My Chicken farm underway!

[McCracken]

Thanks for the info.

For the covering, Is there a netting that works best, or just use chicken wire?

Do you typically feed/water in the run vs coop?

Crazy question...
I've got some large tinted glass panels that I can't find a home for and thought about using them for the coop. Is there any downside to this? If they were on the roof I could see it getting really hot during the summer, but don't see much downside to using them as window?

No downside. I like my window for my birds. Helps with air flow.

 

[BIGWOODY]

We have about 25 birds, they have a coop but usually are out wandering our 3+ acre yard. They go back to the coop at night and we close the gate.Their eggs are beyond comparison to anything I've ever had.That's free range, not those overpriced, clean liven', hippy eggs in whole foods. My question to those who use them for meat is how do you process them? The couple we've killed were tough as shoe leather.

 

[paradisePWoffrd]

How important is insulating the coop? I have read many folks talk about insulating, but i wasn't sure how necessary it was around here? I can put bats in the wall cavity, but wasnt planning to put an interior wall if i didnt need to insulate.

We have about 25 birds, they have a coop but usually are out wandering our 3+ acre yard. They go back to the coop at night and we close the gate.Their eggs are beyond comparison to anything I've ever had.That's free range, not those overpriced, clean liven', hippy eggs in whole foods. My question to those who use them for meat is how do you process them? The couple we've killed were tough as shoe leather.

x2. I am only starting with a few, but for see numbers growing once the ball gets rolling. It would be nice to cook the older ones up vs just getting rid of them.
@frankenyoter @upnover @WARRIORWELDING

 

[skyhighZJ]

^^ depends on what kind of bird they are as to how good they cook. Some birds are “meat” birds some are “egg” birds some are look good birds. There are breeds for everything and then some extra just because.

 

[upnover]

If I were to insulate the walls (and mine wasn't) I use foam boards. That's what they have used in commercial houses.

 

[upnover]

You can keep tract of the older birds by using leg rings. simple little spiral rings you put on the legs.Doesn't bother the birds at all. Keep a log of when you put them on and their age, and then every couple years rotate them out and into the freezer

 

[paradisePWoffrd]

You can keep tract of the older birds by using leg rings. simple little spiral rings you put on the legs.Doesn't bother the birds at all. Keep a log of when you put them on and their age, and then every couple years rotate them out and into the freezer

I was just going to use a paint dot on their back, like Ive done with sheep. Leg rings sound like a more elegant option.

Did you do anything with them to make the meat more tender?

 

[awheelterd]

I was just going to use a paint dot on their back, like Ive done with sheep. Leg rings sound like a more elegant option.

Did you do anything with them to make the meat more tender?

Paint will wear off when the rooster does his business and the feathers will come out as they grow.

 

[frankenyoter]

Eat roosters before they get a year old. Eat hens at about 2 yrs. I usually do a beer can chicken or boiled to make soup and broth .

 

[upnover]

yeah paint won't work, for same reason as was said above. I have a pack of leg rings you can have, if,.... I can find them
If you have a separate pen to put them in, you could grain feed them for a couple weeks if you desired. That would flush out any extra crap that the laying pellets has in them???

 

[skyhighZJ]

Their eggs will reflect what they eat. Our birds get straight grains (oats,barley,wheat,cracked peas) that we mix and feed in PVC feeders. Premade feed is shit and full of cheap fillers. Starter/grower is okay to get them started. We move our birds into the flock once they have started to feather (no more fuzz). We supplement our chickens with greens (collards, Kale, mustard) we also throw crushed oyster shell in the run to peck at to help with the calcium count for better shells.
-They love to eat their own eggs too. If we don’t sell our eggs fast enough we will scramble them and throw them in the run.
-For summer time heat we buy watermelon and cube it. Stick it in the freezer and throw it out.
-Be careful and pay attention to their noses. Birds in close quarters will spread respitory sickness like wildfire and it can be deadly.
-Diatomaceous earth is good to throw in the corners where they take their dirt baths as it helps prevent mites.

