Chicken coop

DarkWeb

Well-Known Member
Might get old chickens at a auction. We've had lots of chickens...........you will grow to hate chickens. If you would rather convert that coop to a potting shed do it now.........lol check out backyardchickens.com also lots of other info out there from how much a chicken will eat in weight to how many btu's of heat they produce. Good info to have.
 

Dirk8==D~Diggler

Well-Known Member
Might get old chickens at a auction. We've had lots of chickens...........you will grow to hate chickens. If you would rather convert that coop to a potting shed do it now.........lol check out backyardchickens.com also lots of other info out there from how much a chicken will eat in weight to how many btu's of heat they produce. Good info to have.
I really hope they are entertaining, I honestly want them for that reason more than the eggs. What made you hate yours?
 

DarkWeb

Well-Known Member
I really hope they are entertaining, I honestly want them for that reason more than the eggs. What made you hate yours?
They fuck up your garden. They shit on everything. They attract everything from fox to raccoons to bear.......all want to kill them. Oh yeah hawks, fisher cats and local dogs like to eat them too. Did I mention they shit on everything? LOL try to fence them in! There's always one that gets out.


We had this one it's name was "stupid chicken" it was a Houdini..........it was gone for 18 days. Thought it was dead.....looked for it or the body.......found it laying on 18 eggs under a trailer. It was mid summer and the eggs where rotten the chicken looked really rough from not eating, it wasn't cool, I felt bad. Cleaned her up and put her back with the others. Then went to clean up the eggs. Ever see a egg rot in the heat? They explode! I'm not shittin you they explode nasty rotten eggs on you and every thing around. Super fun!

Oh and you'll learn the real meaning of "pecking order" they kill each other too.
 

Dirk8==D~Diggler

Well-Known Member
They fuck up your garden. They shit on everything. They attract everything from fox to raccoons to bear.......all want to kill them. Oh yeah hawks, fisher cats and local dogs like to eat them too. Did I mention they shit on everything? LOL try to fence them in! There's always one that gets out.


We had this one it's name was "stupid chicken" it was a Houdini..........it was gone for 18 days. Thought it was dead.....looked for it or the body.......found it laying on 18 eggs under a trailer. It was mid summer and the eggs where rotten the chicken looked really rough from not eating, it wasn't cool, I felt bad. Cleaned her up and put her back with the others. Then went to clean up the eggs. Ever see a egg rot in the heat? They explode! I'm not shittin you they explode nasty rotten eggs on you and every thing around. Super fun!

Oh and you'll learn the real meaning of "pecking order" they kill each other too.
Haha this killed me. So I guess putting the chicken pen adjacent to the garden was a bad idea. And I wondered how my 3 dogs were going to handle them...
 

DarkWeb

Well-Known Member
Yeah I mean if they escape they escape they don’t really have anywhere to go but around the barnyard. And I totally think they can eat kitchen scraps, might be wrong about that though
Hell yeah give them anything that you would think is healthy and you will have awesome eggs and great shit. Give them the egg shells back in the yard to peck at and in the feed (calcium)

Seriously they eat or shred with their feet everything. I wanted them for the compost......the shit. Awesome for your gardens!
 

Dirk8==D~Diggler

Well-Known Member
Hell yeah give them anything that you would think is healthy and you will have awesome eggs and great shit. Give them the egg shells back in the yard to peck at and in the feed (calcium)

Seriously they eat or shred with their feet everything. I wanted them for the compost......the shit. Awesome for your gardens!
Yup started building a composting shed also, would you grow MJ out of the chicken shit compost?
 

DarkWeb

Well-Known Member
Yup started building a composting shed also, would you grow MJ out of the chicken shit compost?
Fuck yeah I do! The compost is why I like birds....that was the biggest reward. But that shit is "hot" do not use it right away and you don't need much.

In my coop I use the "deep litter" approach. It's basically a compost pile in there. Lots of straw and hardwood shavings. Let the chickens shit in that for a while then turn in some new straw or shavings. Keep doing that cycle and in the early fall and late spring totally change out and start fresh. What I take out goes into a pile next to the coop. I mix all sorts of stuff in that pile. Let that sit but keep turning every few weeks. It takes at least a year of that. At least that's when it looked real good. Also the more straw you use in the coop the harder it is to turn over but it helps keep a good amount of air and not compact.

I live in a cold climate so that way worked best for me. Composting in the coop creates heat and keeps the stink down. Other good reasons but can't remember. Hope this helps.
 

Dirk8==D~Diggler

Well-Known Member
Fuck yeah I do! The compost is why I like birds....that was the biggest reward. But that shit is "hot" do not use it right away and you don't need much.

In my coop I use the "deep litter" approach. It's basically a compost pile in there. Lots of straw and hardwood shavings. Let the chickens shit in that for a while then turn in some new straw or shavings. Keep doing that cycle and in the early fall and late spring totally change out and start fresh. What I take out goes into a pile next to the coop. I mix all sorts of stuff in that pile. Let that sit but keep turning every few weeks. It takes at least a year of that. At least that's when it looked real good. Also the more straw you use in the coop the harder it is to turn over but it helps keep a good amount of air and not compact.

I live in a cold climate so that way worked best for me. Composting in the coop creates heat and keeps the stink down. Other good reasons but can't remember. Hope this helps.
How do you not use it right away? Wouldn’t you have to plant in it? Or do you re-pot into it?
 

DarkWeb

Well-Known Member
How do you not use it right away? Wouldn’t you have to plant in it? Or do you re-pot into it?
It becomes part of the compost. The compost will be used every year to replenish the garden beds or add to some sort of promix base soil for potted stuff. And I feel any fresh manure needs to be broken down, no matter what kind of animal it comes from.
 

Dirk8==D~Diggler

Well-Known Member
It becomes part of the compost. The compost will be used every year to replenish the garden beds or add to some sort of promix base soil for potted stuff. And I feel any fresh manure needs to be broken down, no matter what kind of animal it comes from.
oh I was under the impression you were growing Indoors and using the compost in pots under lights.
 

DarkWeb

Well-Known Member
oh I was under the impression you were growing Indoors and using the compost in pots under lights.
All of the above. I have used some in the mix indoors. I've grown many different ways over the years (dwc, f&d, in hydrotun. NFT. Soil, organic, inert) but where I'm now at I can loose power a lot so even indoor it's been mostly some sort of soil grow.
 

Bareback

Well-Known Member
It’s a cute coop but I’m not sure if it’s a great coop. Great coops need to be funkional not just funky.

nesting boxes on the side with outside access, think “ raise the roof “

high perches that don’t line up with anything underneath so the roosting chicken doesn’t shit on everything.

feed boxes/ troaphs with side access water bottles or nipples

Chicken runs to all elevated areas

only supplement light in the morning never in the evening and never use any kind of coated light bulbs

it must be trash panda proof/ snake proof

I have a friend with a three year old daughter that can walk up to and pick up any chicken they have, they really need to trust you and not be scared of you, so be gentle and sweet to them

ventilation is a chickens friend a tight coop will kill them

It’s really entertaining , about 20 minutes before they go in the grease......I like peanut oil plane flower salt pepper with a egg wash
 
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