Author Topic: Makin the Plunge & Gettin Chickens (Read 5626 times)

Rock Home Isle · « **Reply #30 on:** April 14, 2012, 12:56:34 PM »

From this angle the base for the egg boxes can more easily be noted. The 3 eggs boxes will be accessed through a hinged lid, so that eggs can be collected from the outside, without having to enter the coop. Infact, I'm designing the coop so that I will have to enter the coop as little as possible.

If you look closely you will note that the posts do not match. One of the posts came from my garage, a leftover from a previous project. Another post was a scrap salvage from when I had to repair my Ceder Fence. A 3rd post I bought for this project and when I found that I would still need another post...my wife found one in a dumpster. Well this last post is actually a 4x6 landscaping timber...but it will work just fine. It's an ugly piece of wood, so it mounted one the back corner of the coop where it will be inside the run and few will be able to see it.

Rock Home Isle · « **Reply #31 on:** April 14, 2012, 01:02:26 PM »

I've been called many things but never a Carpenter...my Dad the Engineer is a very good carpenter. Here we are framing out the opening for the Egg Boxes. It was a hot steamy day, so we put up the 10 x 10 popup to keep us in the shade.

I enjoy doing things with my Dad...he's a great guy.

Note the 2x3 that is running across the base of the opening to the Egg Boxes. This wil be removed, it is referenced again in another photo later in the thread. Removing this board will allow me to more easily sweep the contents of the egg boxes into the main Coop area when I clean it.

Rock Home Isle · « **Reply #32 on:** April 14, 2012, 01:04:52 PM »

Here is the opening for the chickens to exit the coop and enter the run. This door to the coop will be spring loaded. My plan is to pull a lanard that will be located by the Egg Boxes to open the door each day. Once the door is open the lanard is then clipped to the fencing of the run to hold the door open during the day. In the evening the lanard is unclipped from the run and the spring holds the door closed at night. The run will be fenced top to bottom under the deck, so unless an animal burrows under the railroad ties or can squeeze through a 2x4 welded wire fencing, the birds should be safe at night.

This veiw also gives a good indication of how much litter I'll have in the bottom of the coop. There is room for 10 inches of wood shavings. My plan is to use a deep litter system that will act as both as an insulation and as (I HOPE) an oder reducer...We'll see.

Rock Home Isle · « **Reply #33 on:** April 14, 2012, 01:15:33 PM »

The exterior walls of the Chicken Coop have now been framed. The corner posts have been cut to their proper angles and height. The roof is just laying in place. I still need to get another sheet of 1/2 inch press board to finish the tail end of the roof and line the interior of the coop.

At this point I'm just finishing the framing of the Egg Boxes. The long end is inplace in the photo, whiles the ends of the egg boxes were completed about 10 minutes or so later. You can see now that the 2x3 that ran across the opening to the egg boxes has been removed.

The large opening into the coop is my access door. This opening will allow me to check water and feed each day and make it easier to clean the coop. By going to a deep litter system my HOPE is that I'll only have to clean the coop biannually. That remains to be seen, of course.

If you look closely you can see that the base of the Coop is now 2x4 framed. It easily supports my full weight. Once the side walls were framed-in, the coop really started looking good (in my opinion). I'm lining the inside of the Coop with 1/2 inch Press Board. The exterior will most likely be Ceder Siding; left overs from my Dad's addition project to his home. But its looking like I may have to buy another sheet of Ceder Siding, and at $90.00 a sheet...I may go to something else as an exterior finish to the coop.

I still need to do some blocking, but once this is done the roof of the coop will be hinged so that when I need to replace a light or a heat lamp I don't have to enter the coop. I simply go into the run lift the roof and I can reach into the coop and replace any lights or lamps.

The weather has taken a change for the worse today, so the coop is now covered with a tarp and I'm hoping that I'll be able to wire the electrical and insulate it tomorrow. They're forcasting rain turning to snow...DANG!!

Rock Home Isle · « **Reply #34 on:** April 14, 2012, 01:44:02 PM »

The chicks follow the ducks and mimic their every behavior. Here the ducks are laying down to take a late afternoon nap. The chicks come and snuggle right in. The chicks lay next to the ducks, between the ducks, and on the ducks.

Rock Home Isle · « **Reply #35 on:** April 14, 2012, 01:45:22 PM »

And here is the happy little group about 5 minutes later.

How do they do that?....It takes me forever to fall asleep.

