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Inventive as ever @GFHomebrew and good to "see" you again 
Show me your gardening Progress
- Thread starter Ozarks Mountain Brewery
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Thanks for the links. Been outta pocket for a bit because I've been bustin' my hump building new chicken mansions. The neighbor had 11 birds in a little 4 foot by 8 foot tractor, which is OK for about 4-5 birds. They started picking on each other and nearly stripped each other of feathers (cannibalism). It was his first experience with chickens and he had no clue what he was doing to them in that little tractor until I went over there one day to look at them. That was last December, and we had some horribly cold weather coming on (like -20C to you). I built a new (8x16) pen for him to start with and used an old rabbit hutch for a coop. After the weather warmed back up a bit, I built him a new (8x8) coop as well to get them out of the overcrowded tractor. His birds are 6 months older than mine (a year old about now) and mine are twice the size of his because they were too crowded in that little tractor too long and it stunted their growth. He's got plenty room for twice as many now.
Then the missus started doing chicken math. We had 6 birds that we got in August when we returned from NZ and Oz which were already laying. She decided she wanted more, and no amount of me pleading would get her to wait just a little longer. She works in a local Tractor Supply store now (kinda like a feed/farm store), and they sell chickens every year from February until August. Long story longer, she got 6 more in February (which would have been max capacity for our coop), then comes home with 4 more, and another 4 and another 4 all spaced out over a 5 week period. By the time we got the last ones, the ones she got in February were already big enough and old enough they wouldn't tolerate the little fellas. So, three (one of the last ones just never learned to eat/drink) wound up being isolated from the rest. That created had a real headache trying to keep them from getting killed by the older ones, which is what caused THREE different feed/water requirements. I had the 3-gallon waterer for the big girls, which would last the oldest birds (laying now) about 10 days if I kept it high enough to keep them from kicking stuff in it. I suspended it from some paracord with a plastic bowl on it to keep them from climbing on it and pooping in their own water. Did the same for the feeder, but water runs down the paracord and gets the feed wet. They don't mind it being wet, but it won't come down out of the feeder when it's wet. So I have to relocate it inside when it rains. Guess what kinda weather we're gonna have for the next 10 days? I don't have time to build a little feeder shanty to protect the feeders from rain because I'm too busy building a whole new pen. I've already decided that the new pen will have some more convenient features for water/feed that are less susceptible to the weather.
Ennyhoo, her chicken math and the fact I built one for the neighbor dictated that I build a new pen for ours. New coop is a combo storeroom and coop, 8 feet by 24 feet with 8x8 for the store room and 8x16 for the girls. The run is 16 x 24. I used cross ties (sleepers) to go around the bottom for a foundation to help keep bugs away and have built modular fence panels and gates that I can stack up and replace easily if needed. Same goes for the top panels for the run. I can't leave them out in the open because we have a few hawks that are 3x the size of our chickens hanging around. Chooks cost too much to raise to just let the predators have them. I chased off a fox yesterday that was eyeballing my coop. I also killed a 3-foot copperhead (one of the most aggressive venomous snakes on the planet) in my neighbor's back yard. I fear we may have attracted some slightly unwanted wildlife with the birds. We've got quite the flock now with 24 birds. The first 6 we got in August when we got back from Oz last year. The rest are spread out over about 5 weeks this year and are about 10-15 weeks now. I'm in a crunch trying to build our new coop in a BIG hurry before the oldest little ones start laying. Thus, my absence for a while.
