Week 1 with the Chicks

Its been a week! The excitement has worn off a little but my wife still accuses me of acting like an 8 year old with a new toy. I can't really blame her as I am pretty gun hoe about the chickens and the fact that I have two living in my backyard, with 4 on the way.

They seem pretty well adjusted but are still pretty skittish. As my father in-law pointed out "they are called chickens not braves". Once I get the coop open the tend to go hide in one of the corners or the jump up into the nest box to get away. I've been visiting daily and pick them up and hold them for a little bit, trying my best to get them used to me. Slowly but surely. We haven't named them yet and I am not sure if we will, but there has been some suggestions. I like Blackie and Chicken Little, my sister wants to give them exotic names, the wife and a friend seem to like Beavis and Butthead. No decisions have been made yet and I also have to consult Mr. Construction so I will keep you posted on the name issue.

The coop seems to be working out great. I have left the chicken door open durning the day a couple of times but the chicks seem content to stay in the coop under the heat lamp. They do wonder around the coop exploring but I guess the run is just to scary to enter quite yet. I am sure that will change once they get some company other than me and the dogs. I am thinking of adding eaves troughs to the coop. As when it rains it runs down the sides and into the run. Not a lot but enough for me to want to do something about it. This also gives me the opportunity to create a watering system for the hens. We do not really need on but the creative wheels are turning and I want to try it out. I hoping to use the gutters to direct the water to a bucket with chicken nipples and have a self watering system. I am going to try and keep this as low cost as possible.


This YouTube video gives you an example of a rainwater system with nipples like I talked about here.

New chicks!

We picked up 2 of our chicks today from Fraser Valley Building Supplies! They are both Australorp month-olds.

 We put some soft shavings and a little bit of hay down for them to scratch in. I wanted straw but the store was out. I also put down some diatomaceous earth to help dry out any poop on the coop floor, and supposedly it's a natural insecticide. 

So far the black one seems to be the bravest. She hopped up on my hand, and has done most of the exploring. She keeps jumping around seemingly looking for a way out while the yellow one just cowers in the corner underneath the heat lamp. We lowered the lamp a little because we thought maybe she was just cold. 

Checking out the nesting boxes. I plan to put a some straw in there when I get it. I'm also going to put some golf balls in there when we get our ready-to-lay hens next month. I've read they think the balls look like eggs so it encourages them to lay there too. 

Construction Part 3: Coop Complete!

We had to work pretty late some nights to get this thing finished. This is the start of making the run on the left of the coop. 

My dad surprised us with a visit and came in pretty handy! We decided to make panels that lift like the front wall of the coop for easy cleaning. We lined the panels with 1/4 inch mesh to allow good air flow but pests shouldn't be able to get in. 

The long panel needed two locking mechanisms to keep it down tightly so nothing could squeeze its way in. The smaller panel and the door only have one lock each. 

Here you see the door between the coop and the run. We also put a locking mechanism on it to make sure the birds are safe if something does happen to get into the run. 

Mr. Construction found some black plastic to put over the plywood roof to keep it dry. We just stapled it in place. 

Here's the view from our deck. 

We put a little roost inside. I'm not sure if it's big enough for all the chickens. We might have to add another one later, but we'll see how this one goes. We put a heat lamp inside which will run off an extension cord from the house. We'll have to figure out a better set up later on, but this will do the trick for now. 

My dad gave us an old vent he had laying around so we put it up top. We used some caulking to seal the plastic around it so it shouldn't leak inside the coop. The roof hangs over the nesting box so the water can run off away from it. 

The final product! I'm really proud of this thing! We definitely spent more time and money than we originally planned, but I think it looks great. It fits in with the look of our yard and even though it's not perfect, it doesn't look bad. My wife even says it should be warm and dry enough that I can sleep in it when I'm supposed to be in the doghouse.

Construction Part 2

We are almost done! I had to put a tarp up since the weather has been pretty unpredictable and we haven't put the roof on yet.

We decided to insulate the coop because it can get pretty cold here in the winter and I don't have electricity running out to it (yet). I bought some plain white foam insulation and just put a layer of boards over top. The nesting box will be held up with the white brackets on the right side. 

