Had to rebuild my nesting boxes. First design resulted in boxes that were only about 9 inches tall because I didn't account for the ramp. Going forward, I'll make the opening 15" tall for boxes to allow for the ramp being 4" elevated in the front. The current boxes are too deep, but it is what...
I chose to build roll away style nesting boxes because I did not want to deal with crushed and poop covered eggs like I had in the past. I used a design found on this forum and modified it to suit. If you had to buy it all new you'd need 2 sheets of plywood, but you COULD do it with a single...
In case anyone is wondering, I believe two of my hens finally started pulling their weight around here because I found 4 eggs in there after being away essentially for two days. Started building the roll away nesting boxes today. Almost finished too. I'll take pictures tomorrow as I could not...
Update : all my ladies are doing well. While unfortunate the loss, the reduced population has been able to stay in the coop 24/7 until I can put up a 4 legged resistant fence so the girls can come back out.
I was finally able to look at her wounds yesterday and no I do not have any photos. Without trimming any feathers they look superficial with the top being worse than the one on her neck. The bird missing her tail feathers doesn't appear to have any open wounds just some irritated sin on her...
Recently I had a fox show up in broad daylight (twice) and carry off 6 birds, and I suspect a neighborhood dog was later involved with one that was missing hey tail feathers and a body in the yard. I do not think the dog was trying to kill them, but I don't hold it against him, he's still a...
This article is broken down by section in the additional pages because it would be far too long and cumbersome to put them all on one.
After keeping chickens for about 4 years, I gave my birds to a friend and sold my tiny coop on craig's list. After only two summers I came to the conclusion...
I have a shed about 30' away from the coop that is fed by a 50 amp breaker from the house. I took off of that panel a 20 amp circuit that is partially in conduit, partially just buried underground wire to the coop. Everything inside the coop is in conduit and has covers designed for wet...
I wish I could have taken photos while I was building these, but I was in a bit of a hurry and as previously mentioned, the camera on my phone was very limited. I made the door custom to the fit the opening, which is a rough opening for 48" french doors. I have a friend who is an iron worker...
Your local extension agent may also be a valuable resource to finding out the regulations, and may be even where the paperwork is. Having a tractor in some ways reduces your run requirement. If you build the coop elevated with run underneath, you could have a separate frame for the run. I’d...