 

[1980CJ7]

Brunswick stew is the only thing I ever use layers for.... or any recipe where you cook em for a long time, or maybe some yardbird tacos

 

[WARRIORWELDING]

1.older birds equal tough meat
2.buy feed from a mill, not tractor hobby, or the like, Southern states is as far as i'll stoop
3.oyster shells ground offered as free range or blended
4.if you get an egg pecker kill it, others will follow suit
5.heat lamp and close off drafts, they are incredibly hearty (unless your using a light supplement and worrying about eggs in cold weather they are not going to lay as well anyway
6.water, lots in the summer
7.cornish x-rock best meat however fastest growing and food hogs, you will not come out buying these porkers feed
8.several breeds are very good brown egg layers, golden comets, wynadot(sp?), and some others. if your going to have birds buy the absolute highest producing brown egg layers. You'll always question the pale yellow store bought yokes from now on. As soon as the cake bakers here about you they'll want any you can produce. Do not wash store them. Store them in a dry or old low temp fridge. They have natural enzymes when not touched. Wash them and they go bad much quicker.
4. they last weeks, trust me. Taken care of eggs just don't up and spoil. I would not hesitate to back pack fresh eggs for a week in just a dry safe place in a pack.

 

[paradisePWoffrd]

Thanks again for all the advice guys. I got a little over-zealous with the coop, but it turned out pretty good.

 

[Loganwayne]

if you even want to make a moveable coop look at the hoop coops, they are pretty simple. i think ive made 5-6 for my buddy down east for his different kinds of fowl.

 

[paradisePWoffrd]

if you even want to make a moveable coop look at the hoop coops, they are pretty simple. i think ive made 5-6 for my buddy down east for his different kinds of fowl.

I have looked at them and they are very simple and lightweight. If I venture into Game birds, I will build one for sure.

 

[paradisePWoffrd]

A few questions I have....

- what are you guys using for feeders in the run? traditional hanging feeders or something different?
- water also? I am thinking of going to the nipple waterers. Anyone have thoughts on them?

- Do you leave food out for them all the time, or only feed so much at certain times? I have heard both ways, just curious as some thoughts.

 

[Lurch830]

A few questions I have....

- what are you guys using for feeders in the run? traditional hanging feeders or something different?
- water also? I am thinking of going to the nipple waterers. Anyone have thoughts on them?

- Do you leave food out for them all the time, or only feed so much at certain times? I have heard both ways, just curious as some thoughts.

No personal experience, but my parents use the hanging feeders for food & water nipples for water. Dad has a 5 gallon reservoir on top of the coop with a toilet bowl float tied into the well/water supply. The reservoir splits into 2 lines, one inside the coop & one outside the coop, but inside the run. They leave food out 24/7 and give them table scraps/fruit/vegetables/sunflower seeds as treats.

If you want to go off-grid with the water supply & have a large enough roof surface area, put gutters on the roof and let that fill the reservoir. Something like this guy did (start at the 4 minute mark)...

 

[DSM Turbos]

A few questions I have....

- what are you guys using for feeders in the run? traditional hanging feeders or something different?
- water also? I am thinking of going to the nipple waterers. Anyone have thoughts on them?

- Do you leave food out for them all the time, or only feed so much at certain times? I have heard both ways, just curious as some thoughts.

I use a 5 gallon bucket hanging with nipples on it. i don't fill it the whole way though

I leave food always out, no food or water is in the coop though.

 

[skyhighZJ]

Our birds have free reign to the run and the roost. Our water is on all the time with automatic waterers. I have rigged them to drip a bit extra cause our birds like water off the ground as much or more than the automatic bowls. We hang the waterer on the end of a short water house in our coop/run but for the small area where we segregate our sick or broody hens we have stand alone ones I made out of PVC with the little drink cups tapped into the bottom. Our feed is out of pvc feeders I made at the house. I can send better pics when I get home but these are some ideas I grabbed off the web while at work. It’s the general idea.

 

[awheelterd]

I got tired of filling up the regular tractor supply feeders every few days so I built a big gravity feeder out of wood in my run. It will hold a whole bag of feed. Now I only have to fill it up every few weeks.

Sidebar chicken story.... Last weds evening we were eating supper and watching the chickens scratch under the big oak trees in our side yard. Wife had let them out when she got home from work like normal. All of a sudden she starts yelling that something has Turken! I look up to see a big red fox toting her off. I run out the door after him with no shoes or a gun, didn't have time to grab either. I get out there and they are no where to be seen. I round the tobacco barn and he's about to hit the woods. I'm running full tilt at him and start to holler! He saw me and spooked. Dropped the chicken and he was off like a shot. To my surprise she jumped up and ran all the way back up to the house! She's not normally a chicken you can handle but she ran right up to my wife and let her pick her up. We inspected her and she had one area of torn skin. We sprayed blukote on it and segregated her from the other chickns. As of this evening she's still alive and seems to be doing 0fine.