Coop Building - Part 2

Time to raise the roof.  What, what?!

The roof was built to have a one foot overhang around the entire structure - so it is 12'x10'.  It was built with a 2" over 12" rise (or about a 9 degree rise).  In hindsight, this probably should have been a steeper pitch to handle snow and really gusty winds.  I guess we'll find out how it handles the snow load next winter.  For the wind, each rafter had hurricane ties attached to both ends.  But I'm getting ahead of myself...the roof has to be put into place first.

We brought the roof frame out to the coop building from the driveway.  Weather was still mild and sunny.  The plan was to have two people push the roof up.  The other two would grab on and pull into position.  To make sure we were "square", each rafter was marked one foot down the length. 

Lifting the roof into place was surprisingly easy.  Even making sure it was

Jason working on the roof.



in the proper position was not as bad as I thought it could have been.  However, we did find one issue.  When framing the roof, the first studs in were place at 12" on center.  Good in theory, but this didn't take into account that the frame of the building /would have been at 12 7/8" over...so roof isn't squarely on the coop building...it overhangs by half the width of a 2X4 on both side.  This will be handled by adding 7/8" supports sometime later on.  The chickens won't care at this point...assuming the whole thing doesn't collapse on itself.

Lesson learned.  Time to move on to adding the roof sheeting.  This

was also relatively easy.  Just throw up 3 4' x 8' exterior grade roofing sheets along with 3 4' x 2' sheets, square them off and pound them into place. 

Once the sheeting was in place, Penny and Jason had to head home to tend to their dogs.  Couldn't have gotten the roof up without their help.  It was much appreciated.  Beers will be offered at a later date.

This was essentially the end of day one.  All that was left was to put a tarp over the roof.  Tar paper and shingles will be added in about a week (after the rain and snow this week).

Next up is adding the siding and insulation.  More on that tomorrow.  Only a few more days before the chickens get a much bigger better home.

Coop Building Has Arrived

Well...the coop building has finally commenced.  In fact, it's about 75% complete - at least complete enough for the chickens to move in.

My intent was to have the coop ready for moving day today, but underestimating old age and weather played factors against that goal.

The building plan finally started on Friday after work.  The final location was selected previously, but I finally went out to make sure the location  was going to work.  I cleared out some snow and then measured the space.

I previously mentioned this, but I had to make sure that the structure was going to be within 6 feet of the house so it didn't count as an accessory building.  By not being an accessory building, I didn't have to pay for additional permits or have to have the land surveyed again.

So the space chosen is five feet from the house.  The structure runs 10 feet wide by 8 feet long.  The run will be added later once all the snow is gone and the ground becomes more stable - so I'm hoping by mid May this can be accomplished.  Lets see how realistic that is.  I'll let you know what the odds are once the Office Skeptic harasses me on Monday.

Where was I?  Oh yeah...Friday afternoon.  I cleared some snow away and measured the space.  Then it came time for setting the foundation.  That was a cold mess.  It involved a trip to Home Depot and working with cold, wet paver base.

The plan was a cluster-f@#$.  I didn't take the time to actually frame out the perimeter (first mistake).  Instead, I just kind of placed the blocks where I thought they should go (I did measure for distance, though).  I used the paver base to raise the blocks on the sloped side of the space and to even out the other blocks.  The first row went fine using this method.  The blocks were even and spaced apart correctly.  The second row, however, is when things went to hell.

The first block got placed (seemingly) correctly.  It was level to itself and to the neighbor block already placed.  Then came the block on the end.  Again, it level to itself and to the neighbor block.  When it was time for the middle block, everything fell apart.  When it was level with its neighbor to the north and east, the south one was too short.  When I tried to 'fix' that, then it got out of level with the other ones.  Long story short, the attempt on Friday night was aborted as my hands started to freeze and it just wasn't coming together.

Let's sleep on it and revisit in the morning.

I like sleep.

