Do not sell laying hens

Two chickens per person

Homemade chicken feeder

I found the instructions for this chicken feeder at backwoods home : http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/slate119.html

It uses a 5 gallon bucket and a relish tray. It looks easy. For the complete directions and more pictures follow the link.

We have to go to the Library in Perryton tomorrow so I will stop by the Dollar General and see if I can pick up a relish tray. I don't know how many pounds of feed a 5 gallon bucket holds but it should hold quite a bit.

The dog killed two chickens today when we let them out to range. I killed two accidentally when I tried to move the coop. So we are down to about 46 chickens.

Tomorrow we are going to gather up the chicks for safety and move the coop to where we want it and then build a fence to keep the chicks in and the dog out. I may have to buy more fencing to make a bigger run. I only have about 50 feet of netting so if I buy another 100 foot roll that should make a fairly good chicken run. I had about that much chain link fencing but I sold it when I thought we were going to be moving.

The chicken coop

I hope these pictures give you an idea of how we built the chicken coop. I originally had a piece of cattle panel on the back, but then decided I preferred a solid back to the coop so I changed it. The first tthing we did was to put the four bottom pieces together. The coop measures 6 X 8. We then attached the cattle panels with fence staples. Next we cut corner braces and screwed them in. I hope to attach L brackets to the outside corners at some point to further strenghten the corners. We then built the nesting shelf. I built it with a solid bottom but I think I will take it out and take the bottom off and put chicken wire on the bottom for easier cleaning.

I attached the shelf by cutting a notch in the 2x4 and slipping the shelf onto the cattle panel. For the perches I cut 1x2's to length and drilled a hole about 2 inches from the end on each end. I slid the 1x2's onto a section of the cattle panel where I wanted the perch to be and used a zip tie to fasten it to the cattle panel.

Then we attached a tarp to the top of the structure for shade. I attached this with zip ties. Then we attached a light weight bird netting that covered all areas of the cattle panels to prevent the birds from getting out and predators from getting in. I later decided it is too light weight but will add chicken wire to the front door panel later.

Next we added more tarps which were stapled and zip tied where needed. The front cattle panel made the door. We attached it on the left side with zip ties and the right side is closed with bungee cords. The top of the door is open so we draped the net over that for protection.

The chickens seem happy and are learning about the perches. Soon we will be able to take the heat lamps out and there will be more room. Also we can move the coop by sliding a two wheel dolly under one side and dragging the coop to a new area. Of course we have to remove the food and water before we move the coop.

I am working on finding instructions and making a feeder that they cant waste so much feed. We put a cardboard flat under the feed and it catches a huge amount of feed which they then peck out of the box.

I hope these instructions are not too confusing and you can understand the methods to my madness. If you have questions on how we built this just leave me a comment.

I forgot to mention that I built a door on the back by the shelf for egg removal. It is covered in silver insulation wrap stuff and held closed by a long bungee cord.

This is the package the baby chicks arrived in. You can see I have my sugar water ready to dip their beeks into.

Aren't they sweet? Babies are so cute.

Look at our new home.

A view from the top.

Oops, looks like overcrowding. I better get the other brooder ready.

There, now they aren't so crowded. Now I am going to have to find a place to put them while we make stone. The vibrator table is under that blue tarp.

I used a planter bottom for a feed dish.

This is a top view of the second brooder I set up this morning.

All the chicks are Rhode Island Reds. The little black one is the free exotic one they send with your order. I have never had one of the exotic ones live. I hope this one does better.

Baby chicks are on their way

A fellow who lives a few miles from us just called and said he was at the Liberal post office picking up his chicks and he noticed that I have some there too. He said he would bring them to me.
He said this is their 3rd batch. I guess some have been dying. He didn't think mine would make it if they had to wait until tomorrow.

So we scurried around getting the water ready and feed set out and the heat lamp turned on.
I put 3 tablespoons of sugar in each quart of water. I will do this for the first 3 days. It helps give energy and relieve shipping stress.

As I take each chick out of the box, I will dip its beek into the water and then set it into the brooder. This helps the chicks know what water is. They have been living off their yolk since they hatched and have never had food or water yet.
The first few days are important in keeping the baby chicks alive and healthy.

I will take pictures of the chicks as I unpack them and put them in the brooder. If I get to go to church I will post the pictures after church. I should be at Sunday school now, but I am waiting on the chicks. The rest of the family went ahead and I will come as soon as I can.

Chicken Coop

This is the kind of chicken coop I want to build this year. I figured it will hold 10 chickens so I will probably want to build two of them.

I like the idea that it can be moved around. Jeff will have to figure out the wheel part. It has a door on the back for egg collection. I really like it.