|
|
Post by Joey on Mar 3, 2024 18:35:02 GMT 10
We are ramping up our home food sources, mostly to help cut down on the uber expensive shopping trips to coles each week, so the missus has finally agreed that we will get a few chickens.
We don't have the space to allow for a chicken tractor, so a fixed coop will be the project.
Does anyone have suggestions for designs and or building materials suitable for something long term?
It'll be in the back corner of the yard that has a 3ft raised garden bed along the fence that can act as a sort of support base for the back of the coop and set the level for the raised nesting boxes allowing for a 2 level design.
We are thinking of maybe 3-4 hens so we are not overrun with eggs that we can't keep up with eating lol
Also what would be a suitable breed of chicken that is tolerant to hot summers and slightly cooler winters that produce tasty eggs?
Most of the DIY designs I've found on the internet are US based and I'm too lazy to sit down and convert imperial measurements to metric and most are also chicken mansions.
Bunnings has a decent looking one on their website in the DIY section, but it is a fairly involved build.
|
|
hd1340
Senior Member
Posts: 334 
Likes: 426
Location: WA
|
Post by hd1340 on Mar 3, 2024 18:44:33 GMT 10
Check your local council by laws too. A lot of them require chook pens to be at least 1metre from dividing fences. Busy body neighbour caused us quite a bit of grief in our previous house.
|
|
Tim Horton
Senior Member
Posts: 1,945
Likes: 1,996
|
Post by Tim Horton on Mar 4, 2024 2:52:39 GMT 10
|
|
malewithatail
VIP Member
Posts: 3,963
Likes: 1,380
Location: Northern Rivers NSW
|
Post by malewithatail on Mar 4, 2024 7:11:18 GMT 10
1) Don't use treated timber, chooks peck at everything and it will kill them and/or poison the eggs.
2) Hardwood's the go, choocks don't like things that are unsteady, make it solid.
3) An automatic waterer is a good idea.
4) Enough nest boxes, about 12 inches square, to discourage 2 birds from nesting in the same box.
5) Always feed outside to keep it disease free.
6) Get some cats to deal with the rodent issues that will come up in a fixed setup. Alternatively, a pet python !
7) Pack the nest boxes with lots of soft straw, chooks will fluff it around to suit themselves.
8) We have a removable lid over the nest boxes, set about 10 inches above them, to give privacy for broodies to sit and hatch eggs.
9) Try and use fine mesh to make it snake proof.
10 ) Make it high enough so you can stand up inside to clean it out easily without bending or belting your nut on the roof.
11) Our chooks are in trailers that we move every week or so to new ground, surrounded by electric chook fencing. Ive designed an solar powered automatic opening door system that opens the front door when the sun comes up and latches it in place. We manually close the doors after dark to check on them.
The backup's not over 'till the FAT table sings.
|
|
|
|
Post by ausprep130 on Mar 4, 2024 8:36:05 GMT 10
used to have a largish enclosed chicken coup on previous property. 4Mx3Mx2MH wood frame, corrugated roof and sides for nesting with a variety of shelving on the inside for nesting.
20m2 of grassy area enclosed in a 8ft high chain mesh fence partially dug into the ground. also laid steel mesh along the outside of the fence about 50mm underground to deter foxes when they tried to dig under the fence. over time the ground got so rock hard that foxes couldn't did it anyway,
also put chicken wire over the entire top to save chooks from eagles. but still had crows and magpies coming in the gate and through the coup door to steal eggs.
|
|
bug
Senior Member
Posts: 2,316
Likes: 1,934
Member is Online
|
Post by bug on Mar 4, 2024 8:38:03 GMT 10
Check your local council by laws too. A lot of them require chook pens to be at least 1metre from dividing fences. Busy body neighbour caused us quite a bit of grief in our previous house. Urghh. As a general rule, if you have chooks, neighbours get free eggs every now and then. Complaining neighbours get nothing. |
|
bug
Senior Member
Posts: 2,316
Likes: 1,934
Member is Online
|
Post by bug on Mar 4, 2024 8:41:10 GMT 10
We bought an off the shelf coop that was pretty good. Cost about $400 from memory. Walk in size and good fox proof wire. I did bury some reo mesh below the coop though to stop any nefarious foxes from digging their way in. Had the chooks for about 5 years and never lost one, despite seeing fox scat next to the coop twice.
|
|
|
|
Post by ausprep130 on Mar 4, 2024 13:17:36 GMT 10
you can generally hear when a fox is doing the rounds because the a dog start barking at one house, then the next, then the next and so on all the way around the fox's patch.
|
|
|
|
Post by Stealth on Mar 4, 2024 13:27:24 GMT 10
I haven't had chooks myself (at least, not since I was a little one) but I've watched a few vids of late because we do plan to get some eventually. This video seems to have some really great tips and I think I'll definitely use a lot of the suggestions in it.
