Tuesday 20 August 2013

Proper update

Okay, time for a proper update.  Sorry for the delay, guys - it's definitely project season, and we got a big one crossed off our list a week ago.  That's right, the chicken coop/run is finished!

This year we are focusing on fixing up the house, so there's been a lot of "make do" when it comes to other projects.  When we decided to do chickens, we knew we could set up a brooder in the barn, and that's what we did.  But we knew we couldn't keep them in there forever, so shortly after we got them, we had to come up with a coop and/or run.  I searched the internet (wonderful tool that it is) for something sturdy, affordable, simple to build, and big enough for about 25 chickens.  That's a tall order as far as chicken runs are concerned - most of the projects online are great for 8-12 chickens.  However, I was able to find one, made out of conduit tubing.  (We made a few changes: it would be 3 feet tall instead of two, and we'd use the chain link fencing I picked up at an auction instead of the landscaping wire and chicken wire.)  It looked easy enough to build, and we easily found the parts we needed at Home Depot.  Once I started building it, things started going sideways.  The chuck fell off the drill press as I was setting it up to use it for the second set of holes.  The cordless drill ran out of juice after drilling two holes.  The heavy-duty corded drill Dad gave us could easily drill the holes, but I needed to start them with the cordless drill because I couldn't hold the big drill in one spot long enough to keep it from wandering off the side of the pipe.  We went through three drill bits trying to drill the holes, and by the end of it, we couldn't get the chuck of the big drill to hold the bit to drill all the way through the pipes, because the drill bit was tiny (we just needed to pre-drill the holes for the self-tapping screws... which will easily self-tap through sheet metal, but are a little harder to get through electrical conduit).  When we got enough holes drilled to start putting it together, the conduit elbow plates weren't strong enough to hold it square, so there were saw horses and scrap wood and wire and a few blue words involved.  By that point, I was realizing that this design just wasn't going to work for us.  So, plan B: we'll follow the same plans, but use 2x4s instead of conduit.  This added a few days needed to stain all the pieces, but once everything was ready, we were able to get the run together in a day.  It's not perfect, but we know what to do differently next time (for example, use plate brackets instead of mending plates to build the frames for each side of the run).

We also picked a pre-existing structure to modify instead of building a new one.  After surveying what we had available, we picked one of the old grain buildings.  It still has the feed tag stapled inside: Coop Poultry Premix (oh, the irony - from chicken feed to chickens for feed).  This also gave us a chance to practice framing, without a whole structure depending on our skills.  We sorted out the modifications we needed to make, measured everything three times, cut all the materials, stained what needed it, and started piecing it all together.  We ran in to a few snags (of course), but a quick change of plans and a few more pieces of 2x4 and we got it put together.  This took about a day.  All told, we had  the pre-cut and stained pieces together in a weekend.

So, we started with about a dozen 2x4s, three sheets of plywood, some chain link fencing, screws, fence staples, a salvaged window, some screening, and a few assorted hinges and latches.  Oh, and this building, which is about 70 square feet:

Sorry for the terrible picture - I didn't bother to take a photo of the building before we started, so this is a still shot from a video.
And after a few days of measuring, cutting, staining, hammering, and screwing, we had this:

We added a tarp for a few days because it was +30 in the afternoons, and that side faces west, right into the sun.
The waterers and feeders inside the coop.
The chicken door on the bottom, and the window on the top.  The window has screening, and I'll add chicken wire too. I can also add a ramp for the chickens, but they're enjoying hopping over the sill. 
"Sup?"
Of course, the chickens LOVE it.



Zim likes it too :)


As you can see, the chickens continue to do great.  They are averaging a pound and a half, and they love to be outside - to the point that we have to pick up each one and put them in the coop each evening.  Mind you, it's not that dark out when it's my bedtime, so maybe if it was darker, they wouldn't be so reluctant to head in?  Either way, they've been stuck in the coop for the last few days, due to a bear in the area and a few days of thunderstorms.  Hopefully this will also impress on them that the coop is home, not just the run.

In other news, the gardens are doing good.  Strawberry season ended last month, but the raspberries are still going strong - I've harvested at least 8 pounds of raspberries this year from the pre-existing canes.  The veggie garden is starting to produce well too: the corn is flowering, we've already had a side of peas with dinner, the turnips are ready to come out (judging by Tessa's), the cabbages are starting to form heads, the few carrots that sprouted are getting tall, and the potato plants are huge.  I planted eight lettuce seeds and none of them sprouted for weeks, then suddenly *tada* one lettuce popped up in a row.  And Kim gave me a shallot that she found sprouting in her cupboard, so I'm hoping to get seeds - it's huge!  (And yes, I'm practicing "lazy gardener's cover cropping" - it's working well!  Clover actually makes a good ground cover between rows, and we can just till it under when Fall comes, where it will compost directly into the soil to energize it for next year.  At least, that's what I'm telling myself!)

Click to make it bigger :)

We've had two days of 'severe thunderstorms' - on Sunday, it hailed for 10 minutes, and it was good-sized hail too.  Most of it was pea-sized, but some pieces were the size of a nickel in diameter.

Sunday

Sunday.  10 minutes after I took this, the sun was out.  Go figure.

Our poor cabbage!

Other than that, there's not much new here.  The Exhibition came through town last weekend, and Jordan and I met up with Kim and David on Sunday to watch the first three-abreast draft horse pull in Western Canada.  The teams were beautiful and powerful, and the two best-behaved teams were the final two in the running, with the winners pulling 14,500 lbs.  I spent the whole time swooning over one team, made up of Percherons - they made it up to 13,000 before the teamster pulled them from the competition.  And they were so well behaved!!  After the pull, we caught the pig and duck races and the dog agility show (and they invited kids to run the course as well at one point, it was awesome).  Jordan picked up a '77 Caprice to restore, he's been enjoying tearing it down.  Almost all of the interior is out (including the carpet), and Kim found us an engine stand at a garage sale that we picked up for $30.  We just need a hoist and then he can start taking the guts of the car out.

We are hosting a BBQ for my coworkers this coming weekend, and then my parents are up for a bit (hopefully they are bringing my brother too).  We are working on sorting out a problem with our roof - you'll hear about it when it's all sorted out and taken care of.  And, hopefully, we find some time to relax in the coming weeks.