NY chicken lover!!!!

[ke5hde]

Oh poop.  Everything is frozen....especially the poop in the coop.   I had to hit a couple of piles with a shovel to move them to close the door.   Why, oh why, do they sit on the door sill and poop there?  Either go in or go out....don't just sit on the fence, silly chickens.

My washer is frozen.  Not the water lines, the PUMP.  If it cracks I am gonna be really angry. (Can't say what I want to say, cuz they **** it out)   This washer is not very old, I don't want to have to replace it.


My dishwasher is frozen.  Now THAT I understand.   The plumbing is on an outside wall.  Only insulation in that wall is bricks.   I swear, bricks inside all the outside walls of this place.  We are slowly redoing walls and installing modern insulation, however, the kitchen was totally remodeled before we bought it and all the cabinets and plumbing are new.   Taking them down to put in insulation is not gonna happen, because it would render the kitchen unusable.  So, we have to take the siding off and put insulation in from the outside.   Now, of course, it isn't vinyl siding, it is old cedar shake siding.  Gonna take a long time to take it down and put it back up.  (Can't get it any more....not like what is on this house)

And my feet are frozen.  This place definately is not draft free. 

Got to go fix something very warm to eat and put my feet up off the floor.

I know how you feel. Our water was frozen at the pressure tank yesterday. We have a 100 year old house on a crawl space. Thanks about a PITA! Hope your washer thaws without a problem.
Nothing feels better on cold feet than a pair of LL Bean wicked good slippers

 

[ke5hde]

Here's a couple chick pics from the hatch on Tuesday.

 

[bakingintherain]

Here's a couple chick pics from the hatch on Tuesday.

Cute! Not helping my spring fever though lol

 

[bakingintherain]

Having an amazing treat dinner of fried chicken liver (from homegrown birds) and onions with a side of cucumber slices and cultured carrot sticks mmmm seventh heaven

 

[why do birds]

Cass,
Not sure if this applies, but there's a tax credit for old building repair. http://www.nps.gov/tps/tax-incentives.htm If your place was ever used as a business, any kind of business (anything, sewing, cooking, anything a former owner may have done could qualify you as a business even if you don't use it for the same purpose) from before 1936 it would qualify for 10% from Federal government tax credit. If you do barn repair it's 20% from Federal government. If you do any historic barn repair you have to apply through the NYS Parks and Recreation. I sent them a LOT of photos, explained everything we planned to do and they were very nice in helping us get the paperwork we needed for our accountant. There may be an old building (not barn) repair for NY State too but I'm not sure. It applies in historic districts but I'm not sure if it could be applied outside of historic districts. For old barn repair there are double tax credits, from the federal gov't and from NY State.
Also, if you use your home as part of the business you should be eligible for that portion of your home to be business expenses. So if you have chicks in your basement, and use that space for them, and need the bathroom for water, and/or kitchen or washer to clean their towels, the portion that you use that for your business is deductible. Our accountant said always to be incorporated, but if a farm is one's primary source of income, then a dba may work too(?). Don't forget that if your animals require heat (heat lamp, incubator, etc.), you may deduct that portion of your heating expenses from your home too. Don't forget to deduct your % of computer expenses that would include monthly cable as you need this for record keeping. We keep every single receipt, including expense of photos of the barn and postage to send them out. Mileage back and forth for feed, and even the grocery store, if you're going to feed them people food, like leftovers, should all be tax deductible for mileage. Yikes you can tell it's tax time again for me!
If you wash any food that you feed to the chickens in the kitchen sink, then I'd think that at least part of the kitchen is a deduction, part of the water bills, and repairs of exterior walls necessary to maintain the flow of water for your business. That's all I could brainstorm for now. Best of luck with the repairs!

 

[LuvMyChicks1491]

Oh poop. Everything is frozen....especially the poop in the coop. I had to hit a couple of piles with a shovel to move them to close the door. Why, oh why, do they sit on the door sill and poop there? Either go in or go out....don't just sit on the fence, silly chickens.

My washer is frozen. Not the water lines, the PUMP. If it cracks I am gonna be really angry. (Can't say what I want to say, cuz they **** it out) This washer is not very old, I don't want to have to replace it.

My dishwasher is frozen. Now THAT I understand. The plumbing is on an outside wall. Only insulation in that wall is bricks. I swear, bricks inside all the outside walls of this place. We are slowly redoing walls and installing modern insulation, however, the kitchen was totally remodeled before we bought it and all the cabinets and plumbing are new. Taking them down to put in insulation is not gonna happen, because it would render the kitchen unusable. So, we have to take the siding off and put insulation in from the outside. Now, of course, it isn't vinyl siding, it is old cedar shake siding. Gonna take a long time to take it down and put it back up. (Can't get it any more....not like what is on this house)

And my feet are frozen. This place definately is not draft free.