On Saturday, the first thing to do was to go pick up the window and siding from the BMO and check out to see if there was any more interior siding to pick up.  Nope.  So home it was with the goods.  Got them unloaded into the garage. 

Floor frame and sheeting begun.

At this point, the idea was to just bring the floor frame out to the foundation supports and see how out of whack everything was.  Surprisingly, it wasn't as bad as it seemed from the previous night.  Sure, blocks had to move and be re-dug and centered.  But with the frame there, it was much easier to see how everything needed to align and to check for level. 

Now that that hurdle has been cleared, it was time to put on the floor sheeting.  That was a relatively simple task that didn't take too much time.

Then it was off to Menard's for the side windows and other supplies.  Originally, the roofing materials were going to be purchased there, but for a few cents more, the decision was to go to Home Depot instead.  Off to Home Depot.  Now at Home Depot, the roofing pieces were purchased - including all the framing materials and sheathing. 

Back home, it was time to have lunch.  Dang...lunchtime already and not much has been accomplished.

Helper dogs.

After lunch, it was time to start cutting wood and framing the roof.  It was at this time that I had to head back to Home Depot to rent the framing nail gun again.  What a time saver.  It was also at this time that I started to panic about how the roof was going to get put on.  So a few texts were sent out to friends and happily they accepted and came over a few hours later.  Whew...load off my mind. 

Once home, it was time to frame the roof and install the walls.  This was very simple and didn't take too much time at all - less than two hours.

At this point, it was around 3pm and the friends showed up to help hoist the roof up.  But first, they had to help put the windows in.  That went pretty quickly.  The little side windows took a few minutes each.  The big window took a little more time, but was pretty straightforward, too.

Yea!  Four walls and a floor done.

Then it was time for the roof.  But that part of the story is going to have to wait.  It's bedtime.  More to come tomorrow.

Interesting Option

Something to consider when I have to send the boys to freezer camp.  Any takers?

http://www.etsy.com/listing/64936426/lucky-chicken-feet-unseen-earrings-gold

Coop Construction Has Begun

Not much happened in the world of chickens this week.  They are still growing and crowing.  The growing part has me the most concerned.  They have all effectively outgrown their current space.  But I have no where else to put them....yet.

Today began the first phase of construction.  After toying around with various ideas for what the coop would look like and where it would go, decisions have finally been made.  I've settled on a 8' x 10' shed/coop design with a slanted roof.  It will sort of look like this.  The coop will end up on the south side of the house - originally, it was going to be on the east side, so it would be completely out of view unless you were in the yard.  But after looking at space and reading about what's best, it was decided to put them elsewhere (truly, the main deciding factor was that the snow will be gone from the south side of the house later this week if the weather forecast holds.)

So yesterday, plans were drawn up on a post it note, a list of materials was compiled and shopping began.  The day started out by stopping at the feed store in Rosemount.  Mainly to pick up feed and look to see if they had chicks in yet.  No chicks...whew.  Not really ready yet, but I do need to think about replacing the boys soon.  For such a small operation, they have the best prices on feed and supplies. 

After the feed store, it was a quick stop at the Dakota County Library across the street.  I had to pay a fine ($ 0.30) and pick up a book on building sheds.  The book was mostly to get ideas/plan for the roofing part of the job.

After the library, it was time to go shopping for materials.  If you've never been there, you should really stop at the Building Materials Outlet in Eagan if you are doing any sort of home improvement and want to find stuff on the cheap.  You have to dig around, but there are some great finds. 

I was going to the BMO primarily to find windows for the coop.  From what I've read, I should be planning on one square foot of ventilation for each bird.   Simple math tells me I need 20 sq ft of ventilation if I max out my permit.  I think I went overboard.  At the BMO, there was a 72" x 60" double slider window for $105.  This was perfect.  The chickens will have a great view, will get plenty of sun and will have ample ventilation when needed - they'll be the envy of all the other chickens in the area. 

