# Chicken Coop!!!!



## drippin' rock (Apr 10, 2011)

Started building a chicken coop this January.  Kids were off for spring break, so I took the opportunity to finish.  We went yesterday to get some chickens.  We came home with 4 Dominiques, and a Cuckoo Maran rooster.  Introduced them to their new home and within two hours we had 3 eggs.  This is gonna be fun!


----------



## Keebs (Apr 10, 2011)

NIce set up........... careful, it can be as addicting as this place!


----------



## david w. (Apr 10, 2011)

Cool setup.


----------



## Razor Blade (Apr 10, 2011)

nice coop. A good way to spend time with the kids. Scott


----------



## CAL (Apr 10, 2011)

A fine chicken house and a job well done.Can't beat raising ya kids to know where things come from.I salute you!


----------



## Nicodemus (Apr 10, 2011)

Mighty nice coop!!


----------



## drippin' rock (Apr 10, 2011)

CAL said:


> A fine chicken house and a job well done.Can't beat raising ya kids to know where things come from.I salute you!



That's exactly why I am doing it!  For some strange reason, for awhile I have felt the need to pull back from the rat race.  My kids have come dangerously close to falling into the typical patterns we see so often these days.  With our garden and chicken coop, I am pulling them back from iCarly and the Disney channel.  I am getting involved, and having fun in the process.


----------



## DROP POINT (Apr 10, 2011)

Very nice coop.You'll have a lot of enjoyment with it,plus the added blessing of time with your kids. There is a good lesson in this for all of us.Thanks for sharing and keep us posted.

Davin


----------



## tedsknives (Apr 10, 2011)

Very nice coop.Glad to see the kids involved


----------



## wvdawg (Apr 10, 2011)

Good looking coop - right down to the lucky horseshoe!
Great way to share with the kids!


----------



## carver (Apr 10, 2011)

Awesome,and fresh eggs to boot.


----------



## Kawaliga (Apr 10, 2011)

You read my mind. I plan to build one soon, and plant a big garden also. We have also talked about getting into canning our own food.Probably get some hogs next.


----------



## kullas (Apr 10, 2011)

Nice coop and some nice looking bard rocks


----------



## Redbow (Apr 11, 2011)

Oh man them birds ought to be very happy in that coop. Pretty chickens too, my Grandma used to raise those. Enjoy the eggs.


----------



## GAGE (Apr 11, 2011)

Well done,  they are very entertaining, and a lot of fun!


----------



## Derek Edge (Apr 11, 2011)

We've been in the process of building ours for the last three weeks.  Finally got the last coat of paint on and got most of the nesting boxes installed.  I will try to take some pics the next few days.  We too have planted our garden and even caught a couple of wild pigs to feed out for a while.  Glad to see I'm not the only one who's getting back to the older ways....


----------



## drippin' rock (Apr 12, 2011)

Derek Edge said:


> We've been in the process of building ours for the last three weeks.  Finally got the last coat of paint on and got most of the nesting boxes installed.  I will try to take some pics the next few days.  We too have planted our garden and even caught a couple of wild pigs to feed out for a while.  Glad to see I'm not the only one who's getting back to the older ways....



Sweet!  Looking foward to seeing it.  I am already looking for more hens to purchase.  I have 4, but I think 12 is a good number.  I want some marans, RIR's, and possibly a couple of leghorns.  I'd love to see some pics of those pigs you caught as well!

Got my corn planted yesterday.  Hope to get the rest in this week.


----------



## kullas (Apr 12, 2011)

If you are looking for good layers get some buff orps. some of the best out there


----------



## olcaptain (Apr 12, 2011)

Great job!!


----------



## Vernon Holt (Apr 13, 2011)

*Wild Pigs*



Derek Edge said:


> "We too have planted our garden and even caught a couple of _wild pigs_ to feed out for a while. ...


 
This brought back a memory of my own 1950's experience with genuine piney rooter pigs.

I rounded a corner in a grassy woods road and spotted the road full of pigs that couldn't have been more than 2 or 3 days old. I bailed out of the pickup with my German Shepherd and the chase was on. We ended up with a pig each. He caught his with nary a bruise.

My first thought was to try my hand at raising the pigs and enjoying me some pork. Big mistake.

I already had a floored pen in which to place them. Started them off with a soupy mix of what was then called "shorts", which was mostly the bran and chafe left over from milling wheat.

After a "few" bags of shorts, the pigs began to show some growth. I decided at that point to worm them with the hopes that they would begin to show some vigor. The results were mixed.

After numerous bags of shorts, I began blending in whole corn that I had soaked in water for a full day. In due time I had switched them over to pure softened corn.

All this time, I was proud of my pigs, they were growing, but not like I had seen feeder pigs grow off on the farm where I had grown up.

After a considerable investment in corn I finally got them to the point where they weighed 75 lbs. I then converted them to pork.

I was glad that I had not kept a tally on the volume of feed that It took to get them to a minimum size for butchering. My point in this is to simply remind you that wild stock of hogs are inherently very poor converters of feed to pork when compared to improved stock of farm pigs.


----------



## jcinpc (Apr 14, 2011)

nice coop, I had 30 last year and those were 4 years old, I sold them and bought a new batch, Buff`s are awesome layers but my reds put them out too. I hope you buried that chicken wire about a foot down, they will push under it if something else doesnt to get in. I`m extending my old coop area out about 30 ft, I hate to see them stuck in a little place all their laying life, plus it gives them gras and stuff to eat while another area recovers


----------



## Jighead (Apr 15, 2011)

Great looking coop, that is a project for me to start later this year. I guess you answered the age old question,"which came first, the chicken or the egg?"


----------



## Derek Edge (Apr 17, 2011)

Vernon Holt said:


> I was glad that I had not kept a tally on the volume of feed that It took to get them to a minimum size for butchering. My point in this is to simply remind you that wild stock of hogs are inherently very poor converters of feed to pork when compared to improved stock of farm pigs.



I understand a little, but these were caught as 10-15# piglets, cut, and are now a whopping 150# and when they get around the 200# mark, hopefully around the start of winter, they will be turned to select cuts, sausage and sugar cured ham.  Not sure if we are talking about the same feral hogs or not, but we've never had a problem putting weight on them.  Now I know they won't compare to the same genetics as a farm pig, but the taste and cuts of meat are nearly identical.


----------



## mickbear (Apr 18, 2011)

great look'n coop.job well done.ya'll will enjoy that.now all you need is some bee hives


----------



## drippin' rock (Apr 20, 2011)

mickbear said:


> great look'n coop.job well done.ya'll will enjoy that.now all you need is some bee hives



I have looked into bees too!  I haven't talked to anyone who actually keeps bees, but it seems like a tricky and pricey hobby.  Do you have bees?


----------



## Keebs (Apr 20, 2011)

kullas said:


> If you are looking for good layers get some buff orps. some of the best out there


 yep and very docile, the RR's are good layers too!


----------



## drippin' rock (Apr 20, 2011)

Here's a few more pics of my coop and flock.  I found an old farmer's market box and a bushel basket in my wife's grandfather's old barn.  They both look to be about 40 years old.  Instead of making more laying boxes like the first ones I built(with old lumber I also found in the barn), I used the baskets.


----------



## Paymaster (Apr 21, 2011)

Great Pics!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


----------

