Consolidated Kansas
- Thread starter ChooksChick
- Start date
Renee, Sorry about loosing your hen. I know exactly what you are going through. Without going into the whole sob story I recently lost two special birds. Luckily it was not from a predator, but it didn't make it any easier. Every day I loose some babies since it has been so hot. I have fans in the brooder but the temps still go nuts. I am beginning to wonder if all that insulation is just holding in the heat. I know it is great in the winter but not so sure that it is helping much right now. I had two fans quit yesterday so I had to rush replacements into a couple houses before the birds got too hot.
Hawkeye, Necessity makes you learn in a hurry when there isn't money to pay to have anything done. I wish I was closer. I'd come help you build your chicken house. I always think I can get something done faster than I can. Things I have to have help with drive me nuts. My better half is a person who does more staring than acting when he works on stuff. I have to busy myself with something else when I ask him for help with something like your posts for instance, or I will go insane. One thing you might do in the meantime if you know your final measurements is to lay out your boards for the floor joist and framing. You could mark those for cuts and be that far ahead of the game. DON'T however go ahead and cut them. Once your framing is up you can do that, but measurements can change ever so slightly in the actual project and really mess you up if you cut ahead. Anyway, laying it out on the ground and marking the centers where the studs go and stuff will save you time later. Another thing you could do is pre-construct your walls. Don't forget to allow for the corners where the boards fit together or you'll be rebuilding a couple of them. If you have a flat surface you could build your walls and have them all nice and level and square. Then your DH can just help you set them in place after the floor is done. Again saves time later on and you don't have to stand around waiting for each step. Be sure to leave openings for the windows. It is wise to make your frame work at least 1/2 inch wider and taller than the size of the window you will be installing so you can shim and level the window. Same with the door framing. On a couple of my houses I have built the walls on 2 foot centers and then just made a slender custom door to fit the hole. It's narrow but plenty of room to get in and out. Whatever you do just remember square and level everything. If you don't have one of those little plastic carpentry angle squares go get one, or maybe two. You will need them. The second thing I would recommend are some C clamps to hold stuff in place until you get it fastened. If there is a harbor freight in Wichita that would be the cheapest place to get both. Neither should be expensive.
Hawkeye, Necessity makes you learn in a hurry when there isn't money to pay to have anything done. I wish I was closer. I'd come help you build your chicken house. I always think I can get something done faster than I can. Things I have to have help with drive me nuts. My better half is a person who does more staring than acting when he works on stuff. I have to busy myself with something else when I ask him for help with something like your posts for instance, or I will go insane. One thing you might do in the meantime if you know your final measurements is to lay out your boards for the floor joist and framing. You could mark those for cuts and be that far ahead of the game. DON'T however go ahead and cut them. Once your framing is up you can do that, but measurements can change ever so slightly in the actual project and really mess you up if you cut ahead. Anyway, laying it out on the ground and marking the centers where the studs go and stuff will save you time later. Another thing you could do is pre-construct your walls. Don't forget to allow for the corners where the boards fit together or you'll be rebuilding a couple of them. If you have a flat surface you could build your walls and have them all nice and level and square. Then your DH can just help you set them in place after the floor is done. Again saves time later on and you don't have to stand around waiting for each step. Be sure to leave openings for the windows. It is wise to make your frame work at least 1/2 inch wider and taller than the size of the window you will be installing so you can shim and level the window. Same with the door framing. On a couple of my houses I have built the walls on 2 foot centers and then just made a slender custom door to fit the hole. It's narrow but plenty of room to get in and out. Whatever you do just remember square and level everything. If you don't have one of those little plastic carpentry angle squares go get one, or maybe two. You will need them. The second thing I would recommend are some C clamps to hold stuff in place until you get it fastened. If there is a harbor freight in Wichita that would be the cheapest place to get both. Neither should be expensive.
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https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=546740
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=546740
Quote:
It's about a mile 1/2 North of Haysville, There over at my mothers house and I promised her I would get rid of them for her about two months ago and I forgot about them until your post. I'll run over there here in a bit and measure them, that way if you can't use them I can get them put up on craigslist and Freecycle.
It's about a mile 1/2 North of Haysville, There over at my mothers house and I promised her I would get rid of them for her about two months ago and I forgot about them until your post. I'll run over there here in a bit and measure them, that way if you can't use them I can get them put up on craigslist and Freecycle.
I went to the ReStore place today and I lucked out!! WooHoo!! $5 windows and now I don't have to figure out how to make a window!
Tommy D, thank you so much for your offer! I really appreciate it, but I'm so glad that I found something already done!
Anyway, that store was so much fun! After I bought the windows, I went back in and looked around some more! I only got two windows... They have more. But I figured I won't need one on the west side- as that is the hottest side, and I'll put one on the north and east side. I'm going to put venting on the south side, but that has the roof overhang on it. If I really need another window, I can go back and get one, they had a whole bunch of them. They are just sashes, not windows. But totally perfect for what I wanted!
chicken danz, I'll dig thru my husband's stuff, but I'm pretty sure he has those squares you're talking about. Speed squares, I think is what he calls them. I'll def be listening to all of your advice, I'll need it!
Tommy D, thank you so much for your offer! I really appreciate it, but I'm so glad that I found something already done!
Anyway, that store was so much fun! After I bought the windows, I went back in and looked around some more! I only got two windows... They have more. But I figured I won't need one on the west side- as that is the hottest side, and I'll put one on the north and east side. I'm going to put venting on the south side, but that has the roof overhang on it. If I really need another window, I can go back and get one, they had a whole bunch of them. They are just sashes, not windows. But totally perfect for what I wanted!
chicken danz, I'll dig thru my husband's stuff, but I'm pretty sure he has those squares you're talking about. Speed squares, I think is what he calls them. I'll def be listening to all of your advice, I'll need it!
now I'm worried... do I need more windows??? Or are the two okay? The Run is facing south- less harsh wind in the winter, and it will be covered by 8 or 12 feet of roof... (haven't decided) Putting a window in the west would get too hot..? you think?
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we just have two windows... we get a north/south breeze...
Is your door on the south side? I have the doors on all my coops facing south (except for one and it has a giant window on the south side)with a window on the north so I can get a breeze going from south to north to help draw out the hot air in the summer.
Two windows will be plenty. Those are bigger than the two windows I have in my 8'x16' coop. It can get pretty hot sometimes when the sun is shining through those windows. (Think of how hot your car gets when the windows are up.) Windows on the south are nice because the sun hits them in the winter, but not so much in the summer. Makes it warmer in the winter, cooler in the summer. You will build these so that you can open them and have good cross ventilation so it will probably be okay. You can pretty well bet those chickens are going to be outside under the coop anytime during the hot weather, except for when they go in to lay an egg or something.
Are you going to keep the food and water outside under the coop or in the coop?
Are you going to keep the food and water outside under the coop or in the coop?
Be careful putting windows on the north. If they aren't sealed well they are going to let in a lot of cold. The north side of all my houses are solid. No doors and no windows. I use windows on one side and have vents on another to let air flow through. Most of them are on the east and west sides. Too much sun comes in from the South. I have one house with south facing windows but it sits under a shade tree so it doesn't get extreme heat from the sun.
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