Baby chicks!

We ordered 14 baby chicks online (unlike the previous ones that we got at the local feed store), and they arrived today.

They are only one day old; hatched and shipped yesterday, and arrived today. They are all different varieties.

I had to pick them up at the post office. Safety first:


Unboxing:


Figuring out the water & food:


A video of them drinking water and eating:

Some close-ups.  The red light is from the heat lamp, which keeps them warm enough; 95° F the first week, dropping 5° each week, or as needed, until they can cope with the ambient temperature:

Chicken coop: roof paper

Continuing on the roof, today I installed the roofing paper (underlayment).

The easy first row:


Then it’s time to go up on the roof for the first time. Yes, I hadn’t been up there before; the sheathing was added via ladders from the ground and inside.

It’s quite a steep roof (about 35°), so I built a temporary safety ledge attached to poles to enable me to go up there with less risk. The nailer is because I also needed to finish nailing the roof sheathing, where I couldn’t reach from ladders:

Finished the south side:


Here’s a view of the temporary safety ledge from the ground:


Working on the front (north) side, from a ladder:


Close-up of the roofing paper, a plastic cap nail, and the drip edges:


The north side, with its own safety ledge and lots of ladders:


Finished the north side:


Taking a moment to enjoy the view of the pond and gazebo from the top of the roof:


Finally today, I finished off the metal drip edge (the gable ends go on top of the paper, whereas the long ends go underneath). This picture also shows the slopes of the roof:

Chicken coop: fascia & drip edge

After a few days on other stuff, it’s back to working on the coop for a few days — the weather forecast indicates it’ll be fine till Thursday, so hopefully I’ll be able to finish off the roof before the rain resumes.

Today, I added the fascia boards on the edge of the roof:

Plus the drip edge on the long sides (the gable ends will get their drip edge on top of the roofing paper):

Chicken coop: roof sheathing

Time to start on the roof!

Here’s me:


First OSB sheet installed on the roof (the small wooden bits sticking up on the edge are to temporarily hold it in place before it’s nailed):


One side done (again with a temporary block):


View from the top of the front wall:


The front sheathed:


Inside, looking up. The gap at the peak is for a ridge vent, to let out heat and odors.