I've twisted and turned for weeks now, studying BYC and going goo-gah over everyone's cool setups. But the chicks are 6 weeks now, they have outgrown 3 different containers, and it's time they start sleeping outside... Time to stop screwing around and build something...
So here's an initial shot, and others are here
We have debated a number of locations in our yard where we would build this. Having moved from a city lot in the SF Bay Area, I would think that an acre would be awfully spacious. But the former owner made a lot of it lawn, and that is bordered by oodles of manzanita and flowers, and suddenly the choices became limited. I'm finding that I could really make use of another dang acre...
Anyhow, the area we finally decided is in the front of the property, secluded from the street by trees and native shrubs, but directly adjacent to a grove of oak trees. In the fall, the volume of leaves and acorns is impressive - and there is snow in the winter. Knowing that I need to close in the top to protect the birds from predators, but not wanting to deal with annual efforts to tear the oak leaves out of a chicken wire covering over the top of the run, I decided to roof it with metal.
The run is 12x8, just 4' less than the 100 s.f. suggested for 10 birds. If we need to expand the run, there is a fair amount of space adjacent to the run where we could add new sections.
I also hooked up a local guy who found my craigslist solicitation to move a shed that I could purchase in the community an hour south of here. He reminded me that by the time I purchased a used shed and paid for the costs of moving it, I could easily build a shed. And he proposed a price that is very reasonable, and it looks like that's the plan.
So, tomorrow I will try to bring the basic fence structure to a point of completion, and probably secure the top with some sheets of old plywood. Then we have to do a major lumber yard run and prepare for this weekend when the shed builder will arrive.
More photos soon.
So here's an initial shot, and others are here
We have debated a number of locations in our yard where we would build this. Having moved from a city lot in the SF Bay Area, I would think that an acre would be awfully spacious. But the former owner made a lot of it lawn, and that is bordered by oodles of manzanita and flowers, and suddenly the choices became limited. I'm finding that I could really make use of another dang acre...
Anyhow, the area we finally decided is in the front of the property, secluded from the street by trees and native shrubs, but directly adjacent to a grove of oak trees. In the fall, the volume of leaves and acorns is impressive - and there is snow in the winter. Knowing that I need to close in the top to protect the birds from predators, but not wanting to deal with annual efforts to tear the oak leaves out of a chicken wire covering over the top of the run, I decided to roof it with metal.
The run is 12x8, just 4' less than the 100 s.f. suggested for 10 birds. If we need to expand the run, there is a fair amount of space adjacent to the run where we could add new sections.
I also hooked up a local guy who found my craigslist solicitation to move a shed that I could purchase in the community an hour south of here. He reminded me that by the time I purchased a used shed and paid for the costs of moving it, I could easily build a shed. And he proposed a price that is very reasonable, and it looks like that's the plan.
So, tomorrow I will try to bring the basic fence structure to a point of completion, and probably secure the top with some sheets of old plywood. Then we have to do a major lumber yard run and prepare for this weekend when the shed builder will arrive.
More photos soon.
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