Rock Home Isle · « **Reply #36 on:** April 14, 2012, 01:51:06 PM »

Here are the Chicks at 1 week. Their little wing feathers are coming in and it looks as though they just started bringing out their tail feathers.

They always look so scruffy to me at this age...

Rock Home Isle · « **Reply #37 on:** April 14, 2012, 01:52:08 PM »

The ducklings look to have about quadrupled in size.

I had to put the waterer on a brick. I couldn't figure out why all the water was draining so quickly out of the waterer. Finally I decided to sit in the room for a while and watch what is happening in the tank. I found that the ducks were putting one foot in the waterer and chasing eachother in circles around the the waterer and splashing everything. Looked like they were having great fun though...

For a while I actually thought maybe I had some mysterious leak that was draining the waterer at a fabulous rate...No it was just the ducks being ducks.

???Ducks...go figure.

Rock Home Isle · « **Reply #38 on:** April 14, 2012, 01:55:31 PM »

YEAH!!!!...We are done with newspaper. Everybody seems to be eating & drinking well...its time to put them on wood shavings. I like it when the chicks get to this point; the wood shavings have a nice aroma and that newspaper can get pretty smelly and messy as they grow. There's a lot less daily cleaning when they are on wood shavings.

So far there have been no losses...but my fingers are still crossed.

streak · « **Reply #39 on:** April 14, 2012, 05:07:47 PM »

RHI!
Have fun with your project!
Your chicken coop is a neat looking setup.
Those ducks ,as you probably know, will bond with at least one of the family members and follow that person everywhere that particular person goes!! Many years ago my middle brother had two ducklings that he had as pets and they were named " Huey" and " Duey" ( VERY ORIGINAL)! He would take those ducklings out into the yard with him and he would crawl out in the yard with them and scare up bugs, grasshoppers, etc, for the them. Those two ducks grew up to be big solid white ducks and they were like little puppy dogs following my brother around in the yard!

Rock Home Isle · « **Reply #40 on:** April 15, 2012, 04:59:01 AM »

Hey streak, great to hear from you. More & more I find that you and I share a lot of life's experiences. Very cool.

blind ear · « **Reply #41 on:** April 15, 2012, 05:28:21 PM »

If the chickens bond with the ducks will the chickens follow the ducks into the water and drown? ear

Rock Home Isle · « **Reply #42 on:** April 18, 2012, 04:33:01 AM »

Ducks LOVE water...Chickens...Not so much.

As the ducks grow larger the messes that they make with the water are getting bigger and wetter. This morning, when I went in to check on the chicks, the tank was by far the biggest mess yet. The chicks were soaked and looked like little drowned rats. And of course the Ducks seemed to be very happy with the whole wet situation...couldn't be more content.

The literature strongly suggests NOT raising ducks and chickens together. Now I kinow why. I've raised Chickens, I've raised Ducks...but I've never raised the two at the same time. I can deal with mess and I can clean it up...that is not the issue. My concern is what could happen this next winter when the Ducks are splashing water all over the inside of the coop and getting the Chickens wet, then the Chickens are exposed to cold wet conditions.

Ducks don't mind cold and wet, however, cold and wet could very well be a death sentence for Chickens.

I need to weigh my options, and seriously re-think Ducks & Chickens together.

Rock Home Isle · « **Reply #43 on:** April 20, 2012, 06:21:27 AM »

I have a short-term solution for the Ducks. I've set up another 40 Breeder just for the ducks and I've placed the waterer on top of a tall stack of bricks inside the duck tank so that they can't really "play" in the water and splash it all over the tank.

The waterer is now so high that the chicks would not be able to reach it, so I had to set up a seperate tank for the ducks.

I may have to build a seperate coop for the ducks though...they will still be a problem if they splash water inside the coop during the winter.

It shouldn't be a problem for the ducks to have their own coop and then be denied water during the night...during the day they could have all the water that they want, but if they have water inside their coop and get everything wet, that could be a bad thing for them on a cold winter night.

