all finished except the doors...
Hen Havens, Poopy Drawers, and other non-essentials
tf I've forgotten if you said but who are these pens for?
MollyD
better shot where you can see the wire... this isn't tall enough for me to stand up in, but ust right for climbing in those doors. incase i didn't mention, those are parts from metal bunk bed frames FREE... very sturdy... with a little extra on each side for storing feed containers, etc.
here is the first door. one side of the pen is a little bigger on purpose. one pen is [eventually] for the OEGs and the other for the standard polish... currently we have ALL bantams in there, and chuck. the barred rocks were on one side for a while before they moved out and i got more batnam babies...
i really like the way he used the router to make grooves for the hardware cloth. he did the same on the hen havens. he also put small wood trim around the edges of the front to keep the wire from getting bent off or catching on somebody's arm...
Molly, we crossed, but i may have just answered your question LOL
here is the final picture, before the feed containers, rian water barrels, and gutter rails...
also before i cleaned up the mess of tools and scraps and junk!
I may go looking for bunk beds to make goat pens with! I like that kind of creative thinking! ^_^
MollyD
it was finished before Easter, and i have kept it filled with chickens at various stages. each side has a whole in the cinderblock wall where they go inside to a hen haven! about the time the barred rocks learned to go in on their own, they were getting too big. so i got them moved to the old goat pen as soon as the goats were moved to the new pen, cleaned out the little pens he built here, i call them holding pens or breeding pens, and then moved out the next group of asst bantams from Welp hatchery.
so now we have 16 bantams on the right hand side. on the left are five bantam cochins, two standard polish, and Chuck.
today i saw the bantam Brahmas pecking at the polish's heads, so i tossed them out. they are for sale anyway ^_^
here is the start of the new goat pen. we had these larger pieces of metal bedframes left over, and thought they would be good and sturdy and difficult for the goats to climb [notice the rails run vertical] this is the south side. the west side is the horse pasture fence, and the east and north are t posts with chain link. yep, he put the fence on the OUTSIDE of the t posts, so it won't last the way they rub against it all the time. they already have it grazed down, so time to move them IMHO>..
yes, esp if poeple need a place to take/dump them, and they bring it to you because you have no pickup! we had thought about painting them all the same color, but if you are "going green" and want to reuse items while saving on materials, why buy paint?
eventually that whole drive to the horse pasture will have these frames on at least one side. we are planting berry bushes there.
of the three we planted last year, one survived. i think i need to beg DGers for cuttings. those plants were very expensive at the greenhouse...
Paul had the same problem with Buck. He had the fence on the outside of the post and Buck just pushed his way out. Not making that particular mistake with the goats!!!
MollyD
What kind of berries tf? We've got tons of raspberries here. They spread everywhere!!!! Runners. Goats I've been told love them.
How on earth did you get so many bed parts?
MollyD
here is the "old" goat barn wher the Plymouth Barred Rocks now live. I have since added a pallet for them to roost on, they didn't like the other roost, plus it blocks the wind while allowing fresh air. they also have a 5 gallon waterer and a five gallon feeder, and a red light bulb to remind them wher to go at night and add a bit of warmth [250 watt heat lamp hanging from a hook on the ciling]
DH built this last fall ffrom lumber we salvaged from old fencing. we have been salvaging wood fencing for quite some time, using the best parts for the fence between us and THAT neighbor...
the goats made the little door on the side LOL.
Looks good!
MollyD
we started collecting the bed parts year before last. i had one in my garden, and DH got the idea of a fence for raspberries. he is from New England and can't stand not having any!
we would love any kind. we have ONE raspberry plant! room for a ton LOL.
a lot of people around here prefer to recycle instead of dump. so we just put the word out through a few friends, and they keep straggling in. we have parts with arches and all kinds of other parts. some taller pieces and some smaller... it will be fun when we can spend more time on the "berry fence"...
here are the bantams enjoying the pen he built featured on this thread... i guess i could keep all his buildings on this thread...
the raspberry leaves are very good for the goats... years ago DH CLEARED land of thorny berries in Vermont. i know they can really take over up there. here our soil can be so alkaline, plus hard pan, it's not easy to get them started...
i am in the addy exchange, HINT HINT. is this a good time to plant? we are just past our frost date. still have some very cool nights and warm days...
This message was edited May 4, 2008 11:24 AM
here are the PBRs doing their chicken dance! it is always so cute, i refill the feeder every other day, and they just gather around like they haven't eaten in a month!!! with all those bars its a little psychadelic... as they have grown larger, so does their feeder.
since i put Brandywine in with them, the feeder has been moved to Jaco the Giants domain...
DH's current building project [so glad i finally caught up!]
the north chicken pen. mostly for the black chickens, Jersey Giants, Black Australorps, and Bantam Cochins. will be about 450 square feet. then there will be a small chicken door going in through the cinderblock, with a hen house that i can walk into from the inside... about half the size of the current hen house.
we are using approx the same idea as the first [south] pen. we didn't sink the fence as deep since it will be surrounded by breeding pens, a raised garden bed, and a brooder/greenhouse... eight foot 4x4 posts, 1" chicken wire, covered with heavy concrete fencing wire. a wire or mesh plastic roof [i would prefer a shade cloth]
the black chickens need extra shade all year, and Jaco isn't allowed out, he wants to boss my Buckeyes! but the hens will get to free range except during breeding season.
