I have 8 New Family Members Living in My Garage! Need Chicken Advice

[jpbruni]

My wife and 2 boys decided to add 8 new members to our family and make owning chickens as even more pets to take care of! The boys wanted this to be their summer project. So now there are 8, 4 week old chicks in a big rubbermade container in my garage

I have been working in and out of town recently, so the boys built the entire hen house portion of the coop while I was gone. They researched, designed and built the whole thing without Dad. I was impressed. When I got back to town, we built the cedar frame for the Coop (thanks for the help lifting this thing up Bones!).

Sooo, we are 95% done and hopefully the chicks will be going into their new home tonight.

Any sage Chicken Raising advice from the TBH crew would be much appreciated. Lemme know what I am in for here. BTW, they are all egg laying hens. No rooster.

Here is a pic with more to come soon...

J.P.

[DorothyNotKeegan]

Cool looking house! I'd say make it cat/coon/possum proof!

[Legdog]

awesome structure!

so the birds are going to roam freely?

[jpbruni]

No, this was just the initial structure build from a couple of weeks ago. It is painted, metal roof, entire coop bottom will be chicken wired and hen house critter-proofed. Chicken wire goes on today! Lots more build pics coming soon.

J.P.

[TMC50]

Wow impressive on the boys part! looks good!

[Legdog]

awesome!

I have an "overly green with too much money" Cousin in Austin who buys exotic chickens on line just to amuse herself and her kids. They roam freely and suffer pretty heavy losses from hawks, falcons and coons. If anything, it has helped them undertand the whole predator prey relationship. I don't think she will ever support bowhunting, but at least she relates on some level now.

looking forward to more pics!

[deermount]

cool looking coop your boys did good on finding a neat design

[BrandonA]

Now that is a kick arse chicken Coop

[jpbruni]

Yup, Steven, we are in prime predator territory out here in Bee Cave! About 2 yrs ago, my wife had a bobcat take out a rabbit less than 10 feet from her car in our driveway! She watched the whole thing happen, standing there with her mouth wide open and a cup of coffee in her hand as she was headed out the door to go to work!

They are totally hand- tamed. All of them have names, they are all different types and colors. We take them out twice a day and let them run around in the yard and they do not run off and stay right there with us. We will only let them out of the coop while we are around, no free range. Heard too many stories of ring tailed cats and hawks already!

What else should I know about raising chickens??

J.P.

[simek]

There must be something in the hill country water that entices a man to raise fowl, because I too am constructing a coop, and have plans for a flock. My edifice is only one story, and not as rustic as yours, but, I hope, chicken worthy, none the less. Perhaps, toward the end of Spring, I will point my lead rooster east, and drive my herd of gallinas toward your house to increase the genetic diversity of my herd!

[jpbruni]

Now that is a kick arse chicken Coop

Thanks, but you ain't seen nothin' yet! Had no idea what I was walking into on this one! If there ever was a Pimp My Coop competition, we would be in the lead

J.P.

[muley4x4]

looks great. Keep us posted

[Gunswayne]

A good resource for chickens is backyardchickens.com.

[Froggy]

A good resource for chickens is backyardchickens.com.

Excellent advice. If you read everything on this site you can be a "Certified Chicken Scientist".

Here's a link to the automatic waterer I built using a toilet float valve for less than $5.00. Works great and you never have to worry about giving them water.

http://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=4655-Auto_Waterer

[Jaspro]

Feeding crushed oyster shells will add calcium and make the egg shells harder. Feeding cornmeal will give you a darker more flavorful yolk. Adding a light in the coop during winter months will give you an extra egg every other day.