pages

The front of that kind of looks like a TARDIS and it IS bigger inside

I dont know or worry about nutritional value, chickens have a crop that allows them to eat very hard grains and digest them. All birds have this AFAIK. My hens will jump up on my arm to get at the corn in my hand or scoop. The kids get a kick out of feeding them out of their hands. I used to hunt pheasant and the season was during corn harvest so their crops were always full of corn. When i mow the lawn i drive by the run so the mower throws the cut grass into the run. They climb all over each other to get the grass. A friend of mine used to throw handfulls of cut grass into his chicken's run just to see how crazy they get over it

I'm thinking young chicks, not adult birds, with regard to seriously limiting the "crack". In general the "crack" shouldn't be more than 10% of an adult chicken's diet but that doesn't mean it has no nutritional value. But just like you probably don't want to raise your kids on a diet of ice cream (which does have nutritional value

) you want the chicks to make sure they get most of their calories from a balanced diet.

My adults (which I guess now includes all 16 girls) make their own balanced diet once things start to grow in the spring and the bugs are out. They still eat some of the layer feed though. And they get morning BOSS and evening scratch year round.

 

[gpeters3]

A guy told me today he uses repellant to keep foxes and other predators out of his yard so he can range his birds. Anybody try that yet?

 

[MeepBeep]

A guy told me today he uses repellant to keep foxes and other predators out of his yard so he can range his birds.  Anybody try that yet?

Repellents like that might act as a mild deterrent to wandering and passing through animals that are not hungry, but animals that call the area home and are hungry will challenge territorial boundaries, especially when there is an easy and free chicken buffet as a reward...

 

[gpeters3]

Repellents like that might act as a mild deterrent to wandering and passing through animals that are not hungry, but animals that call the area home and are hungry will challenge territorial boundaries, especially when there is an easy and free chicken buffet as a reward...

My first thought as well. A 6 foot fence will stop most dogs but not coons or hawks. I dont have time or energy to stand out in the yard all day with a shotgun and based on some stories I've heard, catching a savy fox or coyote in the process is very unlikely unless it's fenced. Considering that my chicken project is technically illegal it's best to keep them out of sight and make as little fuss as possible anyway. The new run should keep them happy. One more good day and they will be out to run around in it. So far, all my neighbors are the live and let live type. Authorities don't typically act without a complaint and our local snitch passed away last year so there is hope for peace and tranquility in the neighborhood My adjacent neighbors are friends and actually think they are cool and will probably be getting a lot of leftover eggs with 18 layers I was giving some away with only 8 layers. I may wall the end with steel barn siding to match the barn so their presence will not be obvious due visable fencing. The entire coop and run are pole barn constructs, an extension of the existing pole barn so adding siding or roofing is "Easy Peasy".

 

[MeepBeep]

A 6 foot fence will stop most dogs but not coons or hawks.

It might stop some domestic dogs or at least give you time, a feral dog or a domestic that has learned to dig will generally go right under it... Coyotes and foxes can easily jump even 6 foot fence raccoons will climb over... It all depends on how bold and hungry they are, a 6 foot fence will certainly offer a barrier and slow them down, but at the end of the day a lot will depend on your actual location and amount of available 'wild' prey for the animals...

 

[Sylvester017]

A guy told me today he uses repellant to keep foxes and other predators out of his yard so he can range his birds. Anybody try that yet?

My DD & SIL's backyard is next to a nature preserve -- they used pee repellants and they didn't work to keep away the rattlesnake, hawk. owl, deer, squirrel, coyote, bear, mountain lion, stray dog, feral cat, bobcat, raccoon, possum, rabbit, rat, mice, skunk, etc etc etc. Last time I house-sat their place I got eye-to-eye with a male coyote who was not the least bit afraid. Time before that the raccoon dumped the trash can all over the backyard. Time before that a skunk trotted across the patio. Nothing deters the wild critters.

 

[bruceha2000]

Quote:
Similar story here. Had skunks digging up the yard at the prior home. Got some repellant (maybe fox urine??) and hung the little bottles on the wire fence around the yard. Didn't make a bit of difference.