The Old Folks Home

[gryeyes]

Had the ADOR auto-door installed today.

Also had John move the nest-box wall unit backing board from the adjacent wall to the same wall as the chicken door. (Luckily, John used screws instead of nails -and I knew this - so it wasn't a hugely labor intensive task. Time, .....well, I am "the customer.")

My rationale was realizing, in the original configuration, all the traffic through the chicken door would pass directly in front of one or more nest boxes in the bottom row. This would contribute to an even less private sensation for the not-very-private boxes. So, with the auto-door on the same wall as the nest unit, then most of the chicken traffic would pass to the side. Said nest unit needs to be removed from the home coop and cleaned before transporting it to the new coop. There was some eye-rolling at my explanation of nest box privacy issues. (Heck, there may be some eye-rollers amongst the Old Folks in here reading this.)

 

[ozexpat]

Had the ADOR auto-door installed today.







Also had John move the nest-box wall unit backing board from the adjacent wall to the same wall as the chicken door. (Luckily, John used screws instead of nails -and I knew this - so it wasn't a hugely labor intensive task. Time, .....well, I am "the customer.")



My rationale was realizing, in the original configuration, all the traffic through the chicken door would pass directly in front of one or more nest boxes in the bottom row. This would contribute to an even less private sensation for the not-very-private boxes. So, with the auto-door on the same wall as the nest unit, then most of the chicken traffic would pass to the side.

Said nest unit needs to be removed from the home coop and cleaned before transporting it to the new coop.

There was some eye-rolling at my explanation of nest box privacy issues. (Heck, there may be some eye-rollers amongst the Old Folks in here reading this.)

being a guy who went from 6 to 200+ birds and 7 pretty fancy coops in 10 months - i cannot roll my eyes on your account. I think your coop is fantastic. you have obviously been dreaming of this coop for some time. you go girl!

 

[cluckcluckluke]

Thanks all for the welcome. Chicka said you are all so nice.

 

[chickadoodles]

Thanks all for the welcome. Chicka said you are all so nice.

Luke what ever happened to all those birds that the government was wanting to destroy? Did the petition we signed for you help?
What kind of chickens do you have?

 

[ozexpat]

I found a guy on our island that sells dairy goats

He has purebred Saanens, Nubians and La Mancha.

The bucks start at $215. F2 with local goat starting stock are $170.

I just paid $40 for a largish local doe that is 7 months of age.

What breed do you think I should go with? I am thinking either Nubian for size or Saanen to boost milk production faster,,,,,,,,,,,,,

I am not looking to have a bunch of pedigrees but a half a dozen good milkers that we can use to produce 8-10lbs of cheese.

 

[Arielle]

Had the ADOR auto-door installed today.







Also had John move the nest-box wall unit backing board from the adjacent wall to the same wall as the chicken door. (Luckily, John used screws instead of nails -and I knew this - so it wasn't a hugely labor intensive task. Time, .....well, I am "the customer.")



My rationale was realizing, in the original configuration, all the traffic through the chicken door would pass directly in front of one or more nest boxes in the bottom row. This would contribute to an even less private sensation for the not-very-private boxes. So, with the auto-door on the same wall as the nest unit, then most of the chicken traffic would pass to the side.

Said nest unit needs to be removed from the home coop and cleaned before transporting it to the new coop.

There was some eye-rolling at my explanation of nest box privacy issues. (Heck, there may be some eye-rollers amongst the Old Folks in here reading this.)

My girls have a 6 hole stack-- no one uses the bottom 2, not sure if it the traffic or the at ground level, though it doesn't bother who ever lays on the floor around the corner. PRivacy is everything to these girls.

What kind of paint was used on the exteriour??

 

[Wisher1000]

What breed do you think I should go with? I am thinking either Nubian for size or Saanen to boost milk production faster,,,,,,,,,,,,,

I am not looking to have a bunch of pedigrees but a half a dozen good milkers that we can use to produce 8-10lbs of cheese.

I would say the nubian should give you both size and milk production, but you don't have to make up your mind before you (or Bernie) sees them.

Linda - Why did you go with the ADOR this time? Your other door is a Pulletshut, right? Are you not happy with your Pulletshut? I have one and love it, but if you are having trouble with yours, I'd like to know........

 

[Wisher1000]

Linda - This has always been my theme song for my place, but it seems appropriate for yours, as well. Feel free to adopt it (anyone!)

 

[Bunnylady]

If you have 9 minutes to spend with Arlo's ramblings,, the last verse on this song pretty much sums up gardening around here:

 

[gryeyes]

Linda - Why did you go with the ADOR this time?  Your other door is a Pulletshut, right?  Are you not happy with your Pulletshut?  I have one and love it, but if you are having trouble with yours, I'd like to know........

Nope, not me, never had a PulletShut. I had two of the Foy's Electronic Butler units on coops left behind at the house I rented - and I loved those! Battery powered and light sensor operation. The nature of my moving precluded salvaging those two doors.

When I bought the Homestead and needed an auto-door, Foy's was out of stock. So I bought a different one through MyPetChicken, and the door is fine but uses electricity and a separate timer. The timers keep crapping out. There are also power outages up here which muck with the timer(s) even if they continue to work and open the door when it shouldn't be opened.....

The ADOR had the light sensing, battery-operated features I wanted. Plus some others: the bottom of the unit where the door stops is open so crud like shavings or dirt or even rain will not remain in the track. The metal panel is raised and lowered by a sprocket system instead of a cord on a pulley. (Cord/pulley systems are fine if you don't have geese. If you have geese, you know why this is so.) The metal sprocket system locks the panel in place so critter paws cannot move the panel up when it is closed. There is a manual operation mode, too, stopping the auto-sensor, so you can lock the door open or closed without removing or disconnecting the battery. Plus, it was less expensive than other whole units. (I know auto-door systems can be consumer-built, but I didn't want to go that route.)