The Front Porch Swing

[perchie.girl]

Quote: Mine as well. I have been able to get the industrial grade ones to last two years though. at least 11 mil and in my area they HAVE to be silver reflective to have a chance against UV. I had one that was 18 x 20 to cover the whole coop.... I too am a dog kennel panel user. ONe solid wall of garage doors and the other exterior walls were chainlink. At that time I had two partitions inside. ONe six by12 and one 10 x 12.... My coop was 16 x 12. I use the same dog kennel panels for a secure roof.... That tarp did famously for at least two years.... WE get high winds as well as intense heat and UV ALL year. even if its cold and a bit cloudy out the UV will still do as much damage as full on summer.

Thank goodness i almost have enough to to a full on Tin roof when I rebuild. Thats when the coop gets moved and reassembled in a better location.... when i do that the panels on the roof will be moved to walls and the coop will expand to 24 x 24 feet. With a stall for my Goatie reprobates.

deb

 

[BCMaraniac]

My 50lb Australian Shepherd can go THROUGH a cattle panel. I have got to film that!

That would be good to see.

 

[Triple Willow]

That would be good to see.

I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it several times. lol

...I told him that he is going to peel all of his boy parts off but he won't listen! LOL

 

[Triple Willow]

@Deb... I have got to take mine apart and re-do it too. I'm going to add the cattle panel roof when I do. A chainlink panel as the roof sounds like a good idea but I wonder what would happen during an ice storm though. The light weight bird netting on my one run really pulled my walls in when the ice built up. It was a mess.

 

[BCMaraniac]

I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it several times. lol

...I told him that he is going to peel all of his boy parts off but he won't listen! LOL

Ben jumps over the field fence......all 100 pounds of him.

 

[Beekissed]

I'm not sure what kind of OCD I have, but I think it involves a cozy front porch, warm baked stuff, cold tea, and a lot of very nice people! I'm hoping that by now everyone who was under the weather is feeling better, those being beaten up by the weather are seeing a little sunshine, and the recent losses of little critters is a little less painful today. Kind of a generic way to answer all the posts, but even though I read every single one of them and think of you all, sometimes I get so far behind that I can't mention every one the way I'd like to. Right now my first priority is getting this stoopid coop done.

I'm going to stick my neck out here and admit that right now I am tired to death of -------- chickens. I have my little bandanna packed so when I get tossed off the porch I'll be ready to go. <sigh> They were so cute and tiny when we got them, and as they grew they started developing personalities along with their feathers. That's fun to see! I do spend a little time each day just enjoying them, but I'm spending more time each day taking care of the messes, dust and odor that 22 chickens in a old mobile home create. It's not their faults - they are just doing what we wanted them to do - grow and stay healthy. The fault is entirely ours. We thought we'd have an outdoor place ready for them long before they needed it. We were wrong, and that's all there is to it.

I think it's the constant cleaning that has me a little down today, and I don't normally let much get me down. We bought a larger hanging feeder for the brooder that will also work out in the coop, but were still using the 1 quart mason jar type waterers. I had two of them, so one was always in the brooder and one was always clean, refilled, and sitting in the office, ready to go in. I swear every time I turn around some genius chicken has decided that if she flies to the top of it, she might find a hole I missed and escape. So over goes the partially filled water. It was getting so full of litter and poop that I was changing it more and more often. I put the waterer up on a block of wood to keep it cleaner. That worked for, oh, about 2 days. Now they are overcrowded in there so when the "thirst frenzy" hits they pack themselves in so tight around it that inevitably it gets dumped over. I put a piece of 4X4 in there to divide the area where the waterer is and where the feeder hangs from the'; litter on the other side. That worked until they decided that it made a dandier roost than the one they had and if they aimed just right they could fill the waterer with poop a lot faster, leading to getting fresher water more often. I tell ya, it's a poop plot against me!

