Chickens for eggs and meat

[Domdabears]

Nice thread! Great job on the coop!

[10eckid]

Nice set up. Looks like you spent a lot of time thinking about this before you started. I've had poultry my whole life and we even showed chickens in shows( like a dog or cat show) for about 20 years. Anyone out there with questions about poultry, I'd be happy to answer.
Don't know about your property and I'm not telling you how to do it, but around here snares are one of the best ways for getting coyotes. Check your fence line for trails they use and set your snares there. Friend of mine that lives about 15 miles from me and has 150 acres caught and killed 67 coyotes last year with snares.

[bcauz3y]

Here is the finished product..


The water system. Still has a few leaks, but nothing some plumbers tape and a wrench won't fix.







The feeder.

I made it out of a 5 gallon bucket, a piece of an old shop vac, and a tin pan from the kitchen (my wife will kill me later).

I figure 5 gallons of food ought to hold them for a while.





Note that it is suspended with metal strapping, and the spacing between the bottom of the bucket and the pan is small enough the chickens can't get their rear ends in there to shit all in the food. Should help keep it clean from shit and rain.

[bcauz3y]

When the chickens get old enough to lay, if you aren't feeding a feed that has vitamin and minerals added to it, you will need to get some grit (most is oyster shell) from co-op or feed store to replinish their calcium. Just put some in a feed container and let them have free access to it about one or two days a week. We usually just skin our chickens instead of plucking them. Takes less time and no where near as messy. I know this is not an option for everyone but we have wolf hybrids. Whenever they hear the coyotes yelping, they start howling and the coyotes shut up. We see coyotes half a mile down the road on a regular basis, but have never seen them or any sign of them on our property.

I have about 15 coyotes on the property. I have a full blooded german shepard and a 80lbs mutt that work to keep the coyotes mostly at bay.

We are going to bait them this weekend with some roast strung from a tree. Since we like keeping the pups in the house at night, we are just going to eliminate the coyotes all together.

Once the chickens starts laying, we are going to transistion to a "laying feed" which included high calcium oyster shells.

[10eckid]

When the chickens get old enough to lay, if you aren't feeding a feed that has vitamin and minerals added to it, you will need to get some grit (most is oyster shell) from co-op or feed store to replinish their calcium. Just put some in a feed container and let them have free access to it about one or two days a week. We usually just skin our chickens instead of plucking them. Takes less time and no where near as messy. I know this is not an option for everyone but we have wolf hybrids. Whenever they hear the coyotes yelping, they start howling and the coyotes shut up. We see coyotes half a mile down the road on a regular basis, but have never seen them or any sign of them on our property.

[Echo2]

Thank you sir.....I like that a lot.

[bcauz3y]

I bet ya'll thought I was done huh?

Not hardly!!!

Here is a guide to build the "Fred" chicken watering system. It will water 12 chickens for one week without any intervention, so it is great for the small-time farmer like me. Fred is my father, and he created the system. I've made a few improvements to it (although if nothing else, I complicated it) so I'm calling this "Fred Chicken Waterer 2.0". I already had a bucket with lid. Make sure you do too.

Parts list:

Roaster Nipple
5 $6.95
Side Saddle
5 $3.90
PVC Ball Valve - 3/4"
1 $2.21
10' of 3/4" PVC pipe
1 $4.10
Hose connector insert - threaded 1/2" female
1 $1.31
1/2" x 3/8" barb adapter
2 $0.78
3/4" x 1/2" 90 Degree elbow
1 $0.59
3/8" gas hose - 4 feet
1 $2.92
Hose clamp - 1/2"
2 $1.00
PVC Coupler - 1/2"
1 $0.39
Total
$24.15





Only need the following tools:

Drill gun
cone bit
3/4" hole bit
silicone gasket material
pliers
flat head screwdriver

Here are the bits:


First, drill your hole in the bottom of the bucket, off center.



Install your threaded adapter, threads down.





Install the retainer.



Screw on your coupler and barb adapter.



Install the hose.



Cut your PVC pipe to the desired length. Install your Ball Valve.



On the other end of the PVC pipe, install the elbow and the other barb adapter.



Drill your holes for the side saddles. REMEMBER TO DRILL THEM 45 DEGREES SO THEY ARE ON THE SIDE OF THE PVC!!!



Install at least one side saddle to make sure it fits the hole and install your nipples in it.



