who has chickens

Picked up some stuff from our friends' chicken coop. This is what it looks like.

Looks good!  Did they tell you how long it composted?

llama momma wrote:Looks good!  Did they tell you how long it composted?

Nope.  It wasn't really set aside and composted.  It was on the bottom of the caged in area about about 10 feet away from the coop "house". The chickens could have been scratching and pooping on the top layer even on the day I took it.  To be safe I probably should not use it on the veggie garden right away. I'll probably add some of it in the hot composting bin and stockpile the rest. After a few months it should be safe.  Having said that the people who gave it to us use it on their veggie garden without hesitation.

Probably has a lot of dirt mixed in with it from the pictures. Saw a video the guy just put his leaves, grass clipping and food scraps in his chicken run. Let the chickens sort through it for bugs and edibles They mulch the leaves for him while adding their own secret ingredient. He would take it out and use it immediately on his garden. Never seems to be any one the floor of my run but they make a mess in the coop. I just add it to my compost pile and let it cool off. My neighbor had a big pile of leaves by the street his son was supposed to bag for him but never did. His son should thank me for them disappearing. Needed some browns to cover my grass clippings. He has a huge pile in his back yard that needs to find it's way to my staging area or chicken run. He's already told me they would bag them and give them to me so he doesn't have to haul them off.

RC3291 wrote:Probably has a lot of dirt mixed in with it from the pictures. ...

Well whatever it is I'll use it somewhere in the garden and composters.  

15 days old and growing fast--

Cuties

I am wondering if it is time to turn the light off for mine.  I need to go out at midnight and see where they are sleeping.  We leave their crate door open all the time now so they have the run of the coop.  I might need to start picking htem up at night and putting htem on the roost.  I have not seen them try to roost yet.  Maybe they need a momma to show them.

Here are our new family additions. Some terrible, miserable, rotten scoundrel of a creature killed my last 6 ladies a month and a half ago. I do not know how it or them got into the coup, I built it VERY SECURELY, and have never had a raider able to get into the coup or run before.
But, moving on to a joyous event, say hi to our new (hopefully all girls) Ladies.

Cuties! Maybe they live long and prosper.

Turan wrote:Cuties

I am wondering if it is time to turn the light off for mine.  I need to go out at midnight and see where they are sleeping.  We leave their crate door open all the time now so they have the run of the coop.  I might need to start picking htem up at night and putting htem on the roost.  I have not seen them try to roost yet.  Maybe they need a momma to show them.

Have they roosted yet? Maybe they need a lower one to train on first??

Today is their 3 week old birthday --
Some of us have tail feathers and some of us are working on it !  They're housed in two totes for now, boy they sure love to run around in the new space.

Kind of an awkward feather and fuzz stage.

bigdogrock wrote:Here are our new family additions. Some terrible, miserable, rotten scoundrel of a creature killed my last 6 ladies a month and a half ago. I do not know how it or them got into the coup, I built it VERY SECURELY, and have never had a raider able to get into the coup or run before.
But, moving on to a joyous event, say hi to our new (hopefully all girls) Ladies.

Awww... So beautiful!  I hope all you folks with new babies will keep us updated on their progress with PHOTOS.

Bigdogrock
Your babies are adorable.  So sorry about the other ones.  Where did the break in occur?  Did they dig under or break in from the sides or come in over the top somewhere?   This scares me because I am reading everything I can to predator proof the run and coop. Driving my poor husband a bit crazy with this and the added expenses.  He said he is building Fort Knox for six chickens and feels like the biggest nincompoop this side of the Mississippi.

Mine has been bullet proof for 12 years. I used 1/2" hardware cloth, bolted everything down, put the hardware cloth 18" down below the surface and bent 6" out with broken glass on top of it then filled in with 6" of gravel and topped with the local soil. I had less than a quarter inch of space everywhere. Doorways are easy, self closing, and tight with strong latches. I have looked over everything to find where it/they came in. Maybe I left a door slightly ajar and when they exited it shut. I don't know. It has all the markings of an Ermine. Nasty little critters that kill all the chickens in a coop and then the only mark left is the back of the neck of the chicken. Horrible.
I would say my coup was good for about everything but a bear, and it would make too much noise to get away with it if I were here. I would be inviting the bear to dinner, if I heard it trying to get into the coup, if you know what I mean.
So tell your hubby that what he is doing is worth it, I wouldn't change a thing on how I built it. Now I have to go over it again with a fine tooth comb to see if I missed a spot.