Got to go fix something very warm to eat and put my feet up off the floor.

Can you use the blown in insulation. I know that they take some sideing off and drill holes on the outside walls and blow it in to fill all the space in the walls. You'd think that they would be able to take off just a few peices and then be able to put them back. Would save you from having to take it all apart.

Here's a couple chick pics from the hatch on Tuesday.

So cute...I can't wait to get more baby chicks some day maybe some baby ducks! Nothing cuter then babies!

 

[miquwid]

Ke cute babies

Cass good luck with the insulation that sounds like a lot of work.

 

[Cass]

Oh Cass! That's a LOT of work! We researched building materials recently. The cedar shakes may be very difficult to take off & put back on! Did you decide on an insulation yet? Our current home is about 115 yrs old, did repair on that and the barn, trying to do historic barn restoration. It's never easy with redo's. Learning about the R and U values though through the architect and building plans. In our old home we have the pink panther type insulation, but in the new home it will likely be closed cell because it's a geothermal going in. Seems the fiberglass isn't too hard to put up, but we were under the impression that the closed cell foam gives a tighter thermal wrap. I really wish you the best with this project. We looked at architectural shingles for the barn restoration and it was extremely cost prohibitive. Hopefully your cedar shakes will come off and go back on easily! Do you have a clothes dryer? We keep the house at 55F and heat up the clothes before we put them on. Heat up the socks! Get your tosies nice n toasty!

I know how you feel. Our water was frozen at the pressure tank yesterday. We have a 100 year old house on a crawl space. Thanks about a PITA! Hope your washer thaws without a problem.
Nothing feels better on cold feet than a pair of LL Bean wicked good slippers

My house was built in 1682. No, it's not on the historical registry, thank the powers that be. We have a stone foundation and a HUGE cistrin in the basement. The original gutter system, minus the lead pipes, is still intact, if I ever want to collect rain water and store it in the basement I just have to reinstall piping. Which will then freeze. LOL

As far as the siding, it comes off easy. Too easy, actually. We have had to put a few pieces back on. Ray is considering vinyl siding it with stuff that looks like what is on it already. Sounds like a good plan to me, because then I can pressure wash it without blowing pieces of it off.

As far as insulation is concerned, we will use whatever works. Retrofitting s*cks.

 

[Cass]

Cass,
Not sure if this applies, but there's a tax credit for old building repair. http://www.nps.gov/tps/tax-incentives.htm If your place was ever used as a business, any kind of business (anything, sewing, cooking, anything a former owner may have done could qualify you as a business even if you don't use it for the same purpose) from before 1936 it would qualify for 10% from Federal government tax credit. If you do barn repair it's 20% from Federal government. If you do any historic barn repair you have to apply through the NYS Parks and Recreation. I sent them a LOT of photos, explained everything we planned to do and they were very nice in helping us get the paperwork we needed for our accountant. There may be an old building (not barn) repair for NY State too but I'm not sure. It applies in historic districts but I'm not sure if it could be applied outside of historic districts. For old barn repair there are double tax credits, from the federal gov't and from NY State.
Also, if you use your home as part of the business you should be eligible for that portion of your home to be business expenses. So if you have chicks in your basement, and use that space for them, and need the bathroom for water, and/or kitchen or washer to clean their towels, the portion that you use that for your business is deductible. Our accountant said always to be incorporated, but if a farm is one's primary source of income, then a dba may work too(?). Don't forget that if your animals require heat (heat lamp, incubator, etc.), you may deduct that portion of your heating expenses from your home too. Don't forget to deduct your % of computer expenses that would include monthly cable as you need this for record keeping. We keep every single receipt, including expense of photos of the barn and postage to send them out. Mileage back and forth for feed, and even the grocery store, if you're going to feed them people food, like leftovers, should all be tax deductible for mileage. Yikes you can tell it's tax time again for me!
If you wash any food that you feed to the chickens in the kitchen sink, then I'd think that at least part of the kitchen is a deduction, part of the water bills, and repairs of exterior walls necessary to maintain the flow of water for your business. That's all I could brainstorm for now. Best of luck with the repairs!

Thank you. (I ran a home based business for 10 years, so I am familiar with those regs and rules) I didn't know about tax credits for repairs to old buildings.....and mine definately qualify as "old". LOL (late 1600 - 1800 depending on which building you are talking about)


edited to add: It isn't always in your best interest to bring the age of your buildings to the attention of the government. They can get really touchy about what they allow and don't allow. And you definately do NOT want your property on the Historic registry....they can and do tell you what colors you can and can't paint your buildings.

 

[pharmchickrnmom]

Home from work about 20 min ago and read all your posts. Now its bedtime. Night all!