Ramblings on a post a long time coming... the Chicken Coop

Howdy Folks,

Sorry for the long delay but I have been VERY BUSY. I have spent the last two weeks off from work, but have spent 12 hour days working on various projects on the homesstead but mainly have been working on the chicken coop as of late.

The funny thing about this project was that I thought it would take a couple of days and I would be finished... WRONG!!! Probably because as I said earlier, "I am not a carpenter".

Over the course of the past few weeks I have learned a bunch of carpentry skills and learned to do many things I never have tried before. Some, like roofing I never wanna try again!!!

I also got word that my chicken supplier is sending us the birds in 2 weeks... a week earlier than they origionally said.

Looking through the pics I do not have one of the completed building (still gotta put up the trim) but I will by next post...

I still hafta construct 2 runs so I can alternate the weeks of grazing in the yard. I also will be constucting a very innovative roost I saw on the web that works sorta like a chicken litter box. I have various other little things to finish up but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.



This is the foundation I built for building... remember it was designed to sit on a concrete slab, or on the ground on 2 4"x6" runners. It is way overbuiilt for a foundation, but it made sense to me. The white stuff you see sprinkled on the boards inside is diatomacous earth. I figured a good dusting may prevent insect problems in the future and since it will not be rained upon, it should last a long time. It is also safe for the chickens to be around as well.



A friend of mine WHO is a carpenter recommended adding a vapor barrier between the floor joists and OSB flooring. I though it was a good idea, but I also primed and painted both side of the OSB flooring to protect them from moisture as well. I also added a piece of vinyl flooring over the OSB to make it easier to keep clean. I think that would qualify as a TRIPLE vapor barrier!


Here the walls are up and the OSB roofing is going up. The instructions called to use regular 6 d 2" nails, I opted for screws instead. In fact I tied the foundation together with bolts and 6" pole barn nails (these things DO NOT pull out as they are barbed), then I tied the flooring down with screws, then the walls with a combination of pole barn nails and screws, then I used two different kinds of hurricane ties to tie the rafter to the walls and like I said earilier I tied the OSB roofing with screws to the rafter. You want the same strength from foundation to roof peak!



I also joined the the peak of the rafters with a tie plate so it will not pull through the wood! I can easily over build something. Too bad this building is 'for the birds' as it would have made a heck of a nice work shop!



Here is a picture of the hurrican ties, what you don't see is an L shaped metal bracket on the other side to tie it all together!



Finally here is my version of nesting boxes. I saw some pics on the web, got the measurements and built my own. With the idea in my head I went to my local Lowe's hardware, picked out some straight whitewood boards (not an easy feat) and had them cut them down nice and straight. So when I got home it was just put it together and paint and you are done!

This particular design is when you enter the coop, you do not have to enter the chicken area to collect the eggs. Once I get it put where it goes it will make a lot more sense.

So again forgive my absence , I have been busy!

Thanks for reading!

Ramblings on not being able to be in two places at the same time...

Howdy Folks,

Been real busy here at the ZA homestead since my last post.


I have finished the foundation of the chicken bunker... doesn't look much different since my origional post on getting it started. I still have a few things to tweak but once I get the OSB floor boards placed, it will be going up! Got a few days off coming up so IT WILL BE finished.

The rain has made things a little challenging and it has hindered me from getting to be where I wanted with the chicken coop. It is kinda strange as we were in a drought here last year... as they say when it rains, it pours!!!

Along with the rain comes clouds... so my little product review on a Sunforce 12W folding solar panel will hafta wait until I get enough sunshine to give it a fair shake... looks like it is gonna be a neat setup... and it didn't cost me a dime... will explain that one later!!!

Over the weekend I picked up two more packages of bees and got them placed in their new home. I came up with a pretty cheap hive stand that seems to work very well. Will take some pics of it next time I get into them (next weekend). I also tried to get a clear pic of the queen, but the screen on the queen cage made it hard for the camera to focus. When I get into them I will get a pic of the queen as she crawls through the hive.

Finally I wanted to say a brief thing about the swine flu (H1N1) virus that is going around. I don't think that this is the destroyer of worlds like the media seems to think it is. I do however believe that it bears watching and could become somewhat of a menace in the fall or the next few years. Don't be distracted and keep on prepping. If you have not started on prepping better get started.

Looking forward to getting back in the groove on blogging!

Thanks for reading!

Later,
ZA

Ramblings on planning for and the building of a chicken coop...

I have been 'teasing' everyone for a couple of weeks about building a chicken coop. For once in long time, it was not raining this Saturday so I was able to break ground and finally get this project started. This has been something I have been wanting to do for over 2 years now, and by golly it is gonna be done before June I hope!

The picture above is what it will look like when I get finished with everything...

Before I get into the actual construction of the foundation I would like to talk about placement of the chicken coop.



The picture above shows my site planning. It is very important to plan where you will keep your chickens at so they will not be a bother after you worked so hard to build a home for them. You don't want to hear that rooster right outside your bedroom window as you are sleeping in on your off day. You also don't want the prevailing winds in the Summer blowing right into your outdoor entertainment area and bringing with it the 'scent of a chicken'... and I am not talking about BBQ chicken on a grill either!

I have studied the prevailing winds for my area for several years so when I got my coop, I would know where to place it. It is also close enough I can keep an eye on it if I need to.



