Chickens and coops and runs

I keep trying to separate our chickens into groups that make sense.

*We have our big coop that John, the kids and I built last year. We still need to do a few things to it, but only finishing kinds of things. In the big coop we have our layer hens (Plymouth Barred Rocks, Dark Brown Leghorn, Black Leghorn, Black Australorps) and a couple fancy roosters(Black Australorp and Black Sumatra). The roosters need to be pulled out and given their own little rooster huts, but I haven't quite organized my ideas on this yet. We are getting plenty of eggs from these ladies, so I am quite pleased with how it has worked out. I am a little ready to thin the Barred Rocks out and get a few more new birds in there. But since the Barreds are the first chicks we ever got, this is a little more difficult for me to do, they are almost like pets to me.

















*We have the bantam coop which houses 6 little bantam birds of various breeds(white rock, partridge brahmas, buff brahma, mille fleur belgian bearded d'uccle, black silkie). This coop is perfect for the kids, none of the birds are aggressive, the coop is small and all things can be handled by the kids, they do 100% of the feeding, watering, cleaning, egg collection, run raking..all of it. All of the birds in this coop are super sweet, 3 of them are about 6 years old, so this is just a coop for fun and kids to enjoy their poultry experience. Last summer, the boys even built the run and gate themselves out of welded wire and J clips. I always love when you can give kids materials, let them know what you have in mind and walk away.














*A few years ago Anthony and I built an 8 foot by 8 foot pen for the kids to sit in with their rabbits and be able to play with them, with out worrying about them running away, or any predators. We only have 4 rabbits left now and they don't really try to run now when they are handled, so we turned the pen into a run and used the dogloo that came with one of our dogs for a coop. Our dogs are not outside dogs, so a dog house is useless at this point in our lives. Anyhow, we are using the dogloo with a modified door for our silkies we have them in black and white. Until the fair, our broiler birds, Dark Cornish, a dual purpose breed are living in with the silkies as well. We do not much care for the temperment of the Dark Cornish, so hopefully the kids will sell them at the small animal auction after the fair.


















* This weekend we finally finished putting together our coop and run for the Black Copper Marans. It has been one of those we will get around to it projects, a few minutes here and there, no big hurry and a grouping of dog crates to fill the gaps in the interim. Black Copper Marans lay dark brown eggs, and have a wonderful
disposition.



















*Carmen has 2 little BB Red Modern Game Birds that she adores. They stay inside when it is cold, but during the summer they have this cute tiny little coop they stay in.


















*And I am working slowly on "The Beach Cabana", made solely out of recycled materials. It eventually will house the silver phoenix trio we have.

The bantam coop...remodel in progress

Our bantam coop got a fresh coat of paint, I believe Sprinkles of Summer is the color. It now matches our big coop and our house. The inside has only been partially repainted, it is hard to get too much done when they still want in to lay eggs and such. I moved the roost higher, hung the feeder, cut a piece of vinyl flooring to fit the floor, put a hasp and lock on the back doors, put hook and eyes on both sides of the egg door, and changed the egg door handle. I put the old egg door knob on the chicken door, like a door knob. There are a few more things I would like to do. I need to add a little strip of trim to the inside left back door to keep out drafts in winter, finish painting inside, glue down the vinyl floor piece I put in, and caulk the seam where the floor meets the walls, and add some vinyl flooring to the floor of the nest boxes, and a strip of trim to the front edge of the nest boxes. So, next weekend I will do those things.

The boys built a fancy run for me out of 1"x1" opening welded wire that is 33" tall, they used 1"x2" welded wire for the roof of the run approx 9 feet long by 4 ft wide, and 2"x3" coated welded wire for the floor. We are hoping this should be fairly predator proof. They cut a door in the run the size of the chicken door of the little coop, screwed screw eyes into the front of the coop in 6 places and ran long I bolts through the screw eyes to hold the run securely to the coop. They used J clips and put a gate in to cover the hole they cut for the chicken door, should we ever want to use the enclosure free standing. They also cut a bigger opening in one of the 9ft sides with wire cutters, carefully bending down every sharp wire with pliers. Then they cut another piece of wire and made a gate out of it, so the kids can very comfortably get in and out of the run to visit with the little bantams. That reminds me, I do need to get a few clips to hold those 2 gates shut, right now they are just wired closed.

Anyhow, we are having a lot of fun with this tiny pint sized coop, so hope you like our progress. I should have taken a before and after pic..

Our New Bantam Coop

On the first day of the fair, Lexi found out a friend of one of our 4H leaders was giving away her small bantam coop, with 3 little bantam hens, a black silkie, a buff brahma, and a mille fleur bearded belgian d'uccle. So, Lexi and my good friend Maura who was in visiting from Connecticut got on the phone and arranged for us to pick this little coop and it's tiny occupants up the next morning. So we got to meet a sweet couple and help give their little hens a new place to rest their roost. We got them home and set up immediately. We pulled out the primer, primed it white, built a predator resistant run, installed locks on the doors, a new handle for the egg door, and painted it yellow to match our house and our large coop. I will have to get more photos, you must see it in yellow and with the run. I have to say that the boys are mostly to thank for the fabulous run. I started it, they did the rest. They are great with wire cutters, pliers, and J clips! At the end of the fair our 3 bantams returned home to this new coop to meet their 3 new flock mates. Pics of the painted coop and run, and the new bantams will be posted soon! Thanks to Kelly and family for a great little coop.