Texas

[orumpoultry]

there it is!! Thank you mobile BYC! Lol... Ahem. I present to you, ( the only picture that would download is at 80% completion ) my new breeder coop! Alas, its empty... I should fill it.

 

[A1momof3]

Which is your North wall? Hopefully it's the wall on the left as you go into your coop. If not, then you may have to put up some walls to block off the winter winds.

I would put my roost up along the wall in the 2nd and 3rd picture. Give them more protection since it's not as open as the other sides. You may have to put a few vents up above the roosts to let out the moist air put out by the chickens. Do you plan on using a poop board or just let it fall to the ground? If a poop board, you can put your brooder under the roost/poop boards.

Are you wanting exterior nests or are you putting them in the coop? Looks like you should be able to put them on that short wall on the left, as you come into the coop.

I put my brooder along my North wall under my poop board (my 2 roosts will go above the brooder). It is 2 ft off the ground and measures 3 ft wide, 10 ft long and 2 foot deep.

There is a 2 foot vent along the top of the North wall and East wall (above my nests). The nests are on the right side, just out of the pic. I made 6 exterior access nests.




Here is my coop/run while under construction. It is 10 ft wide and 20 ft long. I used 2 of my horse stalls to construct it. I made an open air coop due to the summer heat. In the Winter, I can put up tarps along the far (West) wall to block off the wind.





I like that coop! I think it will look very nice in your yard. So glad you going to be able to get some chicks!

The North wall is the right side in the bottom picture. These pictures are just the stall as is. When my husband gets home we are going to "pimp it out" LOL He is going to close in the open areas where need be and replace the cattle guard that is up with chicken wire and hardware cloth were needed. the back wall will be closed in and the chicken door will be back there leading out into a ginormous pin. LOL So there is a lot of work that is going to be done when he gets home next week. But I really like your brooder. I am planning on doing the deep litter, so putting it under the roost really wouldn't work well for me, I don't think?? But then again.... I don't know. LOL
The top of the stall will be covered with wire and ten in a way to provide protection from the winter winds but still have good ventilation.
Looking at your pictures really helps me picture the brooder the way I want it though. Thank you!

 

[A1momof3]

Which is your North wall? Hopefully it's the wall on the left as you go into your coop. If not, then you may have to put up some walls to block off the winter winds.

I would put my roost up along the wall in the 2nd and 3rd picture. Give them more protection since it's not as open as the other sides. You may have to put a few vents up above the roosts to let out the moist air put out by the chickens. Do you plan on using a poop board or just let it fall to the ground? If a poop board, you can put your brooder under the roost/poop boards.

Are you wanting exterior nests or are you putting them in the coop? Looks like you should be able to put them on that short wall on the left, as you come into the coop.

I put my brooder along my North wall under my poop board (my 2 roosts will go above the brooder). It is 2 ft off the ground and measures 3 ft wide, 10 ft long and 2 foot deep.

There is a 2 foot vent along the top of the North wall and East wall (above my nests). The nests are on the right side, just out of the pic. I made 6 exterior access nests.




Here is my coop/run while under construction. It is 10 ft wide and 20 ft long. I used 2 of my horse stalls to construct it. I made an open air coop due to the summer heat. In the Winter, I can put up tarps along the far (West) wall to block off the wind.

Hey I just had a thought.... If I made the brooder a little shorter than yours, could I put their nest on top of the brooder?? Would there be any problems with that, that you can tell?

 

[jockeyeba]

We have Red Tailed hawks, that was what took down one of my full grown game hens

Gross question. Did the hawk rip the head off and eat the organs out? I am still trying to figure out what got Scrambled a few months ago.

Ripping off the head & eating the organs is something else, more like a coyote

 

[lovingmyhens]

Here are the replacements. The black one (Derk) was given to us and this past weekend I picked up two more reds so Derk wouldn't be so lonely. She makes a great big sis to the tiny ones. Added two rabbits to the farm. Not sure what they are, maybe someone can help me identify? I think that they might be Rex rabbits.

Pretty rabbits! Not sure what kind they are but I do know they need as big a place to jump around as the chickens. People think they are good in a cage but they must be able to have enough room to jump around like they would in the wild.

 

[lovingmyhens]

Finally got a chance to get some pics today. The first one is of our new hatch with momma Belle. Still waiting to see if the other egg hatches. The others are of the 10 we got Thursday from TS and then one of me and our girls. there is a shot of the bookshelf my hubby made into nest boxes. They seem to work well.

Wonderful!

