post your chicken coop pictures here!

[Sylvester017]

Ok.. Got the small coop up on the stand and almost ready to party...



Just need to add the skid bars on the ramp, dust it down with DE, put bedding, food and water out... Then....

Time lol

I love the gradual/graded ramp!

Chickens are highly prone to respiratory infections. May I suggest that you stay away from powdery substances like DE, mite powders, baking soda, etc. We use a liquid organic OMRI spray called "Poultry Protector" for protection from mites/lice for both the coop crevices and on the chickens per instructions on label instead of powdery dusts.

Here is a link to the dangers of DE which has more warnings on it than a bottle of lye - if I have to use goggles and a breathing mask to use it then I don't want it anywhere around my chickens either: http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/05/diatomaceous-earth-de-benefitrisk.html

 

[Sylvester017]

Lol.. That's ok. Small

steps right... My husband has been promising me a privacy fence, chickens and a kitchen (our is just a mock up due to water damage) for 3 years now... Guess what he's just now marking off the list!!!

As technologically savvy as my DH is he is definitely less construction coordinated than I am so I just hire out my projects. Saves me having to hear him grumble through an entire project with it not turning out right anyway - and dinner times are more peaceful. I haven't given him a "Honey Do" list in 15 years

 

[TJordan]

As technologically savvy as my DH is he is definitely less construction coordinated than I am so I just hire out my projects.  Saves me having to hear him grumble through an entire project with it not turning out right anyway - and dinner times are more peaceful.  I haven't given him a "Honey Do" list in 15 years

But he won't let me ask for help.... HE has to do it... But it never gets done unless I do it .

 

[TJordan]

I love the gradual/graded ramp!

Chickens are highly prone to respiratory infections.  May I suggest that you stay away from powdery substances like DE, mite powders, baking soda, etc.  We use a liquid organic OMRI spray called "Poultry Protector" for protection from mites/lice for both the coop crevices and on the chickens per instructions on label instead of powdery dusts. 

Here is a link to the dangers of DE which has more warnings on it than a bottle of lye - if I have to use goggles and a breathing mask to use it then I don't want it anywhere around my chickens either:  http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/05/diatomaceous-earth-de-benefitrisk.html 

Thanks for the heads up on the DE... We already have a 40lb bag so I think I will just treat the yard and leave time for it to die down before they go out... I got food grade so it's safe for them to eat a little of it... I'll just clean with something inside to keep it out of the coop... I wonder if it will mess them up if I mix it I'm the sandy area for the dust baths?

 

[Sylvester017]

I hope your screen door is covered securely with 1/2 inch hardwire. I just saw a documentary about how Raccoons, and especially city ones, are getting smarter and more tenacious at manipulating things open with those clever paws and collapsing spines to squeeze thru tiny spaces - and they can climb straight up just about anything - rain gutters, block walls, wire fencing, wood buildings, etc.

Japan has such a bad problem from imported American Raccoons which owners have turned loose in the forests that all the historical temples and buildings are rotting away from Raccoons squeezing into the buildings leaving their feces and urine to rott out the ancient temple wood in the buildings. It's so bad there is an eradication program specifically to get rid of them.

Ontario Canada has the worst city infestation of Raccoons and the Raccoons are very adaptable and clever and patient at figuring out how to open locks or tear into things. And what's worse is that the mommas are teaching their young (4-6 in a litter) how to quickly adapt to obstacles. They breed so fast that they have spread from the Southern Americas all the way up to Alaska. Now if Raccoons killed chickens for food I don't like it but can understand it - however Raccoons kill for the sheer frenzy of the chase and not always for food so I shudder when I don't see extra secure hardwire around yards and coops.

Although Raccoons have been seen out in daylight hours they prefer to work in darkness. This past year we have left our patio light on (an LED equivalent 60 watt) near the coop and not only does it deter large night critters but smaller rodents as well. We don't keep chicken food out overnight and that helps too. We once considered a chicken treadle feeder but Raccoons are too clever to figure how to open it. The treadle feeder would work against rats but not the 'Coons.

 

[Sylvester017]

Thanks for the heads up on the DE... We already have a 40lb bag so I think I will just treat the yard and leave time for it to die down before they go out... I got food grade so it's safe for them to eat a little of it... I'll just clean with something inside to keep it out of the coop... I wonder if it will mess them up if I mix it I'm the sandy area for the dust baths?

I bought a 10# bag of the pure white DE (not the gray or yellow - too much clay content) so I thought the pure white would be great and then I started researching the DE. Gave my 10# bag away unopened. No way it was going in my yard or near the chickens! You can do as you want with your DE but putting in chicken dust baths is the same problem as dusting their coop with it. Dust is dust and will kick up into the air when they dust bathe.

 

[Days2468]

Yep, he had reinforced everything since this pictured was taken. So far, so good!

 

[Sylvester017]

We have cornish x and they are 16 weeks now and they are not too fat to play and get water or whatever chickens do. We feed them feed in the am then they go in a pen out in the yard. They free range and get a few scraps or dry oatmeal in the late afternoon then we walk them to their coop which is across the yard and they get a little more feed before bed time. We put them on a feed schedule when they got about 6 weeks so they wouldn't eat to death. Our rooster has no problem mating and the girls are about to start laying. He gives the girls plenty of excercize by chasing them around all day. They are a big chicken but they are lean and not fat. The key is not to give them unlimited food. Our cornish x are happy and play almost like our other chickens but they do take more breaks. We love them they are so sweet.

Yes, most crossed breeds for some reason are sweet tempered. Are you keeping the Cornish X for pets? They have a very unhealthy life span and usually don't make it past 1-2 years because of all the problems from their inbred fast growth. They can't even breed correctly so for more X's you have to breed from the original parents. My friend had to process hers at 8 weeks because they were so physically stressed. At 8 weeks they dressed out at 4-1/2 to 5 lbs@. - that's awfully large for 2-month-olds. Their flesh grows faster than their skeletal frame or organs so bones start to stress and crack before they've developed enough to hold the weight, and the internal organ structure can't process the faster body growth. You can't really limit their appetite for food or else their fast body growth will lack necessary nutrients and pose a bunch more problems. Leave it to humans to breed such deformities to make it bigger, faster, better at the expense of the poor animal! Sorry, was I ranting?

 

[Sylvester017]

But he won't let me ask for help.... HE has to do it... But it never gets done unless I do it

.

Start tearing your walls down and maybe he'll pitch in to get the kitchen done?

We had a wall start smoldering from electrical wiring in our den and it's a good thing the den door was closed to keep the putrid smoldering within the room - if the door was open and there was more oxygen the wall would've gone up in flames. At that point we hired a contractor to redo all the wiring and pipes in the house and redo the 60-year-old kitchen while he was at it

 

[moss farm]

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Made from all reclaim wood. It's 4' x4'