The IMPORTED ENGLISH Orpington Thread

[rockinpaints]

Nellie do you use anything to treat the ground around the chicken coop, once they have destroyed the grass?

I never have, should I be

. Just outside their doors stays yucky & muddy this time of year especially the runs on the north side, but in the summer we usually have to mow them

. Most of the outside runs are about 10ft wide by about 70 feet long except for the temporary chicken tractors. I tried to find a picture from a distance of the outdoor runs. This is the best I could find and was taken last fall.
On the right side of the picture is where they meet the barn. The second picture is the Black Copper Marans outside run in July. They go all the way to the end of theirs and do a good job keeping it down. I don't think we have ever had to mow theirs. Most of the time the chickens don't go the full length of their runs so they get pretty over grown. They tend to gather more up by the barn. Breeds like the Black Copper Marans and Barnevelders are way better foragers and by fall pretty much all their grass is gone.
I don't think the Imported orps like to feel the grass between their toes

,

 

[deek]

Nellie, I always wondered what your setup looked like. Thanks for sharing those. I need to keep everything on a small scale, but I love to see how others lay out a large scale chicken farm.

 

[rockinpaints]

Nellie, I always wondered what your setup looked like. Thanks for sharing those. I need to keep everything on a small scale, but I love to see how others lay out a large scale chicken farm.

Hi Dee, this is a picture of the front side of my primary chicken barn taken last spring before things greened up, about this time of the year. We have a couple temporary coops we use in warmer weather for growing out babies. The other pics were from the back side of this building. Pretty much all our breeding pens are in here. The bachelor pad is up at the front of our farm in the main barn.
It is way not fancy at all (nothing like your chickie tashamahal

I saw your pics).

 

[TNBEARCHICK]

No was just curious, ours gets nasty this time of year also and just wondered. I am trying really hard to keep things as nice as possible. I am shooting for bigger runs, which of course provides more grass. I figure this will provide a cleaner environment an more free ranging which I figure will make for happier chickens and healthier chickens. I was asking because I respect your opinion and always want to learn. While I have been around chickens my whole life but didn't pay enough attention. So for the last several years I have been playing catch up.

 

[deek]

At a family dinner last night, my dad asked about the chickens. (Not how my four dogs or cat are...or how his grand sons are...) His brother, my uncle, live in VA. My uncle wants to venture into chickens and we had a long discussion about coops and runs and I stressed that coops are built for their climate. Mine have hardware cloth flooring with a light cushion of hay, ceiling fans, and hardware cloth doors. I need to maximize air flow. In thE winter, the layer of hay is increased. When it gets close to a freeze, I add heat lamps and cover the doors. I told him that he'd have to consider his climate and perhaps build his the opposite of mine. I've been looking on the net for pics to send him. Your pictures helped. Thank you

 

[Papa Brooder]

Wow. Nellie! Love those pics of the lemon cuckoo roo. I have never been satisfied with my lemon cuckoos that are american bred and now I know why. ha ha ha. Oh man. I do love the color but after seeing your roo, I am realizing I need to sell those and start over with some english stock. I love that there are always new colors that you and others are working on…keeps me thinking about opening up pens for some new colors!

 

[rockinpaints]

No was just curious, ours gets nasty this time of year also and just wondered. I am trying really hard to keep things as nice as possible. I am shooting for bigger runs, which of course provides more grass. I figure this will provide a cleaner environment an more free ranging which I figure will make for happier chickens and healthier chickens. I was asking because I respect your opinion and always want to learn. While I have been around chickens my whole life but didn't pay enough attention. So for the last several years I have been playing catch up.

Thank you

. I thought maybe you had a remedy for all the yuckieness (is that a word.....

) up around the barn to freshen it up a bit.

What I did do last year was plant a fruit tree in each run. (I got a really good deal last summer) Now I am afraid they may have all died with this horrific winter we had

. I won't know till spring really comes.

I have a couple chicken tractors by some of our fruit trees and the chicks love it at harvest time (mulberry, peach and apple) so I thought I would give everyone a fruit tree. Now I think I might be replacing them.......I have to because I already promised them all a fruit tree

.

 

[rockinpaints]

Wow. Nellie! Love those pics of the lemon cuckoo roo. I have never been satisfied with my lemon cuckoos that are american bred and now I know why. ha ha ha. Oh man. I do love the color but after seeing your roo, I am realizing I need to sell those and start over with some english stock. I love that there are always new colors that you and others are working on…keeps me thinking about opening up pens for some new colors!

Thank you, I really like him and he has added so much to the chicks. I am really please with the way they are turning out.

 

[rockinpaints]

I got some pics of the pullets

Now aren't they cuter than the boys

She was thinking of doing something silly........



An she did ....

 

[megalomaniac]

Building a new coop and run... time for a new breed

I'm thinking I will go with English BBS orps for the new pen. Anyone out there selling shipped eggs by the dozen from pure English birds with nice lacing on the blues? Got the incubator out of the closet and it's time once again