We shall call her done for now...

Big Dave's first standing building he ever built!

One heck of a lot of wood, and close to 23 pounds of different types of nails... and everything is done on the chicken coop... except I need to put in a chicken door under the window on the side, and I need to build steps going up to the door... But for what it is worth, the chicken coop is done and functional and ready for my baby chicks which will be here at the latest hopefully April 20th!!

I think I might build myself a house that looks like this!

Perches for the chickens to sleep on

I might add some more nesting boxes and perches later on pending on how any chickens we finally decide to get. When the weather grows colder, I will add little pieces of wood in-between to insulate and totally eliminate  possibilities of predators entering the coop through the cracks in the walls. But, today was a big project that I finally get to cross off my list. Now tomorrow and Sunday I am going to get back in the garden some more and see if I can rework it a bit to try to get some plants really growing for this season! At the very least though, I will have chickens!!

The nest box's

My two box turtle buddies that kept me company today

Once again, I don't go a day without seeing some crazy wildlife, and today was no different. Thought I heard a snake going through some leaves, so I went and investigated and found two Box turtles! See if you can find them in the picture! :)

And for those wondering, no I did not wuss out and throw away the snake, I am making a fire (for real this time) tomorrow afternoon... and its BBQ snake time!! Ill have pics for proof! :)

Got the roof on!

Big Dave's creation!

The 10 foot long roof was a new experience for me, but I am proud to say that I have prevented rain from hitting my chickens! This is going to be short, mostly because I didn't finish today, but tomorrow, I plan on having the entire coop done except for flashing on the roof line that I don't have purchased yet. But hope to have everything done tomorrow. This will include a brand new tongue and groove wood floor! No, I'm not crazy, I know its a chicken coop, but there was a huge stack of this stuff in the garage and it doesn't match any of the existing floors... so the chickens are going to have a very nice floor to poop and pee on!! :) To tell you the truth, it is to the point I don't want to put chickens in there anymore and just make it my own little man cave! Its a pretty cool little house.

Quaint, Rustic, what the client ordered!

Another Arkansas Sunset

Without further rambling, here are some pictures showing the status of where I am at today in operation coop building!

Coming together, piece by piece!

Today, I was throwing mothballs all over the property (to supposedly help) with the apparent snake issues we are having. Aside from that, I have been just plugging away on the chicken coop.

Beautiful!

Sleeping where I need to close the door

Speaking about Moth balls, check out this moth I found sleeping in the tracks of the barn door today (the exact same place I found the second snake... probably the only reason why I saw this). This guy was literally the size of my hand. His/her body was really thick and almost looked like a bat, plus its legs were covered in fur!! Crazy, and cool looking creature of the day!

Now, I am not saying that no one needs blueprints (nice little shout out to Bruce and Nancy! Miss ya guys), I really believe blueprints are essential for a place like a house or an office... but my blueprint free chicken coop is just ROCKING! (ok, ok, I know I used blueprints for the floor... get off my back!) But seriously, I had no idea it was going to look as fantastic as it is coming along. By the time I finished tonight, it is completely framed in, I have one wall of siding up, the roof trussed in, another wall half way sided in, and the door and 2 windows installed along with two air flow vents for circulation! WOW!! Yep, this is another me bragging on myself posts!

All framed up, ready for siding and roof!

Another pretty sunset!

But no worries, I am too tired to continue on with my bragging, so I shall leave you with some more pictures!! Yay!!

Old Fashioned Barn Raising!

Morning Fog

As I stated in a previous post, I made the front wall of the chicken coop in the barn because it was raining and I wanted something to do. Thing with that though is that every time you add a piece of wood, you add weight, and next thing you know, the wall weighs a ton. So, this time, instead of wrecking my back and doing it mostly by myself, I called on my good neighbors, (Chad and his dad Ray, you will hear a lot about these guys... and Chads wife Andy.. all real good people) and literally we had a good old fashioned barn raising.. or I should say, coop raising.  (the only part I don't have a picture of!!) It was great, everything went in good, and we had the wall up in a matter of minutes.

Friendly hello from neighbors

The previous day, the same neighbors showed up unexpectedly, showing off their new horse and buggy they got off some Amish people... the horse only cost my neighbor (Chad) $100!! I told them if they hear about any cows going for that price to let me know about it! But yeah, I am pretty sure you have never had this show up in your driveway before!

Working

Working

Slacking off

Putting in the window!

After the neighbors left, I worked until I couldn't see the nail I was trying to hammer. I was filled with so much energy after I saw the coop take shape today, that if the sun stayed up, it might almost be done! But, alas the sun did go down, so I retired to the barn to work on getting the hinges and hardware on the door and the other window for the coop. That is when my night got real interesting.