We built the front so it lifts open on hinges so it's easy to clean. Right now we're going to use a board to hold it open but a friend suggested we use shocks that I could probably pick up cheap at the auto wrecker. My dad gave me some windows after he did renovations at home so we thought it would be good for extra light and ventilation. There's mesh on the inside to keep the birds from getting out and anything from getting in. We'll probably leave it closed while the chicks are young and open it up in the summer when it's warm and could use some air. 

Here is how we have the front propped up with a board. It's not the safest way, but we don't have children running around here so we'll look at safer options in the future. You can see on the left side where the chickens will access the run. The ramp can fold up so we can lock them inside at night to keep them warm and protect them from critters. We'll add a lock to it so they can't get out on their own. 

 Here's the coop with the front wall almost finished. Still no roof yet though!

We have started the coop!

After a long wait and finally getting good weather we have started building.


Me and Mr. Construction


A view from my deck. The chickens will have a 30 foot run in total. The dirt to the left will become grass and the pavers on the right cover 12 feet. You can see the coop being built on the right, about 16 square feet, which should be plenty of room for 4 hens. We are planning on building a gate to separate the grass from the rest of the run so that we can give it time to grow back. The hens will also be allowed to roam the backyard on occasion under supervision.


Staining the wood with linseed oil


Mr. Construction working hard


Working on the first wall


The first two walls are up! The nesting box will attach on the right side where the hole is.

The work took longer than I had anticipated but this is what we got done in two nights and a Saturday. There will be more pictures to come and hopefully my next post will show the finished coop.

Research.

Well I'm back from vacation and I didn't have any luck finding chicken nipples. However I am going to start work on the coop this coming up Saturday. But since I do not have much to update on I wanted to a post about the research I've done.

The local library has been a huge help! I've borrowed all the books they had on chickens and raising chickens, borrowing is also a lot cheaper than buying. I also have a few books I'm waiting on all about coop design, should be here soon!

Of the books I've read my favorites so far are:

Living with Chickens: Everything You Need to Know to Raise Your Own Backyard Flock

Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens, 3rd Edition

Both really good reads and extremely informative. Living with Chickens was easy to follow and everything was explained in layman's terms. Storey's Guide is a wealth of knowledge, easy to understand, and they even have a section about chicken communication and what their different sounds mean.

I also use Backyard Chickens a lot, there is tons of information there.

I learned that chickens are prone to cannibalism! If they are stressed, confined in a small space, or just bored they will peck at each other. During the life of a hen they will lay between 200-280 eggs and it takes 25 hours for the egg to be produced. If you want you can also get chicken diapers so you can bring your chickens inside. Not that I'm planning on doing this but hey, whatever floats your boat. There are different types of chickens: hybrids, purebreds, meat birds, egg layers, they also come in many different breeds and sizes. You will be surprised at what your research will turn up. It has been quite the learning curve for me.

Chicken nipples....

I am on two weeks vacation with my wife and we decided to go to Calgary to visit my parents. Being Calgary is an agricultural hub in Alberta I figure I would try to find some chicken nipples. I've tried a few places where I live but haven't been sucessful and I know you can oder them online from FramTek or other websites.

After a few hours and several painful calls to SHAW I managed to get the internet work for my parents, I started my search. I had a hard time finding anything. I found many sites with farm supplies, chicken supplies but nothing locally for "chicken nipples". I one place that was local Vencomatic North America, located just west of Calgary. I sent them an email asking if they had any poultry nipples but the email was returned as undeliverable. Disheartened I kept searching and eventually asked my Uncle. He suggested we try UFA. They have a store in Airdire, 613 Edmonton Trail NE, just North of Calgary. We stopped in to check it out. They had lots of chicken supplies but no nipples. The clerk gave me a catologue for Miller Hatcheries. They carry a large supply of poultry products and can also get chicks and starters from them! I've sent them an email and I am waiting to hear back from them. There were no nipples in their catalogue but the had a whole bunch of info about starting chicks, proper brooder setup and cleaning. It was all very interesting. I will wait to see what their email says but as it looks I will be ordering the nipples online.

I know there are waterers out there but from what I've read and seen on YouTube a system with nipples is easier to clean and maintain. This is what I had in mind, just a 5 gallon bucket with a few nipples in the bottom.