Ra Kenworth

Cimarron Layne wrote:
You might want to take a look at my favorite off-grid guru's DIY Berkey water filter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjGxUAOrkrM

That's brilliant!

I knew there was a reason why I hadn't yet thrown out the 2nd largest cheap stainless corn pot I rescued from my son's trash and flew down south with me a month ago, only to find it really does leak and the water all over the bathroom floor wasn't just wicking!

I've been planning on building one of these for a while but didn't want to use plastic buckets.

It's all good Thelka: your questions had me trying to verbalize because I think in images.

Your questions really helped me.

And being raised on Monty Python and Fawlty towers, I'm good with being called crazy anyway! 😂 But thanks for encouraging me!

I have some thoughts but the rest I don't have a clear idea what would be best.

The roof is one of your typical 4-12=13 pitch each side and the problem wall is downhill from the roof slope (of course, where changes like a door are best not made!) and I condemned the door when I bought the place really cheap for cash, 20 years ago, and it hasn't leaked in 10 years.

The structural support would start right at the basement slab and be made of concrete.

From that point im not sure.

would sections of silos be appropriate or too heavy to move into place (I am okay with opening up the wall down to the cinder blocks and then a ramp into the basement) but is that too dangerous? I have no idea about circular sections of concrete. Should I build a structural wall enclosing it afterwards (thermal mass being a good thing) or is that overkill...

Do I forget about planning on stacking functions and simply install a cistern...

With regards to my roof, I would be replacing a section of roofing tar paper over tongue and groove 5/8" chipboard with a super thick plastic:

One roofing product I've looked into made in Edmonton Alberta is Polycarbonate Panel 16mm Multiwall Wall Clear as five ply (they have three ply as well, and cross cross the five ply making ten ply R14 and perhaps an insulated blanket on pulleys for the coldest mid winter nights and cloudy days.

The house is in Quebec in the Gatineau mountains at 650' where orchids grow, so it's quite wet and there's a lot of rain currently collected in about 20 barrels)

Feel free to tell me I'm nuts! 😂

Thank you everyone for your information

Iwas talking with my neighbor this evening about my cistern idea

I have a 1960s small 675 SQ ft hemlock house jacked onto 7' cinder blocks and foundation in the mid 70s when the owner cut the main beam to put stairs where he wanted them. It now sits on several house jacks, but there's a portion of sagging roof, and down roof from that, a damaged sill on the south side.

I had a neighbor who has since flipped his house, with experience in structural repairs tell me what I really could use is a wall (to support my saggy roof from) and ideally replace a section 8x8 but fix it up nicely and put in greenhouse roofing panels (because the lot south of mine has conifers that block my winter sun rays)

I had thought that if I am to have a cinder block wall, and I have limited water at times, (and the friend I was talking to tonight already said that solution is a big tank) I've been thinking about installing a hollow double walled support structure inside the house where I can hope freezing will never be a problem

In my situation I am actually okay with certified potable better living through chemistry... the biggest concern is no leaking, plus I can use this water for laundry and keep what is coming from the well as my primary potable supply.

I figured I could build this structure long before I get to attacking the saggy roof, and in the meantime, I can better repair the structural issues in the basement, which will help support the perpendicular beam supporting the trusses.

Keep in mind this is a small almost square house (meaning 27x25 ish but also meaning it lacks right angles

When I am finished, the main floor 8x8 section of flooring between this wall and the exterior wall will be removed and the sun can shine right down onto the cement basement slab

Anyway, any advice or comments about my foolish dreams are welcome!

Roberta, I am under the understanding that my pie which is about to pass expiration date is now steaming hot 😂

D Graves wrote:Hi all

Am getting pigeons next week and thought I would see if anyone on here has built them successful housing? I want them to forage during the day and return to roost. Also, of course to breed. So, in making a list of their needs:

- clean water
- roosting places (height? diameter? will they huddle together like chickens?)
- nesting boxes (size? litter? entry hole size?)
- supplementary food
- dry
- warm
- rodent/predator proof
- oriented entrance to East?
- arrival landing place?
- nearby 'safe' perch to check cage is safe?

Please post any more that I have not thought of and details if you know them

Thank you

Sorry for the late reply

I have been breeding pigeons for about 8 years and let mine free range.

Pigeons needs clean water -- if it's clean enough that you're not afraid to drink it, it's okay

If you feed them, they won't bother the neighbors
Mine get lots of corn, buckwheat, sunflower, and field peas, plus mixed grains that you will find for chickens
They will also forage buckwheat, wild spinach, and weed seed and oats
Supplements: if they can't get to small rocks, you need to provide them and I get the red rocks with the sea shells
Also vitamins on occasion -- I mix mine with rice
Salt: kocher / pickling salt, or better: non iodized sea salt. Pigeons are connoisseurs of salt, but enjoy road salt too

The best wire against predators is 1/4" mesh -- stops mice too

The males will show the chicks the ropes, but even orphaned chicks usually do okay as long as they are protected while really young. Chicks will start self feeding about 2-1/2-3-1/2 weeks and drinking around 3 weeks on average. I've kept chicks alive on defrosted frozen peas even from 2 days old, eventually adding to this limited diet, but there's enough moisture in the peas they can survive. Choking on water is a problem with baby chicks. Squeeze the sides of their breaks to get them to open wide.

Chicks will take after the size and shape of mom and color from dad

Homing pigeons will try to escape home especially females but males can sometimes be persuaded to stay if they have been mated and are already making chicks. They are the smartest. Utility kings make the best parents, well, I find crosses do, and mine are swift pigeon crosses with stock from a blacksmith a few miles away.

