There’s a peep.. Cookie is going to be a mum

June 27, 2010 · Filed under Back Yard Chicken, Broody hatch out chicks, Broody Sussex, Chicks peeping · Tagged , , ,

THERE’S A PEEP…

I open the broody’s box this morning to give it a little pet, like I do every morning.. she has been such a good broody..
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apart from her usual funny sound, I heard something else… little chirping echoing her ‘bok bok’… not sure I heard it right because the chicks are not due to hatch until tomorrow… and I understand, with the colder weather it might take longer for them to hatch..

I took an egg from under her and I can feel movement, and I put the egg next to my ears and I can hear ‘CHIRPING’ :chicks: :chicks: I quickly run into the house and get my boys and I pass the eggs around and let them the sound coming out of the eggs.. you should see the little one’s face.. it is amazing..

When I put the egg back under mum, I expose another egg under her chest and guess what I see
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peeping… and we can even see the little beak coming through the hole.. this is so exiting..

This is the first time ever I seen an chick peeping out of an egg.. the boys seen it a couple of time thanks to the kindy’s hatchling program.. but this is the first time they see it hatch under a broody.. like nature intended..

So excited.. :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: quickly checked 4 more eggs, one got a little peep but not as big as the first one and the rest are chirping away.. I am going to leave mum in peace now to hatch out those eggs :chicks: :chicks: :chicks:

It was a close call, as you are not suppose to interrupt a broody mum at the last couple days of the hatch.. because you don’t want them to go off their broodiness at the last minutes and risk having the chicks dying in the shell…

Guess what I did just last night and this morning (before the discovery)…

I moved her out of the nest she was sitting on, as it was a basin with high side and move them to a bed of straw just last night so that the chicks can get back to mum when they venture out after the hatch.. the high side of the basin can prevent chicks going back to mum for warmth and may freeze to death..

I also took mum out of the nest for food and drink and let her stretch her wing and relief herself just this morning.. I want her to get ready for the hatch tomorrow morning, did not realise I was off with my calculation.. think it was luck that mum did not go off her broodiness and happily settle into the new nest I made her.:shock:

Actually.. I did not really miscalculate.. I set the eggs on Monday night… and that would be Day 0, so it is only Day 19 or 20 today..  what a clever mum..

I am so excited.. can’t wait to see the actual chicks peeping out of mum’s.. I feel like a proud grandma..

Until next time.. happy chirping :chicks:

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Setting eggs under Cookie the Broody

June 7, 2010 · Filed under Back Yard Chicken · Tagged , , , ,

Went to pick up the fertile eggs yesterday, 2.5 hrs round trip but worth the drive..

I move Cookie to her new home after dark, I dust her and the new home with Pestene..

I think it took her a few moment to realise what just happen, because she just sat there and let me do what I like and let me move her to the new nest.. I lock her in the pen and proceed to fill the water bottle for the other chooks… When I come back with the filled bottle, I found Cookie off her nest… pacing the pen, trying to get out and back to her old nest..

I took me a couple of go, putting the nest in different position in the pen hoping for her to settle again with not much luck :hmmm:.

What I end up doing, is put the nest in the darkest corner in the pen, leave her pacing the pen and turn off all the light in the yard..

I went back to the house and peek through the blind… So tempted to go out there and set her back on the nest… but OH kept me in the house away from the window :|

15 mins later, the first chance I can get away from OH and peak through the blind again… I want to scream and jump up and down with joy… Cookie is back sitting on her nest..

After work today, come home and check on Cookie before I even get in the house.. Like a good broody that she is.. sitting tight on her nest…

I just stick 10 fertile eggs under Cookie, as before she just ‘wiggle’ her chest and take them all in.. success :thumbs:

just a picture of Cookie sitting tight on the nest in her temp home.. :woot:
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I am going to find out, how soon I can candle the egg, I need to do this to made sure the eggs are indeed fertile and ‘developing’.. I think people normally do it around day 10.. so will find out and keep you posted.