Again I am so sorry for your loss. 
Nearly Everything you wrote on predator proofing is what we're doing here but going down 12 inches below soil and out 6 inches.  Five feet beyond the entire run is a secondary perimeter fence, again 12 inches down and 6 to 8 inches out.  The entire top covered with Hawkstopper, a type of netting.  Would appreciate your input if you know this product.  One seasoned poultry owner recommended it.  Also got 1/2 inch hardware all four perimeter sides. Very secure locks.   1/4 inch HW cloth screwed on coop windows.  I've heard of night guard, that mimics red eyes bleeping throughout the night and electrifying fences,  both may be a future purchase.  The entire 24 by 24 set up is also inside the llama pasture.  Llamas may or may not guard, its not a given from what I understand.  And if I hear a ruckus, I could dispose of the intruder rather quickly same method as you alluded to.

The feathered babies are adorable!  Pity the poor stupid predator that threatens these fine lasses!

Thanks!  They are so lively and entertaining. They get excited over everything. New dry leaves tossed in everyday and they peep like crazy,  run and scratch through it and even roll in it like it was a dust bath.  A few times  rolly polly bugs or a moth appears and they dispatch of it instantly. Weeds and herbs turn them into little maniacs too. Then poof they settle down and take a nap. Also put them back into a clean brooder, my goodness again they run around so excited. Everything is exciting to them, a lump of soil with weeds and grass attached, more fun scratching and pecking. Hang dandelions from the sides and its an all out shark-like feeding frenzy.  That lump of soil I mentioned before has more than once become a pillow for a sleeping chick.  They're so silly and cute. So much energy compared to my lazy cats and llamas.

Those chicks are adorable.  I'll be checking in to see how they are doing and how much they've grown.  Good for you.

Question
When the chicks are not ready for full time outdoors, but the brooder gets too tight, how have you expanded the brooder and what did you use for a lid?  Already today, I took off the lid to handle the chicks and surprise, one of the 23 day olds flapped up and was sitting on the edge of the brooder about 20 inches high. 
 Currently have two totes zip tied together with lids. But if I add the additional circular folding wall brooder, it doesn't have a lid, and its a couple of feet from one side to the other.
What could I use for a lid to contain the little smart alecks then, Lol  ??

I have an old 6'x2' water trough and  I lay a length of chicken fencing (with 1" holes) over the top with a couple cross braces and add a light weight to keep it in place.  The lamp sits on the wire in one corner where I put a cardboard box on its side facing the light.  That way they can cuddle under the light in the box for greatest warmth but also get away as needed. 

This year seeing as I was using a large dog crate for the brooder in the coop I just opened the door of the crate and closed all the doors in the coop.  A couple times I had to help them find warmth at night.  From there they graduated to me opening the door to the run during the day and not closed in at night.

Ok thanks Turan.  Think I will support the unstable folding sides with a couple little towers of cinder blocks.  Then do the top like you did with chicken wire and frame support with also and little bit of weight.   Thank you.  You got my rusty little brain wheels clicking.

Just came in from the garden so please ignore the pic of me but here's a picture of my favorite so far, Princess Laya.  She is 4 weeks and one day old and quickly became the tamest one so far. Totally relaxed here sitting on a towel.  She comes right over and hops up on my hand with no prodding from me. They are all moving into bigger garage real estate set up this afternoon.  It'll be fun to watch how excited they get. Everything new makes them so animated.

You and she are beautiful.

Thank you.  This little one is totally sweet and affectionate.

That is so cool LM. I  hope I can get there with my new chicks, I miss that. One time a long time ago, I was sitting in a comfy spot under a tree, with my feet on another chair.  I feel asleep and woke up with four chickens perching on my boots, one each on the toe, and one each on my laces. They were a friendly bunch of chickens, and good layers too.