The decision to buy this window also presented me with which way to orient the coop - the 10' side will run parallel to the house.  The big 'picture window' will be in the front along with the chickens pop up door (how they can get out during the day). 

Then I decided that there should be windows on the sides to allow for cross ventilation.  There were options at the BMO, but the prices were actually better at Menard's, so I will get those there.

However, I didn't actually buy the window on Saturday - I didn't have a way to get it home. So I'm going back on Wednesday and hoping it is still there....it'll truly suck if it isn't...more on that in a bit.

The only thing I did end up buying was the exterior man door.  There was a decent plain white insulated exterior door that I got.  About a third the price of one at the home improvement stores. 

The exterior siding and interior wall coverings were also available for about a third of the price of buying new at a home improvement store.  The option for the siding is limited to one style, but I don't think the chickens will complain.  I know I won't.

That was it for Saturday.

This morning, it was off to Menard's again and Home Depot to pick up lumber.  Anyone who has shopped at Menard's for lumber before knows there stuff is VERY hit and miss for quality.  In fact, I didn't even buy any new lumber from there this morning - just insulation (since it was on sale) and a few other miscellaneous parts.

Quick aside...I had purchased some lumber a few weeks ago for an aborted attempt to start on the coop before the last snow storm.  I used most of that, plus new stuff I got today.

So it was off to Home Depot to get the rest of the lumber.  I ended up spending around $125 total on all lumber.  I still need to get some of the roof pieces next weekend, though (the 12' lengths wouldn't fit in the car).  So all in, I'll be at around $150 for lumber.  I also rented a framing nail gun.  Man, what a time saver that turned out to be.

Anyway, so once I got the lumber home, it was time for lunch - priorities, right?  During lunch, the plan was refined to include the windows and door framing.  After lunch, it was time to begin building.

The floor was the hardest part.  The pressure treated wood was still pretty wet and heavy, so driving the screws into it took longer than expected.  It was a good idea to use joist hangers, too.

Once the floor was done and put to the side, it was time to work on the walls.  The first wall was put together pretty quickly.  But!  This is also when it was discovered that the plans weren't exactly accurate.  A critical component was overlooked when drawing up the plans - you need to account for the width of the wood...d'oh!  Oh well...lesson learned.  The only place it really mattered was for the placement of the window studs.  One of the studs had to be cut out and moved.  Worst thing that happened is the chickens will have a window slightly off centered.  I'm sure it will bug them to no end, but what are you gonna do?

After that small set back, the rest of the framing all went very smooth.  It took around 2 1/2 hours to build all four walls and the floor.  This is where the issue of not buying the window on Saturday comes in.

The front was was framed out taking into consideration the window that was at the BMO that will be picked up on Wednesday.  If it is sold before then, I'm not sure what to do.  The front frame is 70 sq feet - 30 of which will be holding a window.  If that window isn't there, I'll have to come up with a new plan and re-work the opening.  Re-work...ish.

So that's the update for now.  I didn't take any pictures of the process as it really was quite boring without much to see.  When the coop raising happens next weekend (come hell or high water, it's happening next weekend), I'll document the process.

Uh oh

It was 5:50am as I'm heading out to work.  It's still dark out.  As soon as I open the door to the garage this morning, what do you think I hear?  Crowing...damn. 

Stop making so much noise.

Previously, when I would check on them before heading to work, everyone would still be sleeping, or at the very least inactive.  This morning it was very obviously different.

I head down to the dungeon where the chickens live and sure enough, he's making normal rooster crowing sounds in about 10 second intervals.  He had all the girls (and other boys) up and looking around.   They weren't eating or drinking yet, though.  So he must have just started. 

I had left the exterior door to the garage open when I went down to the dungeon.  The dogs could then hear the crowing, too, and started barking.  Gah.  This is happening much sooner than expected.  Still, I couldn't hear the crowing in the house, so that's good.

Cleaning Day

Chickens stink.  I knew this going in, but the older they get, they get smellier faster than ever. 

