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 Almost done. Got the bottom screened in, the door up and the hard part of the coop is finished. Tomorrow I should get close to finishing. I need to finish the screening, put the roof on and finish the coop and storage box. I have to say this hardware cloth isnt as strong as I thought it would be. I hope it's up to par. I might reinforce the bottom 3 feet. Errant Gin Monks fucked around with this message at 05:08 on Apr 21, 2013 |
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Apr 21, 2013 04:43
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Errant Gin Monks posted:I have to say this hardware cloth isnt as strong as I thought it would be. I hope it's up to par. I might reinforce the bottom 3 feet. Coop looks great so far. Yeah, hardware cloth isn't quite as sturdy as it appears. We've had raccoons who managed to chew through the hardware cloth we had over a chimney opening (to be fair, they had a long time to work on it as it was a weekend house). Stupid raccoons. And then their babies ended up stuck in the flue.
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Apr 21, 2013 05:31
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Well, Baba died today while I was away. She went downhill pretty fast yesterday, so I had my BiL help me bring the crate downstairs so the girls could see her and say goodbye. She lasted a long time and tried so hard not to give up, but whatever she had was most likely congenital, and as hard as I tried, there was no fixing it  . I'm glad one of Chickam's chicks got the name Baba, the girls felt better after I told them that, but boy did they cry, and they had calmed down by the time I got home, but then the younger one told me about Baba, and she started to cry again. I couldn't help but cry too and hug her, she was so heartbroken.
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Apr 21, 2013 06:05
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Chido posted:Well, Baba died today while I was away. She went downhill pretty fast yesterday, so I had my BiL help me bring the crate downstairs so the girls could see her and say goodbye. She lasted a long time and tried so hard not to give up, but whatever she had was most likely congenital, and as hard as I tried, there was no fixing it  sorry Chido! That's awful. But she had a good life and was well cared for.
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Apr 21, 2013 06:20
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Chido posted:Well, Baba died today while I was away. She went downhill pretty fast yesterday, so I had my BiL help me bring the crate downstairs so the girls could see her and say goodbye. She lasted a long time and tried so hard not to give up, but whatever she had was most likely congenital, and as hard as I tried, there was no fixing it Chido, Baba had a great life with you and the girls. I'm so sorry for your loss, it still sucks.
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Apr 21, 2013 13:45
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Chido posted:Well, Baba died today while I was away. She went downhill pretty fast yesterday, so I had my BiL help me bring the crate downstairs so the girls could see her and say goodbye. She lasted a long time and tried so hard not to give up, but whatever she had was most likely congenital, and as hard as I tried, there was no fixing it Sorry for your loss You're the best chicken mom there is, she was a lucky hen to have you.
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Apr 21, 2013 14:55
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Chido posted:Well, Baba died today while I was away. She went downhill pretty fast yesterday, so I had my BiL help me bring the crate downstairs so the girls could see her and say goodbye. She lasted a long time and tried so hard not to give up, but whatever she had was most likely congenital, and as hard as I tried, there was no fixing it I hope the kids aren't taking it too hard. You all cared for Baba very well. I'm sending out big hugs to all of you.
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Apr 21, 2013 15:01
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I'm glad to hear Baba reincarnated with VS, though. 
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Apr 21, 2013 20:01
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Ah, sorry to hear about Baba, you did everything you could. She was a much loved hen.
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Apr 21, 2013 20:18
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In preparing for my flock, what is the average year of age that a hen ceases to lay eggs. I am figuring the logistics of space, number of chickens to keep and retirement facility for those who do not produce. I will want to add a few producers as others fall out of producing as they age. I won't butcher them but keep them until their time comes. I've seen some chicken keepers who have chickens that live from 5 to 12 years of age. I do not intend on purchasing the high production hens but some standard heritage breeds that may take longer to mature, lay fewer eggs per week and live a longer life. I'm sure there will be disease and other issues that will arise. Any information will be helpful and very appreciated!
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Apr 21, 2013 21:51
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I have a Swiss heritage breed of hybrid chicken. They can apparently live to 15 years, and can lay 170-200 eggs for up to 4-5 years. I love these chickens, they're very personable and easy to handle, but I don't see myself keeping them for years while they're not laying.
