Gophers

[NguyenjaStars]

We were fortunate to get a hand-me-down coop from a friend who was relocating out of state. After alot of dithering of where to put it in my southern facing yard, I chose the north side yard under the apple and lemon trees as being the shadiest spot for the hot summer. I laid some pavers in the earth as the foundation and laid a repurposed plywood on top to cover the dirt. And then put the coop on top. No sooner had I done that then I got a gopher coming under the pavers to fix its tunnels. I started putting pavers to block the tunnels and fill in the space between the retaining wall and pavers, but I've lost interest in that neverending gamesmanship. The gophers have tunneled under my entire property and the park next door so we will just have to be neighbors. Anyhow, the plan is to pressure wash the coop then refinish with non-toxic soy sealer. I am planning to use construction or paver sand on the coop floor and they drop tray. We will be picking up chicks in a week and a half. My evolving planning somehow used chicken math to go from 2 chicks to start with to 8! We are planning on culling the cockerels so we needed a 50% margin of error, right? Fortunately I am allowed up to 50 chicks as long as I have 200 sf per each.

After reading up on the very helpful beginner forums, I decided to start off with an outdoor brooder pen using half of the wire folding run/pen. The weather here in the Bay Area is mild to hot so they will be fine even if there electrical issues. It was quite a relief to find a non-house or garage based solution. I made a MHP - Mama Hen Pad with a metal pet grill and after reading the Wool hen thread added feather boas for the underside. It is larger than I need but who know how many chicks I will come with at this point. I am quite tickled by this brooder. My cat is very interested in the feathers so the chicks will be secured in the pen until they are big enough to give him what for.

I will post more pictures as things evolve. I cut up a bunch of cardboard boxes and duct taped to make a litter tray for the brooder pen to contain the sand. So far we've spent under $200. Just need chicks, feed, and waterer/feeders.

 

[rosemarythyme]

The feathers are cute but I'd scrap them - chicks need to be able to press against the pad in order to warm up, and there's a small chance that they could get tangled in the feathers as well.

Your brooder pen, you'll need to secure something around the perimeter to prevent chicks from trying to squeeze out of the wire or worse, get caught while doing so. Cardboard snugly attached around the bottom foot or two will do the trick. It also has the effect of buffering any drafts around the brooder.

 

[NguyenjaStars]

Was so busy forgot to post pix of the chickies in the outdoor brooder. I notice they were feathering almost immediately. 2 buff orpingtons and 2 black australorps. I waited FOUR hours in line at the feed store. And the hatchery shorted them the brahmas (plus they inplemented limits given the 50+ people in line) so I wasn't able to get them yet. Will go next week to a rural feed store to avoid the line!