We have about 8 different kinds, including Frizzle, Orpington, and Silkie. The silkies I call 'puff-heads'. They were out roaming someplace so I didn't get a picture of all types.
Can you guess which one is not a chicken?
a few more...
...nice group there.... |^|....peacocks too?
They're beautiful.
There are only 2 pea-birds, a cock and a hen. They are still young and when we get some eggs we'll put them in the incubator.
Cool. I've never seen baby peacocks. Tell them I'm waiting.
I will tell them. I could send you some chicks... but birds and dogs, its hard to have both.
Here are some chickens out by the piano shed. We call it that because there has always been a very old piano in there.
Perhaps you would enjoy viewing The Natural history of the Chicken (a hilarious documentary):
https://www.amazon.com/Natural-History-Chicken-Janet-Bonney/dp/B0000TPAR4 (https://www.amazon.com/Natural-History-Chicken-Janet-Bonney/dp/B0000TPAR4)
Quote from: wallace on December 17, 2016, 12:12:34 PM
I will tell them. I could send you some chicks... but birds and dogs, its hard to have both.
Here are some chickens out by the piano shed. We call it that because there has always been a very old piano in there.
I see the piano. It's a beautiful building. YOur place is very cool.
I've had chickens with dogs before. But I have three dogs now that I wouldn't trust with birds. I think I could do it by installing 2 more or 3 more wires under the lowest wire on my electric fence. I need to give it more thought.
Quote from: BillT on December 17, 2016, 01:01:29 PM
Perhaps you would enjoy viewing The Natural history of the Chicken (a hilarious documentary):
https://www.amazon.com/Natural-History-Chicken-Janet-Bonney/dp/B0000TPAR4 (https://www.amazon.com/Natural-History-Chicken-Janet-Bonney/dp/B0000TPAR4)
I think my wife will really like it Bill... will order it.
Quote from: LizStreithorst on December 17, 2016, 02:11:34 PM
Quote from: wallace on December 17, 2016, 12:12:34 PM
I will tell them. I could send you some chicks... but birds and dogs, its hard to have both.
Here are some chickens out by the piano shed. We call it that because there has always been a very old piano in there.
I see the piano. It's a beautiful building. YOur place is very cool.
I've had chickens with dogs before. But I have three dogs now that I wouldn't trust with birds. I think I could do it by installing 2 more or 3 more wires under the lowest wire on my electric fence. I need to give it more thought.
For a coop, I have seen lightweight moveable coops with frames made of PVC pipe. You keep moving it over fresh ground.
I can't confine chickens except when they're just chicks. Even if I move the coop to new ground, they're still confined. I can't confine dogs either. I'm just that way. I need more space to breath than most folks, myself huh An acre of land is enough freedom for a flock of 12. I have that. I can clip their wings to keep them from flying. I just have to make it so the dogs I don't trust can't get to them.
I've been wanting a small flock for years. It's time I got off my ass and make it so. Please shame me if I don't have chicks by Spring.
I've figured out how to do it. Plastic mesh 3' fencing attached to the inside of my pasture fence to keep the chickens in and just 1 more electric wire on the outside to keep the dogs out.
Would the mesh have to touch the electric wire? and thats why you would use plastic?
I think the galvanized 3 ft chicken wire costs about the same and would last much longer. If the electric wire is held out from the posts by the insulator hooky then you could maybe put chicken wire on the opposite side. Not sure what you have.
These chickens think they own the place.
The electric wire is offset on the outside of the fence. I think I will go with galvanized. What do you think?
You could put it on the inside. The problem we had is that its easy for a dog to get under it. I only have a short stretch so I put rocks along the perimeter, which prevents digging too. But you have hundreds and hundreds of feet. I have also pinned it to the ground with 3/8" rebar but again that was only in a few places. If you try an electric wire low down it will keep getting shorted by the grass. There has to be a way to stop the dogs from just sticking their nose under it and slipping through.
My charger isn't bothered by the grass. I know because i used the same type of charger with the goats. A low wire should work since dogs go first with their noses before they dig. Of course I'll have to set it up and make sure it works as I expect and the dogs are trained to it before I get my chicks.
Is the charger the continuous or the clicking type. I think its the clicking kind that shorts on grass.
It's the clicking type. The continuous can cause fires! It's advertised and shocking through wet weeds and grass and I've found it to be the case. https://www.jefferspet.com/products/se-5-super-energizer?via=533884b59fa2600f0000052d%2F533884b59fa2600f0000052e%2F533884b69fa2600f00000537
The die has been cast. I just ordered my chicks. They will be shipped sometime after April 1st. I'm getting 12 females and one male Light Brahmas and 2 straight run buffs https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/buff_brahmas.html I love the buffs, but since I fisrt saw them introduced 11 years ago they were in short supply and only available straight run. They must be hard to breed or hard to raise. I imagine I'll end up with two roosters, but that's OK.