Two weekends ago was the first time I cleaned out the new growout box.   Two weekends ago?  Why am I only telling you about it now?  I'm lazy and blog updates don't always rate high on the weekend to do list.  In fact, I'm writing this about an hour and a half past my bedtime.  But my co-workers  keep harassing me about updates (especially the Office Skeptic, who doesn't even read these), so here they are.

Anyway, it was definitely needed.  It was quite the production to move all the chickens out of the box.  My intent was to let them outside to "graze" in the area where I thought there coop may go (more on that later).  I threw some corn out there for them to peck at while their house was being cleaned. 


Hell no, we won't go!



Nope.  They wanted nothing to do with being outside - at least the ones that I could get out there.

For the ones I did get outside, they just huddled in a corner next to the house.  The gray turken did try to venture out a little bit.  He moved about a foot away from the rest so he could hide behind a shovel.  Whatever...weird bird.



 

Brrr, its cold out here,
there must be some Toros in the atmosphere.

But being as it was February in MN, it was cold and a little windy outside.  The birds have been spoiled for quite some time in there draft free and heat lamp heated growing box.  So I could understand why they were hesitant to start exploring the yard just yet.

 




Its nicer over here out of the wind.

 

As a side note (and again, this is two weeks delayed), cleaning day was before the last snowstorm.  So there was bare actual grass and leaves on the ground.

So back to my point.  Chickens stink and cleaning the box was not pleasant.  I filled a 50 gallon lawn and leaf bag with shavings/poop.  This will be used in the spring to help fertilize the gardens.  But dang, that was heavy - much heavier than when the bag is full of leaves.

They Grow Up So Fast (part 4)

I'm behind on the baby pictures.  I hadn't realized I skipped the 8 week old pictures.  I'm a bad parent - good thing I don't have kids.

Red - 10 weeks

Here's Red at 10 weeks.  He's a good looking boy.  Too bad he's destined for freezer camp in a few months.

Here's Aussie at 10 weeks.  She's still the smallest Austrlorp in the

Aussie - 10 weeks

bunch, but she's still thriving.

Gray turken at 12 weeks.

The turkens are still my favorites, even though some of my co-workers are less than impressed by them.  The yellow-ish one is very docile and kind of skittish.  She takes to hanging out under the roost so she gets pooped on quite a bit.  It's grosss, but whatever.  She cleans herself up.  I also like the sound they make.  It's almost turkey like - definitely more gutteral sounding than the other chickens.



Yellow turken at 12 weeks.



Buffy at 10 weeks.

Buffy - yeah, she's got a name now, but mostly because I found out she's a Buff Orpington which is one of the breeds I want - the former Mystery chick, is being true to her breed.  She's definitely at the bottom of the pecking order.  When I give the chickens treats, I always have to trick the other chickens away from one dish so she can get the treats out of the other one before they start swarming it as well.



Finally, one of the random male Australorps decided to start crowing already.  He's only 10 week old, just like his clutch mates, but he started crowing last weeked (2/26). 

My brother and his girlfriend stopped by to take me to another brother's hockey game.  They like to visit with the chickens when they stop by, so I brought them down to check in on them.  During the visit, my brother's girlfriend started laughing at something, and the one boy decided to respond.  He crowed three times at her.  I was startled and amused at the same time.  

When I was down taking pictures today, he crowed at me.  Today's crowing I think was because of the clucking the girls made when I took them out for their portraits.  Luckily, the crowing wasn't wasn't that loud and it wasn't heard in the house.  He doesn't have to visit freezer camp quite yet.  I'm not sure I'm mentally prepared to go there quite yet.

The picture of him isn't great.  He was moving around alot and was actually crowing when I took the picture.



First Blood - Follow Up

Pecking scab on neck.

Not much to say about the pecking incident other than it seemed to be very isolated.  After monitoring the wound for a few days, it healed up nicely and there haven't been any incidents of blood shed since.