We re-homed both of the Rhode Island Red roosters, too. They had already gotten too old to use for meat birds, and I didn't have the heart to just kill them because they had become pets, like it or not. They were named Butter and Lemon (as in Asian chicken dishes), but we changed Lemon's name to Mr. Magoo when we put him back in with the girls. He started losing weight and was stressing very badly while we had him isolated. The largest one (Butter) was nearly 10 pounds (about 4.5Kg), and the other was probably all of 4Kg. Both were big, gorgeous birds, but after we re-homed the first one, the second started getting very aggressive with the hens and even attacked Makaila. Strangely enough, she was the only one of us that he would let touch him. We had to separate them from the girls because they were being way too rough on them and harming them. One moved to Selma, Alabama, and the other a little more local to Calera. Both buyers ($20 for Butter and $10 for Mr. Magoo) wanted them to raise chicks, which I have ZERO interest in doing.
I like those watering cups better than the ones that are widely available around here. The weight of the water in them shuts them off, not a spring, I like that a lot. I tried a 5 gallon bucket version of what you did with different cups. I could probably just replace the cups. The girls couldn't seem to figure out they had to peck the little valve stem to get more water, so I'm stuck with the gravity feed ones with a trough around the bottom. At least until I have time to come up for air and do the little improvement projects that I LIKE to do. Those cups would do the same thing as the bell waterers by exposing the water for them to find it and they don't have to peck it to get water. I have THREE waterers now, two 1-gallon, and the 3-gallon because we now have three different age groups of birds. The 3-gallon is far better than the two bell type because it uses a smaller port to allow water to drain into the trough and also can be capped off to make carrying it without getting soaked a lot easier. We're currently trying to get the youngest three birds to assimilate with the middle group, and will move all of those into the new coop as soon as I get it closed in enough.
Next time you want to install the cups, try drilling the hole a size smaller, and then thread the hole for 1/8" NPT pipe threads. (Yours may be metric pipe threads, though, dunno). I happened to have a pipe tap the right size, so I tried and it fit beautifully. Pipe threads are normally tapered so that they seal better. That let me replace the little wing nuts on the inside with an aluminum plate that would let me tighten the cup on so the o-ring would seal better.
I'll try to get some photos of the new coop and the flock later and post them. The oldest girls got BIG. 2 Australorps, 3 Barred Rock, and 1 Ameraucana (funny looking bird with no wattles and a fluffy beard).
The younger ones, let's see, ummm,
2 Black Sex Link
1 Amberlink (hatchmate died)
1 Chocolate Orpington (to replace the Amberlink that died)
1 Sapphire Gem (hatchmate died)
1 Starlight
2 Cream Legbar
2 California White
2 Isa Brown
3 Blue Leg Beauty
1 - Zombie (what I call it because of black skin/beak but white feathers)
2 Pearl Onyx
I think that adds up to the 18 that triggered spending nearly $3500 to build a new coop. Told the missus they owe me 1750 dozen eggs to pay for it. I'm still curious what she thinks she's gonna do with 2 dozen eggs per day when they all start laying .......
Hopefully this time we have no roosters in the bunch. The two Rhode Island Reds disguised themselves for a long time, though. They didn't present until nearly 16 weeks, then suddenly hit another growth spurt and doubled the size of the girls, their combs got huge and red, and their feet got ENORMOUS. They were 4 inches taller than all the hens, very suddenly, and two big roosters in a pen with only 6 hens was not working out well for the hens at all. They never started fighting because they grew up together, but it was just a matter of time. I didn't want them around after they grew their spurs.
Thanks again for the mention. I gotta go get to work and use every second of fair weather I have. Won't be any for 10 days after tonight.
Yeah, still around. Just renewed membership (new credit card) and wrote the big diatribe above. Lots to catch up on, but unfortunately no time to do the catching. Just don't have much internet time at all for the past 5 months.
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Loved the videos Ben! It was nice to hear your voice again.
cheers mate thanks for the kind words
.
sounds like you got alot going on there Roadie. it's hard to say NO sometimes but in the long run looking back sometimes it's the best option
.hope you dont get no roosters.
we did good only one boy dropped him off to Fay the Chiok lady he's living on a banana farm now with a heap of other roosters.
Matilda is the little Chook Boss now collecting eggs and checking on the seed and water is her specialty lol.
cheers.
