Bob Blosl's Heritage Large Fowl Thread

[3riverschick]

There was a few Sussex at the Fresno CA show last weekend.



Walt

This is a nice hackle. Not a superhackle. It needs to be lifted off the neck and slid up the neck until it gets to the skull. As a whole, it has "slipped" too far down the neck. Tail is really nice. Lots to like about this bird. I would want to hold the bird to see if there is substance there or just feathers, Is that a longer back or just full saddle feathers? Sussex body should be bottle-shaped.
Skytop Speckled Sussex Bantams
http://tinyurl.com/ayfxx3u
http://tinyurl.com/be48m3t
See the stunning "bottle-shaped" bodies.
The body should be almost too long to be crammed. See how the body feathers intrude onto the thigh feathers? I see this a lot in the Aussie Light Sussex where there is a lack of close feathering. The kind of feathering which marks lack of structural substance. The early breeders warn against this lack of close-featheredness, and state the thighs should be able to be seen as a distinct entity and not disappear into the body feathering as we see in Orpingtons. Sussex should never remind one of an Orpington in any way. The legs and feet look real good. Not too long, nice thickness to them and set far enough apart. Good , correct color. Nice head, comb and beak.
2010 APA SOP: http://katherineplumer.com/closeups/poultry/SOP/LLightSussex.html
View side-by-side in windows with above photo.
Best,
Karen

 

[Pozees]

I was amazed when I foamed my roof, and the underside of my house, that they closed up ALL outside air sources. The chimney effect was cut off. I have saved hundreds of dollars a year since then. You can go into my attic on a 105 degree day, and the attic temps will be in the high 80s.The roof decking is COOL on the underside. This technology is upsetting the applecart about everything we know.The theory is that most attics cooked from the heat buildup on the UNDERSIDE.My attic now feels air conditioned on really hot days.

With chickens, it gets a bit more complicated. We need to exhaust ammonia, and warm moist air.A cupola with a sealed attic above, and a vent below, seems to be the ticket.This will supply a heat release source in the summer also while the roof stays cool./

I am not sure about the sealed attic above part - we are putting a cupola on the roof, soffit vents, 2 windows, and 2 doors. Building is 12x16 with gable roof, wooden floor, T1-11 siding. I guess what I am wondering is, if we use foam sheets on the underside of the OSB sheathing with a hole cut in it for the cupola, won't the air flow from the soffit vents (and windows when open) flow up through the cupola? Do I also need gable vents?

Bob, thank you for the Leghorn picture, and Walt thank you for the Sussex picture - my two favorites

 

[galanie]

I think maybe you're confusing the two methods. The illustration shows an air space between the foam and the roof, with the foam cutting off the exhaust or air flow from the coop itself. Putting the foam directly on the roofing with no air space is very different. In any event, you do need air flow up and out of the coop space and no, with the cupola I don't think you'd need gable vents too.

 

[thedragonlady]

I am not sure about the sealed attic above part - we are putting a cupola on the roof, soffit vents, 2 windows, and 2 doors. Building is 12x16 with gable roof, wooden floor, T1-11 siding. I guess what I am wondering is, if we use foam sheets on the underside of the OSB sheathing with a hole cut in it for the cupola, won't the air flow from the soffit vents (and windows when open) flow up through the cupola? Do I also need gable vents?

Bob, thank you for the Leghorn picture, and Walt thank you for the Sussex picture - my two favorites

My carriage house attic roof was sprayed with closed cell foam. I have a colored steel roof over 5/4 boards, and tar paper. I already had 18" of pink stuff in the asttic floor. The attic used to get up to 120+ degrees on hot days. I've had amin/max thermometer up there for the last 3 years. Never has the attic temp gone over 85 since it was foamed. It's saved me a fortune in heating/cooling costs.

A good working cupola will vent your coop if you have intake openings near the floor for the air to be pulled up and out.

 

[pysankigirl]

My carriage house attic roof was sprayed with closed cell foam. I have a colored steel roof over 5/4 boards, and tar paper. I already had 18" of pink stuff in the asttic floor. The attic used to get up to 120+ degrees on hot days. I've had amin/max thermometer up there for the last 3 years. Never has the attic temp gone over 85 since it was foamed. It's saved me a fortune in heating/cooling costs.

A good working cupola will vent your coop if you have intake openings near the floor for the air to be pulled up and out.

The problem is that you can have issues from the roof heat actually melting and damaging the foam. you need ventilation above the foam so that the heat doesn't build up there.

 

[thedragonlady]

The problem is that you can have issues from the roof heat actually melting and damaging the foam. you need ventilation above the foam so that the heat doesn't build up there.

With Styrofoam yes, closed cell spray foam , no. Apparently studies have been done that show that most roofs degrade from the inside out due to attic temps.Closed cell foam keeps the attic cool, and the metal roofs reflect a lot of heat. The stuff is also VERY fire resistant.

 

[Chris09]

http://www.greenhorizon.com/files/JLC - Insulating Unvented Attics With Spray Foam.pdf

The link above shows the affects between a vented attic and a non-vented attic.

Chris

 

[Robert Blosl]

http://www.eggincubatoroutlet.com/eggometer

Here is a good question I got today. The person has a 1202 wooden incubator by GQF and bought a new Thermometer which is above.

The temps on this are different then the thermometer that is on the side of the box which came with the unit five years ago.

Which one should you put your faith in. The temps on the side where the hole is made at the factory or the little gadget unit above which is sitting with the eggs.

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

http://www.eggincubatoroutlet.com/eggometer

Here is a good question I got today. The person has a 1202 wooden incubator by GQF and bought a new Thermometer which is above.

The temps on this are different then the thermometer that is on the side of the box which came with the unit five years ago.

Which one should you put your faith in. The temps on the side where the hole is made at the factory or the little gadget unit above which is sitting with the eggs.

Bob

I run a pair of these http://www.amazon.com/Western-Humidor-CALIBER3-Thermometer-Hygrometer/dp/B0007W1EA6 in my Sportsman. I've had them now for about 5-6 yrs....the humidity stopped working on one of them, but the temp readings still work and are normally within a few tenths of a degree of each other. Seems to be the most accurate ones I've found yet and my hatch dates seem to be dead on....normally the night of day 20, or on the 21st day.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Both of those units could be fairly accurate. The placement of the thermometer can make up to a degree difference. If one probe is located far away from the heat source, it could easily be a degree less than a probe placed in a center position, nearer the eggs.

If one reads 99.5 on the side, somewhere, but the probe by the eggs reads 100.1 you'll have to live with that. That's within reason. I don't like to have eggs fall below 99.5, but also don't want to see readings much above 100. You'll get a lot of quick, early hatching if your temps are 100.5

This is just live and learn, I think. If your first batch is jumping out of the shells on day 20, it has likely been a bit warm. If they don't hatch until late on day 21 and on into day 22, it been a bit cool. Tweak it a bit for round two. Shrug.