This is an old twin bed frame that I think can make a good brooder, place for the smaller chicks once they get out of the temp stage to keep them till they mature a bit. I am starting from scratch here, I do have a coop just have to do a little remodeling. The goats decided they liked the 6X6 chicken coop better than 45 acres. ALL 20 of them.
L2G
I see a lot of potential there.
How are you doing the sides? Wire?
MollyD
Have not decided yet. If I could put the chicks straight outside once they get here would be ideal......average temp in mid 90's during day. By July will probably be in the trip digits. AND the chicks are NOT staying in my house. This is why I waited to get new chicks. I wanted the outside temps up there for them to be outside. I do have a barn/storage shed I could put them in a box or crate for a lil while if i need to. OMG TOWMBO will be happy about this. I just moved all my gardening things out there today while he was at work we will see how HE likes that.
I could put wire on and then at night put a tarp over the top to help keep heat in.?????They would still be able to get some air flow threw.
I don't know.
Maybe I shouldn't have ordered them yet.
Thanks for your reply
How about something solid over the wire around the bottom half. Then a tarp over the top at night. Maybe even a red light at night for the first week? By week two you might be able to get rid of the tarp and the light.
MollyD
That does sound like a good idea. Thanks
great idea! yes, looks just right for a hardware cloth floor, 1/4 inch if you can, keeps little racoon, mink, etc hands from getting your chicks... you could do half inch on the sides, then if you can get a mesh tarp they would get more air... i fnothing else a good old uqilt would do the trick, after all, thatIS a bed frame LOL
we are making two cages for DH polish. turns out it is the female that is plucking the males head, and he wants to show them, so time to separate them. we have an old shelf frame that we keeps using for this or that, not wanting to get rid of it, we both knew it was meant for SOEMTHING [well, i knew what!], & i finally had opportunity to move them out, need the pen for the chicks i am ordering.
02 goats in a 6x6 shed! so, are you throwing the goats out, or building a new chicken pen? not sure who TOWMBO is, but hurry and get it done before he gets home LOL.
did you get the crested special? see the more temptaion thread by Molly. you can't hatch them taht cheap!
tf
Yes I will do the hardware cloth. Old quilt sounds like a good idea that.
Nothing like a lost treasure to be once found for a purpose.
Oh gosh yea I threw them out and sold the lot. That was the final straw. They thought the chicken feed tasted better. Dont let anyone tell ya chicken feed is harmful to goats.
No just need to repair the fencing around the coop and make it a lil bigger and also make an "outside" pen. I cant have totally free range to many hawks and owls.
Only 7 chickens where in there before now I have 60 coming. I got the special run. I want the crested(they are so pretty) but I want EGGS. And lots of them. I dont want something I have to feed and they not provide something for me. EGGS. The more the better. Did I mention I want EGGS. I am so sick of paying the price for these eggs in the store.
Yea on the bed I have already mentioned in passing I want to "make" something out of it and bawked at me. So now I will ever so gently TELL him this is what I want done. GET-ER-DONE. Ok this is my dream.
yeah, DO IT!
i got bumped to July 9th on the crested. i understand the polish, crevocoers, sultans and houdans to be good layers, they just don't free range well cause they can't see!
so we will build them a pen, and show them and have eggs...
i want eggs too! i only have 21 hens that are of laying age, and i get 9 eggs a day when i am lucky!
tf
dang only 9 eggs a day they would be in the pot for me if i knew how to "pluck" them. Im gonna learn. I dont show so that is not a thing for me.
well, they are my precious chicks, and had a difficult first year of life.... so they are living on the full scholarship...
may be doing better now, got nine white eggs, and i ony have eight leghorns!
luvs2, instead of "plucking" you could always skin. That way you would also get rid of most of the fat that is so bad for you.
GG
Luvs2 I have Polish and they lay quite a bit. Nice round med. sized white eggs.
I ordered the surprise special. So I will be getting a variety. Which can be fun. I ordered 60 and my luck I will get 40 roosters and 20 hens lmao.
My present pen is red clay dirt, hard as a brick. Should I start putting something in there to help soften it up a bit. I have some old bermuda hay and some top soil mixed with steer manure(was hoping to use this for my seeds coming in soon. I also have about 7 more bags of cheap top soil that mind you, will only grow weeds. I have 2 1/2 weeks to work on this before my babies arrive and I will keep them in a make shift brooder for their first week or so in their new home.
In that 60 chicks and I get lucky and have say 40 hens I should keep 4 roosters???? In other words, I should have 1 rooster per 10 hens if I want fertile eggs? An idea just popped into my head. Find my good "sitters" and keep them separate from just my eating eggs.?????? If so that means building another coop. This is going to be soooooooooooooooo much fun.