Watching the sun set trying to still work

****VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED**** (talking about dead snakes and some pics of skins) 

2 Copperhead Snake Skins

As I was shutting the barns sliding gate doors, I was calling for my dog to come inside the barn. She wouldn't come inside, lately this has been almost the norm because she loves being outside so much. but tonight felt different, almost like she was afraid to come inside. Then, I looked down. Right where I walked by just two minutes before that was this nice venomous little copper head. My heart started racing! I have seen them in the wild before, same with water moccasins, but never on my property. Well, there is a 2 year old child, and three dogs, so, I'm sorry if I offend anyone, but I killed it. Now, most people who know me personally know that i don't kill anything, I am a lover of everything and I generally like snakes. But I had to think about the dogs and the child. I also believe that you should eat what you kill. With that being said, after I chopped the head off the thing, I went inside and Googled all sorts of stuff about skinning and eating snakes. Went back out did the deed, gutted, and skinned and stretched the skin, and as I was putting the meat into a bag, and was shutting the doors up to the barn... there was ANOTHER copper head.. this one was bigger! So, MOTH balls tomorrow all around property!! As for tomorrow night, I am making a bonfire, and yes, I will try snake... no guarantees, but hey, I will at least try and eat my first processed game since I got here! So.... anyone wanna buy some snake skin?!?!?!?

Note to self: Don't run into fixed objects

Sunset with the Moon, Jupiter, and Venus

Yep, today was a really full day. I had some personal issues in my life today, along with raising a chicken coop and lastly killed, skinned  and processed two venomous snakes! I think I am officially in the country!

Laying the foundation of the coop

First failed attempt

Today, like I stated in the last post, was difficult. I went around the yard, looking for level areas to try to put the chicken coop on. I found one area that I thought was nice, but when I was leveling the blocks, it became obvious that I was going to have to dig down past part of the foundation and the bottom part of the coop on one corner to make it level. Well, that wasn't an option, so I decided to move it, this time, to another location that was a little bit more flat and less hilly. As seen in the pictures one side of it the blocks are buried to just a few inches above the ground, while the other side the blocks sit almost on top of the ground. But the key to the phrase of the day is that it is level!

Finally getting the hang of getting four corners level.

I know a few of my friends have worked with foundations before, and I'm sure I am screwing up somewhere (please don't tell me...lol) but, this i believe will be hopefully the last I lay (at least in rocky soil), I have new respect for guys and gals that do that for a living.

From here on out the coop blueprint is in my head!! :) Actually, I have like three blueprints and I plan on stealing little bits from each one, with my added genius, it should turn out to look just awesome and will hopefully not fall down in a year...lol.

Finally got the blocks set right

When I was contemplating on how to get the floor out to the work site, I was drawing a blank. But with the help of one of the farm owners I was able to lift the floor onto the truck bed and then drove it out to the work site and very carefully slid it out and laid it gently on the ground. No really, I did that... It hurt, my back is definitely tight, could really use a Chiropractor right now, but that really happened!! (Nods to Reinhold Chiropractic Group and all my buddies there) Lucky for me there is at least a inversion table here, so I can get some comfort till I can find a Chiropractor that is still in business around here.

This was a nice challenge!

Now that the floor is down I need to cover it, and then add my frame!! After framing, it is on to siding and then throwing a roof on it somehow. Should be fun, lots of pics I am sure to come! :)

Dont know how, but its square and level....wow

Look at those stylish boots!

Little Skink friend that kept me some company

Glad that is over with!

After i was done, relaxing on the tailgate, amazed.

Enjoying the sunset

The inner makings of a chicken coop!

(The two white boxes on top... please ignore, everything loaded, I just cant delete them for some insane reason.. but its a free site, so I'm not complaining)

The amount of wood and cement WEIGHED down my F250

I had 5 1/4 inches of clearance with the wood in the truck!

Without the wood my hitch has over 9 1/2" of clearance!

Some of the wood from the truck

Foreman Cheyenne approving the 8x12 coop floor

Using a timber framing method to help save on cost. 8' 8" high front wall

Some of the hardware

I went to the "local" wood yard/home improvement store 35 minutes away (B & B supply in Highland Ar), and I must have looked like a deer in the headlights. A sales associate (Brandon) found me in the nail isle looking like a dummy and I think he knew right away I am very much a beginner (pretty much sums up my whole experience out here so far) when it comes to carpentry.  After looking at my plans from 1976 (it was outdated, even the nails have changed!) and analyzing what I was trying to do, I made a custom order instead that hopefully took some of the total cost out of the coop. I will tell you this much, a truck load of wood, nails, hardware, and cement will cost you right around $600 in material. Luckily the walls of the coop will be made out of timber that came with the property.