Today I did my normal, everyday routine. I have a big box with a lid, and I line it with fresh newspapers every morning. I take out each chicken one at a time, pet her, and put her (oh, and Charlie) into that box, then put the lid on. Then out comes the feeder, the waterer, and the blocks of wood, which I scrape. I roll up the newspapers, litter and all, and pitch it. Then I use a dustpan with that little rubber squeegie thingy on the edge of it and run it over the bottom of the brooder to get any poop and litter that fell off the papers as I rolled them. A quick wipe down, because one side of the brooder is always wet, then back in go newspapers, litter, and all their accessories. Each chicken goes back in, then the net goes over all. I have done this every single day since I got them.

Today I did my morning routine. I very rarely have to grasp them - I just put my hand down and approach them from the front, palm up, and when they step forward I gently scoop them and make the transfer. They normally protest this procedure halfheartedly, but settle right down as soon as I pick each one up and pet her for a few seconds. Jane, Rose and Charlie all decided to test their protective skills this time around. Jane got me right in that little piece of skin between the thumb and forefinger and really got me good. Like an idiot I did the normal reaction - I let go of her and jerked my hand back way too fast for them. They panicked and started screeching, so the ones still in the brooder and the ones in the box started freaking out too. So Charlie and Rose went on the attack! My hand is bruised in four places and that little piece of thumb area has a bit of a cut on it. I ended up having to put on Ken's leather glove to get them out. Now, of course, I'm worried that they might not be the sweet, nice chickens they were yesterday ever again. I got the brooder cleaned and the chickens put back in, but again Jane came at my hand with her head extended and her wings swept back. I know it's all our fault for being so unprepared for how fast they'd grow, and that makes me feel even worse. We even spent part of yesterday trying to figure out a way to split them up and lessen the overcrowding, but we just don't have any way to do it. I finally measured it for sure last night, and the brooder is 5.5 feet long and 3 feet wide, not nearly big enough.

Earlier this morning I had I told Ken we needed to go pick up a bigger waterer before he left for Sheridan. We left the house and were gone about an hour and a half. Got back, I cleaned the new waterer and filled it, then took it in there to replace the small one. The small one was dumped over again and the brooder was soaking wet over halfway across. They'd tracked it with their feet and tails, it oozed under the board, they'd shredded the wet newspaper and had it strewn all over the brooder, and the divider board literally had water dripping off it when I picked it up. So I had to repeat the entire process - less than 2 hours after I'd done it already! Seriously, my first thought was, "You IDIOTS! You did this, now you can just stay in a wet brooder all day!" Fortunately good sense prevailed when I thought A) They aren't any happier with the crowded conditions than I am and B) Just what I need - 22 chickens with Athlete's Foot from a wet brooder. So I kissed Ken goodbye, sent him on his way, and started over. And yes, the Nasty Three weren't any happier with me this time, but I left them for last and used the glove. The other girls were fine, so apparently the rumor that I'm a big bad evil home-wrecker hasn't gotten to them yet.

Ken will be in Sheridan until Saturday, and a lot of what's left to do I can't handle. So I'm going out in a little bit (if the weather clears) and I'll begin priming the inside of the coop so we can get it painted. We thought about just leaving it, but we used that siding that has the plywood on the back and the flyer that came with it said that "all substrate must be primed and painted as protection against moisture". Since I know first hand about my chickens and moisture.........

Okay, got my whining clothes tossed into the hamper now. I've slung my bandanna over my shoulder, packed a lunch, grabbed my phone, and I'm getting ready to walk that long, lonesome road away from the Porch as an admitted chicken-abuser. Here I go......<looking over my shoulder>....feel free to stop me any time.....<scuffing my toes in the dirt>.......

Hon, you are creating extra work for yourself all the way around.....you really want to make this easier and still have a great bird setup? Then listen to ol' Mama Bee.....