We rehomed both of the big boys. The largest one was easily 9 pounds (about 4 kilos) at 8 months, so still had some growing and bulking up to do. He’s a big boy. The other is nearly as big, too. They were gorgeous birds and I hated to get rid of them, but they were chronologically challenged with their incessant crowing and just way too much for our 6 hens in a 8x16 pen. It’s a lot quieter without them. We got $20 for the big one (after offering him for $10) and he got moved to Selma,Al to a huge open free ranging pen with a new harem. He’s already a new daddy to about a dozen chicks. (Not that he’s really interested). The other one sold for $10 which is about the going rate for a common breed rooster and moved to Calera. I think he has a much larger harem, but don’t know as much as I do about the first one. The missus did all the “chicken trading”.sounds like you got alot going on there Roadie. it's hard to say NO sometimes but in the long run looking back sometimes it's the best option
hope you dont get no roosters.
we did good only one boy dropped him off to Fay the Chiok lady he's living on a banana farm now with a heap of other roosters.
Matilda is the little Chook Boss now collecting eggs and checking on the seed and water is her specialty lol.
cheers.
I’m hoping to get the new coop done enough by Friday so we can get the little ones moved out of their tiny pens. I repurposed one of our old kitchen cabinets for a temporary coop for 6 of them while we had to keep them isolated for safety reasons, and it’s coming apart pretty fast with the rain we’re having. I think we’ve had 2 days without rain in the past 4 weeks. I don’t like the conditions they’re in but I couldn’t leave them in an even smaller brooder box in my storage shed any longer. Better weather would have made it easier and quicker to get them moved. I’m doing about 2/3 of the run in gravel and making a “mosh pit” for them to party in. It will be filled with shredded leaves and pine straw on top of wood chips so they have plenty to scratch in that will also attract worms and other critters for them to scratch for. I can’t free range them because Iof predators (just saw a fox 3 days ago). So I have to do the next best thing and bring the range to them.
Still a bit of work to do, but we’re pretty much past all the parts that I needed another set of hands to help lift and hold. Just finished the roof and siding 2 nights ago. I built modular fence panels and tops for the run so that will go up quickly. The tops are made with one 12-foot 2x4 and nylon mesh so I can easily lift them by myself. The fence panels are from a single 10-foot 2x6 with dog wire on the bottom half and covered with chicken wire on the whole thing. Still easy to handle and don’t have to be lifted overhead. The gate panel is a bit heavier, but shares design with the fence panels so even still maneuverable for me.
Guess I need to get after it. Cloudy this morning, but not pouring rain. Some sun supposed to happen this arvo, but I won’t hold my breath. I’ll try to remember to get some photos today. Still have a tiny bit more to do on the roof (rake on the east and north sides). I try not to get on ladders if no one’s here to call emergency services if I fall. I don’t bounce as good as I did when I was a kid and don’t want to be laying out there with broken bones until someone comes home.
For anyone who might be doubting my words about building a coop……
I give you the Henitentiary, Cluckingham Palace. the Taj Mc Chicken, whatever you want to call it. The dimensions of the coop/tack room (it really is a chicken ranch) are 8’ W x 24’ L. The first 8x8 section is a storage space and will likely also house green energy efforts. The other 16x8 section is your standard run-of-the-mill coop with some options that are a little more convenient than what we had when I was a kid. Gonna add rain collection and probably some light duty solar power after I get the younger birds moved. 18 of them versus 6 of the older ones (laying alrea). It’s a no-brainer to move the old gals in one at a time because they’ll be brutal to the little ones. The run is 16’ x 24’ with gravel (limestone) about 6” deep with a 12x12 “mosh pit” which will be mor organic stuff like wood chips and shredded leaves to attract the things that chickens love to find. The old one
was very quickly obsolete due to sudden population issues nstigated by the woman I love. I wanted a half dozen, she misunderstood and inverted the fraction to be 2 dozen birds. I think she’s realizing what she did. But I also fully understand the adage “Happy Wife, Happy Life”.
