Washingtonians

[Chickielady]

I read this as 10 feet from the wall. Uh Oh! Rustler's been grabbing Ostriches on his nighttime raids again.

I'm too lazy to build real roosts, so I just have 2x4s lying around the edge of the second story in the coop.

Russ-Somebody bring me coffee, please.

HA HA You can measure the distance from the bird's feet to the end of it's tail...a cock bird is best for this, that distance is what you want so he does not munch his tail trying to roost.
Every breed is different, a Jersey Giant or turkey will need a farther space than an Ameraucana, for example.

 

[Chickielady]

OMG!!

This puppy is making me laugh so hard!! And dang it I don't have a video camera! He was being a puppy, and I'm on here trying to type and I thought I would give him something to do so I took one of his chew/pull rope toys with a ball made out of the rope in the middle, I put it over his head like a collar!!

He's been running hell bent for election around the house, and stopping to circle and then running again!! It's hilarious!!! He just doesn't know what to do with it!! LOL!!!! But, at least he's not trying to chew the power cord any more!!! LOL!!!

Can you get a video off your camera ?
Mine does, but I have no idea how to record sound or how to post it to youtube !

 

[mikeyb]

Thanks to all who responded to my Q?. The work on my coop has been going slow, mostly due to the weather but I lost a few days due to my table saw. Apparently I needed to test the sharpness of the blade with my thumb. It's official, it's sharp! Put a very nice kerf across my thumb diagonally.
Things I learned; do not stick thumb in saw blade. The emergency room is a lot further away then you thought. There will be a long wait after they get you in an examination room. They don't use stitches any more, they glue the skin. When ever you reach for something with the injured hand you will bump the injury. Life gets difficult when you can use only one thumb. I'm not quite as fast as I use to be and not as smart either.

 

[Chickielady]

Thanks chickylady so after careful inspection of all 20 pullets I noticed three of the younger ones by about two week all have plucked feathers on their backs so I separated the three of them maybe let them mature a little more before they join the flock . weird part about this is they were in cramped brooder so I moved them outside to their coop then all this plucking started, I dunno im as green as they come to the chicken world

It sounds to me like they are very bored.
Chicks will get bored easily, some breeds more than others.
My Icelandic chicks had a fanny pickin' party at day 6 and they ALL ate each other's vents so bad each one was bloody !
I had to put a red light in their brooder (could not seperate each & every one of all 18 chicks !) and then I gave them busy treats: Plain rice cakes work well...or other treat blocks they can peck at & occupy their little brains.
This boreduuuuum is a good indication they are ready to go outside & busy themselves.

 

[Ogress]

Thanks to all who responded to my Q?. The work on my coop has been going slow, mostly due to the weather but I lost a few days due to my table saw. Apparently I needed to test the sharpness of the blade with my thumb. It's official, it's sharp! Put a very nice kerf across my thumb diagonally.
Things I learned; do not stick thumb in saw blade. The emergency room is a lot further away then you thought. There will be a long wait after they get you in an examination room. They don't use stitches any more, they glue the skin. When ever you reach for something with the injured hand you will bump the injury. Life gets difficult when you can use only one thumb. I'm not quite as fast as I use to be and not as smart either.

Ouch! Heal quickly!

 

[Ogress]

Hi CL

Love your mailbox monument and your egg sign too!

 

[Chickielady]

I do about 10" from the wall and then every 20". While I know a lot of people do the leaning ladder style I found that it didn't really work as well for my birds. See it is natural for them to try to roost at the highest point. Therefore MY birds spent too much time/effort arguing over the "best seats in the house". Once I set it up so all roost are on the same level bed time goes much smoother.
This info is simply provided based on my own experiences. One thing that I think all will agree is make sure the roost is higher than the nest boxes.

The ladder type also produces a floor full of poop that is so hard to clean up.
I use poop trays.







Every day or every other day I scoop poop.
The poop trays have sand dusted in them & you can see the birds poop alot at night.
This is so much easier than trying to clean the floor in the coop under a ladder............I clean the coop floor material about 2 X a year.

 

[Chickielady]

Mine are 10"-12" from the wall. I have different heights. A couple of mine are 4ft off the ground. I think that might be just a little too high. some might disagree but I watch them jump down from that height and they hit the floor with a thud. can't be good for their feet and legs.
just my opinion

Heavy breeds need a lower roost also, and plenty of compressed straw or shavings on the floor to prevent the "thud" and the possiblity of Bumble Foot that can result from hitting a hard floor.

 

[Chickielady]

I was re-re-repairing the fence yesterday and I threw the doors wide open, took their food and water out of the coop, laid down a trail of mealworms, scratch, food, and (only used in emergency situations) Fruit Loops. The dumb birds stood at the edge of the coop, ate everything they could reach with their necks stretched aaaaaaalll the way out and that was it. They went a full 8 hours without food or water; without leaving the coop.

This isn't my first experience with chickens so I'm well aware of the fact that they are not in the Animal Kingdom's Gifted & Talented class but, seriously, I have the dumbest 5 chickens on the planet! They can't figure out how to use the ramp, I built multi-level platforms and roosting poles in the coop for them and the only time they've been on those platforms or poles is when I put them there - they immediately freak out and get the hell off. I have *ground* chickens. They've no desire to roost, they all sleep in a pile in the corner. The one chicken I was teaching to use the ramp in and out the chicken-sized coop door (the 'smart' one and not Alpha but the leader) just stood on the ramp, facing the open door, let out a giant "BWAA-KAAK" and flew up and into the solid wall above the opening. Repeatedly.

*sigh*

I miss my duck. She was smart.

Sounds like you have youngsters.
They will venture out as they grow.

 

[Chickielady]

Thanks to all who responded to my Q?. The work on my coop has been going slow, mostly due to the weather but I lost a few days due to my table saw. Apparently I needed to test the sharpness of the blade with my thumb. It's official, it's sharp! Put a very nice kerf across my thumb diagonally.
Things I learned; do not stick thumb in saw blade. The emergency room is a lot further away then you thought. There will be a long wait after they get you in an examination room. They don't use stitches any more, they glue the skin. When ever you reach for something with the injured hand you will bump the injury. Life gets difficult when you can use only one thumb. I'm not quite as fast as I use to be and not as smart either.

BE CAREFUL-ER !!!!!!!!!!!!