Conditioning Pen's

[Russ]

  Hello everyone my latest question is this: what do other ABC members use for conditioning pen's before a show. More specifically like size of your pen's, do you include a roosting pole, have an attached outdoor run etc. etc. Now I know (after A LOT of research) there is probably as many suggestion's as there is breeders. I was thinking a post of what other people use or don't use anymore would be helpful to people new to showing, like myself  . Also how long  before a show do you normally start working with them?
  Right now I have a couple Bantams in my individual breeding pens which are 32"x36". I made up a couple out of wire (30"x24"), with wire bottoms for my kid's 4-H project's. Which I thought would be better, especially after we washed them, until recently when I had a couple cockerels break some tail feathers. I didn't think about roosting poles until I started researching, which probably would help. Well today I was kinda like Duh  there is a lot of knowledgeable people on this sight (which are also some of the nicest people) so why not ask them you dummy  . Hope I did not ramble to long thanks......Russ 

[John]

Others know a lot more on the subject than I do, but I do know some folks use the exhibition coops to get them used to what they will be in at a show.  Keipper Cooping, in WI, is the place to buy from they setup and sell at some shows.

[Sharon Yorks]

I am not as experienced as many when it comes to showing poultry, but here’s what we did this year. My large coop is 20 feet long and is divided into 4 five foot sections. The first two sections have upper and lower 2.5 x 5 pens. The lower pens each have an outside run that is a 5x12. Two months before the fair this year, we separated my son’s projects and gave them each a bottom pen of their own so there wasn‘t a threat of feather picking or muff pulling. I had a roost pole in one of them earlier this year, but really didn't see a big benefit in it as they did most of their wing flapping without it.

A couple of weeks before the fair, we put them up in separate upper pens and wouldn’t let them go outside anymore. We interact and handle all of our chicks a lot as they grow, so we thought it best not to handle them too much real close to show time so we didn’t risk hurting any feathers. I’ve heard that exhibitors sometimes put them into show-size cages a head of time so they will get used to them, but I haven’t tried that, and I think ours got the message of being caged up and not allowed out. And they seemed to adjust real well at the fair when they were put into smaller cages.

This is what works for us, not suggesting or recommending for others to do :-)

[Sharon Yorks]

I didn't realize the picture in the other post was so large when you clicked on it.

[Schroeder]

I recently ordered the show coops and was expecting higher quality, especially the floors.  They consist of unpainted 1x1 pine, surrounding a piece of unfinished 1/8 in plywood.  The pine is stapled to the plywood, and in my case not very securely.  They will work as advertised.  I was just anticipating more.

Sharon, what a beautiful set-up.  (I wonder what my wife would think about another construction project!)  Do you acclimate your birds to the bathing ordeal, or is the first bath of their life right before the show.

[Sharon Yorks]

Thanks for the compliment. I call the large coop our chicken condo. I designed it and the Amish built it for me. The small coop is the nursery where the babies go. (I'm really not a weird person, I promise) I don't think I am 

The only baths mine ever get is either right before a show or if one has gotten injured and I need to wash the wound. Most of my birds are very friendly and submissive and don't usually fight me, so I don't usually put them through anymore than what is necessary...other than when they are very young and I'm putting them through "submissive training" :-)

It doesn't take them long to figure out I'm going to win so why fight it. I'm never rough with them, just firm in what I'm asking them to do. I think it's a mutual respect and they trust me. I feed them healthy goodies all the time, so they love to see me coming. I think handling them a lot when they are young is a huge factor, but I'm also finding that just like people, some are friendlier and easier to work with than others.   

[Russ]

Others know a lot more on the subject than I do, but I do know some folks use the exhibition coops to get them used to what they will be in at a show.  Keipper Cooping, in WI, is the place to buy from they setup and sell at some shows.

Went to there web site and guess what....they will be at Lucasville. Now I have to call them to get some prices, and figure out if it was just a coincidence or a Godcidence. I could see where they could be useful, especially with getting cock/cockerels used to close quarters with having other birds inches from them. Oh and Sharon please don't let my chickens see your coop it might cause an uprising  . Last but not least Schroeder what brand were they?? The Keipper brand John posted about look like they come with a 1/4" base, hard to judge quality from pictures but I did say OOOOHHHHH when I was looking at them. Being they will be at Lucasville I will also be able to put my hands on them before handing over the cash 

[John]

look like they come with a 1/4" base

I personally wouldn't buy the wood bases.  You can make your own or just set the coops up on whatever you have...even the floor. 
The wire cooping is made by two different companies that I know of and both are in Wisconsin...Collapsible Wire Products is the one I didn't mention in the earlier post.

[Schroeder]

I bought a single, and a double coop from Keipper.  Maybe I was expecting too much.  Apart from the floor issue, I was disappointed there is no latch mechanism for the doors, and you need pliers to crimp and pry open metal tabs to install and dismantle the partition.  Maybe everyone uses zip ties.  Now that I have a guide, I will make my own when I need more cages.

[Schroeder]

I feel the need to retract my criticsm of the Keipper crates. Used for the purpose, showing, they are as light an functional as you could want.

[Zach_Rose]

The cages should have a hook in the center of the door on the opening side. I don't know if you have ever shown, but you pinch the hook around the wall that the door should hook to. As for the dividers, the ages were built as how they are, two single large fowl holes at the shows, you wanting to make it a single double coop is your decision and you must work against their factory settings. You know the use of the hog rings that attach the dividers when you set up and tear down several shows of one to two thousand birds or more. They help the rigidity of the cages as well supporting the roof. The cages are made with simplicity in mind.