MysticUniKitty
Crowing
So we started making a run that would attach to our stalls, but now I just want a nice smaller secure area for my feathered friends. The stalls are becoming a pain to try and predatorproof them as there are too many tiny gaps everywhere at odd angles making it unsafe. We live in north central Texas, so we have tons of hot dry temps for much of the year, we have heavy rains during "winter" time, and of course tornado and hurricane season. Our barn was great at first but then we had snake issues, (huge snake issues), then mice and rat issues, and then raccoon issues. We tried meshing everything off and still our chickens were being killed so now i just want to start from scratch and make the mesh as tight as possible with digging barriers. But I also want my flock to have as much air flow as possible during the summer as it can get absolutely unbearable for them and cooling off. We currently have chicks as we are having to start over, we have EEs, OEs, and BYMs for our good layers, trying out some Andalusians to see how they go, and then my breeding flock of Cochins (which will arrive in two weeks). Right now everyone is either in the shed brooder or in a somewhat secure fenced part of the barn (crossing fingers here).
I looked at many of the concepts on here as i wanted a good open idea but would be fairly easy for someone that is not very good with building and I drew this up, I know it's a mess as far as drawing goes. But going to try and explain and see what y'all think.
Sorry it's sideways i kept trying to turn it and it wouldn't. Anyways.
We have three posts already cemented into the ground, the other three just need to have the cement mixed and posts set, but weather is not being kind so far. We have some long boards from an old round pen that we are hoping to use for the top and bottom horizontal rails. I plan to use some 2x3s for framing the door and going diagonal or straight up and down for mid support for mesh. The actual door will be a cheap wood screen door from Lowe's that we'll add mesh and a chicken pop door to it. We'll use 1/2" wire hardware cloth mesh for all the sides and then a small foot or two wide mesh skirting will be buried all the way around it. We have some tin and galvanized aluminum laying around and hoping to make the roof with that at a slight angle to help rain slide off and not pool on top. The taller side will face either to the north or south I'm not sure yet? We always have wind at our place it seems, either from the north, or the south or the east. so having a permanent door and window configuration is troubling, My thought was to do an open concept with traps for blocking one end and part of the sides with some hooks to secure it, the hooks would be on either end that way in the summer they are protected during storm season, and then could be switched to the north side during winter so they are protected from frostbite during the winter (if you can call it that?) Then we would have moveable roosts and nestboxes so they could be moved from one side to the other as well. This is basically to keep them contained at night, and have a safe place to dodge into from hawks and eagles. Most of the time they will be free ranging, but this structure will be about 23 ftx 12ft in length and width.
Let me know if you see something I'm missing or if my planning might not be the best? We only have the three posts in the ground so we still have a lot of play with this.
Chicken Tax!!
I looked at many of the concepts on here as i wanted a good open idea but would be fairly easy for someone that is not very good with building and I drew this up, I know it's a mess as far as drawing goes. But going to try and explain and see what y'all think.
Sorry it's sideways i kept trying to turn it and it wouldn't. Anyways.
We have three posts already cemented into the ground, the other three just need to have the cement mixed and posts set, but weather is not being kind so far. We have some long boards from an old round pen that we are hoping to use for the top and bottom horizontal rails. I plan to use some 2x3s for framing the door and going diagonal or straight up and down for mid support for mesh. The actual door will be a cheap wood screen door from Lowe's that we'll add mesh and a chicken pop door to it. We'll use 1/2" wire hardware cloth mesh for all the sides and then a small foot or two wide mesh skirting will be buried all the way around it. We have some tin and galvanized aluminum laying around and hoping to make the roof with that at a slight angle to help rain slide off and not pool on top. The taller side will face either to the north or south I'm not sure yet? We always have wind at our place it seems, either from the north, or the south or the east. so having a permanent door and window configuration is troubling, My thought was to do an open concept with traps for blocking one end and part of the sides with some hooks to secure it, the hooks would be on either end that way in the summer they are protected during storm season, and then could be switched to the north side during winter so they are protected from frostbite during the winter (if you can call it that?) Then we would have moveable roosts and nestboxes so they could be moved from one side to the other as well. This is basically to keep them contained at night, and have a safe place to dodge into from hawks and eagles. Most of the time they will be free ranging, but this structure will be about 23 ftx 12ft in length and width.
Let me know if you see something I'm missing or if my planning might not be the best? We only have the three posts in the ground so we still have a lot of play with this.
Chicken Tax!!
, but it’s built on land that is slightly slanted, so I was banking on that. We get very little snow in my part of the Mojave desert.