Take off the side saddle/nipple set, and screw in bolts or dowel rods to plug the holes. Then paste gasket material around the holes.



Once the gasket material is on there, before it dries, remove the plugs, and install your side saddle/nipple set in each hole, being careful not to get gasket material into the holes.



Once done, let the gasket material set and you are DONE!!!

When you install the system, use a bungee cord to suspend the bucket on one of the external walls of the coop. Drill a hole in that wall just big enough to fit the fuel line through. Suspend your PVC on level, below the bottom of the bucket and suspend it with wire.

I will post pics when I install it in the coop.

Feel free to ask questions.

[collector]

Alot of important dicoveries are made by trying to accomplish something else, and striving to cut costs can lead to lots of good innovations, I was going to make a comment about their housing during the winter when I then saw that your located in Alabama so you'll have much less of a problem with frostbite as we do, as is noticible by my location and my avatar picture which was taken a couple winters ago by our barn, anyway I found something very interesting which could be extremely beneficial, although we have not been able to make any strides in this direction.

Apparently there are certain breeds of chicken which eat wheatgrass, this could be extremely beneficial since this is a survivial website, the majority of modern chicken breeds have been bread to eat grain, well in a shtf scenario considering the severity of the scenario feed grain might be quite difficult to come by, but if you grow your own wheatgrass you would always have a supply of food on hand and would be able to continue raising healthy chicken long after any collapse that might happen

I can't post any of the links yet but just type in Wheat Grass chickens or something similiar and lots of helpful sites should pop up

If someone actually starts growing wheatgrass and raising chickens which eat it, it would probably be beneficial to start a new thread as this could be a fantastic source of renewable food

[bcauz3y]

Thanks, you might want to reconsider trying to spray the refuse out it can get pretty thick and nasty, I could forsee some splashback which would be quite unpleasant, we have a compost pile close by where we dump it after we scoop it out and they really like to search through it for bugs, also it appears you have a dirt floor, which is probably for the best as our raised floor has become a haven for rats, so we have to do double duty of pest control around here.

Yea, my compost pile will be next to the coop, so that works out great!!!!

It is a dirt floor, but mostly because of cost rather than intelligent forethought....

[collector]

Thanks, you might want to reconsider trying to spray the refuse out it can get pretty thick and nasty, I could forsee some splashback which would be quite unpleasant, we have a compost pile close by where we dump it after we scoop it out and they really like to search through it for bugs, also it appears you have a dirt floor, which is probably for the best as our raised floor has become a haven for rats, so we have to do double duty of pest control around here.

[bcauz3y]

Cool chicken coop, if you have coyotes in the area make sure that it is very secure because they will try their darndest to get in, several times we'ved had to chase them away from ours, although with time predators will learn to stay away, we've had chickens for about 6 years now and have'nt had any real problems in the last two or so years, I don't know if you're planning on free roaming them but if you are just make sure to monitor them for the first few times they are out and they will quickly learn where their home is, we've always freeroamed ours and we've yet to lose one (knock on wood). that open design will help when cleaning as more enclosed ones like ours, which is a converted shed, can be very very nasty, well good luck with your chicken endevours. [ATTACH=CONFIG]1972[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]1973[/ATTACH]

Awesome!!!! Your setup rocks.

We do plan to free roam them a few weeks after they are settled in to the coop.

I'm hoping I can just spray the floor out with a hose and put more hay in there for cleaning. We shall see!!

[maric]

Thanks for sharing, as well!

[collector]

Cool chicken coop, if you have coyotes in the area make sure that it is very secure because they will try their darndest to get in, several times we'ved had to chase them away from ours, although with time predators will learn to stay away, we've had chickens for about 6 years now and have'nt had any real problems in the last two or so years, I don't know if you're planning on free roaming them but if you are just make sure to monitor them for the first few times they are out and they will quickly learn where their home is, we've always freeroamed ours and we've yet to lose one (knock on wood). that open design will help when cleaning as more enclosed ones like ours, which is a converted shed, can be very very nasty, well good luck with your chicken endevours.

[Snow Walker]

Very nice job on the thread and the chicken house! You have the right idea for sure, so many people around here are doing the same thing. Where ever you go you see "sub divisions" of chicken houses popping up. lol We have numerous Amish families in the area and it's amazing to see how they are rubbing off on so many others.

Thanks for posting pictures it helped alot!

[Oscar Wilde]

Nice coop .... thanks for the step by step.

O.W.