The chicken coop is finished (pic heavy)

[Raymond]

Wow,you have made a nice chicken coop there Tara. You should be into construction business. Man those there birds are living in style also. I like your idea for the clean out door, great idea. Looking good.
Raymond

[Limbs and Sticks]

Maybe use the solar some how to keep the water from freezing , don't know if it can be done

Wes

[one shot scott]

Tara, that is by far one of the nicest coops ive seen in a long time. Great work!

[Crispy]

Tara,

My parents had all kinds of birds years ago, quail,peacocks,ducks,chickens and a few differnt types of pheasants. It didnt take long before the pheasants got ther own coup and it wasnt long after that the goldens killed the silver and regular pheasants, not to mention what they did to the quail. As they got older "breeding" the males would almost kill the females. Maybe it was a fluke, but keep an eye on them just the same.

They lost more then one bird to weasles, coons, fox and even cats. Sounds like you have a pretty good alarm system though lol.

I'd have to ask my dad, not sure of the name. They had chickens that would lay GREEN EGGS! They were only green on the outside and tasted like any other egg. It was neat to give friends a dozen green eggs and have them look at you funny.

If I can be of any more help just let me know.

[bugs]

Oh my better watch those Goldens I actually read one male is best with up to 8 hens so maybe that is why, plenty of breeding to be done and at least one of them wont have a headache

I used to have a chicken that laid green eggs, she was quite a hit but I never knew the name of her breed. I waited 2 months with no eggs and I had never owned a chicken before - Easter Sunday I find a green egg in the nesting box and I was sure my ex played a joke on me. He insisted he didnt so I called a friend who knew a bit about farming and she had just read an article about chickens that laid coloured eggs. I know there are 3 breeds that do, one is the Americana (the rooster in the pic is one and I have a hen too) and another breed is called an Eater Egger although not a registered breed and I cant recal the third.

[Ont_Excal]

Very nice building for your poultry menagerie. I'm sure they will be very happy in their new home. Below I've included some suggestions for your birds safety.



First thing to address is the grass right adjacent to the pen and coop. You should have a 3 foot buffer all the way around the building that is clear of grass. Patio tiles or just gravel will work. Rodents fear crossing open space where a bird of prey or cat may make a meal of them. Also a good idea to cut tall grass along the fence.

The chicken wire or hardware cloth shouldn't just go to the ground. There should be chicken wire buried at least a foot into the ground and sloping away from the pen. Not likely anything would dig deeper than that. I would staple 1/2 inch hardware cloth to the underside of the floor of the building as well. Mice will want to take up residence in with the birds as well. If they can get in then others will follow.




A cheap source of roosting material is 3/4" to 1 1/4" branches cut from any tree. Easy to work with while green and provide better perches than kiln dried lumber. Put a thermometer inside the building and monitor. You may need more ventilation.

The Golden Pheasant Chicks


The pheasants are very territorial once they get to breeding age. Pheasant farms put blinders or whats called glasses on the birds so they can only see down to forage. They don't fight what they don't see. These you should be able to get at your local Co-op or TSC store.

As far as egg colour goes, you can have any colour you want. All you do is add food colouring to their feed.

Keep us posted on this new adventure.

[Limbs and Sticks]

The Easter egg chicken is the ARAUCANA, this one is a pure breed got it's own forum and everything, you got some good advice from Ont Excal, I've got 40 chickens and I lock mine in fort knox at night, thought about elect fence at night only. Going to be a sign

Wes

[Ont_Excal]

I have only seen one fox which was 5 km up the road and that was 16 years ago, I have never seen one around the house or out in the woods nor any sign of one. Actually in all the years I have lived there I usually only have bunnies, snakes, rats and muskrats. I have only seen 2 racoons, one opossum, 2 skunks, 2 weasels, 2 squirrels. Most live back in the woods where they should be. When I had my old coop I had a problem with a weasel and rats. Lucky for my Chester is not a fan of critters and bays anytime he sees so much as a cat in my yard. Prepared to quickly unlock the .22 if needed.

I still need a good idea for keeping water from freezing in the winter.

I raised pigeons as a kid and helped dad with the rabbits, chickens and pigs. None of these were my pets but they all knew me well enough to allow petting and eat out of my hand. I never made pet attachments because they were my future table fare.