My MIL's pen has a water spraying kit on it so that when it gets ridiculously hot, she can water her birds to cool them down. It's hilarious to watch, she'll walk over to the tap to turn it on and they all bunch up under the spray points and start dancing around. Very cute and funny. But if you want to have something like that it's obviously best to have a hose point or tap nearby to make use of. Seems a smart move anyway to assist with the deep cleans.
|
|
|
|
Post by ausprep130 on Mar 4, 2024 13:53:54 GMT 10
that was a great clip
|
|
|
|
Post by Joey on Mar 6, 2024 17:36:02 GMT 10
Nothing I can find in my local town laws regarding chickens or poultry. Our friends who own the house had a coop before we moved in in the same spot I want to build it.
What do you guys reckon is a good number of chickens for 4 of us in regards to eggs? I was thinking maybe 4 chooks should do the job.
I was thinking maybe the Australorp breed would be the hardiest variety for up my way.
Is it worth letting them roam the whole backyard to eat a few of the bugs on my veggies gardens every couple of arvos? or just keep them confined to the coop? I'll build a dual-level setup with a bit of a run area in front of it which will have a similar footprint in Size as the actual coop similar to the one in the video above.
|
|
|
|
Post by spinifex on Mar 6, 2024 19:58:05 GMT 10
I’ve tried a few breeds. Be cautious about getting birds from show breeders as they look great but are unproductive.
In SA we found it best to get isa browns from free range commercial farms. They are about 18 months old when the farms offload them, are friendly, hardy and stay productive for at least another 4 years. Also, unlike almost all other breeds they don’t go broody and off the lay.
I crossed them with a good Sussex rooster I got from a farm and got a couple of Pekin bantams to incubate their eggs and raise the chicks.
Fill nest boxes with sawdust and mix plenty of Sulfur into the top 2cm to keep the red mite under control.
Ive always been rural and never had issues with snakes. Crows won’t bother you if they can’t see the eggs from the entrance to the laying shelter. If they can just pop their head in the doorway and spot them … they will go inside and take them.
get a wormwood bush for them to peck at so they self medicate for worms.
|
|
|
|
Post by spinifex on Mar 6, 2024 20:08:50 GMT 10
Be careful letting them free-range. They will shred certain vegetables in minutes.
They do like eating all the fresh weeds from your garden if you throw them in the pen. Kitchen scraps same.
|
|
|
|
Post by Joey on Mar 6, 2024 20:21:18 GMT 10
There are no breeders around my area that I know of so I'll have to drive 200km to the big town to buy them probably. I'm thinking of getting younger hens so they grow up used to being around people from something I read.
I don't plan on getting a rooster so will just stick to collecting eggs.
You reckon the sawdust over straw?
Shell flakes and stones to suppliment the feed?
|
|
Tim Horton
Senior Member
Posts: 1,945
Likes: 1,996
|
Post by Tim Horton on Mar 7, 2024 6:59:45 GMT 10
Shell flakes and stones to supplement the feed?
Yes.... I could buy a small bag of crushed oyster shell and a small bag of mixed #1-#2 size grit to have available at all times.. It seemed about a one measuring cup scoop of each about every 10 days - 2 weeks seemed sufficient for up to about a dozen to 20 birds..
