how's this for the roof?
Tour de Coop - Let's see them!
another
I am now officially inspired to start designing my new coop! But I can't have citrus trees, mine are all indoors except in the summer.
Join me over here under my "I want a greenhouse NOW" rock...
copy and paste this link...sorry i don't know how to make it where you can just click on it...this is where i got my idea...
http://files.diydharma.org/Back_Woods_Home_Archive/Emergency%20Survival%20Guide/Gardening/Save%20time%20and%20energy%20with%20the%20fenced%20chicken%20coop-garden...By.pdf
hey that's neat...it automatically did it for me...
i'm with you grownut...my next project is a green house!!!
You got it! And thanks. Usually if you choose preview before hitting send it will appear as a link...just not before.
Claire and I trade off wanting the same stuff and doing the same stuff FIRST, lol. I also want citrus trees, but will definitely need the greenhouse first! Patience is not one of my virtues...
what is your growing zone?
6b
Casa grande de pollo is awesome! I love the litter box idea...I was told the nesting boxes needed to be 24" off the ground!????! My girls don't even go in their boxes.....are they just too young? Or is it too cold? Or do I need litter boxes?
My Mexican hens were rescued from a cockfighting home....I can't even think about that! I wish I could keep them, but they're just not nice, and they are always freaked out! They will be going to a good home, a safe one.
What is a game hen? I know about the ones in the grocery store, but I just wanted eggs. Will they still lay eggs worth eating? Will my other half breeds lay eggs?
I'm still so confused! Sorry, I hate being the rookie!
How old are your girls (that wont go in the boxes)? You can put golf balls in them to encourage them to use them. Are they laying elsewhere?
Its best if they go to a home that they are the only roo.
Everyone starts somewhere. I liked being the rookie. I love to read and learn. People here are so great about answering questions too. ;)
OMG I am also drooling over your coop. Nesting boxes out of litter boxes who would have thunk. I have small pet carriers that I could use in the new hoop houses. Thanks for the idea.
I have seen that link with the garden on either side and I do so want to do that.
i started off with 2 dog kennels covered with chicken wire and a tarp...then progressed to a hoop house about 25' long covered with a tarp...my chickens were laying in coke crates with hay in them about 1' off the ground...then i came up with the covered kitty liter boxes...i think they were more comfortable with being in an enclosed area while laying...finally and i hope this is my last coop i have the casa grande de pollo...funny thing is that everyone who sees this new setup tells me how brilliant i am...all i can say is the internet is a wonderful thing!!
sorry this photo was taken through screen...
Virginbred, what neat pictures and what a great idea! We need to build a new chicken coop for our hens, but we usually have about thirty or forty. How many hens does yours hold and how large is your coop? If they can fly high enough to access those nest boxes do you ever have problems with them going over the fence into your yard?
We wanted two runs, but were thinking of using one for young birds since we've had a lot of problems with older ones being aggressive and not letting the younger ones eat this year. As a result we have some stunted chickens. We finally solved that problem by dispensing with the usual feeders and instead spreading the pellets out in a long line on the ground, so that there was plenty of room for everyone and they could focus on eating rather than fighting. I don't know that we would use the alternating garden idea, because I have a permanent one set up using Eliot Coleman's ideas, with mulch between the rows. But your idea is interesting because I'll bet it does avoid weeds.
greenhouse thanks for the compliments i think the size is 12x28 and if you set up your perches differently it would accommodate the # of chickens you have...i don't know about nj but here in sc we have a horrible problem with fire ants...these chickens in the garden are taking care of that...i can't tell you how many times i've been in the garden picking something or weeding only to have my foot totally engulfed in fire ants...
they do fly up to the nesting boxes but they are only about 3 ft off the ground...they don't seem interested in flying over the fence, however i do have peacocks who fly in and out...
virginbred, are you telling us the chickens eat the fire ants?
I know mine do. Just about bed time for the chickens we were hauling in fire wood and a few were loaded with fire ants. 1 chicken was helping with the fore wood and seen the ants she went to squaking and about 25 chickens showed up to eat them ants. They had their bed time snack.
That's a good thing about being in ffffrrrigid Iowa right now....fire ants can't live here. It gets too dang cold! Right now, minus 16 F. Brrrrrr.....
Oh Claire brrrrrrrr. That is just to cold. Stay warm
Wow. go you chickens.
We don't have fireants here - yet. We do have lots of other obnoxious critters; our chickens love grubs and hornworms. I can pick the hornworms off the tomatoes and bring them to the poultry yard and the hens have a ball with them. Thank heavens this past summer we had scarcely any hornworms, but the summer before we were loaded with them.
Thanks for the feedback. We have to do something with our henhouse, but probably not until spring!
Leslie
Fire Ants!! I loath and Hate is not a strong enough word for these evil pest.
They will kill your baby birds and bite your chickens i've been fighting them for years AAARRGH!
Okay, next question: It was 0 here this morning and I'm struggling to keep the poultry waterer from freezing. Even the yard hydrant wasn't working when I went outside, although it will probably be operable again later today. I bought one of those heated waterers which works fairly well, except that it's poorly designed for filling. You have to turn it upside down and fill it through a stoppered hole in the bottom, and then tip it back over, trying to avoid losing too much of the water through the feeder holes in the bottom tray or else you have to do the whole thing all over again. I wonder who thought of that??? Also the plug on the bottom sometimes gets wet and then freezes, making it hard to plug it back into the outdoor extension cord we use. The last couple of nights, when it went down to single digits, I put the waterer into the winery, which DH keeps above freezing, but that's not very convenient even though it's right next to the chickenyard.
We keep the water and food outside the coop, but we have to set up a new chicken house in the spring because ours is dilapidated. Therefore I'm trying to come up with ways around some of the hassles we've been having keeping them fed and watered, and I'm looking for ideas. How do other people keep their water from freezing in the winter?
We sit one waterer on top of a heated base. The other waterer is a very large heated dog water dish, designed for outdoor dogs. These work well except when our weather gets below about minus 10, at which point they struggle to keep up. You probably don't get that cold very often, so it might work for you. The stoppered thing sounds like a bit of a pain...
Omigosh, is it ever a pain! I often end up with water all over me, which kind of defeats the purpose. Thanks for the suggestion; I just found a base heater from Stromberg's that looks like it will work with one of our five-gallon metal waterers, which will mean less refilling. The other one is only three gallons and you lose part of that when you turn it over. Also, to be able to use something that doesn't need flipping over with gloved hands in 4 degree weather would be a real luxury. Sometimes my gloves end up sticking to the latches on the chicken yard because it's so cold and I'm so wet!
I have a friend in Iowa who's been telling me how cold it's been there; -25 with schools closed. I don't envy you.
Leslie
bumped for Heavenscent
This message was edited Feb 6, 2009 8:11 PM
TY!! Love them all! ZZ where do you find time for it all?
I will post pics when I get mine going, then I will be back o find out how to get the birds lol!
Welcome Heavinscent! I cant wait to see yours!!!
LOL Caren, I quit brugs, that's how! LOL
Yes, do post pics.. of your birds too.. So glad to see you here. :)
Hello folks. This is mine chicken coop. I have a 8 hens.
If someone looking for chicken coop plans check my site:
http://chickencoopsplans4u.com
Very cool! Thanks.