 

[jockeyeba]

 


If you have a parasite problem, I don't think homopathic remedies will control it.  If you can see a problem, you probably have a huge problem.

Thank you for you concern this site is always so helpful


I am doing the WHOLE coop and WHOLE Brood thing!  I took out all my wonderfully mostly dirt ready to use deep litter and burned it little by little I vacuumed and swept the coop then I put something from tsc down and on the Ladies.

I would have used just sulfur to treat them but was sadly unable to find it and I did not want them pulling feathers and scratching longer than they had to. The man at TSC told my husband DE wouldn't work. so we went with the recommended stuff. against my better judgement and research.
(my DH was getting impatient looking for plain old Sulfur and said it says "for poultry" right on the it!)

its called Garden and Poultry dust
 Active ingredient is Permethrin if I had looked it up before I used it I NEVER would have! it is a synthetic chemical in the neuro-toxin family. I have epilepsy and stay away from negative-neuro anything even aspartame.

3 out of my 9 chickens showed signs on full inspection. So everyone got it.

I do not want to over poison the coop the ladies Myself the run or my yard since the ladies do so love when bugs come to visit. so I will be using Sulfur with wood ash and sand to keep any hatching eggs between treatments. I will not be using synthetic poisons Ever again and will treat the next full treatment with Sulfur dust like I should have done to begin with.

Homeopathic Remedies are mostly used for EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE in my home after all isn't that how pharmacies started in the first place?(mold into penicillin, What?) I have a 2 yr old granddaughter who loves *her* ladies and do not want to keep her away from them.

I will be doing a full treat again next Saturday With SULFUR but if eggs hatch every 7 days and there are 7 days between treatments that could be a lot of waiting to exhale eggs if there inst anything else being done to get the buggers Sunday through Friday. Since I really cant see them to pull them off Sulfur bathing quarters even if it rains.

I use sulphur for chiggers, had them in our garden last year when the bermuda grass took over the edges but I sure had a hard time finding any, none at Lowes or Home Depot, finally found some at a nursery.

 

[jockeyeba]

Okay, so the back story. I quit a very good job as a government agent and decided to go back to school to complete my nursing degree. When I did this my wife (knowing my intent to homestead) told me that I could raise animals if I didn't spend a lot of money. So, I looked for wood and stuff to build a coop next to our detached garage. I live on the Mexican border and it gets very hot down here, hence the open air design on the coop itself. Just for the chickens I ended up spending close to $75 for our setup- including hay, netting, chicken wire and some 2x4's. Up close of the actual coop. A dresser that I found. Took off the doors and took out the drawers. Turned it upside down and screwed it to a wooden pallet. Spray painted it to make it tactical. The oldest girls I have. We started with 8 but lost 3. The frame cost less than $15 and the roofing was salvaged from a house down the street.

all of our coops are made from salvaged, found or free materials, the only thing we've spent money on is some of the wire, screws & nails.

 

[Ren2014]

I have one of my chicks with a bit of dirty butt. I cleaned it up and made sure the vent was clear but still has a little dry poop stuck on the feathers. I didn't want to rub hard and irritate the vent. Is there something like a bit of vasiline or something I can put on it to get it off so it doesn't build up again?

Soak a cotton ball in warm water and then apply to butt to moistened and break up the dry poop. I wouldn't use anything else but water.

My babies are 3 weeks old today! Lol it's funny how much joy these little bits of Gods creation light up my day! I worry over them like a old mother hen! Lol I think I need to add onto their brooder bix again. They have enough room on paper but with my eyes I just feel they need more. Lol
I listened to the elders who raised chickens way back when and I just used a big box and I have added on to it as needed but next time I'm getting my hubby to build me a box inside our brooder room that will be well insulated and temp controled before I get another big goup like this again! Lol 20 babies in the house is a lot! LolToday my little peeps are 3 weeks old!
This is Lulabelle ]and she is the most curious and brave of my girls. She always runs up to me when I put my hand in their box and is right behind me no matter what I'm doing!

My little red friend here has gone from being Miss Peeps to being The Colonel! He also comes up to me to see what I'm doing but he also likes to get his chest scratched! He will stand there for ever as long as I scratch him.

They are just two of my flock in the KFC Safe House Coop!

So cute!

Hello, fellow Texan here - Erath county.

We're just now in the planning stages on getting into having a few chickens. I'm not sure if I'll be able to do this, but right now I would like to get silkies and easter eggers. My husband would like some doms. We're thinking 6-8 total. I'd like to stay with smaller, docile birds. Need the silkies to interest me and the other one for eggs. I would not raise them for eggs alone - they'll need to be a pet aspect there, but everyone else wants eggs, so looking for a balance. We live on the land with my parents, but the coop will be much closer to our house than theirs.