Many people grind and feed egg shells back to there flocks.. I never did as once you have had ..egg eaters.. they are hard to sort out and a needless loss compared to a couple bags of cheap grit.. My 5 cents of experience and opinion..
|
|
malewithatail
VIP Member
Posts: 3,963
Likes: 1,380
Location: Northern Rivers NSW
|
Post by malewithatail on Mar 7, 2024 7:35:34 GMT 10
Most of our chooks are Isa Browns, and they do sometimes go broody, but after a few days of being kicked off the nest boxes they give up. They don't sit very well. We also run rooster with the chooks, they like it and he also gives some form of protection to the hens if a snake or something is around they go off their brains. Getting youngsters is a good idea as they will grow up knowing who u are and become very tame. Although, they don't like me particularly as I'm the dude who kicks them out of the nest box and they get upset at that ! We do run them in garden areas, the gardens are actually built into old tractor tires with the the side cut out, and when we have something in that we don't want them to destroy, we put a hail netting over over the tire, supported with 1 1/2 inch poly pipe framing. We use the special chook electric fencing mesh and move them every few weeks in their trailer. Nest boxes have straw bedding, but the floor is sawdust, and makes very good compost for the garden when cleaned out every few weeks. All the paddocks we use are all meshed on this side of the wetlands, so it makes it hard for predators to get in and out, snakes excepted ! Jack, our dingo X dog goes ballistic if he smells anything like a fox or wild dog/cat etc.
A large bag of crushed shell is cheap from the local produce and bulk feed we keep in a plastic 44 gal drum with a close fitting lid.
I'm not nearly as think as confused I am. |
|
|
|
Post by spinifex on Mar 7, 2024 9:17:18 GMT 10
There are no breeders around my area that I know of so I'll have to drive 200km to the big town to buy them probably. I'm thinking of getting younger hens so they grow up used to being around people from something I read. I don't plan on getting a rooster so will just stick to collecting eggs. You reckon the sawdust over straw? Shell flakes and stones to suppliment the feed? It’s harder to do good Sulfur treatment with straw so red mite will become a problem eventually. other options that I have used and work well are dry sand and wheat husk from the local silos. consider using metal to make the laying shed/night house. Timber with cracks is a great harbour for red mite. id recommend next time you pass through a town where commercial horticulture happens for vegetables or grapes that you drop into rural supplies and buy a big bag of wettable sulfur. You can apply this stuff in a spray pack onto all timber work and nesting boxes for mite control. It is non toxic to everything except mites and fungi like powdery mildew. |
|
|
|
Post by spinifex on Mar 7, 2024 9:25:20 GMT 10
Isa hens are very productive so good feed is very important. Poor feed will see them bleach and then lose feathers, shells will be fragile etc
If buying feed go for a good quality layer pellet. If feeding grain then supplements such as kitchen scraps, weeds are a must.
Best source of calcium for them is to feed them their own finely crushed egg shells. Can also give she’ll grit or crushed cuttlebone if you live near a beach.
|
|
malewithatail
VIP Member
Posts: 3,963
Likes: 1,380
Location: Northern Rivers NSW
|
Post by malewithatail on Mar 7, 2024 11:12:09 GMT 10
We buy feed straight from the local feed mill, organic supposedly, not particularly cheap at $22.50 for 25 kg, but they do well on it and we are supporting a local business.
WTSHTF is gonna be interesting, looking at a crop of sunflowers to supplement their foraging as they need the protein. Soy also grows well up here.
I am just a few cards short of a deck
|
|
|
|
Post by Joey on Mar 8, 2024 21:10:16 GMT 10
There are no breeders around my area that I know of so I'll have to drive 200km to the big town to buy them probably. I'm thinking of getting younger hens so they grow up used to being around people from something I read. I don't plan on getting a rooster so will just stick to collecting eggs. You reckon the sawdust over straw? Shell flakes and stones to suppliment the feed? It’s harder to do good Sulfur treatment with straw so red mite will become a problem eventually. other options that I have used and work well are dry sand and wheat husk from the local silos. consider using metal to make the laying shed/night house. Timber with cracks is a great harbour for red mite. id recommend next time you pass through a town where commercial horticulture happens for vegetables or grapes that you drop into rural supplies and buy a big bag of wettable sulfur. You can apply this stuff in a spray pack onto all timber work and nesting boxes for mite control. It is non toxic to everything except mites and fungi like powdery mildew. That won't be an option u here where a typical summer day is around 43deg so the I'll come home to BBQ chooks. I see a few builds on youtube line the roost/laying box with vinyl flooring to make a sealed layer on the floor to help with easy cleanout and to avoid having to treat the floor, is this a viable option? |
|
