My boyfriends mom was nice enough to donate her old garden shed to my insanity... so I've converted it into a coop! First I had to empty out all of the old stuff that was in there, and clean all of the scrap wood, metal, dead trees and various junk out of the "back-yard". Once I did that I installed the front walk, the partition wall, the nest boxes, window, back door(s) and built a nice little feed bin. Finally I painted the whole shed and the fence rails and planted some flowers in the front yard. On one rainy day I went a little nutty and decided that my chickens needed wallpaper... so I added some stencils to the walls! I thought they'd enjoy the rail fence, so I put that in the run too.
The coolest thing is, that so far all I've had to buy was one latch and the paint! Hooray for discarded wood and old garden fencing!! I also used an old utility sink and a water tank from our old water heater fora rain-catching water trough.
3 comments:
I loooooovvveeee your blog!!!!!
I'm just getting into the whole chicken thing too, actually my husband was like your boyfriend at first. But he found your blog! Ha!!
Love your blog, Im getting my first ever chicks next week. Questions Nights here are @ 47 degrees, do I need a heat lamp? Also is it it Possible for a White Silkie to breed with a RIRed in case I get a rooster? Never thought of that when I ordered them. Good luck with yours, Tom tcli@frontiernet.net
Karen: Thanks!!! I'm really having fun with this. I have more hope for you in the BF department... Mine told me yesterday that he wanted PEACOCKS! He's never even SEEN one in real life and didn't know how big (and NOISY) they are... But of course I'm all for it and said GREAT! Hahaha!!
Tom: You will need a heat lamp. You need to keep them at at least 85F for the first week, then gradually decrease it by 5 degrees a week until they are at "room" temp. I'd be a good idea to have them in a brooder that keeps out any drafts too. As for the silkie roo breeding a RIR hen... If he can reach it he'll breed it! But remember, you don't need a roo to get eggs... so unless you want some REALLY odd looking babies I wouldn't incubate those! If you do decide to have your silkie incubate some eggs (the silkie hens are GREAT moms!) I would separate the breeders for 3 weeks in some sort of "chicken tractor" setup before holding any of the eggs for incubation... just so you know who the daddy is!! (OOPS!! I just realized that you probably already have your babies! I hope all is going well!!!)
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