Posted: 3/1/2010 5:56:33 PM EDT
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Quoted: Theoretically, ALL of the Cornish are a straight run, meaning mixed sexes. It is MUCH more expensive to go with males only.I am really interested in your process. Please post more pics as you go along. That will be the next project we work on. Chickens, then quail, and finally a few pheasants. Did you get a mixed run, or are they all hens? These are ordered from Murray McMurray hatchery (In Iowa). They were delivered by USPS (no Shit). The order was for 124 Cornish Cross, 6 Aracana laying hens, and one of their choice. Only one was squished on delivery, and so far, we've lost one other that insisted on using the waterer as a jacuzzi. The reason we went with McMurray instead of a local source is that they insure their birds, for 48hours after delivery. On Weds, I call them, give them the body count and they will send out a package of birds, in multiples of six or eight, covering my losses. The funny part is that they will send like 8 birds even if you only lose one. They need to be able to mass together for body heat during shipping. My wife returned from work this evening with an additional 6 laying hens, and they were a touch smaller than the ones in the large pen, so we've segregated all of the layers into their own smaller pen. I really need to learn to NOT let her go to the feed store when they have cute or other cuddly little living things. At least I get something out of the chickens...the sheep I just clean up after. A bit over 3 weeks ago, I got suckered into 3 Aracana Hens while at the feed store...well they just hit 5 weeks old, and were put out into the "Big Girl" coop outside. Right now we're still running one white light so they keep their laying schedule, and one IR Lamp for heat. For those that don't know, here's a couple of things:Most layers, Rhode Islands, Leghorns, lay roughly one egg a day, and are born ready to lay about 1,000 eggs. After 2 years, give or take, they do slow down, and after 4 years they pretty much stop. You need to add some light to their coop in the late fall until mid spring so that they continue to think that there is 12-14 hours of daylight. Any less than that, and egg production goes out the window. Roosters- NO, you do NOT need a rooster for eggs. The chickens will lay eggs without one present, and the Hens do not make much noise at all. 1NASCAR- Did I name them all........Actually, YES! I named them all "Chicken" 
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He'll wait until I BBQ........|
I'll add sound effects:
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Thule.................. Here's a few shots of the brooding coop this evening. Only one of the three is in use because of the size of the birds, and their need for warmth. The laying hens were segregated out because they drink a slightly different Chicky gatorade. Once the Meat birds get a bit bigger, they'll be split into a second pen. If it's still too cold for them to go outside 24/7 in 4/5 weeks, they'll get divided again into the third pen. If the weather is good and they are big enough with fully formed feathers, ect, then I'll have to slap together some hoop houses.    And NO. That is not a Bald Eagle chick. My son already asked. |
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Quoted: Thems alot of grow...I mean heat lamps.... Funny story...see the first pic? See the Yellow box, orange writing?? Yeah..... the grow lamps for my wife's seedlings so I can get the garden going. Hmmm...New dog, unusual power draw/spike.......Dammit!  I better start loading mags and sandbags, Before the ink dries on that "No-Knock". 
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Quoted: Quoted: Thems alot of grow...I mean heat lamps.... Funny story...see the first pic? See the Yellow box, orange writing?? Yeah..... the grow lamps for my wife's seedlings so I can get the garden going. Hmmm...New dog, unusual power draw/spike.......Dammit! I better start loading mags and sandbags, Before the ink dries on that "No-Knock". Remember to dremel dreaded third holes into all your ARs, if yer gunna go may as well go hard  |
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Quoted: Matt is city folk also. He requires a steady stream of beer that could only be supplied by a full fledged city. Hell I think Rockford has a larger city council than spokane Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile I need a homebrewer to move in next door.....or moonshiner. Or mebbe I just need to actually USE my:  ETA- We lost one of the Aracana chix last night, trampled by others overnight. Not bad though, I predicted that we'd lose about 5%(7 or 8), in between shipping, enviroment change, and simple Darwin-ism. So far we're at 3. |
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Hi Matt,
Your post has me thinking that I'm going to buy a few laying hen chicks next week. I'll have the garden fenced in, and I'll place the coop next to the garden with a doorway that I can open and close so the chickens can go in a scratch around in there for whatever they can find, and to give them some more living area. Looking at doing 6-10 layers. Probably 3-5 sex links, 3-5 barred rocks, and 3-5 of another type. I figure I want to end up with 6-8 hens total, so having extras would allow for any unplanned dirt naps. So you have a feed tray, watering dish, and a smallish box for your egg layers that is about 2'x3' with a removable lid. Other than the feed and supplements, anything else needed to get the egg layers going? I can keep them in the shop in a climate controlled room until they are fully feathered, plus a warming lamp. Anything I'm missing? Also, any additional loss of chicks experienced? My guess is that I'll have a few weeks to get their pen built, so I have some time to research that. What are you doing for your permanent pen? Thanks for spurring yet another fun to learn project for me and the boys. |
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Quoted:
save them...what was those ROK rations called that where baby chicken compressed protien bars.....Quoted:
Matt is city folk also. He requires a steady stream of beer that could only be supplied by a full fledged city. Hell I think Rockford has a larger city council than spokane Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile
I need a homebrewer to move in next door.....or moonshiner. Or mebbe I just need to actually USE my: http://www.mrbeer.com/images/products/493-LRG.jpg ETA- We lost one of the Aracana chix last night, trampled by others overnight. Not bad though, I predicted that we'd loose about 5%(7 or 8), in between shipping, enviroment change, and simple Darwin-ism. So far we're at 3. 
