post your chicken coop pictures here!

[bruceha2000]

Clearly what you need is a car sized tractor with an enclosed cab and a front end loader on the front of it. I know I had warm thoughts about having one of those this winter. There was some issues at our farm and we lost our Ford 2120 that had the front end loader on it and we ended up getting another tractor that just wasn't as nice as what the 2120 is. Nor did it have the front end loader on it which really was a downer when we realized that we needed to beat back the drifts on our driveway because we couldn't push the snow any further against the frozen piles with just the tractor blade.

Yes I do! Though I am thinking front mount blower since that is a lot of lift, carry somewhere, dump, go back with a FEL. I know they are WAY more expensive than rear mounts but I'm not going to blow snow twisted around backward. First, my back would die in no time. Second, I would probably take out the barns trying to drive between them while twisted backwards.

My long term thoughts are to get a real tractor I can use in the fields (which currently serve no purpose but to be rural and grow tall grasses and weeds but I hope to change that), dig post holes and take up in the woods to get firewood. So I have to decide, do I get it now, with a blower for the winter or do I wait and have the guy down the road do the parking area with one of his many tractors do it at $35/time (at least that is what he charged 2 winters ago before I had my little garden tractor gifted to me).

Sorry to hear about your 2120 loss and less practical replacement. I didn't know people bought real tractors without FELs, even the sub compacts have them. FELs seem to be the "do almost everything" attachment, including serving as a massive "cooler" for large parties. Not sure where you get enough ice to fill it, certainly not from the kitchen freezer.

Well, you'll just have to sell a couple of (thousand) eggs and get yourself a tractor with tracks or something.

You just have to burn until the water evaporates, that way you get no ice

You could mask yourself with some deer urine and wear a ghillie suit? And use a dog to herd the deer close to you (the dog could have a nice little Nomex suit)

-Felix

You are a riot Felix!

First, it is going to take a LOT of "a couple of (thousand) eggs". I've been selling my overage to friends at $2.50/dozen. The rest we eat or give to family.

Sold to date: 1236 eggs (103 dozen) for gross sales of $255.00. Expenses (feed and bedding only, not materials): $415.
They have laid a total of 2965 eggs as of yesterday (a number which just astounds me since they have been laying only ~1.5 years and most of them took 3 months off last fall/winter. Even if I sold ALL of them it would be < $620 gross. Subtract out the cost to keep them and it would be only $205 toward that tractor!

I actually used a propane torch once to melt ice out of a 3" metal rain gutter, it was full to the top. After a while, it was no longer melting but vaporizing and BURNING! Yes, blue flame coming off the ice. Pretty weird and interesting!

So let's see, first I have to get close enough to a deer so it can pee on me, then dress up like vegetation and hope this dog can chase it to within a few feet of me? I think I'll pass, but it is certainly a novel thought!

Bruce

 

[vehve]

You are a riot Felix!

First, it is going to take a LOT of "a couple of (thousand) eggs". I've been selling my overage to friends at $2.50/dozen. The rest we eat or give to family.

Sold to date: 1236 eggs (103 dozen) for gross sales of $255.00. Expenses (feed and bedding only, not materials): $415.
They have laid a total of 2965 eggs as of yesterday (a number which just astounds me since they have been laying only ~1.5 years and most of them took 3 months off last fall/winter. Even if I sold ALL of them it would be < $620 gross. Subtract out the cost to keep them and it would be only $205 toward that tractor!

I actually used a propane torch once to melt ice out of a 3" metal rain gutter, it was full to the top. After a while, it was no longer melting but vaporizing and BURNING! Yes, blue flame coming off the ice. Pretty weird and interesting!

So let's see, first I have to get close enough to a deer so it can pee on me, then dress up like vegetation and hope this dog can chase it to within a few feet of me? I think I'll pass, but it is certainly a novel thought!

Bruce

I didn't say flamethrower hunting was going to be easy

You're doing better than us budgetwise. We got egg #7 today. So far we've only eaten the first one, but I calculated it had a kilo price of about 33000€. That's the most expensive food I've ever had. Now the kilo price has come down to about 4700€, so it's basically commoner food, right?

In these prices I'm calculating mainly materials and trying to forget that feed and other stuff cost money too. But hey, in 2016 we'll be getting free eggs!

