Chickens, and things related

[Tororider]

Count me among those shocked that she has a productive business, although like you said, her name played a large part in that no doubt. I would also guess her dad has her set up with people who manage the businesses, but still shocked.

All the more reason to think about making him soup if he did it without spurs. He will eventually have spurs even if you keep them trimmed and he will use them to your disadvantage. Like I said, I am not there so I don't know what is going on, but I wouldn't tolerate that. Like you said, you may want to separate him and see how Toby does with being reintroduced without Tony around.

 

[Tororider]

Well, I worked for a good portion of today on the coop. Got the third wall in and some of the finish pieces that needed to be cut. Then it started pouring so I started working on my ladder assembly. Cut some cleats for it so that the bulk of it will be easily removable. After it stopped raining I cut the floor and installed that. After a quick break to run some errands and go to church I got the interior roof in. I think I have figured how I want to install my perch in the coop, but may just do a temporary one until I get the interior walls and insulation done. Ditto with the permanent nest box. I will try to post some pictures tomorrow if I find time.

 

[PineRidge]

Sounds good Tororider, what do your plans call for insulating the coop?


We're planning on foam board with foil on at least one side so the ladies don't end up eating the foam.

What means will you be using for heat?

 

[Tororider]

Going to use rolled fiberglass, with plybead on the inside so they can't get to it. I was going to use foamboard but this ended up being cheaper.

I am going to use chickens body heat for heating it. I will probably add a incandescant light bulb as well.

 

[PineRidge]

You must have found a good supply for plybead to cover the insulation with it.

 

[Tororider]

Ok, so I was able to finish off the things I neede to in order to be done for now anyway. I think I got the door mounted during the week.

Then yesterday I got the floor and the third wall along with a couple other finish pieces fit. Oh yeah, thats my helper.

Then I got the lower platform built.

Then while it was raining I got the ladder and upper platform put together. I built some cleats so that it would be steady but that I could easily remove the ramp and upper platform during cleaning.

Then I threw together some higher perches for the hens. I had the lower one for them and I threw together the other two so that they could get up there. I plan on hanging the perches at some time in the future to unclutter the floor space, but for now it will have to do and I am guessing will function all right. I put the feeder in there and raised it up on a couple blocks. I will hang both that and the waterer but I haven't put a couple boards across the top so that I have something sturdier to hang them. I also want to wait on the waterer until I put down the vinyl flooring so that is still outside the coop portion. Oh yeah, I will also mount the nest box when I get the interior walls done as well. But like I said this will get me by for awhile.

I added a couple golf balls to hopefully give the hens an idea where they are supposed to do their business.

Here is my inspector signing off on the work.

 

[tony123]

toro, you know I'm a sucker for any photo that has the children in it!

The coop is really shaping up! And your chickens look to have reached that age of "adult". Mine still are not as "full" as yours.

My chicken tractor is doing a fine job. Like I said earlier, I move it a few feet each day so that the mess never builds up, so the chickens have fresh grass often, and so that the fertilizer is spread around. Well, it's taken months, but they're finished with the front yard now and just turned the corner for the side yard! hehehe...my wife is glad for that.

Just got our third snake this past weekend. I've got to believe that the chicken smell is partly responsible for the snakes being around so often.

The girls still get to roam free range a few hours each day.

I've still got to build the nesting portion of my tractor. And time is getting short on me. They may start laying as soon as two months from now.

 

[PineRidge]

Tororider you're making good progress on your coop but why doesn't that little one of yours have a tool belt and a Home Depot apron on?

He's making memories with his dad that he'll remember the rest of his life.

 

[Tororider]

He has them, but in the first pic he was late for bed, I took him away for a quick picture, and in the last one we were late to a party, because I was finishing up the coop.

I am sure Tony will attest, at this age all they want to do is help so if I have tasks that he can handle he gets them and loves them. We were out at our "farm" when my dad was finishing up planting the last of some of our blue spruce, and my dad couldn't believe how big a help he was. He even commented to my mom that night that he couldn't believe it and she relayed it to me. He loves driving around on his John Deere battery powered Gator and carrying tools back and forth or taking rocks to our rock pile. It is a lot of fun and I am making memories too. Even our 1 1/4 year old likes to try to help. Again my dad was raking while I had the boys playing out there and our little one followed behind my dad with a little golf club "raking" the dirt right behind my dad. It was hilarious.

 

[4720 OWNER]

Glad to hear that y'all are still having fun with the chickens.

Had a rooster once that would sneak up on any one working on the ground and try and 'have his way with them'. He soon got the name 'Lasagna'. Older bird that had to be ground to be edible.

Insulation on the chicken house? Always had trouble with that since any rats or mice that happened along would use it as cover to live in. So now just make sure is pretty air tight and draft free. Just got rid of the first rat of the season. It was only around for about a week and is the first one have seen here since after moving in and getting rid of hundreds.

If the chickens start attacking each other, may have to go to a red light so they cannot see the wounds for a while. I use the fluorescent lite bulbs and a timer so they get the 12-14 hrs they need to keep eggs coming.

Used to use cue balls for the girls but they ended up laying in the nesters anyway and if they laid with the balls then they tended to have more broken eggs.

Any thoughts of reusing the guts of a toilet for a waterer?? Guess it depends if it gets to freezing there.