Oh yeah, don’t worry about the lime around the pen. There’s more in the pen. Good for egg shells and neutralizing the ammonia from the waste. It aint caustic lime, it’s barn lime.
I’ve been struggling uphill with pitiful weather for the past 6 weeks. The age gap between the oldest and newest little ones has been a real challenge too. The missus is working, so I have to do most of the work by myself. Now that it’s weather proof, I can work inside no matter the weather. I gotta get done soon because the little ones are all molting for the transition to adulthood and some will be laying very soon
More photos when I can get a chance.
I give you the Henitentiary, Cluckingham Palace. the Taj Mc Chicken, whatever you want to call it. The dimensions of the coop/tack room (it really is a chicken ranch) are 8’ W x 24’ L. The first 8x8 section is a storage space and will likely also house green energy efforts. The other 16x8 section is your standard run-of-the-mill coop with some options that are a little more convenient than what we had when I was a kid. Gonna add rain collection and probably some light duty solar power after I get the younger birds moved. 18 of them versus 6 of the older ones (laying alrea). It’s a no-brainer to move the old gals in one at a time because they’ll be brutal to the little ones. The run is 16’ x 24’ with gravel (limestone) about 6” deep with a 12x12 “mosh pit” which will be mor organic stuff like wood chips and shredded leaves to attract the things that chickens love to find. The old one
was very quickly obsolete due to sudden population issues nstigated by the woman I love. I wanted a half dozen, she misunderstood and inverted the fraction to be 2 dozen birds. I think she’s realizing what she did. But I also fully understand the adage “Happy Wife, Happy Life”.
Oh yeah, don’t worry about the lime around the pen. There’s more in the pen. Good for egg shells and neutralizing the ammonia from the waste. It aint caustic lime, it’s barn lime.
I’ve been struggling uphill with pitiful weather for the past 6 weeks. The age gap between the oldest and newest little ones has been a real challenge too. The missus is working, so I have to do most of the work by myself. Now that it’s weather proof, I can work inside no matter the weather. I gotta get done soon because the little ones are all molting for the transition to adulthood and some will be laying very soon
More photos when I can get a chance.
Like a hot tub, sauna and big-screen tv?
If they had their way…. They’re very spoiled other than the slightly overcrowded pens. But that’s exactly what the project is about. So far, they only owe me 1750 dozen eggs at $2 a dozen. I’m not going to count my chickens before they hatch, though.
One such option I finished today. A sh** shelf under the roost lined with vinyl flooring that should eliminate a lot of the typical nasty cleaning chores associated with chickens. We will also coat it thoroughly with barn lime to prevent the poop from sticking. The 89-10 limestone gravel is also a good source of calcium for the shells. It may take a bit of C4 to get the eggs out of the shells with these birds. The roosts are removable for easy cleaning. The gravel also gives the birds a place to get out of the mud when it rains without having to constantly buy horse stall bedding to dry out the run. The whole run is made with modular fence panels that Ive already built and will close in the run in a couple hours start to finish. I’m guessing we may be moving birds this weekend.
The “tack room” as Makaila calls it is where we will move all the feed and scratch to remove the temptation for rats, mice, and the no-shoulered critters that like that kind of menu. The main reason is to get the feed and supplies closer to where they’re needed, bu we just had a rather large rat snake on the walk path between our little garden and raised beds yesterday. It’s probably catching chipmunks, so I’ll leave it be for now. Pretty sure he wasn’t interested in the potatoes in the pots. I killed a 31-inch copperhead day before yesterday in my neighbor’s yard about 100 feet away from this fella. That’s a big copperhead. As soon as I walked up with the hoe, he turned and coiled to strike. Vicious little buggers.