 

[bigmrg74]

Yes I do! Though I am thinking front mount blower since that is a lot of lift, carry somewhere, dump, go back with a FEL. I know they are WAY more expensive than rear mounts but I'm not going to blow snow twisted around backward. First, my back would die in no time. Second, I would probably take out the barns trying to drive between them while twisted backwards.

My long term thoughts are to get a real tractor I can use in the fields (which currently serve no purpose but to be rural and grow tall grasses and weeds but I hope to change that), dig post holes and take up in the woods to get firewood. So I have to decide, do I get it now, with a blower for the winter or do I wait and have the guy down the road do the parking area with one of his many tractors do it at $35/time (at least that is what he charged 2 winters ago before I had my little garden tractor gifted to me).

Sorry to hear about your 2120 loss and less practical replacement. I didn't know people bought real tractors without FELs, even the sub compacts have them. FELs seem to be the "do almost everything" attachment, including serving as a massive "cooler" for large parties. Not sure where you get enough ice to fill it, certainly not from the kitchen freezer.

Yeah, its not really lost so much. Dad still has it. Its just when Mom and Dad here got divorced last year, she got the farm and he got the tractor. And for the most part it sits over at his brother's place, mostly being stored. It needed some work done on it which Dad finally got around to doing, with the idea that he might sell it. But when his brother broke his truck blade this winter, the Front End Loader got pressed into removing snow service over there. Think they have a little 6 foot blade there, not a big heavy 8 foot like what we have. So he might keep it a while and I might end up with with it again. And then I would be more than happy to get rid of that Agco. She no lika the cold at all!!!

 

[Sylvester017]

Thank you. Yes hardware buried to 12 inches. Glad I installed tarp, 100 deg F heat index today. Planning on installing metal roof next week.

We've got 95+ weather this past week so we've set up an Orbit Mister under the backyard canopy to be on during the heatwave. The birds let us know they want the mister on - they'll sit on it's base waiting for the water to turn on - they'll spend the hottest part of the day under it. The dirt in the sun is so hot the birds choose to sprawl out on the paver stone sidewalk instead to sun-bathe. We have a lot of low shady lean-to's and a doghouse around the yard also but in this very hot weather they prefer to stand under the mister. These sweet girls like to forage out in the rainy weather also.

 

[Sylvester017]

I've heard from several people relating to dispositions of the birds that I picked. Hopefully, mine will be an exception! Lol! I definitely didn't want RIR's. Almost everyone says they are aggressive. It will be interesting.

We found if a LF comes out of an excessively hard moult they can come back with an assertive to downright aggressive attitude. Also a broody can come out of a drowsy broody period with a very aggressive stance. RIRs can get to 7 lbs and Wyandottes are naturally dominating so maybe they'll turn their aggression on each other but our experience has been that the poor gentler non-combative breeds get the harmful aggression turned on them - the nature of the bully is to pick on the weaker/non-challenging individuals.

Before rehoming your RIR or Wyandotte at least you'll have a somewhat peaceful first year getting eggs from them before they "turn." The smaller the flock the less individuals there are left for the bullies to push around. We had a flock of 2 Silkies 2 Leghorns, 1 Ameraucana. One Leghorn came out of a very hard moult and got progressively pushy not letting the others eat, drink, or roost. She was rehomed before she got hurtful. Then the 2nd Leghorn came out of a long broody period and began to tear out the beards/crests of the other 3 hens so we rehomed her too. Now we have nothing left but 2 gentle Silkies and a non-combative Ameraucana (my avatar). We're hoping to get 2 gentle non-combative Breda pullets next Spring 2015 to see if they mix well with our gentle flock. As a last resort if the Bredas don't work out (we have it on assured terms that they are docile) we will rehome them and get another APA Blue Wheaten Ameraucana. We're at our wits ends dealing with LF or dual purpose aggressive breeds and just want a peaceful gentle-natured egg-laying flock.

After 3 years of dealing with Mediterranean class birds and dual purpose like Marans we no longer want to deal with them - they turn on the gentler non-combative breeds harmfully. A friend has all LF birds and the flock politics are evenly matched but in our gentle-natured flock we have to keep the aggressive and heavier types out.

