tcreeley
Elite Member
Put some roosts in, they'll use them at night. We let ours out during the day when we are home. They go back in at the end of every day for the night on their own.
My Chicken Coop
- Thread starter EddieWalker
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EddieWalker
Epic Contributor
Finished off the roof just in time for a storm that is supposed to be here tomorrow. Karen is having a great time giving the birds treats and just watching them. She said she couldn't wait to get home just to hear them
Eddie
Eddie
Happy Gilmore
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Nicely done Eddie, looks great!
Eddie,
IF you cannot bury water to the coop (too much trouble, etc.) then I would suggest a 35-gallon Poly tank from either Tractor Supply or Southern States. It doesn't matter - they are the same tank from the same manufacturer. From there, attach a standard PVC ball valve between the tank and a 3/4" PVC union. The other side of the union (away from the tank), bridge to PEX tubing and fittings for everything until you reach one or more 3/4" PVC pipes with your drippers/drinkers attached (I use nipple drinkers, but whatever).
This is the setup I use for a couple of coops/hoops and also my remote pigs. Ten pigs take two tanks a day (one trip per day for the tractor) and the various birds take one tank every few days. I keep extra PVC parts around for breaks or whatnot, and the PEX fittings are so simple that after a 10 minute lesson, my wife was able to fix a few lines when a storm caused a broken branch to put the PEX lines close enough to the hogs that they chewed them for fun (I was out of town for a few days).
If you can bury (or just run above ground) then great. But for moving water, the PE tanks have been great for us for the last few years. We raise things in woodlots and it would be prohibitive for us to trench all the areas we use. Of course, this also means we radically shrink our mini-farm in the winter to avoid hard-freeze issues. I think you would avoid the worst of that in TX.
On Fox and Raccoon: just get used to them. Keep active in the areas the birds forage and maybe score a chance to drop one or two four-legged critters every now and then. But overall it's a matter of managing - not eliminating - the risk. Get more birds than you can name, and don't feel bad when nature calls your birds dinner. The kids get OK with it if you don't hide the truth - mine are 3 and 6 and at this point are pretty blase about finding a carcass, but will also give barefoot chase to a fox trying to get one of our birds. Chickens are cheap, so get a lot of them.
Good luck.
EDIT: So re-reading what I wrote, it sounds like we're unaffected by the raids on our birds. Not so. We hatched out 60 Muscovy duck this Spring and lost all but 24 of them to raiding animals - in two nights. Finding one dead bird is manageable, but coming out one morning and finding 10 missing 14 injured ducks and having to dispatch many of them by hand was not fun. Especially when you realize that the raiders didn't just take what they could eat - they stuck around and killed for fun. If the geese get upset at night, I head out with a .410 and a light. Haven't caught one yet, though. It's been real quiet lately and we've only lost one bird all summer. Winter is the worst.
IF you cannot bury water to the coop (too much trouble, etc.) then I would suggest a 35-gallon Poly tank from either Tractor Supply or Southern States. It doesn't matter - they are the same tank from the same manufacturer. From there, attach a standard PVC ball valve between the tank and a 3/4" PVC union. The other side of the union (away from the tank), bridge to PEX tubing and fittings for everything until you reach one or more 3/4" PVC pipes with your drippers/drinkers attached (I use nipple drinkers, but whatever).
This is the setup I use for a couple of coops/hoops and also my remote pigs. Ten pigs take two tanks a day (one trip per day for the tractor) and the various birds take one tank every few days. I keep extra PVC parts around for breaks or whatnot, and the PEX fittings are so simple that after a 10 minute lesson, my wife was able to fix a few lines when a storm caused a broken branch to put the PEX lines close enough to the hogs that they chewed them for fun (I was out of town for a few days).
If you can bury (or just run above ground) then great. But for moving water, the PE tanks have been great for us for the last few years. We raise things in woodlots and it would be prohibitive for us to trench all the areas we use. Of course, this also means we radically shrink our mini-farm in the winter to avoid hard-freeze issues. I think you would avoid the worst of that in TX.
On Fox and Raccoon: just get used to them. Keep active in the areas the birds forage and maybe score a chance to drop one or two four-legged critters every now and then. But overall it's a matter of managing - not eliminating - the risk. Get more birds than you can name, and don't feel bad when nature calls your birds dinner. The kids get OK with it if you don't hide the truth - mine are 3 and 6 and at this point are pretty blase about finding a carcass, but will also give barefoot chase to a fox trying to get one of our birds. Chickens are cheap, so get a lot of them.
Good luck.
EDIT: So re-reading what I wrote, it sounds like we're unaffected by the raids on our birds. Not so. We hatched out 60 Muscovy duck this Spring and lost all but 24 of them to raiding animals - in two nights. Finding one dead bird is manageable, but coming out one morning and finding 10 missing 14 injured ducks and having to dispatch many of them by hand was not fun. Especially when you realize that the raiders didn't just take what they could eat - they stuck around and killed for fun. If the geese get upset at night, I head out with a .410 and a light. Haven't caught one yet, though. It's been real quiet lately and we've only lost one bird all summer. Winter is the worst.
OP
EddieWalker
Epic Contributor
I have water running underground just ten feet from the pen and will be running a line to it sometime down the road. Same thing with electricity. Not sure if I want a dawn to dusk light, motion sensors or just put it on a light switch at my shop. I'll also add an outdoor outlet just outside the coop for no other reason then it might some day be useful.
Karen is loving the chickens and says she can't wait to get home and feed them, change their water and sit with them. A couple of them like to get on her lap, a few even seen to snuggle up to her neck when she picks them up. It makes me happy that she is so happy with them!!!!
