post your chicken coop pictures here!

[JBarker]

Yes. I've covered the run since the pics we're taken.

 

[Sylvester017]

Yes. I've covered the run since the pics we're taken.

Cool!

 

[iwiw60]

Well then I would think the net would cover it. I hear hawks all the time in my back yard, it will be interesting to see how many are really out there once I have a flock of tasty. Hickeys set up for them. I will be enclosing the top of my run with hardware cloth so they can't get in.

Enjoy your stunning coop!!!

You don't need hardware cloth for hawks and it is amazingly expensive. I think Yellowcoop has the right idea with the netting.
Correct...you do not need 1/2" hardware cloth for the top of the run...for hawks netting will do. However, use of hardware cloth for the sides and bottom of your run is imperative if you have predators. JMHO...

 

[bruceha2000]

Hi Bruce:

HaHa - correct - most people don't consider white eggs a color. It's the one color I don't have so will try non-broody gentle Bredas (about 4-1/2 lb hens) next Spring 2015 if I can find a willing breeder that will ship 4-month-old juveniles and not chicks or eggs - the Breda breeder is in my State of Calif but has not experienced shipping birds yet - I might be their first shipped experiment - they have developed some new feather colors - the usual colors are Blue, Black, and Splash but the breeder now has Cuckoo and Mottled too. Shipped birds is how I obtained my other rare breed juveniles from an East Coast breeder so hopefully shipping within our State will be easier on the birds.

The Breda thread has confirmed the lack of broody instinct in the calm Bredas and they lay medium as pullets to large white eggs by their 2nd year. Polish or Crevecoeurs lay white eggs but I didn't want to deal with any more crested/bearded breeds. Instead the Breda not only doesn't have crests or beards, they don't even have combs! Of course they have those huge vulture hocks and feathered feet but then I'm accustomed to dealing with feathered feet already in the Silkies. Not wanting any more assertive Leghorns - will give the white egg-laying gentle Breda a chance in the flock next year - at least they won't be crabby broodies.

Faverolles lay nice tinted, pink, to tan eggs but are extremely docile for a free-range flock and again want a break from dealing with bearded/muffed breeds for a while.

Most people who have BAs absolutely love them. Not surprised you like yours (except for the broody thing) but BAs were created using the Orps who are notorious broodies. It pays to know how a breed was created to see if it has a broody history. That's how we got a broody Buff Leg - she had some broody breeds used to create her variety.

Cubalayas (and Phoenix IMO) are both beautiful ornamentals but certainly not egg-layers. Still it's like having a peacock for the ornamental value and pleasure of having eye candy in the backyard.

Chanties are not a breed I would try because of the video I watched of a skittish flock but still I am sorry that you lost one. Birds die for no apparent or a hidden reason we can't see. I lost a rare shipped juvenile after only 2-1/2 weeks (it never grew like her sister) and she died in our arms. The other was a Dominique 3-week-old chick that was lively and active and just fell over suddenly in a seizure and died in our hands.

I'm telling you, Bruce, those broodies are a crabby bunch. Isolation is the best solution until they are completely over it. We had one broody Silkie that didn't stick with it last month - her "favourite" nextbox was occupied by the broody Leghorn so the Silkie kept wanting to come into the house pen to brood but we didn't let her so she stopped being crabby and in a couple weeks returned to laying again. Those Silkies are good layers of 1.25 to 1.5 oz eggs about 4-6 times a week when not broody.

Commonly reported non-broody egg-layers: RIRs, BRs, NHRs, Andalusians, White Faced Black Spanish, Catalana Prat, Penedesenca, production White Legs, Brown Legs, Breda, Ameraucana, EEs, Appenzeller Spitzhauben (flighty), Barnevelder, Hamburg (not docile), Minorca, Sicilian Buttercup. Seems the majority of non-broody breeds fall under the Mediterranean class and of course the Meds are all white layers. Although these are non-broody breeds some individuals could go broody. Been reading up on the Bielefelder thread and those birds lay huge eggs but then they are huge birds with huge appetites as well!

This is probably all info you know already but still good info for some readers.

Smiles - Syl

You give me WAY too much credit for knowing things

I have to figure out a way to save your post. LOTS of good info on various breeds. I knew the Cubalayas are a 2 to 3 a week (if that) small egg layer. I got them because my daughter thought they were Cuuuuuuuuute. And they are plus they have a lot of personality.

I looked through the Breda thread, only read the first half, then jumped to the end. Never heard of Vulture Hocks before so I had to look that up too. This is my favorite picture, looks like a C 130 with the ramp down

Not something I'd not get until the Anconas are gone or I have time (like that will EVER happen) to make arrangements for a 2 flock set up though. They look to be very slow maturing, eggs not until 9 months, probably more like 10.