Basically the building is designed to sit on a slab foundation, but it can also be setup on treated wood runners directly on the ground. I didn't want to go with either of those 2 option so I made up a third... Build a slightly elevated platform to get it off of the ground.

First of all I AM NOT A CARPENTER... I repeat... I AM NOT A CARPENTER!!! Sure I have fiddled with wood before, even built a few things, set a few posts in concrete (never when they had to line up though), but never anything like this so far...

I am a perfectionist as well as someone who can build ANYTHING strong from a engineering perspective... but not always the cheapest or most efficient way... So if any of you carpeneters out there read this and laugh... I never claimed to be an expert, but hopefully I will gain some experience with this project...



Looking at the pictures of my foundation, you are probably thinking, "wow that son of a gun is gonna be HIGH!!!". Actually the 4"x6" on the front posts is gonna be where the building will sit... not the boards on top of the posts... they were left there after some of my crazy plumbing and squaring techniques! The posts will be cut off much shorter but will have a little stub sticking up to tie into the building's floor.

I had a real hard time drilling the posts for the 5/8 bolts because all I had was partially charged batteries. As I would get close to getting done, I would have to wait until the other battery charged. Sad thing is that I got a serious set of Dewalt cordless tools with batteries... It was just I did not expect my project to progress as well as it did today so I had not charged them up!

I still have a bunch more work on the foundation part as I want to add another set of posts in the middle with a 4"x6" beam to give the building a strong support! Like I said, it may not be the easiest way, but it will be the strongest!!!

So hopefully that has wet your whistle this week and let you know that ZA finally has got the ball rolling on the coop!

Thanks for reading!

Later,
ZA

Ramblings on One Second After by William R. Forstchen...

I have been hearing a bunch of great things about "One Second After" by William R. Forstchen as a great 'think' piece on what America might be like after an EMP(Electro Magnetic Pulse) in a very enjoyable, easy to read work of fiction.

I was pleasantly surprised that the story took place in an area of North Carolina I once lived near. So the story took on a very vivid and personal note as I have tread upon many of the places that were mentioned in the book. I could easy see the pictures that Mr. Forstchen painted for me in my mind on the canvas of my memories of those places.

The story is about a man named John Matherson who lives East of Asheville in the beautiful small town of Black Mountain, NC. As we begin the story, life is business as usual as it would be in any small town. As we read on the power fails, until we find out later on in the story that America has suffered a EMP detonation that has crippled all of our technology that we depend on so much today.

Later on in the story we discover how John and his community try to struggle to survive and still try to maintain a resemblance of civilization. How they handle power hungry towns as well as the 'golden horde' that eventually tries to plunge the last bastions of civilization into anarchy. How John struggles with ethical and moral decisions that regard others as well as his family...

The characters come alive and you really feel their pain and feel as if you know them. Even though this was not the typical SHTF/TEOTWAWKI novel, it is probably one of the best written scenarios of how how things could come to pass should America fail to heed Mr Forstchen's warnings.

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars and I highly encourage you to get a copy of this book and read it...

After reading it I found some holes in my own preps and some things that I have never considered before, but are being corrected as you are reading this...

Lord forbid that this scenario (or any other World Changing Situation) ever play out, and hopefully this will get the folks in Washington realizing that this is a threat that needs an intelligent discussion and gets 'their heads outta the sand'...

Thanks for reading! Now go read Mr. Forstchen's book!

Later,
ZA

Ramblings on early Spring, late Winter, hard frosts and food production...

Howdy Readers,

Been kinda busy at work lately so I have not had much time to blog as of late. I have my ducks (or is that chickens???) in a row for building the chicken house if it would ever stop raining. Seems like it is always raining when I get off work and about every weekend... This weekend I will hopefully be able to get started!!!

The weather and how it relates to survival and preparedness and... food production is what I wanted to type about tonight.

The last few weeks along with the rain brought some very spring like temperatures. Trees started budding, flowers were blooming. Yesterday we had a cold front come into our area with freezing temps. Basically the temps dropped to 29F with calm winds so a frost was expected.

My Stark Apple Trees (some of the best nursery stock I have dealt with so it is a great place to get your fruit trees from) had the most beautiful blooms on them and it was looking like I might get a few apples this year.

As my slight deviation for tonight, the time to plant permaculture (fruit trees/bushes, nut trees, vines etc.) was YESTERDAY!!! If you own property and have a place to plant some plant some permaculture NOW. I planted these about 2 years ago, so it takes a while and is NOT an instant fix!

Now back to our regularly scheduled blog entry... I decided to to try and cover my smallest of the fruit trees and bushes in order to try and save them. I do not know if I succeeded or not, but I HOPE I DID...

As I surveyed the yard this morning, I noticed a very light frost on the the grass... so only time will tell.

Two years ago we had a hard frost after all the apple and peach trees bloomed. The orchards all around had massive crops failures and the early varieties were non existent.

Which brings me to my point about the importance of storing food... YOU MUST STORE FOOD!!! We are not guaranteed ANY CROPS as an early frost can wipe out the fruit production for the year, a hail storm in June can wipe out your tomato vines, and a flood can wipe your corn crop before you can harvest it.

The food you store may be the only food you get if you have a crop failure. What happens if your crops fail for 2 years? Are you gonna eat???

I am not discouraging you to plant a garden or fruit trees, just saying that even with these 'renewable' preps you many not have anything to harvest due to forces beyond YOUR control. So be sure to have some food put up for those times.

Thanks for reading!

Later,
ZA