Rock Home Isle · « **Reply #44 on:** April 21, 2012, 04:10:34 AM »

Amazing what a little separation can do. The ducks look to be very happy in their own tank and the chickens look so much better. After we separated them, I took the chicks and washed them in the sink using shampoo and a warm rinse. Then my son dried them with a towel. Once they were all back in their tank, I used a blow-drier to finish drying them off so that they wouldn't get chilled.
All looks great.

blind ear · « **Reply #45 on:** April 21, 2012, 05:31:43 AM »

After all this loveing care, when you fry an egg won't you feel like you're eating your grandchildren? ha

ear

Rock Home Isle · « **Reply #46 on:** April 21, 2012, 02:07:54 PM »

Quote from: blind ear on April 21, 2012, 05:31:43 AM

After all this loveing care, when you fry an egg won't you feel like you're eating your grandchildren? ha
ear

hehehehe...

Hey...Wait a minute?

Rock Home Isle · « **Reply #47 on:** April 21, 2012, 02:14:55 PM »

The chicks spent their 1st day outside. They ran around the yard chasing millers moths, catching bugs, and getting under my feet. The ducks found the turtle's waterer/bath and spent the day splashing and having fun. I worked on the coop for a good portion of the day, but it was so much fun watching these guys run around that I didn't get to awfull much done...You know for a weekend job this chicken coop sure is taking a long time. I'm defintaely not making wages on this project.

Today I installed the powerbox on the side of the coop and then I finished pulling wire for the thermistat and the lighting. I still need to put in the ceiling boxes for the lights and the heat lamps, I'll get to it later.

After I finished pulling the wire, I insulated the coop. Its looks great if I do say so myself.

Still need to install boxes in the roof of the coop. Then insulate the roof...Then paint the inside of the coop, I think I'll see if I can't get my wife to put down 3 coats of flat white. I have a roll of a heavy duty water proofing material that I'll put down on the floor of the coop once the inside is painted.

Rock Home Isle · « **Reply #48 on:** April 21, 2012, 02:47:52 PM »

Here's a veiw of the powerbox mounted on the side of the coop. From this box I'll be able to control lighting during the winter months and power the thermostat that will turn on and off the heat lamps to keep the coop warm on those cold Colorado Winter Nights.

Rock Home Isle · « **Reply #49 on:** April 21, 2012, 02:55:13 PM »

I wanted a powerbox with a hinged lid, but Home Depot didn't carry that item.

Rock Home Isle · « **Reply #50 on:** April 21, 2012, 02:57:43 PM »

The thermostat is suposed to be able to control the temperature for a 5 degree swing. Here is where it will go, just inside the main door so that it will be easy for me to adjust and set. I'll probably need to put a wire cage around it so that the chickens don't peck at it and change the setting.

Rock Home Isle · « **Reply #51 on:** April 21, 2012, 02:59:40 PM »

Once all the wire was pulled I started insulating the coop. I used a preformed blue styrofoam insulation. It was very easy to install, just make a few measurements, cut to size and use a hammer and block of wood to tap it into place.

Looks like my Dad must have put his step stool on that middle section of insulation.

Rock Home Isle · « **Reply #52 on:** April 21, 2012, 03:00:52 PM »

Here's a side veiw of the coop after the insulation has been installed. The roof has not been hinged yet; and I still need to hinge the lid on the Egg Boxes. But little by little its coming along.

I cannot believe how fast these chicks are growing...OMG!

My wife is afraid that they will be to big for the aquarium before the coop is done.

Rock Home Isle · « **Reply #53 on:** April 21, 2012, 03:01:44 PM »

Here's another angle of the coop. I'm thinking that maybe I should have installed a GFI outlet on this side of the coop. That way I could easily plug a heated waterer into it during the winter and everything would be a little less messy; I wouldn't have extension cords running every which way.

ironglow · « **Reply #54 on:** April 21, 2012, 03:25:06 PM »

Rock;
I've raised chickens of many types for many years and under most types of housing etc than one can think of. I have almost always raised the heavy breeds.. for two reasons. They stand our cold winters better and when they cease to lay, they are till good for meat.
Lost farmboy gave you some excellent advice, if you can possibly use it.. the "chicken tracror', a fresh pasture nearly every day with grass aplenty. They like it too and the neighbors have little complaint, since your chickens are always well fenced.
Buff Orpingtons are an excellent choice, I have raised them and like them. We will all eventually settle upon certain breeds as favorites, and like myself..probably can't explain why a certain breed is our "favorite"..

Below, a couple of my "favorites";

Rock Home Isle · « **Reply #55 on:** April 21, 2012, 03:53:21 PM »

Hey there ironglow.

