Consolidated Kansas

[chicken danz]

It's not any cooler per say but it is sprinkling right now here. Come on saving rain! My birds are all out running around the yard like they got a special treat.
I took time out from my overloaded schedule and went to an auction yesterday. I got a brand new GQF incubator (used once only and you can't tell it.) for a great price. There was only one other person bidding or it would have been even cheaper. That makes a total of 4 of them plus two small ones for me. I think I may sell one of the others next spring. Of course I did run out of room this spring so I may just use them all.
Callduck lover,
Drinking cold water will kill young turkeys. I don't think it hurts any other species; and adults for sure do fine because they make it through winter. Turkeys can be a lot more sensitive to many things than your average poultry, including disease.
Stop and think about it. Look at the body mass. One little heart has to manage all that. I just lost a poult for no specific reason. They were all doing fine and she just died. They are at about 85 degrees and have plenty of food and water, and mostly clean conditions. They're pretty messy and I don't change their bedding every day. I hatched these maybe 3 weeks ago.

 

[chicken danz]

Quote:
Advice from an old builder. Saws are wonderful tools. Never let your attention wander and keep your fingers away from the blade. Wear safety glasses and gloves too (gloves need to fit properly). Hold the wood in position so it can't flip up and hit you. An extension table does wonders. I just read in handyman magazine, (yes this old lady still takes handyman magazine) someone used an old ironing board with their table saw to balance the wood. It works great if you don't have stands.
Be sure to square everything up. It doesn't take that long, but it makes all the difference in the world how the whole thing goes together, saves lots of headaches later, and the finished product looks great. Pre plan and always measure twice. If you mess up save the board (and not to beat yourself with for your error!

.) Even if it is too short to use in the general construction of the thing, you can use it for braces or strengthening if needed later on.
Not sure what you are going to use to put it together, but screws (always make sure they are long enough) give strength and save effort over hammering nails. A nail gun is the fastest but not everyone has one. Just something to consider. And I would start by building the frame for the floor of the project. Use treated wood for the bottom braces if you don't plan to set it on concrete blocks or something. You never want wood to touch earth unless it is treated.
If you have questions later be sure to ask. If I don't know the answer I will get it. My sister is a construction contractor and remoldeler. We're quite a diverse family. Dig in and have a blast building it yourself. You will be so proud that you did it yourself!!

 

[ChooksChick]

Quote:
Advice from an old builder. Saws are wonderful tools. Never let your attention wander and keep your fingers away from the blade. Wear safety glasses and gloves too (gloves need to fit properly). Hold the wood in position so it can't flip up and hit you. An extension table does wonders. I just read in handyman magazine, (yes this old lady still takes handyman magazine) someone used an old ironing board with their table saw to balance the wood. It works great if you don't have stands.
Be sure to square everything up. It doesn't take that long, but it makes all the difference in the world how the whole thing goes together, saves lots of headaches later, and the finished product looks great. Pre plan and always measure twice. If you mess up save the board (and not to beat yourself with for your error!

.) Even if it is too short to use in the general construction of the thing, you can use it for braces or strengthening if needed later on.
Not sure what you are going to use to put it together, but screws (always make sure they are long enough) give strength and save effort over hammering nails. A nail gun is the fastest but not everyone has one. Just something to consider. And I would start by building the frame for the floor of the project. Use treated wood for the bottom braces if you don't plan to set it on concrete blocks or something. You never want wood to touch earth unless it is treated.
If you have questions later be sure to ask. If I don't know the answer I will get it. My sister is a construction contractor and remoldeler. We're quite a diverse family. Dig in and have a blast building it yourself. You will be so proud that you did it yourself!!

Can I just say I ADORE that we girls on BYC are able and willing and teaching other ladies to build. It's wonderful to have that help and ability and all teh guys all over BYC giving hints and help is glorious, too. I was lucky enough to learn most of my skills at home growing up, but have helped other ladies learn to use their tools. We are a wonderful group and I am tickled to see such a wonderful bunch of advice go from one girl to another!

 

[chicken danz]

I figure I can do anything I try if I have a reference, other than when it comes to strength. God put men on earth for more than just fathering children. Love that they have muscles where I don't!

