Chickens, and things related

[bmac]

For predator and critter-proffing, I placed 24" wide 1/2" mesh (for small critters) and 48" wide 2"x4" mesh (for larger predators) along the bottom rail and laid it out flat along the ground. I was going to bury it, but I recalled someone stating that laying it on the ground would prevent dogd and coyetes from digging under the fence - so that is what I did. I did the same thing around the coop.

I thought I needed to place some weight on the free edge of the fencing, so I just used these retaining wall blocks for that. At about 25 lbs each, I hope they will be heavy enough collectively to keep things in place. As I see it, any attemps by a predator to dig will occur at the base of the pen - not 4 ft away.

To pretty thing up, we placed some landscaping fabric and mulch over the mesh.

We decided to place mulch between the

 

[bmac]

I had some brick laying around, so I made a little front step. My wife planted some boxwoods in the front for a little decoration.

Laziness got the best of me, so I never finished the soffits or added trim around the windows and doors. The windows are still just propped open with scrap lumber and I haven't cut the opening for the chicken door yet. I think the chicken door will happen tomorrow, along with tying up a few other loose ends.

Egg production has been neglible - don't know what the problem is. We have seen several eggs in the bottom of the roosting box (broken from the long drop and covered with poop for obvious reasons). But, with 16 hens, I expected to be getting many more than we would eat.

Hope everyone is doing well with their chicks. My wife now wants guineas for bug control - Yikes!!! more birds.

 

[EddieWalker]

The coop keeps getting better and better!!!!!!!! Glad to hear you have your priorities straight and are using vacation time for working on the bird cage. Most people use vacation time for travel, but I'm with you, it's more fun to build then sit around on a beach somewhere tropical.

Eddie

 

[PineRidge]

BMAC that a pretty nice coop! Can you tell me how you made the windows tilt out? Maybe a picture of the window from inside the coop will tell the story. We're getting ready to build upwards from the foundation that was laid last Fall and we're collecting ideas before we start pounding nails.

 

[Tororider]

Bmac,
Nice looking run, is it covered over the top too?

 

[dooleysm]

I've got a guinea hen laying on a boatload of eggs across the ditch behind our house right now. She's VERY proud of what she's doing and is very vocal about letting everyone know. I give her about a 10% chance of lasting until the eggs hatch without something getting her. I started with 10 keets late last summer and am down to 3 adults now. As soon as they could fly well enough to get into my dog pens, that's what they started doing. The dogs LOVED having their supper flown in fresh.

 

[dooleysm]

The first thing the guineas will eat is those boxwoods out the front door of your coop. The next thing will be any flowers you have planted around your house. After they've gotten those pests under control, then they'll start on your ticks.

 

[greenmule]

Wanna hear a chicken story?

 

[bmac]

The coop keeps getting better and better!!!!!!!! Glad to hear you have your priorities straight and are using vacation time for working on the bird cage. Most people use vacation time for travel, but I'm with you, it's more fun to build then sit around on a beach somewhere tropical.

Eddie

Thanks, Eddie. I like to stay home - hate sleeping in hotels, hate air travel, the list goes on. My wife used to be a flight attendant. Even when we got free air fare, I rarely traveled.

We hit a couple of milestones in our family this year. My son graduates from high school and my wife and I just celebrated our 25th anniversary. So, with that, combined with the fact that we haven't gone many places over the years, we are going to Hawaii this summer. I'd rather stay home - but the family vetoed that idea.

Aloha!

 

[bmac]

BMAC that a pretty nice coop! Can you tell me how you made the windows tilt out? Maybe a picture of the window from inside the coop will tell the story. We're getting ready to build upwards from the foundation that was laid last Fall and we're collecting ideas before we start pounding nails.

I just used piano hinges across the top of each window and screwed it into the siding. I'm a very simple person - nothing really ingenious about it.

Have fun with the build.