The eggs will take a few hours to warm up, so I will count tomorrow as Day 1, and day 10 should be Thursday the 17th June and if all goes well, the babies should be hatch around Day 21 and that would be Monday 28th June.

Another thing I have notice.. Cookie’s wattle and comb have shrunk.. they are noticeably smaller… see her comb (Cookie on the right, photo taken 8th May) was the same size as PinkLady, but now her wattle and comb is barely noticeable. I think in the chooks’ world.. it is their way to tell the rooster.. don’t look at me, don’t bother me.. I am not in the mood..

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Until next time.. happy booding..

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Cookie is going broody…

June 5, 2010 · Filed under Back Yard Chicken · Tagged , , ,

Cookie the Sussex have been sitting in the nesting box for 5 days now.. for the first couple of days,  when I am at home I would constanly ‘throw’ her out, she would scratch around with others but before long I would find her back into the box :hmmm:

When I work, I would come home finding her sleeping in the nesting box on all the eggs laid that day (6 of them). She is still laying since she start showing the sign, I think she is determine to go all the way.. so I am going to let her be a mum instead..

This morning, I put 5 eggs (infertile but not edible – eggs laid right after worming) under her to ‘concrete’ her broodiness (she has now stop laying) because I will be getting some fertile eggs hopefully tomorrow :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:.

It is the funniest sight.. I put the eggs around her chest area and move her a little to remove the fake egg from under her.. she start to move her chest without moving :hmmm: just sort of wiggle her chest and the eggs disappear under her one by one.. once all eggs disappear under her… you can just see her sink down even further (if that is even possible) and make this very content ‘burk burk’ noise.. Yup… this is one broody chook..

So.. a broody chook and some fertile eggs on the way, I will need to provide her a separate area so she can set her eggs in peace…

Earlier today, me and Kevin was just outside getting the brooder ready for Cookie, she decided to come out of her nest to stretch her leg, I was a bit concern for a while because I though she might has change her mind already…

She went for a drink.. scratch around a bit.. and did the biggest pooh.. OMG, it is the size of her egg.. at first I thought she just laid an egg right in front of me, but no… this egg ‘STINK’ and it is not the shape or colour of her eggs.. I think I just experience my first broody pooh..

She hang around the yard a bit longer than she went into the coop for some feed.. next thing I know, she disappear.. back into the nest and continue sitting her eggs.. all up, I think she was out no more than 15 mins.  She is showing all the good sign of being a good broody.. I just managed to clean up the brooder just before the sun go down, it is still wet from the wash down so I am going to move her tomorrow night instead :thumbs:.

Before the move tomorrow night, I will need to dust her and the new brooder with Pestine (flea powder) before I move her.. I just hope she will stay broody after the move. From my research, I should not give her the fertile eggs for a couple of nights yet.. I need to made sure she will settle into her new environment and still happy to sit tight after 2 nights, if all go according to plan, I am going to put the fertile eggs under her on the 3rd night..

I am getting about 10 fertile eggs from a very generous BYPe forum member, it will be from a mixed batch back yard layers so will be a bit like a lottery.. I will only know what I get until they hatch.. I so wish they will hatch.. I think I am more excited than my boys.. :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

So.. regarding the brooder… we have a few of the Bunning garden tidy laying around so we proceed to build a min A-frame for Cookie as her brooder.. half way through the project, Kevin decided that the A-frame are more suitable for his quails and Cookie can have the spare chook pen (currently housing the quails) as her brooder, who am I to argue :wink:…
Now just a couple of pictures…

Cookie the broody, hogging the nest box..
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The mini A-frame… was going to be Cookie’s brooder… but… it end up become the quails new home instead..
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Cookie’s clean brooder.. sitting along side the main chook pen so she will still be amongst friends..
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oh.. I have also fenced in the chook area so I have more space to dedicate to my plants.. until next time.. happy brooding..