 

[Sylvester017]

It all depends on your definition of sane!! I think its perfectly sane to pay$500 for an egg, don't you???? (And that was with some free chicks and a lot of repurposed materials.) When I finally get that egg I hope its gold!!

GOLD? Silkie eggs had better be PLATINUM! She cost us over $400 in vet bills this past year and figured her eggs from vet visits alone cost us between $3-$4 each and that's not calculating in the feed/treats/housing/medications/health maintenance products/etc. plus her eggs aren't any bigger than 1.25 oz each LOL

 

[Sylvester017]

Eggs will keep for weeks without refrigeration. I think it is safe to wait until the gully washer is over

Bruce

Bruce, yes, eggs will keep but not if broken. Had a broken soft shell that one of the Silkies decided was delicious (she had tell-tale dried yolk on her beak) so we never let eggs stay in the nestboxes no matter what the weather! We all have different situations and with only 3 laying hens left we can't afford to lose even one egg - especially in winter when the laying is very light. At our back door we can monitor the egg songs and immediately collect the eggs. No more egg-eaters since. Hopefully we can add a couple laying Bredas in the Spring 2015 to expand our egg supply.
Smiles - Syl

 

[RedKell]

My new coop and run. The run is 3m by 1.5m. It gets very hot here in summer, and not very cold in winter, so I made the coop more open-air. I can always add bits if needed. I raised it so they can hang out in the shade underneath. I will probably put shade cloth over some of the run as it starts to warm up. Let me know if I have missed or can improve anything. This is my first time with chickens. The girls seem to like it

The kitty litter tray is temporary. It is what they were sleeping in while in the temporary stetup. They seem to like it and slpt in there last night, so it can stay til they are totally comfortable with the new digs. The mesh is the reinforce the bottom so my dog can't push through. He is little, fat and lazy, so won't jump

I've put sand underneath to help keep it cool when the weather heats up


Checking out the new pad

 

[bruceha2000]

Bruce, yes, eggs will keep but not if broken. Had a broken soft shell that one of the Silkies decided was delicious (she had tell-tale dried yolk on her beak) so we never let eggs stay in the nestboxes no matter what the weather! We all have different situations and with only 3 laying hens left we can't afford to lose even one egg - especially in winter when the laying is very light. At our back door we can monitor the egg songs and immediately collect the eggs. No more egg-eaters since. Hopefully we can add a couple laying Bredas in the Spring 2015 to expand our egg supply.
Smiles - Syl

Hmmm, I don't think I have ever had an egg broken in the nest but if it was a soft, basically no, shell, I can see it happening easily enough. I've had my share of "membrane only" eggs. Just lucky I found them before another girl went in the nest I guess. Plus, I sometimes find them under the roost in the morning. How a shell-less egg can drop ~4 feet (into shavings) and not splatter is anyone's guess. I am a bit nervous about eating an egg with no protective shell though so I cook them up for the girls.

Hopefully your Silkie was just taking advantage of the "easy open" egg and isn't going to be one that breaks them on purpose!

Bruce

 

[Sylvester017]

The kitty litter tray is temporary. It is what they were sleeping in while in the temporary stetup. They seem to like it and slpt in there last night, so it can stay til they are totally comfortable with the new digs. The mesh is the reinforce the bottom so my dog can't push through. He is little, fat and lazy, so won't jump

Beautiful build amd love that the coop is housed inside a pen. Chicks love the enclosed doghouses or cat boxes to snooze in!

Don't know where you live since your profile doesn't say but most of us will suggest hardwire 1/2" for that beautiful pen instead of the larger-holed flimsy poultry wire.

You may have secured your pup out of the run but other climbing wildlife will easily break through the poultry wire either from climbing up the sides or from the top. Poultry wire is just loosely woven into itself and not interlinked so will easily be broken/torn away from itself - I would've lost my flock to 2 stray mutts as they mangled my poultry wire with their teeth and claws if a neighbor hadn't intervened. I was one of the lucky few on this thread that had a good neighbor to keep from losing my birds to cheap poultry wire. Some others sadly haven't been as lucky.

My daughter's property got attacked last week by a huge strong Raccoon - you never know you have wildlife till you have chickens. Get started saving some $$$ for hardwire (it's not cheap) if you want to save your flock. Hardwire will cost as much or more than the rest of your coop build.