I'd love to get them as chicks, but I don't think I could do all the what-ifs not knowing the sexes of the birds. (Not knowing how many to buy to get 3 hens, not knowing what to do with the males or how long it would take to determine which are males/females, etc.) So, we hope to be able to find pullets/hens. (Please let me know if you know a good source.)

We started working on the coop this weekend. We have a 4' x 8' metal shed that we are using. So far we have cut windows in the front and rear that can be sealed back up in cold weather. We covered them in hardware cloth. We have one small hole in the door for winter ventilation, but not sure if it will be enough. We framed out and cut out a pop door in the back. We got some roosts cut to size, but still need to sand them and decide on final position. We have two nest boxes (and each has two spots.)

I don't know if I have enough ventilation or not. I thought we did until I read more threads and now I am not sure.

We still need to extend the roof for rain protection, then tip the shed over and install wire on the bottom as some added protection for anything digging in. (Mainly skunks around here.) Also need to secure the roosts once we decide final position.

The shed will butt up against one of the goat pens. It has the small wire on it and parts of it are surrounded by an electric fence. It is about 60' x 100' and depending on which batch of goats is in there, they will be sharing the "run" with 2-10 goats.

We're thinking of doing sand for the flooring.

Hello and welcome to BYC

Definitely need lots of ventilation in the metal shed. We are converting a metal shed and adding insulation.

It's not chick day today. They said they are too fragile to sell and I need to wait a few days.

Gosh, so sorry to hear this! Keeping my fingers crossed you get your chicks real soon.

WE HAVE

A CHICK! Our very first hatch! So tiny! It must have hatched over night, it's already dry. Ran back to the house to get the camera and when I got back it was already tucked back up under Belle and I didn't want to disturb her. I'll get a pic when we go back down later. I heard peeping but thought is was coming from the 10 in the barn. Only saw it because momma got up when I opened the door to let everybody out. Gonna set a bowl of food right in front of her so she can eat.


Good day folks...Thank you all for the help with my chick. Looks ok today. Yes, I added ASV to their water yesterday. I've been making homemade electrolyte with sugar salt and baking soda. Recipe from my chicken book. I added the vinegar to the mix yesterday when I made a fresh batch. I will move the light up some. They were all under the light at 5:30 this morning.

Sorry I didn't respond last evening. Was gonna watch a little TV and have some tea, next thing I know my dogs are waking me up at 5:30 needing out. Was a long day yesterday. Of course i checked on my "kids" I was outside anyway.

Sorry you aren't getting your checks today Ms Jellybean. What you have built for them looks great. You'll get them soon, better to have them stronger when you get them than to risk loosing any after you gat them.
Have a great day Y'all Magpie

CONGRATULATIONS! How exciting that must be!

Finally got a chance to get some pics today. The first one is of our new hatch with momma Belle. Still waiting to see if the other egg hatches. The others are of the 10 we got Thursday from TS and then one of me and our girls.
there is a shot of the bookshelf my hubby made into nest boxes. They seem to work well.

Precious!

there it is!! Thank you mobile BYC! Lol... Ahem. I present to you, ( the only picture that would download is at 80% completion ) my new breeder coop! Alas, its empty... I should fill it.

Yep, you should fill it

 

[Brookshire11]

I agree! Me too and so does my Daughter in law to be.... she lives through me.  We think they are super cool and pretty.  They are now on the list.

Congrats!!! I know that has to be exciting.  One day I hope to be able to hatch some of our own.  One step at a time!!


It has turned out to be a glorious day! I have the windows up, letting the house air out, just need good fresh air in the house sometimes.  In fact the back door has stayed open most of the day and my Lab and Schnauzer have been running in and out all day playing.  Laundry done, house cleaned, supper planned ..... all in all a good day. 

My Daughter in law 2b and I just got finished playing with the chicks and she showed me a pic of the next chick I have to get for her.  She wants a White Silkie Bantam ..... She is in love with it.  She said she would just carry it around all the time playing with it fluff!  LOL  Makes  me think of Agnes on Despicable Me  ...... It's so FLUFFY!!!!e

I got my daughter a white silkie. Its VERY cute, but I have to say its got some lungs on it...lol
Its very attached to my Buff silkie chick. They cant be apart or they cry sooo loudly. Its kinda sweet. Lol