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Layers all round.. 2nd May 2010

June 2, 2010 · Filed under Back Yard Chicken · Tagged , , , ,

After feeding these lots for 23 weeks.. I am finally being rewarded…six out of eight are laying now.. but so far I collected 5 eggs per day max..

I am lucky in a way that they just come into lay now.. I was lead to belief, if they start to lay going into winter, they will lay through winter… I think I am pretty safe and don’t have to worry buying anymore eggs this winter.

The Wyandotte, being purebred, are more of ‘eye candy’ rather than layers.. it took them awhile to get into swing of laying eggs.. lots of break in between eggs.. some time up to 7 days between eggs..

The Light Sussex, I am still unsure of when she did really lay her 1st egg.. it could be just over a week ago when I notice a different colour egg in the nest which is very different to the Wyandotte’s bantam eggs..

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it is dark pink, obvious differences but same weight as the bantam’s egg at only 39 gram.. I post the picture out to the expert, and was told it was the Sussex that lay this egg.

I was told.. despite of the Sussex’s huge size, their first egg is actually quiet small.. it should get bigger gradually as they go and will give better size eggs after 2 season of laying..

But, as no one bare witness to that particular laying incident, I cannot be sure of the parentage of that egg…

The very next day, I found a 49g egg under where the girls sleep.. the color is very close to the first pink egg but I just can’t be sure it is from the same

These eggs have also become my new currency, no one will say no to freshly laid egg 🙂

I gave some eggs to my brother while visiting his place for the first time…

Gave 10 to my sister for babysitting my boys for the day…

Gave 6 to mum yesterday…

When I gave the eggs away, I always empty out what I got, but I know I will get topped up the next day..

Now, just let me introduce the layers..
Foghorn – Bond Brown.. her first egg, yesterday (23 weeks).. photo taken right after
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Cookie – Light Sussex … confirm laying this morning (27 weeks), but may have start last week.
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ClownFace – Bond Black… confirm laying 2 days ago (23 weeks)
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AllBlack – Bond Black… been laying whole week straight.. no break.. (22 weeks)
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The Silver Laced Wyandotte Bantam
Dottie, started to lay at 33 weeks, now 39 weeks
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Wonda, also laying at 33 weeks, not 37 weeks..
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4 eggs in 3 days???

April 10, 2010 · Filed under Uncategorized

well.. last week end, after the post, managed to talk to hubby to get the new nesting box together for the girls.. it caused some problems as the nesting box is taller than the perch so it will not fit, we have to move the up about 30cm and the perch became too short for 8 girls.. than we need to find another perch and fit it in :nail: etc etc..

All the drama, still no eggs..

Thursday morning, as we are packing the car for our camping trip.. I witness Dottie doing her dance and lay an egg, but not at the new nesting box I have in there for them, but in the lemon grass bush… whole week after the last egg.. Good, she just laid her egg for this week, so I don’t have to worry about her laying eggs while we are gone.. so I thought..

Come home, 2 days later.. found 3 eggs under the lemon grass bush..

Something is not adding up.. Dottie start to lay everyday :hmmm: that is a good sign.. but.. that should only be 2 more eggs.. not 3, where did the 3rd come from.. I know it is impossible for a chook to lay 2 eggs in one day.. not even an egg machine can do it..

Than it occur to me.. maybe Wonda has decided to pull her weight and start to contribute.. :bounce: :bounce:

If that is true.. I now have 2 chooks laying.. .. :woot: :woot:

Maybe we should leave home more often..:rofl:

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My new Bantam Wyandotte

March 27, 2010 · Filed under Back Yard Chicken · Tagged , , , , , ,

From my last post, I mention that I have recently purchase 2 bantam Wyandotte.. this are older girls because I am loosing patient in waiting for my existing birds to lay their 1st egg 😦

I post my interest of getting bantam Wyandotte on BackYardPoultry forum and received a couple offer from the breeders. I made the necessary arrangement with a very nice lady who offer me the girls at a very reasonably price.  We also made arrangement for me to pick up the girls at the Beaudesert Poultry Auction which we both plan to attend.