Now I need to step off footage and go to Lowes and buy the necessary materials. I'll get to work either when it warms up or when I've become accustomed to the damp cold.
Very good. Sometimes our chick shipments come with the birds in poor shape. When you have them in the house its best to wash hands because they carry hex. I haven't been able to determine if the same species of Spironucleus infects both fish and birds, but I did have some problems with the Rams and some cardinals while the chicks were in the house.
...would snow fence work......even cut down to half height.... huh......or just good old chicken wire stapled to the fence huh
Dan, would you post pics of your chicken coop please?
Before I go take pictures... are you mostly interested in seeing the construction? I made some laying boxes 20 years ago that have worked perfectly. You don't need to go in the coop, just drop a door and get the eggs. The hard part is the 'ceiling' - but you don't get snow like we do so plain chicken wire should work.
Yes! I need to see the construction. I'm not sure if I should pull the broken tractor out and modify what I have or build new. I can kinda do basic carpentry but it's way harder for me than doing plumbing.
We converted half of an old building for birds. They have an inside part with roosts and an outside they reach through a little doorway.
I didn't build these to look nice, I slap the parts together with drywall screws. They don't need to be very strong, so a triangle of plywood on some corners gives it enough strength. A staple gun for the chicken wire.
Some more...
We hang the food holders from the roof.
Thanks for helping me figure stuff out, Dan. I don't care about pretty, either. If I want to do pretty I can do it later. The important thing is that it keeps the chickens safe. The easiest and least expensive way for me to do it is to pull the broken tractor out and use the 8X16 place that it is taking up.
It looks like the floor in your chicken house is dirt. Is it? I like a dirt floor with bedding but the chicken people say that predators can dig underneath and get to the chickens and their eggs. They say that a real floor is necessary which I hate because having a floor involves constant cleaning out. Since I don't trust 3 of my dogs, I have to make it so they can't get in and run off bad critters. What do you think?
I know that I can do this. It will involve a lot of hard thinking because I was raised wrong. I was raised by upper middle class parents who just called someone when they needed something. They never wanted chickens, nor horses, no 8 dogs and a cat. They lived in the suburbs and liked it ::) I must be a throw back to my mother's poor English ancestors that she was so ashamed of huh w!w
Quote from: wallace on December 18, 2016, 10:48:16 PM
Very good. Sometimes our chick shipments come with the birds in poor shape. When you have them in the house its best to wash hands because they carry hex. I haven't been able to determine if the same species of Spironucleus infects both fish and birds, but I did have some problems with the Rams and some cardinals while the chicks were in the house.
I had no idea about the Spiro. I was planning on keeping the chicks in the fish room when I first get them because it's so nice and warm down there. I'll have to ask McMurray about it. They have an excellent rep and have always been forthcoming with information.
I'm not sure at all. Its one of those things where you make a mental note, to look for a pattern or to look into it more later. Its the same with chickens as with fish, keep the water and coop clean and you keep the hex population down.
Ours have a wood floor with straw that gets cleaned out - not very often.
Good. I will make a floor for mine and cover it up with a deep litter
I appreciate your help. I can do this it but I get stuck sometimes and need a bit of advice.
I asked McMurray about the spiro. They'r taking time off from everything but the chickens for the holidays of course. They'll respond when they have to get back to having to answer annoying questions from people like me.
I've spent days and days looking at pics of people's chicken coops on a chicken forum that I haven't even joined :-[ I found out that if you try to learn something you don't know about when you have a migraine it is too much for your brain and it makes the headache worse wfwf
Some of these peoples coops are so perfect and fancy they turn me off. Built to match the owner's house. Not a drop of chicken shit on their pristine fenced yard with perfect grass and flower bed Not one sigh of a feather nor a stray piece of hay. Not my style. Some are decorated in this faux country style that is popular with some. It turns me off. Some are old and made from existing stuff they had around. They are always out in the country with nary a neighbor's house in sight. I like those a lot. Mine will be that style. Function over style is my mantra huh
Now I've found one that is cute, but not in a disgusting way. I could never build something like that. The wood is beautiful. It's very functional for a few hens. Here's a link. It's post 612 on pg 62. I'm curious to know if y'all like it, too.
http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/596294/post-your-chicken-coop-pictures-here/610
I like it. You should be able to find plywood with that look or similar. Those look like lawnmower wheels.
I'm the same way... function over form ... contents over container.
?I have always had a sacred veneration for anyone I observed to be a little out of repair in his person, as supposing him either a poet or a philosopher.? -- Jonathan Swift
The chickens were out all day going about their business, so they didn't learn how to play the xylophone before it got dark.
Turkeys are curious about everything and checked it out. When the chickens start playing we will make a video.
It's very pretty in there. It compliments the colors of the big black gobbler. I'm looking forward to the video.
Quote from: LizStreithorst on February 04, 2017, 08:11:04 PM
It's very pretty in there. It compliments the colors of the big black gobbler. I'm looking forward to the video.
..me too..... |^|