Coops and Runs

Nesting Boxes

feeds@yuku.com (grandrapidshippie) — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 02:30:33 GMT

I have 5 girlies. I have a run underneath my coop. Can I put my nesting boxes in the run or should they be in the coop? where should my roosting poles be? should I have hay or straw in the nesting boxes. Can I use anything else for the nests? sawdust?
Sorry for the simple questions, but I just want to make sure my girls have the best and that I'm not screwing anything up.

Christian.

Hatching sveral breeds

feeds@yuku.com (tessiersfarm) — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 19:59:05 GMT

I have a barnyard mix of chickens and have raised them for eggs for several years. What I am looking to do this year is to seperate my chickens into breeds and hatch true breed chicks. I would like Barred Rocks, Rhode Island Reds, Americauna's, and Red and Black Sex Links. I have all of the parent stock currently mixed together. This is going to require 5 seperate pens which I am going to have to construct. I am looking for any suggestions anyone may have and or pictures if possible.

What to use for flooring?

feeds@yuku.com (kalaim) — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 20:37:02 GMT

I have a cage now that I am working on, currently it has a plywood floor that I'm planning on ripping out because it's rotted etc and needs replacing.
I'm wondering if I should just go with a dirt floor or replace the wood?
Or I thought half and half, wood under the nests and roosts, and then dirt on the other half.

What else would you use on the floor, what kind of bedding/litter?

Thanks!

Electric Poultry Netting

feeds@yuku.com (Yotuck) — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 18:33:45 GMT

Has anyone had good luck with the electric poultry netting? I am seriously considering it for my mobile hen house....

Chicks Roosting in Laying Boxes

feeds@yuku.com (gg4rebels) — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 08:22:05 GMT

My chicks are now just over a month old and have been moved to the coop. They have learned they can fly up to the boxes we built for the hens to lay their eggs. They also have learned to climb the ladder to the boxes. We have not filled the boxes with wood chips yet since they are months off from laying eggs. The birds are now roosting on the ledges of the boxes and spending time up there during the day......there is poo everywhere. Is this okay for now? Do you think the will still try...

Howdy, from J. Knife

feeds@yuku.com (jacktheknife) — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 03:03:22 GMT

Fellow poultry farmers,

I use 'Netscape' and couldn't get the whole 'message board posting software'
to download. So, after much thinking, {and I was out of beer, so that helped too,}
I reasoned the problem may be my old Netscape so I tried Explorer, and it works.

I'll see if this trial post works.

...

What do you fill a dusting pit with?

feeds@yuku.com (wantbantamchicken) — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 17:40:39 GMT

Ok I want to add a place for my chickens to be able to dust bath. I have a few questions, do most people simply dig a hole and use it or do they find some sort of container? And what should I full it with? Just any old sand (I live by the beach would ocean sand work? Or is that dangerous) Or maybe loose dirt from another section of the yard or can I buy sand/dirt somewhere that would be safe for them? Another question I heard a lot of people add D.E. to it. How much should I add and where is...

I'm almost too ashamed to post this...but not quite

feeds@yuku.com (bluroze) — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 19:49:03 GMT

My henhouse was only supposed to be temporary, as I was planning to move to a better place to live soon. However, going on four years later and I'm still here. The henhouse is made of recycled wood pallets, plywood roof, chickenwire covered by recycled woven-plastic feed bags, recycled 2x4s, a recycled orange crate for a nest box and recycled closet poles for roosts. The only thing I bought was the 4x4 posts that raise it up off of the ground and the blue tarp which is just for added...

how to set up

feeds@yuku.com (jim0001) — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 14:01:15 GMT

Well we have the coop built 6'x8' but not sure how to set up the insides. It would be nice if I might see some pics of inside of your coops.

Chicken Coop for 40 hens for under $100!

feeds@yuku.com (Yotuck) — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 15:21:12 GMT

One of our major problems is being able to keep and winter our chickens until the spring and have any left. Predators are numerous and have proven so far to be almost unstoppable. Our arch menace is a huge Red-tail hawk, very bold this rascal is. Next we have caught or run off...