I want to get some Guineas as well but I have to wait on that. DH does not like them that well. He says they are to noisy.
you will lvoe the guineas! DH will get used to them LOL...
i say throw in the cheap topsoil and let the weeds gorw, it will give them something ot do.
having a broody pen is a good idea too. you will find lots of answers buried in this forum....
I guess I am jumping the gun on the coop, i will get the brooder built myself this week. I need to get a staple gun and staples. I have chicken wire, or do I need to get hardware cloth. Also do I need to have a bottom on this brooder. I will be using old hay, that I started maters in and they are getting transfered to the garden today they are just not doing well in them. Or I can get some bark chips. Just not cedar right? I have the water jugs and the feeder trays, I will get the feed the day or so before I get the chicks along with what they need in their water. Anything else I need. Oh yea the light. What about the temps being in the high 90's to possible 100's will that be ok for them. They will be in the shade.
Thanks
Tia
This message was edited Jun 28, 2008 1:13 PM
given how warm it is I can't see a reason for a bottom. Tf do you know of one?
MollyD
Thanks Molly I was really hoping i didnt have to put a bottom on it. Easier to clean.
check with tf just in case there is something I haven't thought of. Shoot her a dmail and ask.
MollyD
I told hubby about the chicks, he now has a plan. We really had bad luck the last 3 times we ordered thru the mail. About 20 out of 100 came to me dead and then maybe about another 40 to 50 died after. But we only paid 19.99 for 100 plus shipping. You would have thought I would have learned the 2nd time. So the moral to this story he is not really expecting them to live. I told him I have my people.(like the tax commercial) He just rolled his eyes.
I asked him IF they all live will they fit in here. He said NO we will have to add on. Progress made there. He is brush hogging now to make more room. He sees outside the box.
He told me to make a box and we can put it in the barn for a week or so that way gives us time to get the coop ready. Gotta love him. I said I dont have electric in there. He said we will fix that. Gotta Love him. I am so EVIL, and he loves me. He just has to make me squirm.
Who did you order from? Mine came from Ideal. Out of 25 chicks, 2 geese and 4 ducks all I lost was 1 duck.
MollyD
Mine are Ideal this time before was like reich farms or something like that I can not find them on the net now.
Never heard of them. Good luck with this batch!
MollyD
Thanks
L2G, I also got mine from Ideal. 10 keets and 10 roos. The roos were sent to keep the keets warm in transit. I lost 1 keet the first day, and lost 1 roo today. Got them May 15th, so they are about 6 wks old now. The rooster I lost today looked like it had broken its neck. It couldn't lift it head this morning and its neck was all stretched out. I had DH put it down as it looked to be suffering and I figured we would lose it anyway. All the others are doing just fine.
GG
That is why I ordered from Ideal, all the raves and reviews from this group. I am more prepared this time around. So it shouldn't be to hard to keep them alive. Something hubby said, about feed its about 16 bucks a bag now. How much will 1 bird eat in the first 5 months of their life. Right now here laying hens are running about 12 bucks a piece. Will there be profit in them to sell the birds once they reach laying age. I know i can sell the eggs.
L2G.....hubby has sat here and read this whole thread and this is what he says.........make sure you are careful using old hay. Chicks can be very sensitive to dust and mold. They can stir it up and breath it in by scratching around in it. He says he has used old hay, but 1st has spread it around and let it lay in the sun for one day. It is nice to see you using what you have and I have found this interesting.
Danny.......typed by Christy : )
Granny.....DH says I've lost chickens that look like they have broken their necks and normally what I have found out after further investigation is chickens will lay with their all stretched and their chin and chest flat on the ground when they are having problems breathing. Could you see any sticky fluid inside it's mouth? Sorry for your loss.
Danny........typed by Christy
GG remember when I had those sick chicks? That's how they were. Laying on the ground with their heads down, couldn't move. They recovered after I treated them. Kept them warm, fed and watered. Took about 48 hrs for most of them.
MollyD
Christy, no, there wasn't any sticky fluid inside its mouth. It couldn't hold its head up at all. It didn't lay with its neck and nead stretched out, it was just laying there with its head right in front of its body. When I picked it up, its head and neck were just like a wet noodle.
Molly, this one could move except it could pick its head up and when I picked it up and put it back down it was trying to move, but all it did was kind of spin around backwards. I know it sounds cruel for me not to try to save it, but I have had chicks fly off roosts, hit something and break their neck or chest bones and survive a few days being unable to eat or drink or move. Rather then let it suffer, I had DH dispose of it humanely.
GG
Granny, I understand you did what you had to do. We have had the same situations. When we had the sick little poult turkey a week or so ago, it just got so sick we didn't want to see it suffer either and took care of it. Thank goodness for DH.......I might be more country than I am city now and I have no problem with any part of butchering, but I couldn't do it so he did.