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Well....."Normally" is a bit subjective. My wife raised the laying hens we have now, so I'm not speaking from recent memory, but...(I guess I should explain that I was in Iraq?)....Granted, I've lived on a farm, worked as a ranch hand, stayed in a Holiday Inn Express, and I've done a bunch of reading prior to this, (Yes, they have copies of Chickens for Dummies!) so any answer I give is in the sum total of those experiances- MORE than likely, the chicks will remain in the brooders for around 5 weeks. The *key* to their going outside is the development of feathers. I added three Aracana Hens to my laying flock a little over a week ago. They came home around three weeks old, and spent almost three weeks in a brooder here. They're a bit on the small side, but the feathers over their back have just about filled in, weather's been nice, so it was a judgement call. NOW, having said that, laying hens develop much slower than these Cornish crosses... I expect to take the meat birds out into a hoop house or pen in around 4 weeks from now, or a total of 5 weeks. This weekend it was time to split the flock. Unfortunately I was a day late in doing so. Sometime between Fri night and Sun morning I lost 5 of them. All of them were crushed by their buddies, they're getting big, some have doubled in size, others have not gained mass, as fast. The difference between males and females, females grow smaller and slower. I'm not too butt-hurt as I have not even lost 10 yet, but I want to minimize my losses. Also- For the record, we called last Weds, McMurray simply refunded the cost of 3 birds rather than shipping new ones. (PRO TIP- Never add a single new bird to a flock, always add 3 or more. The flock will re-establish the "Pecking Order" or order in which who gets the fat worm. a single bird will get, "Hen Pecked" to death if the other birds gang up on it. Three birds will band together, and present a unified front, and get the other girls to back off a bit.) We went to two lights, but split the flock-Note the Kerosene heater in the background for ambient heat when the temp drops below 35 Degrees outside. The garage is unheated/un-insulated.   
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Sorry guys, I missed some responses on PG 1- AMESO- Sure thing man...My kids love taking care of their birds, getting the eggs, ect,ect... OK- go with Polish Hens for your last choice, if you can find them. Highly entertaining bird, not stupid, but a touch visually challenged. To be clear, the chicks in the brooder are all meat birds, they won't get a "permenant" home. 9 weeks of growing, and it's off with their heads! I'll take some pics of my layer coop for you sometime this week.... But yes, in the coop is: a six-pack layer's box, feeder, waterer, dry bedding, and a roost. KA3B- Actually.....I was really considering pissing PETA off, and keeping 6 of them for the FireBase45 Inuagural Chicken shoot. Twenty seconds on the clock, a little construction chalk, three birds at a time and hasty 6X6 cage, two shooters competing for BBQ Bird, and NOT having to pluck....  HABU- I won't use anything with steroids, or growth hormones. While I can't certify "HippyHugging Mommy Earth GranolaChrunching BunnyLoving OrfuckingGanic" since I have used RoundUp and Scott's Weed N Feed on the lawn in the last 5 years, these birds are getting the best I can do without that shit. Here's the packaging:   ETA- Aaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwww Schucks Mary.....   |
