Trace Oswald

I don't have a lot to say about this, but I'm just sick to my stomach that we seem to be living in a time that a person saying things you don't like is a reason to kill them, or even call for their death.  This country can't survive if we can't get back to a point of being able to disagree without hating each other.  My soul hurts today.

Josh Hoffman wrote:...
Since it stays very hot here (chill hours are around 450 a year or so) the coop/run is open at the top and on the south side. Since it is on a slight slope, we get some ground water intrusion on the north and east walled side (during torrents) and coming in when the wind blows sideways while raining.  

The chickens roost in the rafters and some other lower spots. This allows us to use the same deep litter of wood chips/grass clippings/leaves, etc. for the entire coop/run. We could not do this if we experienced colder temps.

Josh, I love your setup.  Excellent job.  I agree completely of course.  You are in a far different climate than the one I'm dealing with.  We get -20 every year, -30 sometimes, and I've seen -40 two days in a row a few years ago.  My roost area has to be very tight with no drafts at all while still having a lot of ventilation.  Any moisture or drafts on the birds while roosting will cause bad frost bite here.  I love the amount of ventilation you are able to provide your birds.

Matt McSpadden wrote:...One issue was that it was on a slight slope....

Josh Hoffman wrote:...But, adding the 2x6's and using the deeper part that collects there has been very manageable and I think most anyone could make it work. If you have a steep area, I could foresee some issues with the material moving along too rapidly. Adding things to slow it down, in closer intervals may be the solution...

The part of my run that I get the most compost from is the 20 or so feet nearest the coop.  That area is pretty flat.  The rest of the run, 30 or 40 feet, is a pretty steep decline.  I put a couple logs across the run to catch some of the stuff the birds knock downhill.  I just brought in some trees that I had down on my land.  I left a couple branches on one side to keep the logs from rolling downhill.  They do a pretty good job of gathering compost on the uphill side.  I figure sooner or later the logs will rot and they will become mini terraces across the run.  Eventually maybe the whole thing will be stepped rather than sloped, but I'll have to add more logs for that to happen.  Right now it's just a couple random logs, I need to add more somewhat on contour for that ever to happen.  For now, the couple logs I have are serving a purpose.  The chickens also like to dig holes on the downhill side of the logs to dust bathe.  Maybe they feel more sheltered doing it next to the logs?  Who knows what chickens think.

I use deep litter in my coop as well.  It gets cleaned out once a year or so.  My experience is a little different than some people have suggested.  A properly designed coop will be bone dry all the time, so no real composting happens.  The litter/poop/missed food breaks down into really small fine stuff, but doesn't compost at all in my coop.  The way I deal with that is to remove all the bedding once a year straight into the (very large) run.  The chickens love piles, so they work through it all again and the rain and time actually do it turn into really excellent compost.  It still creates a crust like Michael mentioned so I use a garden fork and break it up now and then.  Each turn releases a bonanza of worms and gets the chickens working through it all yet again, and makes it nice and loose.  Then I go in with a wheel barrow and sift the loosened material.  From there it goes straight to the garden.  It took me a couple years to get to the point where it was really producing a decent amount of soil, but it's paying off now in a big way.  One additional lesson I learned is that you really need to continually add as much organic material to the run as possible if you want to get a lot of compost.  I try to add lots of grass clippings and weeds all summer and it really makes a difference.  The chickens can't make compost from nothing.  The more you add, the better.

Joseph Lofthouse wrote:That type of mega-huge cataclysm seems too big to survive, therefore I don't prepare for it, and don't know of anyone that does. Same way that I don't prepare for a mega-astroid strike, or the sun going super-nova.

Tons of intentional communities prepare for normal disturbances like winter snow, civil-unrest, flood, hurricane, earthquake, drought, etc...

Bingo.  I very much believe in being prepared for "normal" disasters, black outs, tornadoes in this area, snow storms that stop travel for a week or two, even civil war.  I don't even bother thinking about truly monstrous events like this.

Steven Lindsay wrote:although the US 'stick-build' framing technique is frowned upon by some, it developed precisely because there was a shortage of 'time and money', and highly trained tradesfolk and resources, but a huge need for new housing.
It's probably your cheapest, most flexible option; you can easily add elements such as insulation, windows, power etc as needed over time, it can be constructed without heavy machinery or even power tools if required, and be completed at your own pace (the only really time-sensitive elements being concrete or other settings materials). You can also design it to fit in whatever available space there is without adding much to the cost or complexity per sq.
It's so well established there are heaps of instructional resources and everything needed is probably readily available, maybe even free, used or reclaimed.

I'm with Steven here.  I keep exploring "alternative" building techniques and in the end I keep coming back to regular old stick built construction.  It's easy, fast, easy to learn, you don't really need any equipment other than a saw and a hammer.  As Steven said, there is a very good reason 99+% of people build this way.  It isn't because they didn't consider the alternatives.

Juju Guerra wrote:Hi!

You are totally right…there actually is ventilation right now via gable vents, but it’s not enough. He is actually planning to change out the windows to provide more. I have not heard that rule of thumb but thanks for sharing that. He is also planning to make a few other improvements as well.  I’ll post updates here once we have new photos!!

It is a really beautiful setup and I think you will do well selling them.

The easiest way to add ventilation without adding drafts is usually to take out the part right beneath the roof line.  It's high enough that the chicken will roost under the draft, but if you take out that section on both ends of the coop, you get nice ventilation passing through the highest part of the coop.  Depending on the number of chickens you are keeping in the coop, that may or may not add enough ventilation.  If you use the windows, you can get more ventilation but you have to keep careful with the placement because it's easy to introduce drafts on the roost area.  I added a crude picture to show where I mean.

I forgot to add, I did this to my coop and covered the windows with a dual layer of hardware cloth.  One layer is 1/2" and the other is 1/4".  It keeps the rain out surprisingly well and if you put trim boards over the edges of the screen and attach them with screws all the way around that pass through the trim board, through the screen, and then into the coop walls, it's very secure and it looks nice.  We have heavy raccoon pressure and they have never been able to get through the double layer screen.

Juju Guerra wrote:My husband recently built a combination greenhouse chicken coop in our backyard/orchard area and we are planning to sell them. The greenhouse is attached to the side of the chicken run and is 4x9 - check out our site for more details: www.sierragardencoops.com. I'll share a photo here as well!

That is a beautiful coop and greenhouse design.  I would urge you to consider adding ventilation to the coop, both your own and the coop you are designing to sell.  Ventilation is the most important feature of a chicken coop, arguably after security.  The rule of thumb is one square foot of ventilation per chicken.  I don't know that I've ever seen a commercial chicken coop that had that amount.  Having enough ventilation while having no drafts on the chickens can be challenging, but it's absolutely worthwhile for the health of your chickens.

I have most planted in my food forest, so those are surrounded by all sorts of other plants.  I have 4 that I planted in the yard and mulched heavily with wood chips, so those have no competition at all.  I planted two in areas that my wife has flowers in, so they have some, but minimal competition.

Christopher, the problem is every year with apples I have planted.  My wild apples grow and produce every year.  I may have to try Jay's suggestion and graft some branches from the known varieties onto my wild apple trees and see what happens.