Mark, that coop is impressive!!

my grandpa's chicken catching technique invovled drinking beer while he watched a five year old me chase them around the yard. a five year old versus a chicken is sort of a fair fight. but eventually i'd get one.

My wife and one of the daughters are into chickens - all kinds of chickens. We must have a dozen different breeds.

I really like your henhouse. My next project is something similar.

consider ducks. eggs taste about the same. and five times the personality of chickens.

Are ducks as productive in egg output as chickens? Are they easier/harder to take care of - need a pond? Messy? Noisy?

Can't easily buy duck eggs, so that would be a nice thing to have.

My son would like a goose, because he likes the b-i-g eggs. No way, I say.

Emus are what he's looking for. Huge eggs.

i know mallards don't. but a quick search says that other breeds are very productive.


Read what she had to say (thanks Jill for the nod!)
A side note about our ducks, since folks are asking. We have Khaki Campbell (or just Campbell) ducks. A breed of domesticated duck kept for its high level of egg production. The breed was developed by Adele Campbell of England at the end of the 19th century.
The egg production of the Campbell breed can exceed even the most efficient of egg laying domestic chickens, with the breed laying an average of 300 eggs a year.


ducks are generally a lot more self reliant and survivable than chickens. smarter too. you can see distinct personalities. they can get by without access to a pond. but i would get at least a kiddy pool. they become pets. and the temptation to re landscape the yard to accommodate them is overwhelming.


geese are just mean. hyper territorial. i've seen one beat up a german shepherd.

only downside of the fresh eggs; you cannot hardboil them. the membrane is so strong they are not peel-able.

will i need a tablesaw to build a coop like that? ;)

No, all you need is an old VW carcass... it can be adapted using just a handsaw, some scrap lumber, and some imagination.
:D

I've heard of Army bases using watch-geese with better results than dogs. The additional benefits were self mowing and fertilizing...

Nice job on the coop. Use a mask when cleaning it out, those birds breed some nasty germs.
Wish I had the lawn for three or four hens. I got the saw, I got the bugs.

my chickens really up'ed the outside cockroach population. food, craap, stuff like that. bummer that hens are not nocturnal. it would be a cornocopia of free food if i can get them together.

That's an awesome chicken coop!

We had one blow in (literally) during a "monsoon season" storm. It insisted on hanging out on our window sills, knocking over my wife's potted plants and eating our baby cacti. And tormenting our cats.

Then it moved to our back patio and took up residence on our Weber grill, covering it with a lovely coating of droppings.

My wife grew somewhat fond of it, so we named it "Chickenhead" (Denis Leary reference).

The thing turned out to be more effort than it was worth (value was negative, actually, with all of the broken pottery), so we finally gave it away to our pool tech. Had I not been a vegetarian at the time I would've put it to better use. :)

Thanks everyone for the comments. Like I said it was a fun project. I won't be eating any if them, not my thing. I consider them kinda like a good girl... A friend with benefits ;) The eggs you pervs!!!!

Before boiling, try piercing the wide end with a needle - no more than an eighth of an inch. That should break the membrane and allow a little water in under the shell. Worth a try.

Mrs Trek :)

Vash, you make any thousand year eggs?

Anybody ever make Scotch Eggs?

Google it... I dare ya.

birds are neat until the start crapping all over the place. almost lost my desire to hunt (and of course eat) ducks when a buddy decided to go all 'self sufficient off the grid' and raise chickens, ducks and i forget what else. just an awful, awful smell.

however, if anyone does opt to get into ducks i'd encourage you to band them as it is a kick to pick one up and see a band.

Hey Mark - long time no talk. Thought you would appreciate this clip - embedding is disabled so you'll have to click on the link. NSFW - from The Devil's Rejects.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zd1KfrlI0mU&feature=PlayList&p=02DED46C444 FADE1&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=12

Mark, you are a nut. :)

That sounds disgusting...