 

[callducklover20]

Quote:
well at least the traps are working and there are now 2 less raccoons. Baby ducks have a hard time with cold water too, Chicken danz thanks-she is the one who warned us about cold water on the turkeys. I know that ducks dehydrate easy and fast, thought I was just starting with a little water on that poor baby but it ended up drinking more than the other 2 and died. It would of been fine on a normal drive but I got stuck on i70 in construction on one of the first really hot days of the summer. Just didnt want to kill any other birds off like that, esp since so many have been lost to the raccoons.
I dont drink ice water when I work outside in this heat everyday since its not good on humans either, only cool to getting warm water-otherwise I would double over

 

[Hawkeye95]

thanks ladies!

CallDuckLover- sorry about Daren being on 'break' for another couple of weeks.

I'm SO GLAD you caught those two raccoons! They were just having a field day in your coop, hu?

Okay, so my husband put the auger on the tractor. I started the holes after measuring it all out and squaring it off the best I could. Then this morning we used the auger in the 4 holes I started and one is done, but the other 3 need more water soaked in them so we can finish tonight. BUT.... then that got me to thinking, what kind of posts do I need to use in my run? I'm using 4X4X8 for the main posts under the coop. It's going to be an 8X8 floor. Then I'm going to go get 4X4X12 posts to use for the extended roof- thinking of coming out another 8 feet? That way they have a bit of cover in the run. Should I go out a bit further than that? Will that be enough to cover for rain and snow?

Okay, so then, I want to use tall wood posts for my run so I can walk into it without having to duck over the entire time I'm in there. Do I need more 4X4 or can I use 2X4? I guess I better go look at other people's pictures to see what they are using. I don't care, I just want to build it right and while I'm digging holes... I guess I should just dig them all now while I'm killing myself.

so... roof cover and posts for the run....????

(here is a picture of us toiling away at the ground that is acting like cement at the moment)

 

[Ivywoods]

Hawkeye-Hey! You are off and running.

I don't know what to tell you for posts, but I would definitely plan for extra shade over the run and build the run tall enough you don't have to bend over to be in there, as you said. It looks like you've got the "digging" part down. Have your plan completely drawn up before you start. Might save some headaches.

As far as power tools go, I was divorced in 1998. After that I bought all the power tools I wanted (NO..... I didn't keep ANYTHING that belonged to my X... He could hardly turn a screwdriver!) There was a cabinet shop that had a fire and I went to that auction. I bought two truckloads of used tools, lumber and finish wood. I've finally used up all of that wood on various projects. When I met my current husband in 2000 I was the only female he knew that had her own table saw and amateur woodworking shop. I love doing that kind of stuff. Admittedly, I'm no pro. I truly admire those who are true craftsmen and artists with wood, but I do enough of it that I am comfortable using about any power tool and I enjoy doing it and get personal satisfaction out of my accomplishments. I'm really happy to see there are a lot of women out there that do a lot of this kind of stuff. So many of the people I'm around look at me like I am totally nuts for even thinking of doing the things I do!

I'm 56 years old and have arthritis so I do end up waiting for my hubby to help me with a lot of things. Right now my table saw is covered with parts from an engine that he has torn apart, so I'm waiting for that to get finished so I can use my saw. I'm patiently waiting, can you tell?

Oh, and about the planter... I got the idea at a farm auction. I wanted to buy one of those big black kettles to put in the yard for a planter, but every time I bid on one the antique dealers wanted it more. I saw a rather primitive planter someone had built on an axle and figured I could do that. The wheels and axle from this planter are what came from the coop I am using for my layers. It was an antique horsedrawn blacksmith wagon that we bought at an acution for $100 and converted into a coop. I love "adaptive re-use" rather than trashing the old stuff and buying new.

 

[Hawkeye95]

IvyWoods- that is really impressive! My husband is pretty handy himself, so I don't feel the need to do anything like that, but I am totally envious about other women getting right out there and doing that. My husband built the barn you see in the background of my pictures. He has lots of tools and he does a bit of carpentry for fun around the house. But he has no interest in chickens and his way of protesting is to not build it for me like I thought he would. Soooo... I told him FINE, I'd do it myself. And I will, too. Actually, I'm really excited with the prospect of using all of his power tools and building the coop. It will be something I can say "I did it!". He did get rooked into putting the auger on, though- that is a two person job.