I breed giant runts to keep breeding back large birds and about half are 1/2-7/8 giant runt, and I usually have about four breeding pair and then and their youngsters need more protection in winter and early spring in XL plastic dog cages. I have a few show king and Modena crosses as well, identifiable by their team pot apparence and wide breast. I've found they live a long life, but homers can live over 10 years as well.

Normally crosses are fine with nesting boxes the size of milk crates, and the males will collect debris and the females make the nest.  Giant runts are not great at this and I bring them prickly hay that has no pesticides being I garden with all the poo, the main reason for having them.

If you are going to breed any purebreds, give them an experienced crossbreed partner for me first year. When they vomit in each other's mouths they are sharing microbiome as well, and crosses are invariably stronger.  Chicks will huddle but grown pigeons might huddle with their mate, otherwise not

They need not have any heat, but lots of ventilation and cutting the prevailing wind helps

I find an old leaky motorhome, repaired with roofing tar,  makes the most cost effective vote. Mesh the windows and any holes and plywood that predators could eat their way through. Park it downwind from a windbreaker in winter, and in the shade in summer

Crosses will be ready to breed in about 4-6 weeks

Rick Berry wrote:One thing I've never been able to ferret out in my reading about keeping pigeons.... If you want to free-range your birds, as with a dovecote (which is what I'm planning) how do you tame or habituate your breeders to your location, so they don't just fly away to wherever they were born, or wherever they want to go, instead of coming back to the dovecote?

If they are homing pigeons or homing cross, they may return, but home is often where the female is, so if you make a breeding pair you can usually convince a male homing pigeon to stay
Females : no in my experience

If homing pigeons are born on your property they will stay, but don't make good stock for selling live for the same reason

Utility kings are excellent breeders and don't fly away but are pretty smart (homers being the smartest)
Giant runts are really dumb but have lots of breast meat as do show kings and modenas which look like little balls or teapots. I protect my purebreds in cages during the winter and ferret season, pun intended, early spring. The rest are loose and I have three dove cotes, one on the balcony which is separated and shared with the dog and smokers.

If you have adopted adult homing pigeons honestly you will need to keep the ones you don't want to lose in captivity

I have crosses of swift pigeons, utility kings, homers, and some teapots, and giant runt crosses all free range.

The female passes to chicks size and shape while the males pass on color (daughters receive one of his two color genes) and the sons get the color gene from Mom along with one of his pa's.

So the most effective cross is a large female with a big breast, and a smart little homer cross or utility king who will cost less to feed and be a great father -- also it's the male that brings the debris to the nest and the female that arranges it (except pure giant runts can be too dumb and inbred so then I twist up a nest myself)

Yes, most male pigeons are smart enough to teach their offspring the ropes, and often the females do as well, however, chicks have enough instinct to look after themselves if you have orphaned chicks -- I just give them extra protection and make sure they have their own cages to return to at night -- (leave the cage open days) -- you can usually lump a few in together with a few nesting boxes to choose from. I double cage if the cages will be outside with a cover over the top and prevailing wind. This stops predators getting at them and I use 1/4" mesh around the cages; chicken wire is only good for the inside cage to prevent the pigeons from getting too close to the outside cage.
Weasels will literally chew their way through wire framed with wood so having a livestock dog is a big bonus! Mine is a cross of German Shepherd, Lab, Akita so not a typical choice for a livestock dog but often you can get lucky!

Very nice! I have never had a problem with putting raw pigeon poop around my plants. I often plant clumps of the stuff downhill when it's raining and I see trickles that need slowing down. The roots can then go find what they want. Typically I put spent hay or leaves over the poop clumps for esthetics.

I replied in the other thread to you regarding nesting

Leah, my pigeons are free range and they will bring in debris and make their own nests. If you don't have them free range, throw a bunch of hay or straw in -- but stuff that hasn't been sprayed me I have no problems getting prickly hay cheap!
You can also give them places to perch which they will love: milk crates, even a bunch of cardboard boxes taped together like a condo
The secret is to make sure there are a few extra boxes than there are breeding pairs so they can always choose. The advantage to cardboard is that once they have finished with it, it makes excellent compost, however, I simply put milk crates on top of the compost for a few rainfalls and then pressure wash if I want them clean again. I use both, plus dog cages that I stack as well (often tape boxes on top)

I throw ashes down regularly between clean out and use a respirator.

Your system looks great for easy poop collection!

My favorite tree is one with low branches that a child can grab onto and pull themselves up, hang out in the hidden foliage and develop a lifetime love of trees. As a child, it was a cooking apple tree, but for my child, it was a hybrid tree surrounding our park near the apartment we kept in town for a while, and later, once he started at a climbing gym, a huge white pine on our land that's about 30" diameter that he built climbing aids out of scrap everything! I am so thankful for planning committees who think of these things when building parks in cities, so townies can develop a love of trees.
All trees are wonderful and we are so privileged to have them.
Now I'm old and going gray, any old trees are my favorites!

John C Daley wrote:Motivation / procrastination is a big issue for many.

I've had that problem too.

Tell us what you have done, perhaps? Concentrate on the positive.
I've been working on my house for 20 years and I already had a shell.

Also, if you don't have livestock, this may be your chance to plan a vacation away

You could set yourself small milestones, plan a vacation, and when you've reached the milestones, make your final vacation plans

I like the idea of getting together with others: you could make a schedule perhaps? Add in your work on the house to it.

We're here for you, even if we are physically distanced :-)