Once the wheel is in motion, I have to review at my current arrangement and decide on the best way to accommodate the girls for the first couple of week for quarantine. I have a small back yard which is completely separated from my girls who free range in the bigger front yard.. I have also store my ‘doggie’ chicken coop in that location.. even though I am not very happy with that coop, but it does fit my purpose of a quarantine coop..

For it to be fit for use for the new girls, a few ‘improvement’ will need to be done.. I need to made sure the ‘bed room’ have a floor.. the existing floor was made of plastic and it changed the shape when I leave it out under the sun after cleaning, hence it no longer fit in the pen. We also need to solve the night roost problem. The ‘bedroom’ need a perch off the ground so the girls can roost at night..

I went to Bunning with hubby, we bought a very thin ply wood.. and we cut it so it will fit nicely on top of its existing frame, we also found a couple of off-cut (free) timber which we can use to construct the new night roost for the girls.

The end result..

Bird eye's view - New flooring and night roost for the 'Bedroom'

Side view - New flooring and night roost for the 'Bedroom'

The outcome is exactly what we have planned for the girls. To protect the ply from the birds dropping, I remove the roost and line the ‘floor’ with news paper , roost go on top of the paper and actually help keeping it in place. I than line the floor with fresh sugar cane mulch to give the girls soft landing when they jump down from it.

The bedroom with fresh 'bedding'

The girls quarantine yard..

Their initial set-up, away from the other girls for quarantine..

They will be locked in the pen for the first couple of days.. to let them know where ‘home’ is than they will be let out to range.. once I am happy with their health, I will try to integrate them with the existing flocks..

Alright, let me give a proper introduction to these beautiful girls.

Dottie at 30 Weeks

Wonda at 28 Weeks

Wonda... 2 weeks younger than Dottie, a bit late in maturing.. obvious different in Wattle an Comb

Even though the girls are only 2 weeks different, but the differences in their maturity is very obvious.. Dottie have long hanging wattle and bigger comb compare to Wonda.. Wonda don’t really have a comb to speak of, and her coloring still abit yellowish compare to Dottie..

Dottie and Wonda side by side

Both girls feeling right at home..

The new girls are Silver Laced Wyandotte Bantam.. bantam in the chook’s term mean mini.. they are about 1/3 of the size of a standard chook.. the Wyandotte have rose comb and it is a very curvy type of chooks.. their bottom side have been describe as a “fish bowl on sunshine” round bottom on a pair of yellow legs.  These girls are by no mean show quality.. as the lacing is not very define and too much ‘peppering’ on Dottie’s tail. Wonda’s lacing are cleaner but the black edging are not solid enough.. but for a back yard chooks.. they are very beautiful.

Their progress

3 week after being with us, the girls been through a lot.. After 3 days in the quarantine pen, I let them out to scratch around (only when I am home).. next thing I know, I found Wonda at the wrong side of the temporary fence.. but it is alright as it is still our side of the house so she is quiet save, both girls are a bit upset as they made lots of noise as the chooks really want to be near each other and Wonda being away from the coop, she has no access to food and drink.

So I went on a rescue mission and ‘save’ Wonda from starvation, I help her over the fence by ‘chasing’ her back over the other side with the fence slightly open.. She ran over to Dottie and both ran back to the coop to recover from the shock.

The next day.. same thing happen.. it is Dottie this time, and she is over the other side.. the side to the carport and the road.. when she can be attack by the neighbor’s wondering dog.. after we rescue Dottie, we have decided to clip their wing..

So that night.. we took them from their night roost one at the time.. with hubby help I clip about 1 1/2 cm off their right wing’s flight feather.. I am hoping that it will stop them from flying over the coops. At the same time, I have also decided not to take the risk and integrate them with the other girls, so they can be in the front yard with high fences around..