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Apr 21, 2013 22:34
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Today's coop update Fully wrapped in hardware cloth. Doors to coop and run in and hardware added. Some trim added and vents added to front side. Left to do. -wrap and lay hardware cloth around to keep diggers out. -finish adding trim to hide and protect mesh seams. -cut and add walls on inside and backside for coop. -finish ramp by adding the 2x2s to ramp. -make egg box (I'm doing this later since it will be a long time until they are laying.) -add roosts to run and coop. -build and install galvanized steel roof structure. -fill holes in ground. -cover mesh in mulch. -build flower boxes around run and fill with dirt and flowers (this will be later, I'm getting cooped out.) -stuff chooks in coop and clean room they are in.
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Apr 22, 2013 02:26
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ERRANT GIN MONKS That looks amazing! Great job! May I print a copy to show my brother in law?
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Apr 22, 2013 04:34
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Chido posted:Well, Baba died today while I was away. She went downhill pretty fast yesterday, so I had my BiL help me bring the crate downstairs so the girls could see her and say goodbye. She lasted a long time and tried so hard not to give up, but whatever she had was most likely congenital, and as hard as I tried, there was no fixing it I am sorry to hear about Baba She was a lovely chicken.
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Apr 22, 2013 04:46
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Thank you guys. The girls are doing pretty well today, and I think it helped that one of VS' chickies got named Baba, so the derpiness lives on!
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Apr 22, 2013 05:34
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piscesbobbie posted:ERRANT GIN MONKS That looks amazing! Great job! May I print a copy to show my brother in law? Yeah go ahead. It's based on the Garden Coop design.
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Apr 22, 2013 14:11
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Quick question - I'm trying to find a good heat lamp for a smaller brooder box, unfortunately all the bulbs I've found so far are way too big for my 2x2x1 box for four chicks. Are the smaller lamps you would use for reptiles good enough to use? The chicks will be in my mud room so they won't get too cold at night but it won't be so warm that they could do without the lamp. Just a week or so to go until I'm back in the chicken business! Still have some work to do on the coop though, but I'll have a few weeks before they'll outgrow that box, and then they can just be in the coop with the door shut. It's just the run that needs finishing, gotta shore it up against raccoons, foxes and pitbulls. I'm thinking these chickens aren't going to be free range.
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Apr 22, 2013 18:40
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Lyz posted:Quick question - I'm trying to find a good heat lamp for a smaller brooder box, unfortunately all the bulbs I've found so far are way too big for my 2x2x1 box for four chicks. Are the smaller lamps you would use for reptiles good enough to use? The chicks will be in my mud room so they won't get too cold at night but it won't be so warm that they could do without the lamp. I used a reptile heat lamp/bulb (a red heat bulb actually). Just make sure the temps are good, and that the chicks can't actually get on/close enough to the lamp to burn themselves. I kept mine on my enclosed porch, it has glass windows and no screens so it was secure and not drafty. They all did great  I just used two big cardboard boxes connected together with a hole between them as a brooder for my chicks, this way they had a hot side and a cooler side. I put some plastic mesh netting/fencing material over the top when they were a few weeks old to make sure they couldn't hop out. Everything worked perfect!
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Apr 22, 2013 18:57
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I used a red reptile bulb as well. 150W I think? The smallest one oriented for chickens we could find was 250W and that was too big even for our relatively large (4'x4') brooder. The reptile bulb was enough to keep them warm in our unheated basement room in March (the rest of the room was often in the mid-low 50s). Make sure there is no way for it to fall into the bedding, as that creates a major fire hazard. The clips that many lamps use are not especially safe. We ran the extension cord through a hook in the ceiling and then taped it to itself so it was locked at the height we selected. Wasn't much to look at but it wasn't going to let the lamp go anywhere.
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Apr 22, 2013 19:16
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First egg from (one of my two) Blue Splash Marans. They are 6 months and 2 weeks old. Their names are Owldolf Hootler and Henito Coosolini, because I enjoy my own sense of humor
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Apr 22, 2013 23:36
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US Foreign Policy posted:First egg from (one of my two) Blue Splash Marans. They are 6 months and 2 weeks old. Their names are Owldolf Hootler and Henito Coosolini, because I enjoy my own sense of humor Yeah, that is kind of wrong.  , but that is a pretty egg.
