Chickens, and things related

[Tororider]

Just got my incubator today. I would already have it set up in the basement, but the sump pump quit on my so I am trying to dry out the basement first so I can get a steady humidity. I will try to post pics once I get it set up and eggs in.

 

[4720 OWNER]

If you can smell the ammonia of the chickens at your nose level, think of what the poor chics smell at their level. Nice that can mow the grass again and give them fresh bedding to play in. You should see how hard they work to 'redecorate' their place when toss in a new bale of hay! The way they talk you would think it was a group decision!!

 

[Tororider]

I have the incubator set up and ready to go. Picked up 21 eggs from my neighbor today and am hopefully going to pick up as many again tomorrow and then put them in the bator. I will let you know.

 

[4720 OWNER]

Have heard that you cannot count them before they hatch.

Sounds like a really fun project, keep us informed!!

 

[Tororider]

Hoping to go and pick up some more eggs this afternoon. So happy about that.

On a bit of a downer note, someone ratted me out. I got a letter saying that I was not within code having my chicken coop. I just wish I knew who ratted me out so I could have talked to them. I am going to talk with the inspector, but I don't have a whole lot of faith that it is going to result in positive results. I am going to have to take them either out to the farm or to my brother in laws, probably the latter since that is where we will have the rest of the chickens in the future anyways. Oh well.

 

[bmac]

Tororider,

Sorry to hear the chicks might have to be relocated. Bummer.

Here's a few more photos of my coop / shed.

Last Friday, I built the nest boxes. Saturday, I framed most of the 4th (and final) wall. Weather came in late afternoon, so I had to put things up before I was finished. I completed the framing on Sunday, but could not set the wall. I did the construction right outside my basement shop so I need some help to relocate it to the coop. I had no volunteer help on Sunday so the wall didn't get moved. I did cut out the exterior sheathing from the doors and windows and put in the final 4 lag screws holding the rim joists to the 4x4 support posts.

 

[bmac]

Monday evening after work, I grabbed wife and son to help me move the 4th wall. We set it in place and I then squared, plumbed and nailed it in place. I also got 2 pieces of the exterior sheathing hung. My help had long since disappeared so hanging the sheathing by myself required a little creativity, some clamps and a lot of luck.

 

[bmac]

You can see from the last pics that I still have a half sheet of siding to install.

From the inside, you can see the long rectangular area below the header. My nest boxes will slide in this opening, which is why I needed to complete the nest boxes before I could frame this wall. With this design (borrowed from a coop plan I found on the internet), we will be able to gather eggs from from outside the coop as the nest boxes will have a hinged lid on the exterior portion. I'll install the nest boxes after the roof goes on.

 

[bmac]

Now, I have to figure out how to design the rafters for the roof. For no reason in particular, I'm thinking of a 6/12 roof pitch with 1' overhang for the soffits and 1' overhang on the gable ends.

I've never used a framing square for anything other than drawing straight lines and making things square. I know they can be used in rafter design, but I'm not sure how to use it for that purpose.

I looked on the web for a rafter design calculator to help me determine length and angles. I've had only limited success with this. The roof rafters may end up being a trial-and-error progect unless someone here can help me with a template or something.

That'a all for now. Will update when the roof is done.

 

[dooleysm]

If I sit down with a pencil and paper I can figure all the angles and measurements to cut the boards for rafters, but I almost always end up using trial and error. Seems to go much quicker for my needs. It worked out ok for my coop and the doghouses and such that I've built. Your coop looks much more professional than mine though, so you might want to figure out how to do it the right way. I'm sure Eddie can steer you in the right direction.