Right now we are working on finishing the fence for our horse pasture, and then we need to build a shelter for them before I will have time to finish up the nesting boxes for the chickens. In my head, I think I have time for all this before winter hits. LOL
We have ducks out at the pond and seem to loose one every couple of months. Once the horse fence is done we will put a hot wire all the way around it with the hope it keeps coyotes and raccoons out. At least slow them down!!! The friends that are giving us the horses have also mentioned that they have some older ducks that are no longer laying and they would love to give them to us. Karen is all over that idea, so we'll be getting more ducks one of these days too.
I've shot half a dozen raccoons and a couple of possums this year with my pistol in one hand and the flashlight in the other. Funny how close you can get to them when hey are steeling dog food from the feeder. I also shot a couple of coyotes with my rifle while out hog hunting and during deer season last year. It's never ending, but we keep trying.
Eddie
Karen is loving the chickens and says she can't wait to get home and feed them, change their water and sit with them. A couple of them like to get on her lap, a few even seen to snuggle up to her neck when she picks them up. It makes me happy that she is so happy with them!!!!
Right now we are working on finishing the fence for our horse pasture, and then we need to build a shelter for them before I will have time to finish up the nesting boxes for the chickens. In my head, I think I have time for all this before winter hits. LOL
We have ducks out at the pond and seem to loose one every couple of months. Once the horse fence is done we will put a hot wire all the way around it with the hope it keeps coyotes and raccoons out. At least slow them down!!! The friends that are giving us the horses have also mentioned that they have some older ducks that are no longer laying and they would love to give them to us. Karen is all over that idea, so we'll be getting more ducks one of these days too.
I've shot half a dozen raccoons and a couple of possums this year with my pistol in one hand and the flashlight in the other. Funny how close you can get to them when hey are steeling dog food from the feeder. I also shot a couple of coyotes with my rifle while out hog hunting and during deer season last year. It's never ending, but we keep trying.
Eddie
The irony in trying to manage coons, possoms, foxes, and coyotes is that the best way to get rid of them is to remove their food supply. But that sets up a bit of circular logic, eh?
Yeah, when they are eating they are oblivious. We caught a few huge coons in the coop, and they didn't care about anything but finding food. They saw us and looked confused. By the time we got the shotgun, they got smart and left. That's why I do dawn/dusk work with the Mossberg in tow.
Which reminds me of a tractor project: quick-grab shotgun holder.
Yeah, when they are eating they are oblivious. We caught a few huge coons in the coop, and they didn't care about anything but finding food. They saw us and looked confused. By the time we got the shotgun, they got smart and left. That's why I do dawn/dusk work with the Mossberg in tow.
Which reminds me of a tractor project: quick-grab shotgun holder.
TnAndy
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Best way to keep chickens is fenced area during the day, and lock 'em tight at night. We use an automatic door on ours that opens in the morning and closes at night.
When we seem to have raccoons around, I set Conibear neck traps in a bucket or box set, and bait with sardines. Took 10 raccoons out one year.
When we seem to have raccoons around, I set Conibear neck traps in a bucket or box set, and bait with sardines. Took 10 raccoons out one year.
tallyho8
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Getting rid of raccoons is easy with a live trap. Last October I caught 24 by my barn in 30 nights and did not see another one around for 9 months. Now it is time to set up the trap again.
Raccoons follow the same pattern so if one eats your dog food one night he will be back the next night to eat it in the same place. This is where you set your trap with dog food in it. (or whatever else he was eating) A few small pieces outside the trap door encourages the coon to enter to eat the rest.
Catching possums is pretty much the same. Then you have the alternative of relocating them or dispatching them.
Raccoons follow the same pattern so if one eats your dog food one night he will be back the next night to eat it in the same place. This is where you set your trap with dog food in it. (or whatever else he was eating) A few small pieces outside the trap door encourages the coon to enter to eat the rest.
Catching possums is pretty much the same. Then you have the alternative of relocating them or dispatching them.
I tried the "large" live trap and never caught anything even though the baits kept disappearing. Then my brother-in-law caught three raccoons stalking one of the coops - he said they were the size of medium-sized dogs. They apparently were so big the traps just dropped on the back when they got the food, and they were able to back out no problem. We took a look at the XL size, and for the price were not too keen on experimenting with them.
The only thing my traps have ever caught was a Muscovy Drake. He looked a little confused but unfazed as I let him go.
Which is why I worry about the body traps. Those birds are all so curious I am sure I'd snag them up. But I gotta figure something out soon. Winter is bad. Owls, fox, raccoon, possum, eagles and hawks have all been witnessed here in a single month over the winter. We're the easiest grub in town, I guess. I might just have to lock them up all winter. Ugh. What a mess.
The only thing my traps have ever caught was a Muscovy Drake. He looked a little confused but unfazed as I let him go.
Which is why I worry about the body traps. Those birds are all so curious I am sure I'd snag them up. But I gotta figure something out soon. Winter is bad. Owls, fox, raccoon, possum, eagles and hawks have all been witnessed here in a single month over the winter. We're the easiest grub in town, I guess. I might just have to lock them up all winter. Ugh. What a mess.
sld
Veteran Member
I second the trapping concept. You would be very surprised at the large dent in predators you can make by doing a little trapping.
On some land my buddy has we increased the quail population greatly by trapping as many skunks, possums, coons and coyotes as we could.
It is actually a pretty fun hobby that doesn't take a ton of time once you get on top of it.
On some land my buddy has we increased the quail population greatly by trapping as many skunks, possums, coons and coyotes as we could.
It is actually a pretty fun hobby that doesn't take a ton of time once you get on top of it.