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Apr 23, 2013 01:51
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Those names are amazing. Fascist chickens.
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Apr 23, 2013 03:42
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US Foreign Policy posted:First egg from (one of my two) Blue Splash Marans. They are 6 months and 2 weeks old. Their names are Owldolf Hootler and Henito Coosolini, because I enjoy my own sense of humor First eggs are awesome eggs. I was going to save my first Marans egg. I wanted to stick a pin/needle in it and hollow it out and put it in a shadow box frame and hang it on the wall in my office. Sorta like this:  Even though I had it separated from eggs that came after, it was still in the fridge and considered fair game by whoever made breakfast that morning. I should have acted faster!
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Apr 23, 2013 07:05
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In general, egg production drops about 10% each year, so if you get 300 eggs in the first year of laying, by year ten you'll be getting about 30 eggs a year.Getting heritage breeds is the best choice if you want long term production, you get about the same number of eggs over the lifetime of the chicken, but heritage breeds are longer lived and so keep producing for longer. The other thing to consider is that eggs typically get larger after the first year, although you get fewer of them. Laying is also more sporadic, lots of eggs in the spring, very few in the fall and winter. Whether or not that is worth it is a personal choice, and kind of depends on how much space you have, how many eggs you need, and how attached you are to the chickens. Personally I have a couple of favorites that I'll keep until they fall off the perch, and the rest I rotate out by selling them to people who want a laying hen once they start to come up on two. I can only have ten, and I need good production out of my flock.
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Apr 23, 2013 07:45
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Just picked up my birthday present, a blue splash Orpington cockerel and a Bluebell hen. Apparently the roo may carry the blue-egg gene, so that should be fun if we can get some hens outta him! The hen is around 3 and in lay, but the boy is only around 6 months old, it'll be nice to have a man around the place again. 
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Apr 23, 2013 23:46
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Nettle Soup posted:Just picked up my birthday present, a blue splash Orpington cockerel and a Bluebell hen. Apparently the roo may carry the blue-egg gene, so that should be fun if we can get some hens outta him! The hen is around 3 and in lay, but the boy is only around 6 months old, it'll be nice to have a man around the place again. Sounds great Nettle Soup! Let's see photos of the new chooks soon!
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Apr 24, 2013 01:17
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Hello everyone! I've been lurking the forums for a while now and haven't posted anywhere but I got hooked on this thread several days ago and have to join in now that I'm caught up! I'm pretty much chicken crazy now. I've always thought that I'd get chickens in the future but didn't really look much into it besides the occasional cute picture and petting the chicks at feed stores. I had a couple of horses growing up and some of the places we boarded them had some hens but often a mean rooster so I couldn't get very close. I was also chased by a rooster as a kid but I don't blame him, the other kid was picking up the hens and trying to make them fly by tossing them. Rooster got that to stop pretty quick. I have learned from this thread that roosters can be awesome too. Anyway! I'm basically finding out everything I can about chickens and figuring out which sort of breeds would be best and which coop even though I won't be getting them for a while. The only thing missing is a house and a big backyard! Apartments, urgh! But being students, we aren't going to be able to get that until we're out with some good jobs. Pretty glad that we're both wanting them though! I'm not sure if this video has been shown on this thread (I read it pretty thoroughly but I might have missed it!) but I thought it was hilarious. Sorry if it has already been posted/seen! Police chickens: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybVb3t560oY
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Apr 25, 2013 16:28
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^^^^^ I hate to double post, but that video is HILARIOUS!Nettle Soup posted:Just picked up my birthday present, a blue splash Orpington cockerel and a Bluebell hen. Apparently the roo may carry the blue-egg gene, so that should be fun if we can get some hens outta him! The hen is around 3 and in lay, but the boy is only around 6 months old, it'll be nice to have a man around the place again. That is great Nettle Soup! How exciting!!! Yes, pictures a must! Also, how are the ex-batt girls doing?