After I got back to the property, it promptly started raining again, and even though I got everything pressure treated, I felt that the best thing to do was get it in under cover as soon as possible to prevent any type of warping and future headache. Luckily I had a guy from the timber yard that was "assigned" to me to help me load my truck with all the wood, which was great because I would still be there scratching my head trying to make it all fit in the truck bed, but unloading it was all me.

After I got it all unloaded I decided to just keep on working, and next thing I knew I had the floor of the coop all nailed up and with joist's. When I was finished I couldn't believe that I even was able to do that by myself, but once again found a good sense of accomplishment. I hate to keep patting myself on the back, but I never imagined a few months ago I would be running fence lines, building and tilling large gardens, pulling rocks and building a chicken coop! I have never built anything this large before. I believe I helped a buddy in Washington state as a kid nail some scrap pieces of plywood in a tree to make a fort, so as I move along in this particular project, I am feeling more and more confident on my ability to make something from nothing, and I cant help but take some pride in that.  I hope I don't bore you guys with my constant amazement with myself. :P

Basically, the only thing that is from a blue print is the floor. From there, I am taking over and going completely custom from here on out. (SCARY!!!) But, at the end of the day, its a chicken coop, not my new home. The goal from this project is to make it functional and somewhat visually appealing. I plan on making both goals a strong reality. When I start putting my energy into something, I tend to pour myself into it. I just have to keep going while the steam is there! So, after I was done with jointing the floor up, I decided to make one of the walls out of 4x4. (We are going with a timber frame to save on materials and money in wood. Once again, its a chicken coop, not my new residence.) After I was done, it looked GIANT, total height of the wall is 8'8". So, while that was originally going to be the back wall, I have made it the front wall and it will house a door and window. The back wall I plan on making 6'8" high so that will make the roof flat and sloped. (that's the goal anyway, not feeling trusses and extra cost)

This was all done yesterday Friday the 23. So tonight I will have another post about what I am doing today... leveling the cylinder blocks and putting the skids down outside to rest the flooring on so I can finish building the coop. This stage of the construction, I could definitely go without, and think I will call in the pros to lay my foundation on my personal property because.... IT SUCKS! :P But yet again, ohh so rewarding when its done... and I can say, the leveling part of it... IS DONE... more to come, stay tuned!

T-posts are in my blood now!

Fence posts galore!

1 side of the large yard fence.

I have finished fencing in the garden! It was nice to be done with that and sit back and just look at the accomplishment of the day. Surprisingly throughout the whole ordeal of driving in all the t-posts my shoulders have been alright! Must be from all the massaging I was doing that got my arms prepared for that abuse.

Speaking about abuse, I have driven in the rest of the T-posts around the big main yard too, but still need to put the fencing part up for that one. I would be done with it, but it has been raining its butt off for the past 24 hours!  Did I reach enlightenment driving in the t-posts?... nope. But, definitely found a great since of accomplishment after I drove in the final one!

I made the brooding nest for the baby chicks and am currently reviewing plans for the chicken coop right now. I need to get that built up to a somewhat enclosed point soon before my chicks arrive, so that is priority number one. My carpentry skills are definitely a little rusty, I went through two drill bits just making pilot holes for some screws, and also had some hard times just making the basic frame for the brood... but, I suppose I will get better (and quickly) as I prepare to make an entire coop from the ground up!!

1 baby chicken brood

I got my Potatoes and peas put in two days ago, and today I am starting my seeds for the tomato's and peppers along with all the melons too.

So, yeah, busy busy busy me. On top of all of that, we have made some essential oil sprays (gotta love the massage therapist background for that!) to spray on Cheyenne and also myself to help repel bugs and ticks! If they really work out nice, then you can expect them to be for sale soon in Daves farmers market...lol.

These 5 repel ticks supposedly! (I am combining them all!!)

Cheyenne is definitley loving the country life, she is hard to keep inside these days, I guess you could say the same for me too!


Check out that awesome sunset with my dog... isn't she just the coolest dog ever? No, seriously, my dog is way cooler than yours.

No wonder she gets ticks!!

Another wonderful sunset with Cheyenne!