Not a fan of copperheads. If 31” is a big one, my encounter a few years ago was a big one. Long story short (the long story is somewhere on this forum) he ended up as a flat snake a week later, out in the road.
Nah, me neither. I’d rather deal with a rattlesnake any day. A) they will TRY to let you know you’re pissing them off, however since the females don’t take care of their rattles, they aren’t always heard. But when you do hear it, it’s sorta like the sound of a 12 gauge pump shotgun that there is no other sound like it. You don’t have to have heard it ever before, you’ll know exactly what it is. B) they know they can’t swallow a whole human and since they don’t have the teeth or jaw strength to chew one up, discretion is the better part of valor and they will try to leave before being seen.
Copperheads are just mean b*****ds. I have been chased/followed by more than one. They seldom get more than 36”, but what they lack in‘stature’ they make up for with attitude.
Today was moving day.
The missus had a work thing, but her #1 son pitched in and helped me put the run together. I was too busy working to take photos, but she got a few when she got home from the work thing
2 fence panels and 3 roof panels l left to go:
Anchoring the fence to the cross ties
Girls transferred and completely confused but feeling very liberated.
It’s been a long day. I had to go out there to show them where their new sleeping quarters were, well about 2/3 of them. The next week or so is going to be like having 24 toddlers that refuse to sleep in their new bed.
The missus had a work thing, but her #1 son pitched in and helped me put the run together. I was too busy working to take photos, but she got a few when she got home from the work thing
2 fence panels and 3 roof panels l left to go:
Anchoring the fence to the cross ties
Girls transferred and completely confused but feeling very liberated.
It’s been a long day. I had to go out there to show them where their new sleeping quarters were, well about 2/3 of them. The next week or so is going to be like having 24 toddlers that refuse to sleep in their new bed.
Attachments
That’s pretty big. I read the dimensions but the photos make it real.
You gonna eat 20+ eggs a day?
(I bet the church food pantry would love them though…)
A local quicky mart manager said he would take all we can bring. I think we'll have wash them and supply generic new "farm fresh" cartons, though. Can't call 'em Free Range if the birds aren't allowed to roam. I choose not to because of varmint and neighbor risks. If he changes his mind or tries to low-ball us, then the missus is just gonna have to sell a lot more eggs to folks she knows and get them to spread the word. Offloading 8-10 dozen eggs a week ain't so bad when word gets out. We'll sell 'em cheap ($2/dozen, $3 if we supply the carton) if we don't have to wash them and refrigerate them. Once in the refrigerator, the price goes up. They keep an amazingly long time, somehow. We barely have enough now for us to have any with 6 laying. We typically leave them unwashed until we sell them, and just remind buyers to wash them before they refrigerate them. They can be kept at room temp for a couple weeks if they're not washed. As soon as they're washed, they have to go in the fridge, and we happen to have a spare one in the garage that we got for free. If we find ourselves overwhelmed with eggs (a distinct possibility) we'll probably seek out some deserving groups that won't try to profiteer on our charity. I'm first in line when I find out someone needing stuff after a house fire or tragedy, but I won't be duped by 'charities' that profit from my generosity.
I'm finally getting started on some of the more fun projects with the birds that I wanted to be doing this spring rather than constructing TWO new coops and runs (the neighbor's first, then mine). I'm starting with a little 200W solar starter kit and low voltage (12V) lighting. I already have an enormous battery from a UPS (and maybe access to more of them) which I can use for storage. That will give me a good base for an off-grid chicken house with some automation flexibility and better security from varmints. If the 200W panels produce well enough back there, then maybe I use the top of the coop for more panel space and let the panels provide some summer shade for the girls in the mosh pit. The fun projects might have been more fun if I were doing them on a coop/run built from all reclaimed materials (except the wire and roofing and fasteners). Who knows, I might even put in a grid-tie system to put back into the power bill too. The ROI on solar power in Alabama sucks, but it is a few pennies off the bills.
