Story of a boy and his chickens.

[Zackman23434]

Thanks for the reply and roofing suggestion. I will look into those sheets. My run is 6ft tall and I am only 5'7. It may be hard to tell by the picture because you may not realize the coop itself has an 8 foot tall wall in the front not including rafters, floor joist, and blocks.

As of now I have just run chicken wire across the top. My dilemma now is what to do at the top where the run meets the coop wall. I didn't forsee this dilema until I had everything up like usual. There is a gap and really nothing to attach anything to without going into coop wall.

 

[Zackman23434]

Updated photos 7 weeks and 1 day. Do they look more developed and larger then other chickens at 7 weeks? Is this because they are hatchery quality?
I have to say they may be hatchery quality but they have been nothing but healthy and gorgeous. I was told that I would undoubtedly lose some in the first couple weeks but besides the 2 that were DOA I haven't lost any. 14 still going strong. I even smushed one underneath the waterer at a couple weeks (extremely sad) but after she recovered over night she was completely fine and suffered no il affects. Extremely happy with Murray McMurray chickens so far.

 

[Zackman23434]

 

[GitaBooks]

I love McMurray! They have healthy, friendly chicks.

 

[Zackman23434]

 

[drumstick diva]

Zack, for someone who never built anything - you must have a lot of natural talent boiling up inside. What a fantastic job you have done. Hope you will post your coop in the coops section with descriptions of what you did along the way.

Just fascinating to see what you have done post by post, to your coop. You probably don't have time for this right now, but, am sure your feathered friends, would love air conditioning, cable tv , a shallow wading pool with cabana.

 

[Zackman23434]

Zack, for someone who never built anything - you must have a lot of natural talent boiling up inside. What a fantastic job you have done. Hope you will post your coop in the coops section with descriptions of what you did along the way.

Just fascinating to see what you have done post by post, to your coop. You probably don't have time for this right now, but, am sure your feathered friends, would love air conditioning, cable tv , a shallow wading pool with cabana.

I very much appreciate that. It has taken a lot of time and money but so far has been worth it. Construction has slowed down this past week with the chickens being outside and me finally being able to take a breath.

There is still loads to do like finish the siding. Getting next boxes complete. More trim and lots and lots of painting. I also need to contruct permanent roost and come up with a better watering system.

Once it is finished I would love to post my build In the appropriate section. Though, most of the writing will be telling people what not to do and what I should have done. But that was the side affect of never building anything before. It may look okay but I don't wish building like I did on anyone.

And can we get a break from this heat? If I can get a 78 degree day on a day off I could probably finish the thing.

 

[Zackman23434]

More pics. And a little more siding progress. I got to say from day one

with the coop they already know the routine. When it begins to get dark they all stand by the door and groom and then jump in. I was reading that people have to lock them in the coop for a week and all kinds of things but they have been so smart!

 

[Zackman23434]

Elvis is the star. He is the only one to perch on me willingly. Always in the evening.

 

[Zackman23434]

Is it just because I have 14 chickens or does it seem crazy that 5 lbs of food is gone every day when I get home? Despite run access all day and about 1 and a 1/2 hours of range time.

Also at night the chickens are not roosting. They have gotten everything else right but that. They All just dog pile each other in the same corner and chirp loudly when it gets dark enough. Is this normal at 7 weeks old? Am I going to have dog piling 6 pound birds if I don't correct this behavior soon?