Selling and going big -- 100+ chicken ideas

[Alabama Jack]

The guy told me it will take 10-15 years to start corroding, so we're just going to let it be. Call it an experiment! I do like the idea of spacers.

 

[aart]

The guy told me it will take 10-15 years to start corroding, so we're just going to let it be. Call it an experiment! I do like the idea of spacers.

Crossing fingers.
Spacers would be a bear to do.
Someone light and nimble would have to climb up and work it from the top,
being very careful where they put their weight.

 

[Tabasco Jack]

Kinda late now, but you can put felt paper between the PT wood and the roofing.

 

[Alabama Jack]

That's exactly what the contractor said!

 

[aart]

Kinda late now, but you can put felt paper between the PT wood and the roofing.

That's exactly what the contractor said!

OyVey....20/20 hindsight!!

Would offer somewhat of a heat radiation barrier too.

 

[Alabama Jack]

Got the second of 10 concrete walls done, with bolts for 2x4 framing (for doors and for stapling the HW cloth into). Eight more to go... Ughhh.... Went down 10" and plan to put some HW cloth out from the wall.




Feeling kinda overwhelmed right now with the chicks in the garage and so much to do. Decided on commercial roll out nest boxes to save some time. They're selling for $40 for a 6 hole roll out box on craigslist, which is about the same I would pay for wood to make one.

Looking for ideas on a no-mess feeder setup for 100 chickens. I had a 5 gallon bucket that worked for our 12 girls at our old house, but we're switching to non-GMO and possibly organic feed which we will get by the 55 gallon drum size. Thought about doing the no-mess feeder with a 55 gallon drum, but the problem is moving it when full. Thought about a gravity feed from the 55 gallon drum to 5-10 5 gallon buckets with a PVC system, but it sounds complicated and too much trouble to maintain.

For water, we have a no frost spigot and plan to use toilet plumbing to make a continuous filling 55 gallon drum with nipples. We'll have to come out on frost days to turn on and off the spigot (which is a total of 15 or so days in Alabama).

Keep bringing the feedback!!!

 

[ScottandSam]

Got the second of 10 concrete walls done, with bolts for 2x4 framing (for doors and for stapling the HW cloth into). Eight more to go... Ughhh.... Went down 10" and plan to put some HW cloth out from the wall.




Feeling kinda overwhelmed right now with the chicks in the garage and so much to do. Decided on commercial roll out nest boxes to save some time. They're selling for $40 for a 6 hole roll out box on craigslist, which is about the same I would pay for wood to make one.

Looking for ideas on a no-mess feeder setup for 100 chickens. I had a 5 gallon bucket that worked for our 12 girls at our old house, but we're switching to non-GMO and possibly organic feed which we will get by the 55 gallon drum size. Thought about doing the no-mess feeder with a 55 gallon drum, but the problem is moving it when full. Thought about a gravity feed from the 55 gallon drum to 5-10 5 gallon buckets with a PVC system, but it sounds complicated and too much trouble to maintain.

For water, we have a no frost spigot and plan to use toilet plumbing to make a continuous filling 55 gallon drum with nipples. We'll have to come out on frost days to turn on and off the spigot (which is a total of 15 or so days in Alabama).

Keep bringing the feedback!!!

to be gmo free eggs in my state (MO) chicks have to eat gmo free feed from day 1. also there was a bunch of crap like gmo free on my farm for 3 years. I said f that. and sell them as free range organic now.

Scott

 

[Howard E]

On the treated lumber, first there was CCA, which was used for years and worked pretty well. But the "A" stands for arsenic, and somebody seemed to think that was a bad idea, so was taken off the market. CCA it is still available, but only for a very few specific uses (farm buildings being one of them) and mere mortals like use are not supposed to be able to buy it. You can't at the box stores.

CCA was replaced by ACQ, which users quickly found out was corrosive as heck due to a chemical reaction. Metal that contacted that stuff would be gone in only a couple years. On those, you almost had to go to a more noble metal like stainless steel screws and nails for any fasteners to last. Any sheet metal that touched that stuff got the cancer in just a few years.

So ACQ went away and has been replaced by MCA, which they claim is back to behaving like CCA did, although is not nearly as good at preventing rot with ground contact. Most of that is marked as "not for ground contact".

But if the little stickers on the end of your treated boards say MCA, your metal might last a while. Either way, a thin sheet of rigid insulation might have been good under the metal........to prevent condensation, if nothing else.

But if you got a deal on your treated lumber, and the little stickers say ACQ, you may want to stop where you are and think this over. That would be a ticking time bomb with a short fuse.

Edited to change MCQ to ACQ...........

For the hopelessly curious...........

http://www.deckmagazine.com/design-construction/the-new-preservatives_o

 

[Alabama Jack]

But if the little stickers on the end of your treated boards say MCA, your metal might last a while. Either way, a thin sheet of rigid insulation might have been good under the metal........to prevent condensation, if nothing else.

But if you got a deal on your treated lumber, and the little stickers say ACQ, you may want to stop where you are and think this over. That would be a ticking time bomb with a short fuse.

Thanks Howard for the link and info! Just checked a tag, and it's MCA.

 

[Alabama Jack]

to be gmo free eggs in my state (MO) chicks have to eat gmo free feed from day 1. also there was a bunch of crap like gmo free on my farm for 3 years. I said f that. and sell them as free range organic now.

Scott

Thanks Scott. We have them on non-GMO Organic crumble right now. I also question the reasoning for feeding non-GMO other than for marketing. How much do you get for a dozen in your area? Here in Alabama, it's $6/dozen for organic and $5 for non-GMO at the farmers market. We're thinking hard about having all of our operation becoming organic. We're following the guidelines as close as possible (and for as much as we know). We also have sheep and goats, with an emphasis on meat sheep. I have a friend who has an organic beef operation and he's mentoring us.