pcgboca
Chirping
- Sep 12, 2023
- 31
- 151
- 64
Hello from Florida. New members Introducing ourselves. Tom and Babbs - new to chickens about 2 months ago.
It was not legal where I lived in South Florida and now we relocated to Central FL and we are allowed to have chickens! Yeah!
So we decided to try it not just for the eggs but the experience and overall having birds as pets was never a thing for me so who knew how rewarding it was going to be. If I knew I would have done it sooner.
You can see our Rural King Coop which was cheap. It's well made and does the job for our 4 birds. (For now) Chicken momma will want bigger soon.
I have also built a run attached by a walkway and so I needed 2 automatic doors to make the coop/run combo setup an easy one, This way I can lock the birds in the run, under the coop, in the coop, out of the coop = just bring the treats where ever and close the doors you want to block off the chicks so you can clean, etc..... They both open auto at 7AM and I look on camera to close them up at night to make sure and not squish any little chickies.
I can do it all remote via WI-FI which is slick but i do not trust the sensors and these chicks can move fast. So I shut the doors manually at night - no chicks left behind! I can use my phone or a remote.
So now the run was 2x4 frame, with 1/2 inch hardware cloth - got a 100' roll and worked out perfectly. Went to Home Depot for a prefab door and used a few branches for perches. I have a gravity feed cup watering system with a 2 gal food grade jug for now. Went with the Little Cluckers DIY feeder kit and have (2) of these no waste feeders which seem to be working out. (Blue ones) Put the run in a corner so I could use the fence as 2 walls of the run just had to cover them, dug under and put wire, etc.
Then there are the birds. Here is a night shot from above as they all sit up on the perchs I made them. I added the 2 bars above so they don't go in the nesting boxes. it worked, They are up there nightly. No training. I can monitor them from one of 2 cameras in the coop. Below you can see chicken Momma and the birds. Starlord is a Rhode Island Red, Rocket is a Easter Egger, Grute is a Dark Brahma, and finally Gamora is a light Brahma,
In closing I would say that if I knew how rewarding and beneficial it was having a flock of backyard chickens I would have done it years ago. Best move we ever made, now fingers crossed these girls grow up they are all girls and they start laying already.
It was not legal where I lived in South Florida and now we relocated to Central FL and we are allowed to have chickens! Yeah!
So we decided to try it not just for the eggs but the experience and overall having birds as pets was never a thing for me so who knew how rewarding it was going to be. If I knew I would have done it sooner.
You can see our Rural King Coop which was cheap. It's well made and does the job for our 4 birds. (For now) Chicken momma will want bigger soon.
I have also built a run attached by a walkway and so I needed 2 automatic doors to make the coop/run combo setup an easy one, This way I can lock the birds in the run, under the coop, in the coop, out of the coop = just bring the treats where ever and close the doors you want to block off the chicks so you can clean, etc..... They both open auto at 7AM and I look on camera to close them up at night to make sure and not squish any little chickies.
I can do it all remote via WI-FI which is slick but i do not trust the sensors and these chicks can move fast. So I shut the doors manually at night - no chicks left behind! I can use my phone or a remote.So now the run was 2x4 frame, with 1/2 inch hardware cloth - got a 100' roll and worked out perfectly. Went to Home Depot for a prefab door and used a few branches for perches. I have a gravity feed cup watering system with a 2 gal food grade jug for now. Went with the Little Cluckers DIY feeder kit and have (2) of these no waste feeders which seem to be working out. (Blue ones) Put the run in a corner so I could use the fence as 2 walls of the run just had to cover them, dug under and put wire, etc.
Then there are the birds. Here is a night shot from above as they all sit up on the perchs I made them. I added the 2 bars above so they don't go in the nesting boxes. it worked, They are up there nightly. No training. I can monitor them from one of 2 cameras in the coop. Below you can see chicken Momma and the birds. Starlord is a Rhode Island Red, Rocket is a Easter Egger, Grute is a Dark Brahma, and finally Gamora is a light Brahma,
In closing I would say that if I knew how rewarding and beneficial it was having a flock of backyard chickens I would have done it years ago. Best move we ever made, now fingers crossed these girls grow up they are all girls and they start laying already.
Glad you joined.
