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Showing posts with label Coops. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Coops. Show all posts
Wednesday, 30 November 2011
Sunday, 16 October 2011
Chickeny Things...
One of the joys of having a plot of land, rented or owned, is the ability to keep a few livestock. My own modest little beginnings have been the chickens - my chicken gang, who happily (I hope) live in their 'Chicken Villas' in the orchard I planted a couple of years ago.
This time of year, most of them go off the boil a bit and stop laying eggs, start to molt, and generally need a bit of a tonic to keep 'em perky through the tail end of autumn and through the winter.
I've recently found a poultry supplier that offers all the chickeny things I might ever need under one roof and is run by a lady who knows her chickeny stuff. No need to wade through anymore dodgy websites or take my chances on ebay - this place has it all and is very competitive pricewise, which is great with a bloomin' worldwide recesion in full swing. The egg money I get from the sale of a few free-range, organic eggs each week buys a big bag of organic layers pellets and mixed corn for the birds to munch on.
My chickens are spoilt. I clean the coops regularly. They have wood shavings laid deep on each coops floor, and have lovely soft paper shreddings in the nest boxes so they're comfy when laying their golden eggs (I'm still working on getting them to actually lay golden eggs).
As I've mentioned in previous posts, I design and build my own coops, but Jacques and his little harem have a bought coop, from ebay, which has served it's purpose but is in need of a replacement now. Plus it has many design defects making it a haven for red mite etc. I haven't seen any, but I'm not so naive to think they are not about.
So today I've been doing a spot of housekeeping for Jacques and his girls by smoking any nasties out of their house, a better way by far of dealing with poultry pests than using chemical sprays. If you keep chickens and like to keep them happy and healthy, check out the Review Shed and see how it's done.
A pack of these babies is also this months Competition Time prize, so check these pages out and keep your chooks happy!
This time of year, most of them go off the boil a bit and stop laying eggs, start to molt, and generally need a bit of a tonic to keep 'em perky through the tail end of autumn and through the winter.
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| Hear No, See No & Speak No... |
My chickens are spoilt. I clean the coops regularly. They have wood shavings laid deep on each coops floor, and have lovely soft paper shreddings in the nest boxes so they're comfy when laying their golden eggs (I'm still working on getting them to actually lay golden eggs).
As I've mentioned in previous posts, I design and build my own coops, but Jacques and his little harem have a bought coop, from ebay, which has served it's purpose but is in need of a replacement now. Plus it has many design defects making it a haven for red mite etc. I haven't seen any, but I'm not so naive to think they are not about.
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| This stuff is the business... |
A pack of these babies is also this months Competition Time prize, so check these pages out and keep your chooks happy!
Monday, 25 July 2011
'The Barn'
That last post was a bit grim so here's a more cheery one!
This years chicks have grown into young adults, outgrown the maternity unit, and needed to stretch their legs and feel some fresh green grass under their little feet. This means I've had to spend the last week or so designing and building another coop.
I'm lucky. I have the CAD (computer aided design) skills and workshop kit to work up some designs on the Mac and the tools to cut the timber to the right lengths etc., which makes the whole thing easier to do.
See, that took about 30 seconds!
I like designing and making stuff like this. Much better than buying some of the crappy sheds out there. This one has all the fiddly bits outside the coop so there's no nooks and crannies for the red mite to hide inside - nice and clean for the chooks.
The side doors open both sides to collect the eggs on the right side and clean the coop on the left where they all roost. One trick I learnt whilst designing the previous coop was to use seed trays under the roosting perch to 'collect' the poop. You can just empty these regularly and keep the coop cleaner.
It was a bit tricky to get the little scamps into it the first night (Saturday) but last night they all filed in without any problems.
This years chicks have grown into young adults, outgrown the maternity unit, and needed to stretch their legs and feel some fresh green grass under their little feet. This means I've had to spend the last week or so designing and building another coop.
I'm lucky. I have the CAD (computer aided design) skills and workshop kit to work up some designs on the Mac and the tools to cut the timber to the right lengths etc., which makes the whole thing easier to do.
See, that took about 30 seconds!
I like designing and making stuff like this. Much better than buying some of the crappy sheds out there. This one has all the fiddly bits outside the coop so there's no nooks and crannies for the red mite to hide inside - nice and clean for the chooks.
The side doors open both sides to collect the eggs on the right side and clean the coop on the left where they all roost. One trick I learnt whilst designing the previous coop was to use seed trays under the roosting perch to 'collect' the poop. You can just empty these regularly and keep the coop cleaner.
It was a bit tricky to get the little scamps into it the first night (Saturday) but last night they all filed in without any problems.
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| Bella the Copper Black Maran hen - very dark eyes! |
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| Penny, the Copper Blue Maran hen, always seems to be smiling. |
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| Ronnie and Reggie (aka 'The Cray Twins') |
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