you can see the old goat barn and the new goat in the background. when this is finished, three pens like the ones featured above will be built on the east side. raised garden on the west for shading vines, gorund covers, etc. and maybe this fall we can start on the greenhouse that will be to the north. that will give a good windbreak, plus have a roof angled to the south for good lighting and solar heat inside...
doesn't look like much now, but...
now here it is a little later, with wire up. the gate faces north [but will be protected, and will open OUT.
thanks Molly for all your nice comments. i hope this gives other people lots of ideas.
i am so grateful for DH, i know without him i would have no pens, therefore no animals!!!
looking forward to everyone else's posts, comments, suggestions. i am done posting for now. gonna rest my shoulder before going to wrestle with a goat LOL
here is a pic of "Eggplant" our Black Australorp roo. his tail was pecked out by another roo who went to a new home. he is waiting in the brooder [just above those broody hens!] to go and visit a friend's chickens for the summer. he wants to cross with his award winning bantam RIRs. Martin made a joke when i told him the name. He said once he had some eggplant in his garden, the hens came by and read the tag, then went on strike, since they thought that was THEIR job!
happy reading everybody!
AH! forgot the picture...
Tf I will get a package out to you asap. It's always a great time to plant them here! Birds do it all the time there are berries LOL
MollyD
Molly, i will start digging holes, thank you! ^_^
thanks sue ;-)
tf I'll be sending them out May 10th since I have other packages going out that day ^_^ Enjoy!
MollyD
been busy!
these are from last week, wait till you see what he got done this weekend!!!
more info later,
tf
you don't have to wait long, this is from Friday. the rest of the pics are still on the camera...
we went Thursday back to a place where we hauled off old fencing. It was a freecycle arrangement. So we inquired about some chopped down trees. They called us back, and helped load it, about a cord of wood when it get processed! also, they let us have the bottom of the pickets they had cut down for their front fence....
which initially we were just going to use on the west and east end of the north pen. but it saved futon frames, hardware cloth, tie wire and countless work to use them between these three pens...
Wow, TF you and DH have been very busy! All
looks so homey and comfortable for all the animals.
DH got a chopsaw this spring, and although he has
done a couple projects (the quail cage is great!) I am
still waiting for us to get started on our hen's house
and run. All the 4x4's are in the ground, one for the
house part warped badly- don't know of we'll have
to pull that one out of the ground or 'cut and paste'
something to it.
I had a devil of a time trying to milk Hannah, our pygmy
cross- she's a big girl for her crossing, and had one
baby nanny for us, a boer/pygmy/something, also
a big girl. Hannah followed me to town one day, and
ended up being held for a couple weeks with a big boer
billy- I ran an add, and found her. She came home
knocked up! She didn't mind Noel nursing, but
you had better give her a tranq if I was going to try!
We run a strand of barbed wire at goat shoulder high
when we do any new fences, and this has kept the goats
off really well.
I hear you on the hard packed, alkaline soils. If it's not
rock around here, that's what we have. I started some
blackberries I got in a trade, and only have 3 of about
a dozen rooted cuttings. I've run 2x3 welded wire all the
way around them now that the goats found them. I had
to dig out a huge trench, and fill it with a bunch of organics
and horse poop, plus some dirt that I have 'growing'
under Sophie the horse's compost pile. They are doing
great now, but am told a goat will prune them to the ground,
so watch out. You and DH are primo recyclers, go ya'll!
goats LOVE those brambles but mine don't eat the branches, just the leaves.
MollyD
Mine tried to eat all of what I had. I was able to save
some of them.
thanks! so far have planted one that Molly sent[big thank you]. the rest are rooting. we want them to have good roots first becasue of our hard soil. the one rasperry that survived was pruned down good. but now both have cocacola crates over them for protection. once everything is palnted their will be a teepee of wire to protect them...
DH just came in to desecribe the yucca root he hit digging for the clothesline poles. i told him that is why they call it bear grass, he said he could think of another name for it LOL.
i have tons of new pictures, but no time for now. will get back with you all soon!
hugs
tf
Good luck with those! I've been cutting some raspberry branches and tossing them in for the goats. They go crazy for them! Next month we're fencing in a second field and the whole herd will move in there for a while before the girls move back to their own area. That's when the bucklings will get weaned. The new wether (should arrive sometime next week) named Sammy will live with the bucklings. The girls will be alone together till Millie's babies arrive this fall or I find the right puppies.
MollyD
well, it isn't completely my fault this took so long,. thinking he was meant to be an engineer.... kept on putting mor estability. good thing, since yesterday he had to climb on top to fasten down the tarp for shade...
OK, picking up where we left off, let's see....
HEre he has sides and fronts done, and i have the first coat of sealer on the wall...
trying out pen #3...
a closeup of the side braces going in. Pens 1/2 were closer to 45 degree angle, these are about 30 i think
this is where/how it all joins together. 4x4 landscape post [half], 2/4 wall with pickets, and two futon rails wrapped in hardware cloth, and bolted in...
this is where he gets it a little complicated [for me anyways]. he is making goo duse of all his tools and all our scrap lumber...
see, i have the wall done!
he is putting in center braces now to support the grid to hold the wire roof...
from the backside.... i am really glad he is making sure tey will be comfortable and nothing will have to be repaired later on, because I need him to be busy with OUR house lol
here they are crowded in pen #2...
and #1...
Niiiice, looks like the pen is working! LOL What
a cutie! I like the pen shape, reminds me of a
mini barn- is shade cloth all you have for their
shade? What percent is it? I really have to get my
butt out the door- day is not waiting for me!