I sure wish it would cool down so I could get back out there. It's 108 degrees right now. Bleah.

Here are my ideas- tell me what you think! That way I can incorporate before I get too far. First of all, I'm thinking of taking up about 2 feet (or less) for storage on the side. I want to be able to fit in a 5 gallon bucket- so maybe I only need about a foot and a half? My brillant idea is to set the bucket down and see how much room I need! Anyway, then I thought make it built in room the whole length and height of the coop so I can fit in a rake or whatever else I don't want to be dragging back and forth. I may not need to make it really tall- because I'm really hoping to be able to put in a small window or vent on that side, too. The other sides will all have windows and vents.

Here is a picture of the side and what I'm talking about the Run and the overhang off of the roof. It's totally out of porportion, I'm sure. I don't think the roof I drew is 8ft long- I bet if it were to look like that, it'd be more like 12. Which... maybe I'll do that!

I started looking at everyone else's coops and realized that they are either building up off of a frame on the ground, then they can use 2X4's... or they are sinking 4X4 posts into the ground. I guess I am leaning towards the 4X4 posts in the ground... but I won't worry about that until I get a really good start on the coop and get to the point where I can think about how I want the run to come off of it and the roof over hang.

 

[Ivywoods]

First off... the storage thing. Where will you be keeping your feed? If you only have 2' of space for your bucket, your feed won't be there. If it was me, I would just keep my bucket where I keep my feed. You do need a "work/storage" area. The area of my coop that I sectioned off for feed is 4' x 8' and sometimes I think it is not near big enough. I keep a trash barrel with feed in there, a tote with oyster shell, grit and cracked corn. I also have my extra feeders and waterers in there. Plan to have your supplies and feed close to the coop or attached to it. It makes every day chores SO much easier, especially when there is ice and snow on the ground, or it is raining or whatever. I like the looks of what you are planning for the coop. If this is one of your first woodworking projects, keep it as simple as possible.

Your access doors to the coop from the outside look a little small. I would rather eliminate them on one side and make them bigger on the side that you do put them on. You want to be able to reach clear in to the coop if you have to, and sometimes that means being able to get your head and shoulders in there. If you put windows in it, I would put them on the south side where the sun will shine through them in the winter, but not in the summer. Be sure you make them so there can be adequate ventilation when you want to leave them open.

Put your access for the hens underneath the coop so they walk up through the floor rather than the side. It makes it warmer in the winter and more rain/snow proof, especially when the wind is blowing like... well, like a Kansas wind.

That's about all I can think of right now. I hope some of this helps, but certainly there are other ideas out there. There are SO many designs. I always go for function before fashion.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Quote:
oh wow, I've never seen access thru the floor instead of the side, but that is really smart! But that means, no pop door and no way to really keep them in, unless you build in a trap door... or just don't worry about it?? I'm intending my run to be secure enough, that I shouldn't have to worry about anything getting at them inside it. That's why I was doing the overhang of the roof, was to try to account for the door being on that side. I'll def give that some thought! I'm no where near that point yet, so I have a lot of time to think about it. As for keeping the feed, I have large grain storage in my barn and all of my equipment for cleaning stalls, etc is in there. I was just thinking I could put a few things in the coop storage area for small stuff I might need more often than larger items. I figured a bucket or two might be a good idea, but I don't have chickens, I can't predict how I'm going to want to use it. I plan on store bags of chicken feed in my grain storage area in the barn and then fill up a bucket? I have garden wagons, wheel barrows- I'm set up for moving stuff around. I'm not sure how it's going to work exactly. Can you direct me to a picture or a posting about a floor access, I am intrigued!

The access doors into the coop on the back side should be large enough for me to get into. They should be about 5 or 6 feet wide by 3 feet tall. I'm using the Mid Life Crisis Coop as my inspiration- so it is going to be pretty tall. I want to be able to nearly stand up in there so I can get in and clean when necessary. The doors on the other side won't go into the coop- that gets into the storage area. It will be another large door so that I can easily get to stuff I might want to throw in there. We shall see, anyway! I am trying my best to keep it simple. I've never built anything at all every before! I did buy screws- no nails, so hopefully that will help keep it strong. The guy at Lowes showed me which ones to get so that they'd be long enough and the exterior kind.

Whew... I don't know. I hope I don't screw it up!