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AMESO- Ask and you'll get! SE63 is my constructin' partner, and with the liberal application of Kokanee, we can over-engineer anything. The coop is constructed on some #4 4"x4" cedar posts I had laying around. Two of them act as runners, like on a sled, utilizing the fact they were crowned and we angled the ends with the saw so they'll tug easy with a garden tractor, 4-wheeler, or my truck. Another set of 2x4's are stringers on 18" centers. The rest is pretty easy, I designed it with a saltbox style roof because it affords the inside height for you to stand up in for egg pickin' and cleaning. I've tacked an old tarp down, rolled the edges, and still need to place Tarpaper over it, as well as some used tin I got from a buddy of mine. This Spring, the wife wants it painted Barn red with (  ) white trim. Yes, she want trim put on the chicken coop. OK, a few things to note here. I have an electrronic sensor for the lights, right now they are on continously, but intnext couple of weeks, we'll go to sunrise/sunset. Notice the sensor is facing West? That's so the lights kick off later in the morning. Across the top is synthetic nylon netting, zip-tied in place.  Ignore that turkey! (You're really not supposed to allow turkeys and chickens to co-habitate, Turkeys can catch a fatal diasease called "Blackhead") You MUST have a ramp with ferring strip treads. Chickens are often stupid enought to not figure it out otherwise. In the background you can see a bit of the 2"X6" ramp for the birds to get up and roost on the back shelf, and roosting bars above.  You can tell it's Spring-y, the birds are starting to molt. The fencewire portion of the cages are so that you can take a broody laying hen, and lock her in place to incubate the eggs. This too much effort in making sure she gets water/food, ect. I am going to flashlight some eggs this week and see if my rooster is doing his job, and if so, I'll allow that Rhode Island Red to hatch them. We'll let nature take it's course, especially since it's getting warmer.  That's a 3" layer of BarnDry pellets. They are about used up, and have expanded to 5" depth or so. The waterer only froze twice this winter inside the coop, and that was in the tray/on the surface. The feeder holds a full 40# bag of laying mash. I mix every other bag of mash with 3-4 cups of crushed oyster shell. The extra calcium is very necessary for nice thick eggshells. I also feed them back their own shells along with vegetable scraps. I never feed them meat, bones or green potatoe skins. (For whatever reason the skins will kill them, but the inside of the potatoe is fine.)  The lights are also zip-tied in place, and ALWAYS use the supplied guard. Chickens tend to hold late night drinking parties and it gets rowdy in there. inside the coop I have two white lights for now, but was using an IR for heat, and a white light to keep them up later. If Layers do not perceive 12-14 hours of sun, their egg production goes downhill fast.  This is a Polish hen, they're entertaining as all get out since their crest gets in the way. It occasionally leads to them running around in random bizarre patterns. Now, as far as the coop set up the way it is, I'd like to do some modifications on it. I'd considering removing the store bought layer 's boxes, and building plywood ones with open backs so I hinge the outside. This way, I can open the flap, and reach in to get the eggs without entering the coop, which WILL stink in June/July. A last minute word on maintainance: My "girls" stay here year 'round, I cleaned the coop out in the fall, once in the winter, and will do so again within the next month. This time I will temporarily move the coop and enclosure to fully clean out the "pit" and compost the chickenshit. Once that's done, I'll move it back. |
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Thanks for the pictures Matt! Just to clarify, The lower section of the house looks like it is a 4w x 8l x 4h space, or is it smaller? Then you took another sheet of OSB and cut it diagonally and used the two halves to create a roof section, then spanned the 4 foot width with some 7'-8' long 2x4's to create a few roosting spots up top. How many chicken do you keep in there, and how big is their fenced in area?
I worked on a brooder box tonight and copied your example to a certain extent. 
