The building of Pea Palace(Pic Heavy)

[frenchblackcopper]

Okay,since I'm a little sore from hand digging post holes,thought this might eat up some bandwidth here so I decided to take some pics of the new Pea Palace.I always,and I mean ALWAYS buy first and then build later.I bought my first peafowl eggs 2 years ago,and as luck would have it wasn't prepared building wise for them back then.I have built one building with an outside enclosed pen for all of them but as spring is fast approaching,and this being the first year for eggs I find myself behind the gun again in having to quickly build facilities for them.
I had GREAT intentions 2 years ago when I drew up plans for the building,we even set the posts and rafters 2 years ago,the framework has been there just waiting to be completed.Now with the breeding season close I find myself to get out of the chair and get to work.Here is the first picture showing the general layout.The new building is a 24' wide x 30' long addition built on the side of an old corn crib that is still in pretty good shape.

 

[FLKYZach]

Frenchy hasn't updated this thread in two years. I don't think I have seen him post here in a very long time.

I believe his last post was September of this year for cornish chickens

 

[frenchblackcopper]

Now some freespun advice,,everyone has their ways about doing things,but since this has basically been a 1 man show here doing all of this myself some things I've done maybe will help others.My first thoughts are once you decide on a design,leave some room for flexibility.I originally planned this with 3 outside runs planned on EACH side,,but then after looking at top netting sizes,changed my plans to match a net size that would better utilize the space I had.This meant expanding on my original size by almost triple,,and along with that comes significantly more lumber,and time.From this starting out as a 30x30 -3 pen arrangment,it has now grown to a 48x48 7 to 9 pen design.900 sq ft,,to now 2304 sq ft.,,,,12 posts to now 36 posts.

I now will have 5 pens each being 10 feet wide by 30 feet long,(One pen will only be 8' wide),but have an extra 18 x 48 feet all along one end of the 5- 30' long pens.I'm still debating on making this 18x48 foot area into 2 very large pens,,or possibly 4 smaller pens.But the size of the top netting got me to realize why not use all of it,instead of cutting off the excess or rolling it up alongside the pen walls?

Next thought,,,and I may get some backlash here but about setting posts. I run my straight and level line first.Always start on the same end and work one way.Take the time to square your measurements.Posts,,I always mark a line across each post 2 feet up from the bottom.I dig my hole normally about 22"deep measuring from the bottom of the hole,to my level stringline.When I put the post into the hole,I'm normally about 2"-3"'s above my string with my 2' mark on the post..This gives me some room to fudge with when attaching the wire,and sheet metal thats 3' wide across the bottom first.

Sakrete!! I know many people will just pour the bag in the hole dry,and walk away from it.The idea is that ground moisture will EVENTUALLY harden the Sakrete.This may occur if the ground is already very,very wet and you experience a 2" downpour once all posts are in their respective holes.But I found when trying it this way on setting my building posts,,some posts still was not set 10 days later.And how many of you have a few bags of sakrete sitting around that is hard because of absorbed moisture? I had this happen too,only to find the concrete dry and not hard in the center of the bag.Same way when allowing ground moisture to harden sakrete,it will get hard around the outside of the hole first,,Thus taking longer for moisture to get next to your post in the center of the hole.

I fill the hole 2/3 full of dry sakrete,then finish filling the hole to the top with water.I then take a 2' long steel square rod and start poking it as far down in the concrete mixture as I can. At first it goes real easy and you see air bubbles coming to the top,and as water reaches it's way downward it gets harder and harder to push the rod down because all the air is gone and the sakrete is getting wet all the way thru to the bottom of the hole.Within 12 hours,the post is set and you can nail to it without it bouncing all over.For doing this without any help,adding 2/3 of the hole with sakrete still allows final positioning before adding water,then making a last check once the hole is full of wet concrete.

 

[frenchblackcopper]

zazoose,,wife took camera with her thisafternoon,graduation parties ect,,,one thing I have wanted to do that I do not see on any websites about Peafowl,,is to have a picture of the particular color variety of the chick,the hen,and then a full trained male.So many websites only have a picture of say,,just a hen,or just the Cock bird,or some do have a pic of the chicks only,,why not a coordinated effort for pics of all 3?? I now could supply all 3 pics for Opal B/S,,soon for Bronze and Midnight birds,,but to have a "COMPLETE" picture diary of every color would be nice for identification purposes,,,yes? I'll get pics tonight,,and I'm hoping my single Opal b/s chick has some company soon.

 

[frenchblackcopper]

I think my next project for consuming large amounts of cash will be a 30x30 duck aviary with 3 ponds,pumps,drains,plumbing out the yazoo,landscaping,,,more fencing and construction,,,and Merlot.I bet the cost of this small duck aviary could exceed Pea Palace easily!!!

 

[frenchblackcopper]

Old airborn pic of the west side taken in 2012 while standing on top of the Palace

 

[KsKingBee]

Very nice thread I've been reading it the past 2 days at work read every word love your plans and ideas. And obviously love the birds just getting started with chickens and rabbits hoping to get enough capital to get to quail and pheasants this spring then in a few years move up to peafowl since they seem a little more advanced than what I'm ready for at this time. Chickens and rabbits don't need as much "attending to" as these peafowl but hopefully when I find the extra time and money in the coming years I can get a hold of them. Do you think I'm headed in the right direction? Would also love to see an update on your pens and birds.

Frenchy hasn't updated this thread in two years. I don't think I have seen him post here in a very long time.

 

[frenchblackcopper]

Here is another picture facing west.You will notice I'm still needed to put on the last 3 sheets of steel on the roof but the winds here have been terrible the past few days and today is no exception.Please look at the posts next to the new addition.Although I still need to put in 2 more posts,the outside pens will each be 10'x30' long.I'm going to use one avairy net that is 50'x50' to cover this entire area.My actual overall pen dimension is 48'x48' giving me a foot on every side to secure the netting.the post closest in the picture already set has 5 more posts set behind it,,hows that for straight when you cannot see any other posts behind the first one? I'm no carpenter but I am meticulous at some things and setting posts is one of them.

 

[frenchblackcopper]

Here is another view looking straight west.I have delibrately left 2 side sheets off the outside wall next to the corn crib wall so it's still possible to get thru the building and carry in plywood and boards.Inside the Pea Palace it will be split in 2.There will be 4 pens on each 30' wall,3 being 8' wide and one will be 6' wide each being 10' long leaving a 4' wide alley thru the middle.

Because the netting is 50'x50' instead of not using it all I've decided to at least set all the posts needed for the 48'x48' outer pen dimension.From the new building 4 pens will be 10' wide and one will be 8' wide.They are only coming out 30' so this leaves me 18'x48' area east of the building attached pens.Here I am adding 4 other pens but will need to build a small building-open fronted shed for the peas to get out of the wind and rain.I will have a total of 8 seperate pens one this side with 300 sq ft.I've read here peas needs 80 sq ft per bird so this size should easily handle 3-4 birds each.

 

[frenchblackcopper]

These 2 pictures shows the WEST side of Pea Palace.This area will be built next year when I'm behind the gun again probably.It cost me a small fortune for the treated posts and 2x4" lumber for the east side and that wiped out the 2012 budget.You may notice the red sheet metal looks dirty,,this is because it has sat,unmolested stacked outside for the past two years.The top sheets had dirt ect. on them but will wash off when we get a good rain,same with some of the roof metal.From the second picture you can see I have enough room back here for 4 large sized pens or I can build exactly as I am doing on the east side and get 8 pens.