Chicken Housing

[rainyjim]

They do a lot of the work for you with that model huh? Pretty convenient. Does seem a bit flimsy though

[dwedeking]

I think Del's has a similiar (same?) system at their store in Hilo. You could check it out in person.

[nana valley]

quote:

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Originally posted by dwedeking

I think Del's has a similiar (same?) system at their store in Hilo. You could check it out in person.

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Yes, Del's has the pen and they were waiting on "chicken house" shipment. But their prices were about $50 to $80 higher!

It is not as sturdy as I'd like, but heck...it is gonna keep the chickens in!

He who hoots with owls at night cannot soar with the eagles in the morning.

[dwedeking]

Yea, I wasn't sure of the price but at least you could see it in person and make a personal decision on if it's what you want. I didn't like it because I wanted something larger (I've got about a dozen chickens), a little more sturdy, and the flexibility to cover odd-ball shaped areas as fertilizer was a primary output but it all depends on what you want to do.

[rainyjim]

I made the sturdy comment based on my projected uses of such an object. I want to move my chicken "pen" for lack of a better word around my property. So I imagine continually moving it about would probably put it through a lot of extra and in intended stress. I bet it's more than sturdy enough for you're uses and am glad you found something that works : )

Happy 4th everyone

[nana valley]

quote:

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Originally posted by rainyjim

I made the sturdy comment based on my projected uses of such an object. I want to move my chicken "pen" for lack of a better word around my property. So I imagine continually moving it about would probably put it through a lot of extra and in intended stress. I bet it's more than sturdy enough for you're uses and am glad you found something that works : )

Happy 4th everyone

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Yes!! Happy 4th to you []

And I do agree with you. This set up is no good for moving around your place unless you add some extra support to it. I'm leaving it in one place and will move it maybe every three months.
This setup is only good for a couple of hens.

He who hoots with owls at night cannot soar with the eagles in the morning.

[terracore]

We use a homemade chicken tractor on the front lawn when the little chicks are ready to come out of the brooder. We move it every day and have never had to fertilize the lawn. When the chickens are big enough we put them with the flock. They have free range of the property but pretty much stick to within earshot. They forage their own food all day long. At night we feed them inside the one of these: http://www.homedepot.com/p/K-9-Kwik-Dog-...djsXrR6fok which have guava branches ran throughout t so that they have a place to roost. It is fitted with a 10x10 DIY tarp/conduit roof and 3 sides of the kennel are shaded with tarp. It is light enough for two people to move. We use communal nest boxes like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PBnLaQxurA

Throughout the day the hens return to the nest boxes and lay eggs. We collect eggs 4-5 times per day. They are all trained to go into the kennel hen house at dusk to get their dinner. If we wait too long they roost in trees around the hen house. We have various watering stations throughout the property. We had a brief problem with mongoose and trapped them. It's a good idea to have traps set all the time. Our cats or dog does kill the occasional rat, but so far rats have not been a problem.

The key thing is to get a small flock of hens that know how the free range concept works. Then when you add new chickens they follow the flock. Those little hutches are fine products for a handful of hens but for the same price worth of supplies and free ranging you can have dozens. If that is something you want to do.

[dwedeking]

The only problem I have with free range is that we have a set of steps in the back. They tend to group there during the day (on the steps they can look into the full wall window and feel part of the group of people sitting in the living room) and then you wind up with "fertilizer" all over the steps. I enjoy walking barefoot so those little surprises around the house kind of suck lol (plus they attract flies). I'd have no problem with free range if I had fenced in the area around the house to keep them out.

[shave_ice]

quote:

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Originally posted by dwedeking

The only problem I have with free range is that we have a set of steps in the back. They tend to group there during the day (on the steps they can look into the full wall window and feel part of the group of people sitting in the living room) and then you wind up with "fertilizer" all over the steps. I enjoy walking barefoot so those little surprises around the house kind of suck lol (plus they attract flies). I'd have no problem with free range if I had fenced in the area around the house to keep them out.

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dwedeking your post made me chuckle. I have a similar problem with my chickens. I occasionally give them snacks (corn, kitchen scraps) and the problem with that is sometimes around midday they start to gather around the stairs near the door. Making a racket and mess all over the place. It's like they are saying, "Give us our snacks now!" It is really obnoxious. Thus another reason why I want to tear down the current chicken palace and make something smaller, far far away from the house.

[DoryGray]

I string old VCR tape around my carport at ankle height to keep the chickens off. The wind blows it & it scares them away - for a month or 2 anyway.