The spaces are adjustable. The brooder is set up as a 4x4 box, with two partitions. I can decrease the size of the pens, separate different arrivals (I'll have three separate sets, but they'll only be a week apart total) and then take out all of the dividers and give the chicks run of the entire box once all are up and running. I'll build a better light stand that will be permanently attached to the side of the box once I figure out where they like the heat and food, and how high I need to have the lamp. They will be in the shop office, which is heated already, so the heat adjustment should be pretty easy. First set of chicks arrive tomorrow, sex-links. Thanks for the inspriration on another project. Andy |
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You're Very welcome man! Looks good! Sectional, modular, multi-functional....nice. I chose to not plywood the bottom, and went with laying down a tarp by design. It's too easy to clean up when all you do is transfer chix, lift the box and snowshovel the straw. Since you're only doing a few (Max eight for now?) cleanup will be very easy, and it should not stink too bad at all. You'll want to lower the light until it's almost touching for the first few days on hatchlings. They like it tropical, which is also why they require mucho water. You may need a light for each set until you co-mingle them. and after that, one or two to maintain a good temp. Yes, the coop is a simple frame, 4'X4'X8', the roof is a full sheet on one side, the other a full sheet plus a 2'X8' piece (+/-). The remainder was used on the inside for the shelf the roof created. The center section from the roof sides is the front shelf, and with the corners cut, they make the perfect vents. The material list. 8 Sheets of OSB, 15ea 2x4x8's, 4ea 4x4x8's, 1 ea 2x6x6 1ea 1"x6"x6" 2 sets of LG hinges 2 sets of SM hinges 2 sets of hook and eye latches 1ea 10x14 tarp. 1lb 2" screws Brad nailer staple gun ectectect. |
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Linked HERE for the original topic/chicken thread. ETA- Deceided to weigh a few since I figured them a 1/2 lb...11 day old weight=  Seven point four Ounces!!!!!!1eleven! 1/2 lb already! Wo0t!!!!!!!!! |
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Changed bedding/ scraped out feeders and re-supplied water. A random weighing of two chix, this is day 15=   At his rate, I figure we'll see the first 1LB bird a week from Monday or Tues. (Overall: 10.2oz /15days= .68oz/day)(Last 4 day average is .70oz/day): .68+.70/2= .69oz gain/day IMH, that will continue to trend up, until the gain is nearly 1.25lb/wk. A look inside the coop, with the flock consolidated, not much floorspace:  No losses this week!! 
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eggs hmm hmm hmm!
scrambled omelettes over easy poached soft boiled hard boiled egg salad eggs Benedict eggs Florentine egg custard flan mayonaise hollandaise Bearnaise chicken roasted grilled BBQ fricassee southern fried maryland fried chicken with dumplings brunswick stew chicken salad chicken croquette  CHEF
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Matt, two things:
1.) I'm going to start calling you Dan Quail. He's the only other one that I know that spells POTATO with an "e".
2.)When I come up for the chicken shoot, if you want, I'll come up a day early and we can bring those wires up to code so you can lose the extension cord on the fence. Your call. I'll provide the wire and just about any other miscellaneous electrical supplies. TWHMAGIM. |
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T- Of that, I'm reasonably sure! Quoted: 1) Potato, potato,poatao,potato,potato,potato,potato,potato,potato,potato......ect, OK? Better? Matt, two things: 1.) I'm going to start calling you Dan Quail. He's the only other one that I know that spells POTATO with an "e". 2.)When I come up for the chicken shoot, if you want, I'll come up a day early and we can bring those wires up to code so you can lose the extension cord on the fence. Your call. I'll provide the wire and just about any other miscellaneous electrical supplies. TWHMAGIM. 2) TWHMAPIM....Inbound! |
...............................................who will remain unnamed[://.
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Picture time- Last Sunday, Day 27. The day after the GTG I realized I fucked up. I lost 10 birds overnight, due to a lack of food. I mis-communicated to Mrs45 and thought she had fed them. They were out of food for about 36 hours. Completely my fault, and I feel like shit about it. At any rate, we still have around 105 birds or so, we added a 5-gal waterer the week before Last week we went thru around around 24 gallons of water, 120lbs of feed, and the coops now have to be cleaned twice per week.  This one wasn't thrilled about having his picture taken...so he left me a present. I think 1GR did this once.  AMESO- Easy 5-gal bucket waterer for less than $10ea- All you need is one of these buckets,1/4" to 5/8" Drill bit, 1 3/4" hole saw, two 2" dia tapered rubber stoppers, and a 16(?)" flower pot vase. Works perfectly, all based in the principles of a vacuum.  
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Quoted:
The day after the GTG I realized I fucked up. I lost 10 birds overnight, due to a lack of food. I mis-communicated to Mrs45 and thought she had fed them. They were out of food for about 36 hours. If you were my kid, you would not eat for 36 hours as a reminder. |
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Quoted: Quoted: The day after the GTG I realized I fucked up. I lost 10 birds overnight, due to a lack of food. I mis-communicated to Mrs45 and thought she had fed them. They were out of food for about 36 hours. If you were my kid, you would not eat for 36 hours as a reminder. Actually, I didn't.  And it was closer to 72 hours.I have a shitload more empathy for animals than people, especially the ones under my control. |