Laura seems to have snapped out of it. I put Anais on ice yesterday, found her later in a "nest" she had made in the run. Can't be as warm as the nest box since it is bare ground under not all that much shavings. Dogs make "nests" like that in the summer to cool off. Took her outside and she stuck with the others. Back in the nest though when I went out at their at bed time and again this morning. Time to chill her off once more.

Bruce

 

[DoubleMM]

view of the coop from a different perspective....

 

[Peggy O]

Making progress on our run....still lots to do.

 

[Curlyginger]

Looks nice, you might want to seal that OSB though, it's going to suck up all the moisture otherwise. Blackjack 57 on the floor and some nice paint on the walls would be good.

That is exactly what we did. Painted the walls with some extra paint we had lying around and blackjacked the floor. The trim above the nesting box door has been sealed with caulk to help prevent leaks. There was some talk about switching around the roost so the wider portion is facing up. We may do that as well. We have also put some corrugated roofing over half of the run - solid on the side that gets direct sunlight (so the Hennies can get some shade) and clear on the other side. Thanks for all of the input and for the encouraging words. We are very new to chickens (only 5 weeks in) and are definitely learning as we go!

 

[JBarker]

Making progress on our run....still lots to do.

Looks really nice and easy to maintain. Great Job

 

[Sylvester017]

Correct...you do not need 1/2" hardware cloth for the top of the run...for hawks netting will do. However, use of hardware cloth for the sides and bottom of your run is imperative if you have predators. JMHO...

Raccoons have fine manipulative opposing thumb claws and climb everywhere very deftly - fences, wire, trees, etc. so netting over the top of the run is great against aerial predators but the 'Coons will have an easy go of getting into the coop through netting - just sayin'.

 

[Sylvester017]

.

I looked through the Breda thread, only read the first half, then jumped to the end. Never heard of Vulture Hocks before so I had to look that up too. This is my favorite picture, looks like a C 130 with the ramp down

Not something I'd not get until the Anconas are gone or I have time (like that will EVER happen) to make arrangements for a 2 flock set up though. They look to be very slow maturing, eggs not until 9 months, probably more like 10.

Laura seems to have snapped out of it. I put Anais on ice yesterday, found her later in a "nest" she had made in the run. Can't be as warm as the nest box since it is bare ground under not all that much shavings. Dogs make "nests" like that in the summer to cool off. Took her outside and she stuck with the others. Back in the nest though when I went out at their at bed time and again this morning. Time to chill her off once more.

Bruce

LOVE the Breda photo of the C-130 with the ramp down

- Breda was something I never considered until I started researching gentle small white egg-layers that WERE NOT assertive Mediterranean class and went WOW when I saw the Bredas - still a rare breed in the USA. The other gentle white egg-layer choices were Polish, Crevecoeur, and possibly Houdan but I didn't want any more crests/beards for now. Breda are slower to mature but that's what makes them hardier - the faster a bird matures (like Cornish X or Sexlink/hybrid layers) the more health problems develop. Plus the Breda boys are way bigger than the girls for the table if that's your preference to raise meat.

Besides the gentleness factor I wanted lighter weight birds to go easier on the feed bill. We bought 50# last time and think now we should only get a 20-25# bag because we serve it fermented with extra Brewers Yeast, Chia and Quinoa seeds, pulverized Pumpkin seed meat, Rolled Oats or Groats, Turmeric, etc so nutrients absorb better and therefore the hens eat/need less of it daily. Of course besides free-ranging and wild bird seed they get garden produce and extra fish/meats/Greek yogurt for daily supplementation treats. During the hot summer we don't feed the fatty foods like Sunflower seeds and use only 0% fat content Greek yogurt since it's not good for their liver to ingest too much fat in summer.

Let us know how the broody thing gets solved. A lot of people need to know not any one method is successful in breaking a broody. We tried several things with our Silkies like soaking their breasts in a tub of lukewarm/cool water so they spent an hour preening to forget they were broody, ice pack baggies or ice blocks in the nest (messy/wet for wood boxes), putting them in wire cages overnight off the ground/floor to cool them down overnight (no drafts), locking them out of the nestboxes, etc and no one method is foolproof if you have a determined broody. We let ours brood their empty nests with no eggs for up to 5 or 6 weeks which is the normal broody/chick raising time and then start using methods to lock them out of the nest area and keeping them out with the regular flock til they return to normal. Someone said their Grandma on the farm used to throw broodies in a gunny/flour sack and hang them on the clothesline overnight - how times have changed!