John do you AI your birds? My husband and I are getting ready to build some new breeding coops. I want them to hold a trio of birds (I don't typically AI) so am looking to get ideas on the best way to build.
Thanks in advance
Some of you remember the two new units I built, with help from my grandsons, last year. They have 12 holes or coops each for bantams. They are loosely based on the LF breeding coops I built a few years ago. These units are 6' high, 2' deep and just over 7' long to fit against the wall, between the posts in my post (pole) barn. The 1 by 2" welded wire gates slide up to allow for just enough room to reach in and collect eggs without giving a huge opening for flighty birds, like my Vorwerks, to fly out. I used 1/8" by 2 1/2" flat steel across the fronts to hang feed and water cups on. The lights are 2.5 watt "warm" LEDs. The flooring is 1/2" treated plywood. I have pullets in the top rows and cockerels in the bottom rows that visit the pullets a couple times each week. I use PLASTIC EDGE PROTECTOR on the cut edges of the welded wire. I added roosts in each coop using 5" 2 by 4 studs.
There is no blueprint, but the photos may give you ideas for a project. Let me know if you want close-ups of any areas.
Note: Click on photos to enlarge and reduce them. Use the slide bar, below the photos, to view the right side of the larger ones.
My birds are pretty smart for chickens, but there is no Artificial Intelligence at play here.
Ooh, you mean Artificial Insemination (it's just that when I see AI in the title of a news story now days it doesn't mean what it used to.
The short answer is no, but I've been contemplating it with the silver pheasants I want to cross with my Ameraucanas. Some things I do to help make sure I have good fertility are...
> Start feeding a gamebird breeder feed as the sole ration a month before collecting hatching eggs.
> Only have one male over a female or flock at a time. Give him a break, in a coop without females, and bring in the 2nd string male.
> I generally rotate cocks/cockerels on Sundays and Wednesdays.
> I pet/stoke each male as I carry he to a breeding coop and let him look at some of the other birds in coops along the way..."absence makes the heart grow fonder" and these guys are ready for action!
> Clip the feathers around the vents on both the females and the males. It may not be necessary, but it doesn't hurt and it doesn't take much time.
> I use
Frontline on all my breeders to make sure there are any mites...There are many other option, but something should be used.
> I don't do it, but
MacFarlane Pheasants Inc. gives a shot of
Tylan to each breeders...may be a good idea for exhibition poultry too.
> I make sure not only the hens/pullets get 16 hours of
warm light during the breeding season, but also the males that are separated from them.
> ?
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