Introducing the new digs. (lots of photos)

Lovely house, very snazzy coops although you may have to find some wind break material one of these days (I zap strap a long roll of burlap onto the bottom of the run in the winter). Maybe you could stain the plywood.

heda gobbler wrote:Lovely house, very snazzy coops although you may have to find some wind break material one of these days (I zap strap a long roll of burlap onto the bottom of the run in the winter).   Maybe you could stain the plywood.  

Have tons of shade cloth yet to go up.  Will take more photos when done.  The wind is interesting for the girls, they do get blown about a bit!     You can see them going "whoa, whoa!" and then the fence catches them.  We had no wind at all where we came from.  They will get used to it.
I will consider stain if the owners are willing.

Really nice house Coopslave, and I'm sure you'll make it even nicer with your own touch. You deserve it, and don't think for a second that you don't. I'm sure the owners are thrilled to have you there and that will just increase as they get to know you both. Welcome Home.

I have a friend who moved to Alberia a year or so ago - not that far from you I think - and she told me that the Province (or maybe County, or Municipality??) supplies young trees to place as windbreaks. Might be something to look into.

I wish you every happiness and comfort and just the right amount of adventure in your new home. xo

The good thing about wind is that it blows the bugs away (i don't have any in summer, down in the valley it is infested) and also blows junk away like molted feathers, old shaving, old straw etc. Also buckets and lawn furniture though. My ranch is amazingly clean not because I am a tidy person but because if I do leave anything out it is soon caught in bushes a few kilometers north of here. Amazing what I find years later.

farmchiq wrote:I have a friend who moved to Alberia a year or so ago - not that far from you I think - and she told me that the Province (or maybe County, or Municipality??) supplies young trees to place as windbreaks.  Might be something to look into.  

The shelterbelt program ended this year, unfortunately.

Oh Buggah!

Very awesome to see that you are in such a lovely place. and the coop, darn near as nice as the house. Thanks for showing us your new place. And have a wonderful day, CynthiaM.

Wow! Just... WOW!

Oh WOW is right! The house, the coop, the view, everything looks fantastic.  And you deserve every bit of it.  Thanks for sharing!

bigrock wrote:Coop-how far apart are your roosts from each other...looks like about a foot...we have to put ours up next week....just checking

Sorry Bigrock, missed this. I think they are a little less than a foot apart. I would have liked them a little further apart than they are, but the pullets and hens seem fine with them. The rooster and cockerels find them a little close. They are quite big though.
They are also slightly higher off the ground than I like, but when I get the deep litter cookin it will probably be just right. I don't like my roosts to high.

Each compartment is 8 feet long and 6 feet wide. I have it separated into boys and girls at the moment so two compartments each. When I go in at night most of the pullets and hens are all in one side. So 18ish birds are happy to roost in the two roosts in one section. Their choice as there is lots of room.

Hi Coopslave, how deep do you make your litter? wood shavings?

Whoooo, Nice!

Magdelan, I just keep building it like Sue says. She doesn't clean her's out, but I do usually in the spring or fall and put it on the garden beds. I never clean it right out though, if I have a really good batch, I leave some to start it again.
I just have a sprinkling in there now, but will add much more peat and shavings when the weather turns.

I am finished, just some tiding up to do. Big day, whooo, but it feels good to be ready for the weather. Was windy today so putting up the shade cloth by myself was interesting to say the least..
Will post pictures later tonight.

[quote="coopslave I think they are a little less than a foot apart. I would have liked them a little further apart than they are.....They are also slightly higher off the ground than I like, but when I get the deep litter cookin it will probably be just right. I don't like my roosts to high
[/quote]

thanks...just looking at the height of things in our new house and trying to plan. How high are your roosts off the ground? no ramp up?

Lots of people like the ramp up, I happen to not like it. Don't really have the floor space for it anyways. I think that truly is a personal preference thing. Just as the size of the roost is. I like the 2 x 4s so they can cover their toes in the real cold. Others use smaller than that.

Height off the ground will kinda depend on the breeds you have. Silkies well often need something floor level. With big, heavy breeds I don't like them jumping down from heights, it is hard on their feet. Lighter birds it doesn't really matter all that much.

I think these are around 3 feet, without actually measuring. I like them about 2 1/2 for the size of birds I have.

Why don't you start a new thread on this. You will get a ton of feed back about it and not just my opinion!!   People would probably be happy to post pictures for you as well.

coopslave wrote:Well, here is where we live now.

First the house.  Very lucky to have such a nice place provided with Hubbies job.  Very lucky indeed.

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Coop put in place.  All the pens aren't up yet.  Might have them finished tomorrow.  Been a bit to sick but feeling better now.  Would like to try and get some paint on it before winter as well.  Will talk to the owners and see what colour they would like it to be.  I can always repaint if we move somewhere else.

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This new job provided some nice extras. I bet you had a grin from ear to ear when you first saw the house and coop with the runs.
Congratulations:cheers: 

Bcboy, that is the coop I had delivered here, but the house is amazing.
Have a look here for the final stage.
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The house sure looks nice but big would not want
to clean it. Love the windows.
Your coop looks excellent and so nice to have
it ready for you.
That was quite a move for you hope you
enjoy the new place and country.
I am born and raised BC er so not sure if
I could handle the flat open country.

Karona..........I'm finding surprisingly enough, that it's easier to keep a big house clean, than a small one. But only if there are 2 or 3 people in the house.

Our house is small ( which is what we wanted) now find that if you haven't de-junked everything, there's no place to put everything.
Our biggest problem is books and magazines. Now I'm looking for a couple of matching magazine type racks, that the laptop can sit on, and the magazines can go in the rack somehow, where you can't see them.
Then put the ones we've read in the little office bookcases. Haven't un-packed the main load of books though. How can you tell we love to read., Lol.

But although the view is beautiful, would get cold and windy, especially in the worst of the winter. Those big windows sure let lots of light in though. Which is really nice.

We're ex-B.C.er's and want to go back next year, all going well. I miss it so bad.

whoops, made a boo boo