To be continue… The Integration.

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The Poultry Auction

March 13, 2010 · Filed under Back Yard Chicken

Sorry people.. I am so slack… I think it was almost months since my last update…

The following things have happen since than… Lots..

– I went to a poultry auction.. YUP.. they have auction just for chooks and ducks.. very interesting

– I got new chooks.. going for bantam this time.. it is mini chooks.. very cute..

– I ‘renovate’ the old chook house for the new girls quarantine suite

– lots of drama here.. quarantine, and trying to integrate them together..

– We picked up an unwanted rooster from someone.. and he became dinner 2 days later..

– We picked up some cheap chair frame from Ikea (only 5 bucks) and build a mobile roosting perch for my girls

– I covert JouDan’s old sleeping box for the 2 new girls to sleep….

As I am still being slacks 😦 I will cover the Auction only on this post… the rest to follow..

I went to a poultry auction.. YUP.. they have auction just for chooks and ducks.. very interesting

On the last day of Feb, Beaudesert poultry club run a poultry auction.. It seems like anyone who want to sell their birds can be in the auction.. it does not have to be ‘Show’ quality and it does not have to be pure bred..

It is a situation when Supply and Demand come in.. you provide the supplies and the demand set the price… There was a Speckle Sussex Trio (show quality for breeding purpose) went for $320.. yup.. that is for 3 birds only, 1 rooster and 2 hen..  that is how much people are willing pay for a good ‘root’ stock..

There are also ‘back yard’ mixed chook going for a few dollars as well.. the price different is amazing..

I have been wanting a couple of Bantam chooks for a while now, and I was having trouble finding breeder who have ‘stock’ to sell… I was having high hope in getting a couple of laying pullet at the auction..

When the catalogue for the auction became available a couple of weeks before the event.. I was very disappointed.. they don’t have what I want.. they are a couple of bantam breed I was interested in.. mainly Silver Laced Wyandotte and Blue Plymouth Rock.. but only SLW bantam available, but it all come in pair – it is a term used for 1 x cockerel and 1 x pullet.  I am in a suburban back yard, therefore.. no cockerel / rooster allow.. there’s also single pullet available, but I want them in pair (my pair mean – 2 pullet :-))…

I made that general comment on the BYP forum where the catalogue was released.. About not having what I want available.. I was contacted by 2 breeder offering me their birds.. at a pre-agreed price and pick up at the auction (as she travel from NSW)..

You cannot imagine my excitement.. 2 weeks leading into the auction, I keep emailing the breeder with lots of questions.. I am surprise she will still sell it to me after that.. but I came home with 2 girls 🙂 from the Auction..

Back to the Auction.. we arrived early that morning around 8:30.. that is when the birds are caged for inspection.. the inspecting hall was packed with people.. and the variety of birds are amazing.. I came face to face with breed that I have only read about.. the boys was having a lot of fun but M3 get scared by a huge rooster who was crowing his head off..

There was also a ‘rare breed’ stand outside the inspection hall.. the guy was displaying Transylvanian Naked Neck.. the most interesting looking chicken..

After the inspection.. I went to register for a bidding card (who knows.. :-))

My boys and me hang around abit until the auction start at 10:30 in the morning..

I run into a couple of the BYP members.. it was fun to catch up face to face instead of over a computer screen.. learn a lot from them too.. it seems the Trio that go for $320 was from a very well know breeder and her stock is highly regarded, hence the price.

I met up with my SLW breeder in the car park, she show be the birds and I am instantly in love with them.. they are so beautiful… The breeder has just worm the girls and she even supply some wormer for me to do the follow up dose.. so thoughtful..

Meet Wonda and Dottie any new Silver Laced Wyandotte..

Dottie and Wonda in their Quarantine Suite

Over all, it was a very good day out, I did not stay until the end of the auction as my boys are getting restless towards lunch time so I pack them in the car and went home at around noon.. I think want to rush home and settle my new girls in their quarantine suite as well..

