The Kansas/Missouri Chat thread! Everyone Welcome.

[ChickenPeep]

Gifa- That's a really nice design! I like it.

Pikeman- Yay! Keep us updated.

 

[Gifa]

We were supposed to get our chicks today, but there was a shipping snafu and our chicks were accidentally sent to Nebraska... so, they'll be here tomorrow then...

We're going to build our brooder today as planned, so instead of the chicks spending the first day in a temporary home, they'll have a nice big brooder waiting for them.

I am hoping that they aren't getting rough housed too much with this second day in transit. The feed store that we are getting them from has 25 EEs ordered, 15 are reserved for one guy, another 6 for another customer, and our name is on 4 of them... So if any don't survive... we're going to have to get there early and get our 4 before they are short. It's unfortunate, but I think this is part of that weird/bad customer service Estes has the online reputation for. Oh well...

Shouldn't have any trouble getting our 3 SLWs and if we can't get all of the ones we wanted I suppose I could order some of the Australorps I wanted from another source more directly. *shrug*

...aaaaaannnndddd here's the finished brooder box:






Made out of scrap we had laying around in the garage from miscellaneous past projects... with the exception of the 2'x5' roll of hardware cloth, the heat lamp, feeder and waterer... so... I think that puts us 15 bucks in?

It's 2'x4' and a foot high... That's big enough for 6-8 chicks for a month or so... right?

...aaaaaannnndddd here are the chicks...



3 SLWs
4 Araucanas (in all likelihood just Easter Eggers)
1 Brown Leghorn

 

[pikeman94]

Gifa - Lookin' good! Welcome to chicken ownership.

 

[pikeman94]

Coop v2.0 update! I got the rest of the framing done: upper, access door and nesting box. Then I got the front and back siding on. I have added new pics to the album.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/gallery/album/view/id/6215133/user_id/66378

I am still trying to decide how to best handle the side doors and then I am wondering if I should make some narrow windows for the front and back. Decisions, decisions. All in all the coop is coming together nicely.

I will start on the roof this evening as we are expected to get rain this week. I will add more photos soon.

 

[ChickenPeep]

Great! Seems like it's coming along nicely.

 

[pikeman94]

I am getting there. I am probably over-thinking a lot of it, but I figure that it will make it better quality in the long run.

 

[ChickenPeep]

Pikeman, have you ever been to the Johnson County fair in August?

 

[pikeman94]

No, isn't in Gardner? I have seen it advertised. Do they ever have a poultry swap there?

 

[ChickenPeep]

Yes, it's in Gardener. I think they do.

I showed some of my birds last year and I'm going to do it again. I might show Ebony, my silkie-d'uccle cross (She's in my signature). However, she's not too heat hardy so if it's really hot that week, I won't show her. But I will definitely be showing a chicken. Last year I even got to help out with taking care of the chickens.

 

[Gifa]

Wow! That looks great.

The husband and I spent all day working on our coop too. Yesterday we framed up all of the pieces (except the clean out door piece and the nest box component) to our coop. We salvaged about half of the 2x4s we used out of our basement demolition, and decided we wanted to go ahead with some new materials for some of the parts like the posts and the wood for the roof and floor and the plywood. We had originally planned to get just the roof, the floor and the back of the coop framed, just to get an idea about the footprint so we could dig the holes for the posts. We had wanted to dig the holes for the post and get that done yesterday too... but we got carried away on the framing and got all of that done, and didn't have time for the posts. Unfortunately hubby's in Texas on business until thursday, so progress has stopped temporarily. And seeing as how we're supposed to get rain on Wednesday, all of the pieces are stacked neatly on our patio under a tarp at the moment until next weekend.




The footprint is about 5.25' X 5.75' and the roof overhangs that by 8" all around.

We still need the Plexiglass panels for the windows, the locks and handles and whatnot, Oh, and the hardware cloth.

Our total cost thus far has been about 140 dollars.

The enclosure we have planned is going to cost us more than the coop as it will be mostly new materials. The hardware cloth alone for the run is going to be about 150 bucks. (Hardware Cloth, posts, and more cement.)

6/1 ETA:

We decided to avoid issues with the gas company and reposition our coop closer to our shed so that the most we will have to replace is part of the run next year. We dug most of the holes for the posts last night... We're hitting some really big rocks...as in, it takes 2 of us to get them out of the ground and move them... One of the posts is going to be mounted directly into a rock because we haven't been able to find the edge of it after digging a 3 foot wide hole... Our house is kind of on a hill, so it is possible that's the bedrock. In which case... I don't think we are going to have to worry too much about predators digging their way into our run from the back side. We should have the posts set tonight. And then the easy work of assembly.



3 out of 4 tonight... the 4th tomorrow... the hole is already dug, so it is just a matter of cutting the post and pouring the cement. Our yard is FULL of gigantic rocks... That post in the back there is actually anchored to a very large rhyolite rock (boulder) that we gave up trying to dig out of the ground after we could not find the edge of using a hammer drill and a half inch bit to bore the hole. So even though that back post is only another 6 inches below the ground in this photo... it ain't goin' nowhere. After we get the 4th post poured and set, we can finesse the platform to sit perfectly level, mount it to the posts with some carriage bolts, cut the posts flush, and deck it. After that the sides and roof should go together fairly quickly. So, tack on another 6 bucks for the sonotube and we're almost there. Hope to start the run next weekend.