What did you do with your flock today?

[kurby22]

Today I spent a few hours letting Fluff cuddle on the couch with me. He got a small bit of straight Corid and a few pieces of my tamale He seemed much better after spending the day on the couch with me while I worked. Was actually looking more perked up by bedtime and poop looked more normal. So fingers crossed.

We have another storm rolling through tonight and it was crazy windy this afternoon. I heard Eevee start his alarm honking and I went rushing out there and everyone was hiding in the coop except Eevee. So I started frantically looking for whatever had him all upset and looked up in the trees above the run…to see a Happy Birthday balloon stuck and crinkling in the wind So I went and sat in the run and everyone slowly left the coop with their heads tilted sideways to eye the big scary balloon. Poor chickens are so done with all this rain and wind and we are getting more next week!

 

[629864]

Oh wow @GoatsandGuineas that is terrific!! All the hard work is done and now you get to do a little shearing up and make it your own. Fabulous !!!
Is that 2 full runs I see? I'm fricken jealous. Your set up is awesome!
I know nothing about ex bats just glad you got them and you have a terrific philosophy. Poor girls, so glad they are home.

Thanks so much Trop! We have one fully-enclosed run. I know it's 16 wide (plus some change). I haven't measured length, but I'm guessing about 40ish feet long. It had rotten, broken, torn up chicken wire on the top and one side that had to be replaced before it could be used. The wood is in sketchy shape, but one needs a 2nd mortgage to pay for lumber right now. Eventually we want to fell some cedars and use those to replace the 4x4 posts. First now, I'm happy the ladies can roam freely and have a relatively safe and snug place to sleep.

I'm jealous of YOU for having a star fruit tree! I had citrus trees (lemon, grapefruit, clementine, limes...plus kumquat and limquat which arent technically speaking a citrus) for nearly 2 decades, so I often miss that climate.

 

[629864]

Today I spent a few hours letting Fluff cuddle on the couch with me. He got a small bit of straight Corid and a few pieces of my tamale He seemed much better after spending the day on the couch with me while I worked. Was actually looking more perked up by bedtime and poop looked more normal. So fingers crossed.

We have another storm rolling through tonight and it was crazy windy this afternoon. I heard Eevee start his alarm honking and I went rushing out there and everyone was hiding in the coop except Eevee. So I started frantically looking for whatever had him all upset and looked up in the trees above the run…to see a Happy Birthday balloon stuck and crinkling in the wind So I went and sat in the run and everyone slowly left the coop with their heads tilted sideways to eye the big scary balloon. Poor chickens are so done with all this rain and wind and we are getting more next week!

I'm so glad Fluff seems to be feeling better!

 

[TropicalBabies]

Did not get to button up the coop like I need to. It will be in the 70s tonight w/ no wind, don't know why I worry but I do.
Went and fed the horses instead and it was looking like a picture.

 

[629864]

And you had to go and show off your horses too They are BEAUTIFUL! We have a ewe, her nearly adult female lamb, a Spanish mix doe, and a mini Nigerian buck. The doe and lamb both win the...ehem... attention of the buck, but he's too little to "seal the deal". The girls just look at him like he's slightly annoying, but dont get too upset with him. I'm hoping for ducks and geese this coming year, but not sure I need more poop machines.

 

[pennyJo1960]

We spent the morning TV is dead so new 50 inch from best buy headed to pick it up see ya all late this afternoon

 

[ronott1]

Be careful! People get so stupid here in the rain. Add Christmas mania to that & its a recipe for disaster.

It was a rough trip home.

There was another storm last night and on the way to work there was a car whipping between traffic going over 70mph!

 

[ronott1]

So, lately I've been trying to add more junk to the enclosed run to make it more interesting for the birds as well as to cheat in some more square footage vertically. Anyhooo, about 3 weeks ago, one thing I added was an old (scrubbed out and disinfected thoroughly til it was like new) cat box with a lid that my cats had always been too afraid to use. View attachment 2928752
I figured maybe some of my stubborn ladies would hide together in there on cold nights. Unfortunately, in 3 weeks I've never once seen any bird go into or out of the thing. So, seeing as it was clearly a dud, this morning I decided to remove it. I'd put bedding in there and everything. First things first...remove the lid so as to remove and reuse the bedding...

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18 eggs!!! And the float test verified that not one was bad. My ladies crack me up.

Eggs are good for a long time!

 

[swamphiker]

I have been integrating my 9-week-old pullets with my adult hens. I started with "see but no touch" a few weeks ago and recently opened a hole between the two runs so that the new girls can go out into the rest of the run (but the big girls can't get into the baby run to beat up on the babies), but I still have two separate coops. Today when I opened up the coops, I discovered that two of the pullets had roosted with the big girls! What a pleasant surprise.

 

[ronott1]

During the daylight hours, the hens ALL hop up on the chain length fence, on the branches of bushes, chair arms, etc. I think they may have been bullied out of the best roosting spots each evening in their old life. So they got used to spending the night on the ground. The lady I got them from took in 300 chickens that day. She basically gave most of them away to people like me who'd take care of them and give them a better life.

I've measured the houses and roosts in each. Each house is 12×6, but with walls and all the roosts are shorter. In the chicken house, there are two roosts at different heights. Each is 5.5 feet long wall to wall. The roosts in the "guinea" house are 11.5 feet long, both at 4 foot height, but usable length shortened due to the makeshift nesting boxes I put in. They look a lot smaller than their real dimensions in photos, but below is pretty much the set up we have currently have.

First is the "chicken" house
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Next is the "guinea" house

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Next, the central chicken yard, enclosed with chain link around, but not covered. The tree stump is THE place to be, day and night, by all 35 chickens (older and younger).

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Finally, the enclosed run with junk added for interest. I have idea for adding more, but this is what I have so far.

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The chickens all get let out of the run and yard first thing in the morning and are shooed back in each evening. In between, they're free to roam anywhere they want in the enclosed 1 acre area surrounding our house. In the summer, they're allowed out further during the day, but right now, there are far too many hungry predators, so they get the one acre.

Will you write an article about the remodel work?