The only regret.. I don’t have time to take any photo… Even though I have my camera with me, but I have my hand full with my 2 boys so it was a bit of mission impossible.

That’s it for the segment on Auction.. hopefully it will not be too long before I update with the rest.. ta ta for now..

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9 Weeks and 13 Weeks Update

January 25, 2010 · Filed under Back Yard Chicken · Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

It has been a week since the girls move into their new home.. I think they absolutely loved it..

Lets get some of they progress photos in here..

These is my Bond Brown Ranga and Forhorn, the photos are takes between last week and yesterday.. there are 9 weeks today so a good age indication for 8 weeks chicks..

Oh.. how do I tell them apart.. check out the green band (cable tie) on Foghorn’s left ankle.. Ranga do not have any..

Ranga: Are you looking at me... are you LOOKING at me

Beautiful Foghorn.. free ranging.. she is also the smallest out of the 6..

Bond Brown: Foghorn and Ranga

Bond Brown.. Foghorn and Ranga... chillin in the sun..

Ranga free ranging

Foghorn free ranging

I know previously I have said.. my ‘Bond Brown’ is a commercial cross of Rhode Island Red and Leghorn, I revisit the petshop yesterday to get some flea dust for the girls and re-read the breed info for the girls..

I stand corrected.. Bond Brown is actually a commercial cross of Rhode Island Red and Rhode Island White.. there is no Leghorn in them, sorry Foghorn.. you are still stuck with that name..

The are breed to maximize egg production in the back yard situation.. could lay up to 300 eggs per year (hmmmm eggs… might as well we really like eggs, and I think the family will get some eggs as well). But they only produce for the first 2 years and slow down afterward.. may stop altogether pretty soon after that..

The Bond Black are the cross between Australorp and Rhode Island Red.. They have this amazing green sheen on their plumage which is just beautiful.. I can just sit there all day and watch their color change according to the light.   Due to the cross, when they get older they will probably have rust color feather on their chest so AllBlack will no longer be all black in color.

Some photo of the Bond Black. AllBlack have green cable tie on her left ankle..

AllBlack very elegant, the biggest out of the 'bond' girls.. almost as big as PinkLady

ClownFace.. being a clown..

ClownFace chillin away in summer heat

The Sussex are my only purebred.. They meant to be very good meat bird so they are huge and supposedly eat a lot. I don’t notice that much of a different, it may due to  them able to free-range..  They should lay about 180 to 210 of eggs per hen per year..  not as much, but apparently they should lay longer into their life.. some hen are know to lay up to 6 years of age (maybe only 50 – 80 per year)

Photo of my Sussex PinkLady and Cookie (Cookie with the green cable tie)… the photos were taken sometime between last week and today.. maybe a good age indicator for 12 weeks old Sussex.. can’t be sure on that as I was never sure of their age to start off with. Got them at boxing day and suppose to be between 8 to 10 weeks old.. and that was about 5 weeks ago..

Dust Bathing... some would said.. why is the chicken try to bury herself lol..

PinkLady enjoy the young fruit from the orange tree..

Cookie is the biggest of the lot.. I was almost convince that she is a boy.. but at this age, if she is a cockerel, her comb and wattle will be much bigger... so pullet for now...

Some group photos of the girls..

The girls settling in for the night in their new home (first night)

Group photo of all my girls free ranging - One big happy family..

That’s is for now.. ta ta..

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The girls have new home…

January 19, 2010 · Filed under Back Yard Chicken · Tagged , ,

It has been a busy weekend.. we are exhausted.. as state on my last post, we have use the boys old swing set and convert it into a A-Frame chook house / run..

My girls are now between 8 weeks and 12 weeks old.. they are getting big and six of them will not fit into their existing coop (even though it is suppose to be for six chooks)…

I have a surgery recently which have blown my budget out of the way (it cost about 4 time than I expect to pay 😦 )so buying a new coop or even an additional coop is out of the question.