All the varmints you listed above will all show up at some point when you keep animals and it won't be during the day when you are watching. The worst by far are weasels. They can fit through the same sized hole as a mouse.

The only way I know of to keep water from freezing is an electric heater. I put a bird bath out all winter for the birds and it has a small heater built in. Only on during the day and hardly notice it on my bill.

[bugs]

Thanks for the tips. I didnt bother doing the fence underground because I figured they would be in at night and the coop was raised coop but after I read some more I realzie I should have. I think I am just lucky with predators because the dogs freak if they see one but weasals are silent and slick! I can hear the rooster from my room. But I read about using gravel and thought between that and wire it would be great for pheasant. I have 2 other roosts that are old shovel handles, 1 x3 was just put in as extra. Only my hen uses the little roosts anyway the others like the rafters

Araucana thats it! I have been calling the Americana I didnt know about the food colouring thing

[Limbs and Sticks]

Hey Bugs americana is right also damn near the same, look them up

Wes

[Ont_Excal]

Thanks for the tips. I didn't bother doing the fence underground because I figured they would be in at night and the coop was raised coop but after I read some more I realize I should have. I think I am just lucky with predators because the dogs freak if they see one but weasels are silent and slick! I can hear the rooster from my room. But I read about using gravel and thought between that and wire it would be great for pheasant. I have 2 other roosts that are old shovel handles, 1 x3 was just put in as extra. Only my hen uses the little roosts anyway the others like the rafters

Araucana that's it! I have been calling the Americana I didn't know about the food colouring thing

All of us have to work and can't be around all the time for protection.
Next time you're at the beach grab a small bag of sand. All the birds require this for grinding food in their gizzard. Just throw out a handful once in a while.
Don't be afraid to loose feed them on the ground as well.

I see you use shavings on the floor inside. I prefer straw. It's a better insulator and composts easier in the garden. I like it better in the nest boxes as well. Chickens in the wild would use grasses and twigs.

They may prefer the rafters because it's warmer up there on cool mornings and evenings or it's closer to windows so they can look out.

Those old shovel handles should be roughed up with a wood rasp so the birds get an easier grip. They will be sleeping on them and nobody likes to fall out of bed.

[Normous]

I learned a lot from this thead from Ont_Ex.

[bugs]

I learned a lot from this thead from Ont_Ex.

Me too I used to use straw and switched to shavings this time. When I clean the coop I will go across the rd and buy some straw. The floor is well insulated but straw is much better for the garden. They have oyster shells and I do scatter feed on the ground so they can scratch but will grab sand as well. I will check the perches, they were very old (40 yrs) and well worn but I had no clue they couldnt be smooth regardless

I had looked up the coloured layers previously and there is the Americana, The Aracauna and the Easter Egger but mine is the Aracuana. I thought It was a young Americana but as his spurs are growing his tail is not and Aracaunas have no tail. I have a book that says Aracuanas have a prolific tail and apparently the seller had the same book because prolific in that book must mean unique

[DaGriz]

Couldn't tell if the top of your pen is also covered with chicken fence. If not you might want to do that as hawks and owls absolutely love chicken for dinner. The suggestion of buried fence is absolutely spot on. Skunks, possums, coyotes , raccoons, etc will tunnel under the fence. Weasels are impossible to stop as they can get through a opening smaller than a quarter.

Guinea's are great watch dogs of the fowl family. I' always keep several and they let me know when anything out of the ordinary is around. day or night. They are terrific for letting you know if something is trying to get in the pen or coop. They also are instant death on snakes!

[Tom]

I still need a good idea for keeping water from freezing in the winter.

When my Beagle was still alive I had purchased a heated water bucket. It worked great and did not cost much to operate. I had actually called the local hydro and gave them the details on the heater and they told me that if the heater was to work all the time (24/7) it would only cost about 2-3 dollars a month but the unit had a thermostat so it cost less then that. I figured that fresh warm water every morning and night would cost more.

I have seen heated water buckets at both Princess Auto and TSC. They usually come on sale in the fall (Aug, Sept).

Hope this helps and great job on your coop.

Tom