Best Posts in Thread: Cherry's Farm

Last ones for today

 

We have around 60 established chickens and another 100+ younger chickens. Once the roosters are culled and/or sold we should be looking at a total of 110 layers, give or take.

I actually figured 50 layers per coop based upon the square footage of the runs (one run at a time) and the number of nesting boxes. I realize there is quite a bit more area when you figure in the main coop and walkway and that the chickens will utilize all during the course of the day. I would probably feel OK going up to 60 but think 50 should make for happier chickens.

We have an area where we are free ranging all the chickens and a few turkeys at the moment, so I will impress upon the wife to keep anything over 50 in that area until the next coop is built. I do want to utilize that area, once the next coop is built, for veggies. Eventually it will be for my aquaponics, seed starting, vermicomposting and various outbuildings.

75 or so native chickens for meat is bouncing around in my head as well, I realize grow out is around 3 1/2 months compared to 60 days for broilers and are much smaller, but the family says they taste better. I can probably be talked out of it, but my thought process at the moment and think the coop design should work equally well.

I'm also thinking about a design for some quail pens, want to keep them on the ground instead of raised cages. I'm thinking concrete pad with a structure as well as a run so they can enjoy some grass. I need to sort out exactly how many quail you can raise together in a pen. I've found info on square foot per bird and rooster to hen ratio, but nothing so far on how many. My plan at some point will be to have around 150 quail for eggs. Love quail eggs, not as impressed with the meat.

As I've mentioned before, this farm is going to take years to get fully going, so things can and probably will change as we figure things out.

I do appreciate the comments and PM's; I've always been a gardener, but a farm is a completely different endeavor, especially with the introduction of animals.

Shawn

 

Yes, I'm a big fan of solignum.

Shawn

 

The coop is starting to come together. Hoping to have chickens in the coop in the next couple of weeks.

Shawn

 

A few more

 

A couple pics from today...still a lot of work but it is nice to see things starting to come together.

Shawn

 

Here are some pics from the coop progress yesterday (5/30).

Shawn

 

Very cool, looks like an excellent plan hope it works out well

 

Hello all...here are a couple pics on the chicken coop progress. First off, this is not my design entirely, I searched and searched for different ideas and put this together with the thought towards local materials and construction.

The total area is 44'X44'; the main coop is 20'X20', which includes a storage area, roosts and nesting boxes. There is a 4' wide walkway and then we get to the 4 chicken runs. The runs are 8'X36'. The plan is to have the chickens roaming the main coop, the walkways and then 1 run. We will rotate the runs per week, replanting clover or another cover crop. The main coop will be filled with rice hulls, replenished as needed. Hopefully it will be a twice a year op to clean it out and compost. The walkway is concrete so clean-up should be relatively easy.

The main coop will have corrugated siding on the bottom portion, then the green plastic chicken "wire" up to the roof. The runs will be cyclone wire attached to the GI pipe.

Eventually we want to have 6 of these, with each supporting 50 layers. After this first one is completed, and the chickens are in; we will give it a month or so before we start on the next one (will be moving dirt and other prep for the next one). We want to see if there are any issues and/or improvements to be made before we move forward with the second one.

Shawn

 

And a few more