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Apr 26, 2013 01:39
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Nettle Soup posted:Just picked up my birthday present, a blue splash Orpington cockerel and a Bluebell hen. Apparently the roo may carry the blue-egg gene, so that should be fun if we can get some hens outta him! The hen is around 3 and in lay, but the boy is only around 6 months old, it'll be nice to have a man around the place again. I would love to see some pictures!
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Apr 26, 2013 03:01
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Saw this earlier today: Best buds!
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Apr 26, 2013 16:37
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Zaran posted:Saw this earlier today: How long it was before she started to eat her best bud? If I ever died suddenly in my coop I wonder how many minutes it would take for them to start eating me? 
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Apr 26, 2013 17:25
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Zeta Taskforce posted:How long it was before she started to eat her best bud? If I ever died suddenly in my coop I wonder how many minutes it would take for them to start eating me? You don't even need to be dead. Just maimed slightly and at a disadvantage.
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Apr 26, 2013 18:24
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They truly are little dinosaurs.
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Apr 26, 2013 20:04
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We got our girls integrated yesterday. No issues at all. The two older cuckoo marans are slightly afraid of the 3 week younger half thier size rhode island and australorp. Stupid chickens.
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Apr 26, 2013 21:24
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Alterian posted:You don't even need to be dead. Just maimed slightly and at a disadvantage. My henhoes had a gore fest at Roo's expense. Some time ago Roo broke a lot of his toe feathers when nobody was home, and some of them were still full blood feathers. the henhoes had so much fun pecking at his bloody toes, it looked so bad I thought they had gotten into a fight. They broke right down to the skin, so I couldn't pull them out, and it was like Roo had straws embedded in his toes. He was just standing there boking so proudly because of all the attention the hoes were giving him 
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Apr 26, 2013 21:41
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Does anyone have suggestions on how to keep humidity in the 'bator if you have to go away for a few days? I got called away and I need to be gone for 6 days next week. However, I put 14 eggs in the Incubator Tuesday night! Everything is fine, the turner is going well, but I have to fill up that water dish every 48 hours or it evaporates. If I put more water in, the humidity gets too high. Are sponges the way to go?
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Apr 27, 2013 00:50
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Alterian posted:You don't even need to be dead. Just maimed slightly and at a disadvantage. When I skinned my knee quite badly, I usually remembered to put a fresh dressing on it each morning. But once I forgot to, while wearing a short skirt (it was the middle of the horrible Australian summer), and visited the chickens with a goopy bloody knee. Alecto is usually the more timid of the two, but she saw me and her beady eyes lit up and she got down in her hunting pose and leapt at my knee, taking a good sized chunk out of it  For the rest of the day she stalked me and I realised that my chicken wanted to eat me.The rest of the wound has healed up quite well, and the only bit that will leave a scar is the chicken bite. The moral of the story is story is that your loveliest chicken, given a chance, will eat you. (Also don't visit chickens with open wounds. That is a great way to get infections and I should really know better.)
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Apr 27, 2013 01:22
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I'm sure I posted this before. My husband stepped on some unexpected broken glass in our yard. While he was walking back to the house to deal with it dripping blood all over the grass, the chickens were freaking out following behind trying to eat up as much of the bloody grass as they could.
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Apr 27, 2013 01:56
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Bantaras posted:Does anyone have suggestions on how to keep humidity in the 'bator if you have to go away for a few days? Gel humidifiers may be the way to go. I have a couple that I use for my cigar humidors, they're great. They're little mesh containers of crystal-looking things, but when you pour water in they soak it up and expand as a thick gel. It takes them quite a while to deplete their moisture and shrink back down to the little crystals. I can go a month without refilling mine, although they're in a closed environment. But they'd definitely last a week in a more circulated environment. You can buy them at just about any tobacconist.
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Apr 27, 2013 07:39
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This was more a question my husband wanted me to post. At least one of our hens has a small amount of poo crust around her vent. It isn't a whole lot or blocking her vent, but I guess it concerns him. Is this something we ought to clean off her? Or do all chickens tend to get somewhat dirty vents? Over the winter this chicken DID have a fair bit of poo stuck in her rear end fluff, so we cut that out. We give them a fair bit of scraps, so I'm guessing something we tossed them one day just gave her some loose stools.
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Apr 27, 2013 13:07
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