We have a old swing set which is being dump behind the car port.. looking at it the other day giving me the idea of converting it into a A-Frame coop.  I got the idea from browsing those the housing section on Back Yard Poultry Forum… A lot of chicken coop are in a form of A-frame hatch and there was some very beautiful ‘enlarged’ version of it..

My only concern is.. the swing set is steel.. how do I go about putting my idea together, where shall I find material to made it as economical as possible..  (both me and K are not the DIY type.. we differentiate screw driver between plus and minus sign)..

I talk to my BIL who is very handy and he confirm that it is not that hard to ‘attached’ thing onto a steel frame so I decided to give it a go..

I have this grand plan.. I want an ‘off the floor’ coop inside the A frame as the girls ‘bedroom’ with plenty of space underneath for them to run around.. etc etc..

Walking home from the bus the week before, got me talking to my neighbor across the road, who is also a retired builder..

He always have building material laying around his car port so I ask him whether he has any spare iron sheeting that I can buy from him (hopefully cheaply) I explain my plan of converting the swing set into a chicken coop/run..

He basically offer me any spare supplies he has ‘as many as I need’ for free.. he said, either I take it or it is going to the dump.. he also happen to have 4 colorbond sheet in the carport as we speak and he said I can have them when ever I am ready..

The iron sheeting is exactly what I needed and told him I will pick it up on the weekend when we are ready to start work.

The next day seeing him delivery the sheets and position it safely onto my carport.. as the sheets are 3 m x .8m it is quite large to carry over the street (he drove the sheets over)…

The pressure is on to really get this project going so on Sunday.. we visited Bunning Warehouse to get an idea of costing to find out how much this project will cost me.. and guess who we run into in the ‘trade’ area.. yup.. the friendly neighbor..

I explain to him my plan of the ‘off the floor housing’ and looking for some board that will fit the purpose… After a brief discussion, he told me not to get any as he have some very old board (20 years old) which is still very solid.. it will fit my purpose..

I made plan to meet with him later that afternoon so we can go over my plan (I have about 3 sheets of drawing) and find out what I need and how to go about with it..

After meeting with him.. my ‘plan’ change completely.. I don’t need an ‘off the ground house’ for the chicken, it will made the work too completed for novice like me and K.. he also made a few recommendation and advice what is the best material to buy to add to the frame.. He even offer to buy it for us (as he go to Bunnings everyday) as it is too long for us to take home (6m in length)..

As he will be away for a couple of days to build something on his holiday site, I told him I will give him the measurement by Wednesday so he will know how many ‘frame steel’ to get for us..

K have a RDO on Tuesday, I got a call from him at work, the neighbor have just drop by with 4 of the 6m length steel.. a pack of bolt and a roll of chicken wire.. He also show K how to bolt the sheets onto the frame and how to cut the sheeting to length and lend us the cutter for the job.. We got almost everything to get started and the pressure is on..

Anyway.. This is what happen

During the week K start by removing all the swing bits from the swing, move the frame into the yard for work.. we also try to cut the ‘steel frame’ to size (the yellow bits) just to see how easy or hard to cut them to size

Swing Set will all bits and pieces removed

On Saturday… work begin

The bare frame under the patio

We move the frame under the patio so we can work out of the sun

Bolting the frame at the base of the swing

The joint

Cutting the sheet into size..

Using the offcut of the sheeting to cover one end of the frame.. it is like a jigsaw puzzle..

One side cover.. we used 4 pieces of off-cut.. which made this very heavy

Move to the lawn before it get too heavy

We move the frame to the lawn before it get too heavy.. don’t think we will be able to move it once it is all cover in iron sheeting.. We lay the sheeting against the frame to get an idea of the finish product…

Front view of the A-Frame

We lay 2 sheet overlap on top of the frame (the yellow steel) and bolt it onto the A-Frame at one go.. once all the sheeting in place, it is time to fit the avery mesh.. I did not use the chicken wire given to me as I already order some avery mesh on line before I know I am getting some chicken wire.. wish I have used the chicken wire though.. at hind sight.. the chicken wire will be more easy to handle..

