So my dad, who's a contractor, just said that he wanted to build me a new poultry house (how TOTALLY awesome is that??).
Probably because when I bought my new home in 2007 I only had 8 chickens living in a converted rabbit hutch. Now my tiny operation has a "keeper flock" of 50, but has swelled at times to 100 birds (which I'm able to sell as babies usually) that include several types of waterfowl and many more chickens. I was just barely keeping up with all my different types (and their individual housing needs) while I was adding breeding programs and building my own 200 egg incubator... oh man, the list goes on. Anyway, my housing situation is as rambling as my obsession with this hobby and he's probably sick of looking at my crazy buildings!
So, of course, I have a small budget and my own list of wants and needs based on some trial and error and discovering what seems to make the birds happiest. He suggested one house for all of them and I never even considered that. But after a little thought and some of his drawings, I think he's really onto something. Waterfowl would be housed seperate of the chickens but the building would be a single structure, which will make cleaning and feeding and egg gathering and every other aspect of my life easier to manage (and better looking too!). He's thinking 10 x 20 and that sounds reasonable if I still keep the Muscovy "upstairs" and the meaties in the chicken tractor. So my question to you is: what would you put on your list?
Whoa, hold on... within reason you crazy poultry people, you!
I have 19 chickens, 20 ducks, 2 geese and 9 Muscovy (not counting any of the 70 meaties). They free range all day and only sleep in the house (except the Muscovy who spend a lot of time inside when it's cold)
The ducks and 2 geese hang out together but I suspect that when a mama goose sets her nest eventually that the ducks will be unwelcome in her area and will regularly have their little butts pinched by the gander if I don't give them proper goosey goose nesting areas in the new house that the gander can reasonably "protect".
The Muscovy prefer not to associate with what they consider to be inferior waterfowl. Plus, they really like to climb and are the queen broodies so I gave them an apartment above the mallard-types with several very large nestboxes for their large broods up along the roofline (the girls just love that). Lot's of ramps and climbing for them... short ramps for the other waterfowl.
The chickens... well... they're chickens. I do have one EE girl who I've started calling my Muscovy chicken because she likes to put herself to bed with them every night.
I also want a place to brood some babies that aren't under a hen and another flexible option for setting up a "get aquainted" area for older ducklings to learn to use the ramps and sleep in the "big house" without getting their tails pinched by all the other waterfowl. But all this has to be a best-use-of-space kind of thing that I can maybe convert back and forth as needs come up. I also don't want a big, open space that's difficult for the birds to keep warm in the winter (Washington, DC).
Lessons learned? Interesting ideas? Pictures of your most favorite set up... pleeeeese? (of course, I've been browsing and collecting stuff others have already posted here).
Probably because when I bought my new home in 2007 I only had 8 chickens living in a converted rabbit hutch. Now my tiny operation has a "keeper flock" of 50, but has swelled at times to 100 birds (which I'm able to sell as babies usually) that include several types of waterfowl and many more chickens. I was just barely keeping up with all my different types (and their individual housing needs) while I was adding breeding programs and building my own 200 egg incubator... oh man, the list goes on. Anyway, my housing situation is as rambling as my obsession with this hobby and he's probably sick of looking at my crazy buildings!
So, of course, I have a small budget and my own list of wants and needs based on some trial and error and discovering what seems to make the birds happiest. He suggested one house for all of them and I never even considered that. But after a little thought and some of his drawings, I think he's really onto something. Waterfowl would be housed seperate of the chickens but the building would be a single structure, which will make cleaning and feeding and egg gathering and every other aspect of my life easier to manage (and better looking too!). He's thinking 10 x 20 and that sounds reasonable if I still keep the Muscovy "upstairs" and the meaties in the chicken tractor. So my question to you is: what would you put on your list?
Whoa, hold on... within reason you crazy poultry people, you!
I have 19 chickens, 20 ducks, 2 geese and 9 Muscovy (not counting any of the 70 meaties). They free range all day and only sleep in the house (except the Muscovy who spend a lot of time inside when it's cold)
The ducks and 2 geese hang out together but I suspect that when a mama goose sets her nest eventually that the ducks will be unwelcome in her area and will regularly have their little butts pinched by the gander if I don't give them proper goosey goose nesting areas in the new house that the gander can reasonably "protect".
The Muscovy prefer not to associate with what they consider to be inferior waterfowl. Plus, they really like to climb and are the queen broodies so I gave them an apartment above the mallard-types with several very large nestboxes for their large broods up along the roofline (the girls just love that). Lot's of ramps and climbing for them... short ramps for the other waterfowl.
The chickens... well... they're chickens. I do have one EE girl who I've started calling my Muscovy chicken because she likes to put herself to bed with them every night.
I also want a place to brood some babies that aren't under a hen and another flexible option for setting up a "get aquainted" area for older ducklings to learn to use the ramps and sleep in the "big house" without getting their tails pinched by all the other waterfowl. But all this has to be a best-use-of-space kind of thing that I can maybe convert back and forth as needs come up. I also don't want a big, open space that's difficult for the birds to keep warm in the winter (Washington, DC).
Lessons learned? Interesting ideas? Pictures of your most favorite set up... pleeeeese? (of course, I've been browsing and collecting stuff others have already posted here).
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