Shop Time w/T.W. Friends

Good morning guys, have a great Thursday!

We had a wind pick up late afternoon yesterday and the temps started falling. I’m glad to say it wasn’t a temperature drop like some of you have had but we woke up to a chilly 42 this morning after a high of 80 yesterday. Wind has died down some but still blowing. Rain moving in tomorrow and through the weekend.

 

68 high yesterday to 26 low this morning

 

You might regret using OSB, I seen an accent wall done in a bedroom with reclaimed wood from an old chicken coop. It had some natural white wash and other accents. They cleaned it somewhat aired it out and sealed it up. It looked nice but it took almost 4 days to put up a 8'x10' section. The poor guy cutting it could only stand to cut and reseal the cuts he could do in an hour. When it was done the shot another coat of lacquer over it. I don't see anyone wanting to repurpose OSB.

 

Only reason I'm using OSB is because it was free


I'm sure down the road it will be rebuilt using something else, we've never had chickens before and are learning

 

Yep free is good , I worked with a couple guys that had chickens. The 1 guy said 1 of the chickens became a pet. It would follow him all over, wanted attention and would just hang out with him. He named it Dolly and pardon it from the dinner table.

 

I'd love to have ours free range but we have too many hawks flying around and we'd be chickenless in no time

Also, my wife said she wants to have some meat birds. I don't see any of them ever being in danger of making it to the frying pan though

 

I've seen people make rolling pens for their chickens, that way you can have them outside, move them around for pest control and the like, all while keeping them protected.

Basically a fence with a roof, while letting them access the ground to forage and do chicken things

 

We thought about that and may make one eventually just to move em around the yard

 

Backyardchickens.com is a great resource . I'm guessing you've already found it, since it comes up a lot in Google searches.

 

Mine didn't turn out exactly even either, there all a little less than 12"^2. The chickens seem to prefer the two smaller boxes on the right, over the slightly more spacious boxes on the left.
I did put up a fenced area for the chickens, but it's not enclosed. I choose to let them free range. Which has cost me a few chickens to predators, though free ranging does reduce how much I have to feed them directly.

 

Thanks for sharing. I guess after you feed them enough and get them used to the coop you could leave the door open and they'd come back in at the end of the day, wouldn't they? Sometimes? lol

 

Yes. When I first got them I put up a double height fence so they stayed in the fenced area for awhile. Once they learned how to fly well enough to get over that, I took the second layer down. I crossed the top of it with the flags to detour aerial predators. They have an automatic light sensing door that is set to open right after sunrise and close at full dark. Also, whenever I feed them treats, I always do it inside their fenced area. So they know where they live, and they return every evening a little before sunset. When they were young I checked nightly to ensure they all made it inside, and I did have to collect a few of them from the fence posts when they failed to get inside before dark. But they learned and now I don't have to do much daily other than collect eggs, refresh their water and throw treats out. I use the deep clean method for the coup, so I refresh the shavings weekly and empty it every quarter.

The main treats I feed them
https://grubterra.com/

 

You could just sell pieces that you wanted to make and refuse to take special orders. That way you can fund more wood and tool purchases.

 

When you first get them, keep them in the coop / run for a week or a bit more. They'll learn where to roost, then they should all return to roost at dusk. Of you spend a bit of time with them, they'll get to know you, they're actually quite interesting. Mine will generally follow me into the run after they've been out a few hours, which makes it easy to lock them up at night. I have a covered run, so the coop door is never closed. Our neighbor gave me a photocell operated door on the fall, but I haven't put it on yet. I don't mind checking on them at the end of the day, but it would be good insurance if I were to forget.

 

We use them
Stress-Free Chicken TractorNot me from the add
My coops we built 3 , we got 60 meat birds coming this week

 

Here is the book. For the meat birds,

 

Looks great and just the right amount of shine, @hiPSI!

 

we've had chickens for a while. They find their home when it gets dark pretty easily. I have a friend who had meat birds, bought them as chicks, fed them for a bit, then dropped them off at a farm, picked up bags of chicken a day or two later. I asked him if he ever felt bad, and he said they grow so quickly they cant move, and shit wherever they stand, he was happy to see them go. the egg laying hens he really liked though.

 

Interesting to see all the chicken coop setups. Maybe I should start my own. What breed or breeds of chicken do y'all prefer for eggs?