New Coop - HOLIDAY HEN

feeds@yuku.com (gg4rebels) — Wed, 28 May 2008 09:12:00 GMT

This is my new chicken coop! My chicks are now just over a week old. I can't wait until they are old enough to see their new home! We are going to put a bamboo shade on the sides and front. My husband is running electricity to the coop so we can have a fan running during the summer and a heat lamp during the winter. It does not get cold often in central Mississippi but we want to be prepared!

Question about coop space

feeds@yuku.com (waycoolchickens) — Tue, 27 May 2008 19:54:37 GMT

I have read 4 books on keeping chickens, and they say I need 2squ. ft. per bantam and 4 squ. ft. per standard. My question is, does this include the room for the roosts? I think they expect me to add the nestboxes in addition to the square footage, but am I suppose to also add the roosts?.

New member, new coop

feeds@yuku.com (hegyeg) — Mon, 05 May 2008 06:37:06 GMT

Been building it for a couple of months. Currently working on their fenced run. I have some baby Rhode Island Reds waiting to use it. The sign over their door came from my grandfather's coop, which I vaguely remember as a kid. After he died, and long after his coop broke down, I removed the sign and have been saving it to use on my own coop one day. Anyway, here are a couple of pics.

Palruf plastic roofing..........

feeds@yuku.com (bwalden3) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 05:40:17 GMT

anyone ever use this I am thinking of using the white plastic for the roof to let light in. I wanted to blend metal roofing and this but they are two different shapes. any advice is welcome - Bill

MOVING CHICKENS

feeds@yuku.com (ECHIX) — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 14:31:58 GMT

We have moved to the hill country and are going to pick up our chickens in the Gulf Coast area next week and bring them to their new coop here. I have no idea on how to transport them best - it is a 7 hour drive and I have 28 of them or so. Also, any information on how to help them adjust and settle in quickly would be most appreciated.

Anyone move their flock before?

The new show us your coops thread!

feeds@yuku.com (Squishy) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 18:43:33 GMT

Since the other thread is broken and I've no idea how long it may be until it's fixed, I thought I would start a new thread. Hopefully peeps will stop by and add their coop pics as well.

Here's mine from start to finish.... (click to see the full size pics)

I drove past a feed store one day that had a big sign saying 'order your chicks today!' ........so I did! They showed up a couple weeks later ....

What's the right size for a nest box

feeds@yuku.com (dajeti2) — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 22:39:36 GMT

We are getting getting ready to build our new coop. We've had chickens before. We had RRs and such. This time we are getting heavy breeds Orps, Brahmas, Jersey Giants etc. I say 16"x16" boxes, hubby says 12"x12" is fine. So what is the right size? Also how many do you think we need? Hubby thinks 8 boxes will be enough and I'm thinking we need more.

Thank you for reading this and I look forward to your replies.

Need Advice on Floor or no Floor

feeds@yuku.com (jimnjay) — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 14:42:26 GMT

I just returned from Sams club and I found the MOST awesome little Childrens Playhouse it have a little covered porch and is out of cedar. They are asking $ 300.00 and the total measurements are 6x6 approximately. It has no floor and I was thinking that the ground is warmer in the winter. If I used the 1/2" square welded wire and put in a layer of sand, would that provide enough safety from predators. Would it be better than placing it on plywood and the plywood on blocks? The last...

Heres the coop so far

feeds@yuku.com (jenlynn4) — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 18:18:45 GMT

OK I finally got some pics today! We have the floor frames done and the frames for the front and back walls. My dad put the large window right in the frame before we assemble it because he said it would be easier. We are building it in 2 8 foot x 8 foot sections and we will bolt them together to make 1 8x16 foot coop. I cant wait to get it put together! Here are the pics so far (they dont look like much yet)

This is one of the 8 foot floor sections:

CharlesChickens - coop questions

feeds@yuku.com (Squishy0024) — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 18:29:26 GMT

Charles.....I started a new thread so that your post wouldn't get missed and you might get more replies. I hope you don't mind.

I was concerned about poop after reading about portable coops and =
wondered if I could "start" my chickens in a coop (8'x 8' or so) and 12 =
x 30 penned-in area. Then, after they appeared accustomed to the coop =
and were returning of an evening and nesting therein, I thought to allow =...