Ticks are not your friend

I like Arkansas,  and I knew the ticks were going to be bad... but wow.  Cheyenne and I have been pulling them off us like crazy. Its to the point now that I do nightly checks on her and me also! Its nice in a way cause its just more bonding time with my dog, and she has already grasped that this checking for ticks time is a point where I need her to just relax and stay still, like getting groomed. (as I was writing that last line, I felt and killed one crawling up my leg, no lie! WTF?!?) But at the end of the day, her and I bond all the time, so this is just unneeded extra time that I could do without, not because I don't love Cheyenne, we would be hanging out together anyway... but I just don't like bugs, I definitely do not like ticks, they just have no purpose in this life except to bring misery to everyone it meets. The only justification for its reason to exist is being food for some deserving creatures somewhere along the food chain. I think they are  a parasite and I would not cry a single tear if one day we all woke up and all the ticks, and mosquitoes and wasps were all gone. Sorry bats, no food for you... learn to eat more fruit!

Now that I have ranted about that...

I went to the seed and farm supply store right on the Missouri state line and picked up a brand new chainsaw, 400 feet of field wire fencing, 350 feet of 48 inch high garden wire fencing and a whole butt load of t-posts.  Along with an order of chickens!! and a whole bunch of other supplies. (cost- chainsaw-Stihl- $380, Fencing around $650) I have put in the t-posts all around the garden and have started to fence in the garden area. Will hopefully finish that tomorrow and also hope to put in the t-posts for the parameter fence for the barn yard. Also on my plate for tomorrow is to finalize my designs for the chicken coop, and also build a "brood" for my baby chicks that will be coming in the next week or so.

Its funny, it seems everyone around here keeps chickens, but nobody has a clue how they do it. They just know how... its in there blood, so its common sense to them. To the city slickers here, were like what?!?! But we have a pretty good support system and nice neighbors so, hopefully we wont have too much of a problem. Also, Billy from Hirsch Seed and Feed walked me through some things about fencing, and showed me how to operate the chainsaw and such and was really helpful.

Well, my hands hurt from twisting metal around the fence post for a few hours... Ron I am thinking about you buddy as I am installing the fence and really wish I took you up on coming out to help install it!! Its fun, and rewarding, but really... fence? Ill let ya all know If I reach enlightenment pounding in T-posts all day! :) 82 degrees tomorrow... so Ill be working on my Va Beach Tan! (gotta represent VB and CXB to these country folk!)

Short Update!

Hey all, just wanted to jot down a few lines to catch you up to whats been happening on the "farm".

I plowed the garden I think 10 or 11 times total, if not more. Everytime I did, I found large rocks and small rocks and medium sized rocks, followed by more rocks. Good news is, that I have enough rocks now to make a pretty nice sized fire pit!! So, thats on the list of things to do. The soil is not great, like I said before, but I worked it as much as I could this year, and we will grow whatever decides to take root!

Lots and lots of seeds!

Speaking about growing... we have separated all the seeds and organized them by when to plant. Also we have planted Carrots, Radish's, six types of lettuce, a few beets, Broccoli, and Onion. I am planting Potatoes either today or tomorrow, I was going to do that the other day, but apparently you need to let your potato skins harden a bit after you cut them into cubes for starting the plant. Also, need to put the pea's in too.

I have been looking around for fence and investigating different fence types for the garden area and also the peremeter of the yard. The garden fence is right around 300 feet!! Yep, I have a big garden!! I will post the types of fence when I get them in the next few days.

Humble beginnings of a chicken coop

Went to Habitat for Humanity store yesterday and bought some stuff for the chicken coop. This particular store takes old houses and breaks them down and resells the doors, windows, and different components of the house for pennies on the dollar. So, we went in and got a door, four drawers (for nest boxes) 2 windows, four screens, 2 light fixtures, 2 ceiling attic vents, some hinges and also an unrelated fling cabinet for the house... all for 72$$$ The door alone new would have cost over $100 bucks, so I say that shopping experience went very well! There is a huge stack of wood outside that was correctly stored and separated, so the only wood we need to get is some 2x4's for the framing part, then I am ready to start construction on the coop!!

Wahhoo! The next few weeks will be busy with installing the fence, and building the chicken coop along with more planting of the garden. While we have the Auger for the fence posts, I am also going to dig the holes for the fruit and nut trees they are putting in. So yeah, I will be a busy bee once the materials start flowing in!

Till then! Enjoy more pics of sunsets! :P

Yet another awesome sunset!

Double post!

Here is the before and after pics of the middle yard! It is starting to take shape!!!

BEFORE!!!

AFTER!!!

After my first row of tilling!

After a long days work of picking rocks out of the garden (which is exactly what my mother and her siblings used to do for years on their farm) its always nice to catch a beautiful sunset!!!

Tomorrow... I start planting!!!