The Chicken Tractor was what I originally wanted. I read a book by Joel Salatin called "Pastured Poultry Profits"...I think I read that book like 3 times cover to cover. The problem is that a chicken tractor would only work for me for part of the year; where a coop & run setup would work for me all year long. At the moment the plan is for the chickens to be let out and roam the yard each day during the late spring, summer and early fall. They will be spending more time in the run during the winter months when our schedules are much busier....But you are right the Tractor is definately the way to go because of the confiment and the fresh forage that is made available.

I'm still mulling over the Chicken Tactor option...Cuzz it is such a cool idea.

We raised lots of different types of chickens, but it was such a long time ago...I remember the Barred Rocks, they were one of my favorites. We had a Barred Rock hen that was such a cool bird, laid eggs all the time and was very friendly. We also had Brahmas, Jersey Giants and I remember there being Cochins running around the place as well...We did also have a few Banties and they were just mean when mom sent us out to collect eggs. There is nothing more broody & moody than a banty hen.

We had ducks as well. Pekins and Rouens, as I recall. We never had chickens and ducks at the same time though. The ducks were a lot of fun and they were very comical...cheap entertainment. I remember one year dad hoeing a line in the garden; mom and I following dad and planting the seeds; the ducks following mom and I as they ate the seeds; and my little brother follwoing the ducks and burying the line that dad had hoed. It was a pretty crappy garden that year.

Great memories.

blind ear · « **Reply #56 on:** April 21, 2012, 08:23:23 PM »

With the few chickens that you have you might be able to build a greenhouse next to the chicken house and let the chicks have passage to the green house. Even if they ate some fruit and plants the small number of chicks probably wouldn't do much harm. ear

ratdog · « **Reply #57 on:** April 21, 2012, 10:59:18 PM »

rock good luck with your chicken raising ducks are a lot more messy than chickens. your deck looks just like mine. i used to feed alot of my birds to varmints make sure they are locked in at night im thinking of getting some birds as soon as i am able chickens are no more messy than dogs and there crap really sticks to your shoes and chickens don't bark at night and dog food is getting out of sight. chickens make more sense.

ironglow · « **Reply #58 on:** April 22, 2012, 12:48:21 AM »

Rock;
I only got into ducks one time. It was when I lived very rural on a dirt road and I let them free-range in the summer. I believe they were Pekins (white with some black tail tips). The momma laid a batch of eggs and hatched them..she had a gaggle of them following her when we were called to spend time at the hospital, since my older son got seriously injured, it was then that somebody apparently decided they needed them more than I did.
I loved your story about the garden, ducks and your little brother

..theese stories are the kind families share for generations..

Rock Home Isle · « **Reply #59 on:** April 22, 2012, 03:13:54 PM »

I headed up to mountains and spent the day on my dad's land up near Laramie Wyoming. We walked the property top to bottom, lots of Elk sign and either Deer or Antelope have been wintering on the land as well. If we draw Elk during the Muzzleleoading Season in the fall, probably going to spend some time here.

Beetle Kill was horrendous, maybe 70% of the pine trees are dead. There is a huge amount of dead pine trees with 15 to 24 inch diameter trunchs (BH). And for some reason there is a alot of Aspen that has died as well. I'm guessing 50% at least, my dad thinks its closer to 80%. With all this dead timber on the property we need to do something wtih it, we could atleast log it and build a cabin...why let it go to waste...my dad has a chainsaw mill that we've used in the past to cut logs into useful lumber, maybe we could lumber it or even cut it for firewood.

When we got home the chicks and the ducks had spent the entire day outside. My wife went to get them out of the tank this morning and put them outside and they were jumping into her hands. I thought that was a giggle factor. The ducks spent the day chasing Robins away from the Turtle Bath; they've staked out their territory.

It started raining early this evening, so I gathered them up and brought them inside...for 20 twenty minutes they sat in their tank and chirped and groused LOUDLY. I'm thinking they wanted back outside. Finally they settled down and blamo...out like a light. They were laid out like a bunch of winos in an alley. Must have been an active day for them.

The ducks, on the other hand, just seem to sorta settle in, take a drink, hit the feeder then cuddle up for the evening. Ducks are so low stress.

All in all I'd say they had a good day outside, and their little crops were so full. I guess they spent most of the day foraging around the yard chasing millers, nipping dandilions and stalking bugs. Only going to the feeder on ocassion and getting water pretty regularly.

Oh yeah...my Dad's .32-20 Lever-Action was a blast to shoot, and surprisingly accurate.