Fatjay picks up chicks!

[EddieWalker]

The chickens are going to really enjoy the grass. They will eat it and scratch at it. For a while it will look great, then it will start to open up and then one day, all of a sudden, it will be gone.

For landscape timbers, or any type of board, I drill a half inch hole though it and then hammer 3/8's rebar through it into the ground. A 2 foot piece of rebar, every 4 feet will lock it to the ground. If I'm doing more then one row of lumber, I used my Ground Rod attachment on my SDS Max to drive them in, and then finish them off with a hammer.

 

[bandc07]

Looks great we got chickens last year for our sons 4H project and we all still really enjoy them. We got an automatic door to open/close dawn/dusk. I would highly recomend one to make taking care of them a little easier. I also love gadgets and put a security camera in the coop and one in the run. So when we're at work we can still check on them.

 

[dodge man]

Sorry, no longer a chicken coop. It looks like a mother in law guest house now. It’s too nice for chickens.

 

[fatjay]

The chickens are going to really enjoy the grass. They will eat it and scratch at it. For a while it will look great, then it will start to open up and then one day, all of a sudden, it will be gone.

For landscape timbers, or any type of board, I drill a half inch hole though it and then hammer 3/8's rebar through it into the ground. A 2 foot piece of rebar, every 4 feet will lock it to the ground. If I'm doing more then one row of lumber, I used my Ground Rod attachment on my SDS Max to drive them in, and then finish them off with a hammer.

That's exactly what I did with the landscape timbers, drilled a slightly to small hole and hammered rebar through it. I wanted a nice edge I can mow and weedwack against as well. I just use a 3lb sledge, no fancy attachments

 

[fatjay]

Looks great we got chickens last year for our sons 4H project and we all still really enjoy them. We got an automatic door to open/close dawn/dusk. I would highly recomend one to make taking care of them a little easier. I also love gadgets and put a security camera in the coop and one in the run. So when we're at work we can still check on them.

I'll be running power and cat6 to it, I have a PoE camera system in place, so I think I'll run 3 wires, 2 inside the coop and 1 in the run.

I also have the automatic chicken door as well.

https://www.amazon.com/RUN-CHICKEN-T50-Special-Automatic-Aluminum/dp/B097CN7QSD/

 

[fatjay]

Dug the post holes and framed, got all the ground ties in, got the cage around the bottom of the coop. Got the doors on the egg boxes. I put a spring on the door so it wouldn't fall open, and it worked great. Got chicken wire cut for the eves.

https://imgur.com/N5hzKge

 

[EddieWalker]

Are you going to put a roof over the run? If they are happy, they will stay inside. If one of them starts to get bullied, it will fly out.

Inside the coop, you need branches for them to sleep on.

You'll find they usually lay their eggs in the same nesting box, or just a couple of the boxes. They will squish in with each other into one box while the other boxes are empty.

Make sure their water is off the ground so they cannot stand on it. They will poop in their water if they can. We used to hang our waterers from a wire from the roof to stop this, but it's such a pain that we stopped giving them water, and they all have to walk to the pond for water. It's not very far for them, but it sure did save us from a never ending issue.

They also like to poop in their food if they can stand on the feeder. We have one feeder hanging from a wire so it's about 6 inches off of the ground. The other is on a log that's about 8 inches tall. But most of their food is just spread in a line on the ground. This is what they go for first.

 

[fatjay]

I am lining the floor with linoleum flooring, i need to get that down before the perches. I have a few shepherds hooks that I'll use to hang food and water from. I'm putting welded wire above the pen closest to the coop, and bird netting on the other end.

 

[fatjay]

Started off the day with linoleum. Picked up a 8x12' roll for $45, lined up a 2x4 at 8', and cut it. Rolled it up and headed out to the coop. Spread it out and cut the studs out, glued the edges and put bricks on them.

Finished the fence around the bottom of the coop, put the trim on to secure it. Got the gate built and secured and mounted. Got 2 rows of the top cage secured.

Finished stapling the chicken wire over the eaves. At the end of the day, the electric stapler was about all I could hold in my hands.

All that's left is the latch on the gate door, the perches inside, and the bird netting over the rest.

 

[fatjay]

Move in day! Not quite complete but everything needed for the chicks are good. They need to be locked in the new coop for 3 days to become familiar and learn where home is.

Still have a bit of work to do but wanted to get them out there.

https://imgur.com/qvuYsZd