My DH and I were just wondering what could have caused it and if it was a broken neck or some kind of sudden sickness. Just thought it would be nice to know in case it happens to us or someone else here. Sorry again that the little guy didn't make it.
Christy
I am a pack rat and I try to see what something can turn into. I just knew that bed frame would make something, at first I was going to make a raised garden "bed" out of it, then got the idea of a chicken tractor or brooder. I probably wont use the hay then, I can put it on the garden this fall when that is all done and tilled again.
He he he thanks Danny and Christy
L2g, like you, I am a pack rat. One of the things that I was able to do was to turn a couple of old refrigerators into raised (and I mean RAISED) gardens. I had DH drill a few holes in the back, filled them with dirt, and planted them. Since I can't bend over to work a regular or slightly raised garden, I am able to use these. I had strawberries in one, have since decided I don't need those too much, rhubarb in another, asparagus in a third, and am "heeling" potted plants for a plant sale next year (we had to cancel this years) in the fourth. These work really well for me.
GG
That is awesome Granny. I will look at something and think hmmmmmmmmmm what can I possibly do with that. Drives my DH insane. I have to lurk after him to make sure it does not make it into the burn pile or the trash. I even keep the glass out of broken picture frames. I also keep the picture frames. You just never know. He he he this topic might make a good new thread. What is the strangest thing you have pack ratted and what did u make with it. After all we are trying to recycle.
Tia
Heck, I don't remember what the strangest thing is outside of the fridges. Would have to rack my brain trying to remember, and it's tired today. I recycle jeans into tote bags and "cottage" throws, have used greeting card fronts for price tags on items for sale, things of that nature. But can't remember anything else. I am going to be making a couple chemo caps for a friend that is going through chemo right now.
GG
Wonderful. My mom is a pack rat also, she saves all plastic containers and paints them up for bird feeders and bird nests. I have about 6 or so out hanging in my garden as "scare crows" the keep the crows away from my corn. So far so good. Last year we had a family reunion out my moms and there was a contest going on, like guess how many jelly beans are in the jar, except it was guess how many things mom had hanging around her place. 172 things. Yes she counted. And all my male cousins tried to.
My Dh has 3 old tires in the back of his truck I was "eye balling" last night. He also has some riding lawn mower tires I am giving the eye to. I can hear his answer now, what in the heck do you wnat them for, and then see him roll his eyes.
Your welcome Tia.....I still can't believe DH sat down, read, and responded on this 'toy'! Hee, hee is right!
Neat reuse of fridges Granny! It's fantastic that you found a way that would work for you so you can still garden.
We too, are turning into pack rats. My DH has been tearing down an old 2 story house for
over 8 months now, that someone else wanted torn down.....for free, except for labor and gas to get there. We now have lumber, windows, doors, bricks.....all kinds of stuff to use in making little critter buildings. So far we have built a brooder house and a duck/goose house for about $100 in stuff we had to go buy, the rest has come from used materials. My DH said the buildings would have easily cost over $2,000 to build new, so we couldn't be more tickled.
Also, DH goes to auctions 1 or 2 times a month. Those seem to be good for getting 1-5 boxes of 'stuff' no one else wants to mess with for $1. When he gets home, we have a lot of fun standing around the truck bed looking and thinking up ways things can be reused. Thank goodness that he puts it all away and it is for the most part organized.
Tia....I think the title of your thread and the pic was what finally 'pulled' my DH in to finally take a look!
Here is a pic of the brooder house, it is not done in this pic. DH put 1/2 inch square wire over the windows and we still need to paint. I love the size of it.......we can use it as a brooder, or change it's use later if we need to.
that looks GREAT!
WOW now that is a brooder house. Could become a play house for that lil one also, BEWARE. Glad I could help with the getting Dh to the computer. Im getting closer with mine.
It looks fabulous! Can I get him to build me some goat shelters next? LOL
MollyD
Can you say PROGRESS. He made the bed frame into a nice chicken tractor, except its not on wheels. Nothing fancy but almost free, and very secure. Put my 7 month old yorkie/schnauzer puppie in with them and he sniffed of them and laid down and let them climb on him for a little while. We told him all afternoon that these were his babies and he had to guard them. Gonna start training him and only him for the chickens. We are going to put his food and water next to the coop.
The chicks went nuts when we put them in their new home. Feed and watered them, then went in and got some broken up boiled eggs. They went to hollering and running around jumping and dancing. Then I put in some worms. Oh boy the tug of war was on. We had so much fun sitting there unill dusk watching them play. Built them a ramp to get up to the roosts, they are not to sure about that yet, some did go up there and just sat down on the ramp. Will get the camera downloaded soon as I have another cup or two of coffee.