One part of avery mesh gone up.. chicken check out their new home

By the time we one the first section of the mesh installed it is pass 6:30 in the evening and we also do not have the right tool to join 2 lots of mesh at that point of time so that is end of day one..

On Sunday – Finishing the project

Don’t really know how it happen, but I got sunburn from Saturday, Sunday is another hot day so we did not start work until well into the afternoon.. I spend the morning in Bunning checking out supplies..

The mesh was joint by lots of netting ring

putting the steel in place trying to get a door frame together

Netting ring

Door frame bolted in place

Door fitted onto the frame with 2 hinges

Gap filler foam to cover sharp edges

Roof ridge delivered and fitted by professional builder

Come home from work today to see the roof ridge being installed by my neighbor.. now the coop is water proof..

Food and Drink hanging from the roof..

The girls happy in their new home

Finish product with happy chooks..

I must admit, I think it will be another ‘all talk and no action’ project if the neighbor have not been actively involve in this project.. apart from fitting the roof ridge as finishing touch he did not involve in any of actual building.. but he contribute heavily on the material.. not to mention the moral support.. knowing that he is just across the road and will be more than happy to help if we stuff up give us the confident to put the thought into action..

I am sure the chickens is very happy in their new home.. and I will try to post an update of their progress as soon as I can (been a bit slack lately)

Until than.. see ya 🙂

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It has been a while

January 17, 2010 · Filed under Back Yard Chicken, Cooking with eggs · Tagged , , , , ,

Wow.. did not realise how time fly… It has been more than 2 weeks since last update.. The girls will be 8 and 12 weeks tomorrow..

-Lots have happen since the last post.. 2 of my girls got sick, they suffer from Coccidiosis on new years day as well.. what a way to start a year..

-JouDan is no longer with us… I use him as a demo to show some online ‘friend’ how to made Chinese herbal chicken soup..

-I have also got some duck eggs from another online ‘friend’, I salted a dozen of them and use another 8 to try my hand on making century eggs (will find out how it turn out in 100 days)

-The girls are also getting too big for their coop so it has been decided to build them a new ‘house’ using the boys old swing set.. just finished today..

Sick Chooks..

On new year day..  first thing in the morning.. I went out to let the girls out to the coop into their little run area.. I will also sit in the run with them just to observe.. they are fascinating, I can watch them for hours… One of the thing I notice in that morning is one bright orange pooh being created by PinkLady.. right out of her bum hole.. I am not going to post any gross photos here but if you really want to know, you can check out my thread regarding this issue on the BYP Forum http://forum.backyardpoultry.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=7985609.

Good Bye JouDan

On the 10th of Jan.. K finally decided to do the deed and cull JouDan.. so for the last time.. thank you JouDan.. we love you and will missed you…

Just before ‘the day’, I open the gate to the girls run.. One reason is to let the girls have more access to the yard… they are getting too cramp in that little space.. it is quiet funny to see JouDan try to squize himself back to the run and into the coop.. that coop will definitely be too small for  the girls when they get older.. Second reason is to let JouDan closer to the girl.. to made him happy just before he have to ‘go’..

JouDan checking out the girls

Duck Eggs

Not going into details here as it is quiet long winded.. so if you are interested.. full details in my thread on BYP forum http://forum.backyardpoultry.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=7985599

New Chook Run

Again.. Check out my thread on BYP Forum.. http://forum.backyardpoultry.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=7986016

AND finally

I know I have been very slack.. I am exhausted from building 2 days straight.. I like to post on the BYP Forum because you get instant help and advise from the very helpful member there.. and it build up gradually.  I think I will try to put in some photo update on tomorrow.. gee the girls are getting big..

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