1. Order these today...not tomorrow or the next day...TODAY.

http://www.amazon.com/Threaded-Poul...id=1395966540&sr=8-1&keywords=poultry+nipples


Screw them into any ol' container...an ice cream bucket, paint bucket...just get yerself a bucket and screw these things into the bottom of it and hang it up above your brooder...they will learn how to use them if you remove the other water and you can transition this right out to your coop and use it all summer and fall. Clean water, sufficient supply, no work.

2. Stop using newspapers and paper towels and all that silly crapola in your brooder box....just dump in pine shavings~large flake~on top of a little bit of soil from where you are going to be having your pen. That's it...no more cleaning the brooder as you will just add more litter as needed, making a poop lasagna, until they are out on their own. That's called deep litter and you might as well start it now.

3. Stop scooping birds gently...blah, blah, blah. Grab them birds and put them in a box, grab them again and put them back after you make the above changes~no matter how much they scream and flap...they are not your friends...friends don't bite your hands. Then, no more grabbing necessary until you transfer into the coop. If one bites you, peck it back...and hard and don't stop until they are running around that brooder just trying to make a new hole in the wall to get away. If not you will be the wimpy chicken on the block and get bullied every day. They are babies and already ruling over you!!! Stop that right now and in a hurry.

4. Split your brooder into two brooders if you have a way to do it so they will have a little more space....you can make a brooder out of nigh anything. All my brooders are just haybales in a big square or rectangle with a wire or plastic mesh topper.

5. Set your feeder up out of the litter so they won't be messing it up so much and if you aren't using one already, use a trough style feeder with a wire topper...easy to fill with one hand, will save you on feed and mess and they cannot flick the feed out, while it minimizes fighting at the feeder. Easy to make with just scraps of lumber and will last you forever, great for dry or wet feeds and will hold as much as a bulk feeder if you make it deep enough. Make it high enough that it hits them in the chest when they eat.



Work smart, not hard.

 

[Triple Willow]

Ben jumps over the field fence......all 100 pounds of him.

It's amazing how those big dogs can jump! Does he stay around the house pretty well?

 

[rrrmamma]

Please just shoot me now............ This week has been awful. Abby has been sick since Saturday. Clayton (my 6 yo son) cut his foot open on Tuesday. Ratchet got ahold of the BCM pullet Tues, and she died yesterday. I started feeling cruddy yesterday, and don't feel much better today. Clayton got up at 4 this morning, exploding from both ends... (sorry TMI, I know). Jayden (7yo DD) was whiny this morning, so she may be getting sick as well..... Lord, please help feel better fast, because I don't know if I can handle everyone being sick at once, if I'm sick too!

Lindz, prayers for strength to cope coming your way. Sometimes everything happens at once. Hope you are all feeling better soon. Some good Spring weather would help. Sorry you lost your BCM.

 

[LindaB220]

Seriously, though, Linda.....it is a form of OCD....unfortunately.

Yeah, I know. It's not as bad as Monk but sometimes I have to seriously think if I pick up 3 packets of sweetner when I meant to get two. Decision time. Which do I put back. I have dropped one and searched to get it back so I can put another back. Unfortunately is right. If I know that somebody has done or said something incorrect I have to prove that I'm right. Sucks when I'm wrong. I have to apologize for flying off the handle (or whatever that saying is|) My daughter says its a darn shame that my OCD is not the kind that compulsive cleans.

 

[Beekissed]

Yeah, I know. It's not as bad as Monk but sometimes I have to seriously think if I pick up 3 packets of sweetner when I meant to get two. Decision time. Which do I put back. I have dropped one and searched to get it back so I can put another back. Unfortunately is right. If I know that somebody has done or said something incorrect I have to prove that I'm right. Sucks when I'm wrong. I have to apologize for flying off the handle (or whatever that saying is|) My daughter says its a darn shame that my OCD is not the kind that compulsive cleans.

The blessing is that you know you have a problem....so many don't know or just won't admit the problem is their own and keep trying to make the world adjust around their own handicap instead of trying to manage their handicap around the rest of society.