Post by Greenedog on Mar 9, 2010 15:07:52 GMT -5
I know Roy has chickens, does anyone else? We had them a few years back and are talking about getting them again.
Here's the coop I built. I probably had around $250-$300 in it when complete. I took a series of pics but kind of forgot about taking pics towards the end of construction.
The finished coop. I bought all the materials at Lowes except for the tin on the roof which my dad had laying around. The siding was called something like "old barn", which gave it a pretty cool look I thought. I'm not an expert carpenter by any means, so I was happy with the way it turned out.
I used a freebie dog pen with bird netting over it for the outside which wasn't near big enough. I later added a large outside pen with 6' tall fence.
The coop was 8' x 8', on the inside I made it so you could go in and get the eggs without getting in with the chickens. (I knew this was the only way Kim would ever collect eggs. ) The inside was seperated by the laying boxes, a door, and chicken wire. You could walk in, open the back of the laying boxes, and grab the eggs. (You sometimes had to move a hen. )
We got the chicks from McMurray Hatchery. I bought the "brown layer assortment"; www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/brown_egg_layers.html
The coop wasn't ready when the chicks arrived, so they started out in my garage. I got a roll of 24" high cardboard somewhere and made a little 6' by 4' fenced in area with it. They stayed in the garage until they were big enough to get over the cardboard. Word of warning; they make a MESS! I didn't really notice it at the time, but there was dust/fluff all over everything! We ended up with a couple roosters that we kept until they started chasing Booey around. The birds were very healthy and did great. I was assuming that out of 25 birds I would end up with maybe half living, but I think we ended up with 24 hens! (They send a few extras.) We did end up losing a few to dogs and hawks when they would free range through the day. Max got a few before he got a good butt whipin' with a dead chicken. Free range is the way to go, but they can get messy. They seem to love scratching in mulch. We had our hens about 5 years before they slowed down on the eggs enough not to be worth having around. I never have got anymore, but might just give them another try this spring. It's definitely not something that you're going to save money with, but they can be a lot of fun.
Here's the coop I built. I probably had around $250-$300 in it when complete. I took a series of pics but kind of forgot about taking pics towards the end of construction.
The finished coop. I bought all the materials at Lowes except for the tin on the roof which my dad had laying around. The siding was called something like "old barn", which gave it a pretty cool look I thought. I'm not an expert carpenter by any means, so I was happy with the way it turned out.
I used a freebie dog pen with bird netting over it for the outside which wasn't near big enough. I later added a large outside pen with 6' tall fence.
The coop was 8' x 8', on the inside I made it so you could go in and get the eggs without getting in with the chickens. (I knew this was the only way Kim would ever collect eggs. ) The inside was seperated by the laying boxes, a door, and chicken wire. You could walk in, open the back of the laying boxes, and grab the eggs. (You sometimes had to move a hen. )
We got the chicks from McMurray Hatchery. I bought the "brown layer assortment"; www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/brown_egg_layers.html
The coop wasn't ready when the chicks arrived, so they started out in my garage. I got a roll of 24" high cardboard somewhere and made a little 6' by 4' fenced in area with it. They stayed in the garage until they were big enough to get over the cardboard. Word of warning; they make a MESS! I didn't really notice it at the time, but there was dust/fluff all over everything! We ended up with a couple roosters that we kept until they started chasing Booey around. The birds were very healthy and did great. I was assuming that out of 25 birds I would end up with maybe half living, but I think we ended up with 24 hens! (They send a few extras.) We did end up losing a few to dogs and hawks when they would free range through the day. Max got a few before he got a good butt whipin' with a dead chicken. Free range is the way to go, but they can get messy. They seem to love scratching in mulch. We had our hens about 5 years before they slowed down on the eggs enough not to be worth having around. I never have got anymore, but might just give them another try this spring. It's definitely not something that you're going to save money with, but they can be a lot of fun.