Mucking out the chicken coops and duck house

One of my many homestead tasks is mucking out our two chicken coops and duck house, which I do about monthly, give or take.

Today was such a day. I start by using scoop and spade tools to scoop up the dirty bedding, and place in a plastic bin for removal:

Chicken and tools

The bin with dirty bedding, and my supervisor:

Chicken and soiled bedding

A wide angle shot of the coop:

Wide angle

Several containers full of dirty bedding is carried to the compost bins.

Then I add fresh pine shavings; I usually just grab several handfuls and dump in a pile in the center of the coop, and let the chickens have fun spreading it out:

Fresh bedding

I do toss some under the roosts, though, since that’s where it’s needed the most, to collect night droppings:

Fresh bedding

I do the same in the other coop too, though it’s easier there, as most of the poop is collected on poop trays under the roosts. I still replace the bedding on the floor, though not as often.

I also added fresh straw to the duck house:

Duck house straw

I use straw in the duck house as it copes better with getting wet.

Cat update for week ending January 30

The last Caturday for January… or is it March 335, 2020? What is time?

We start as we often do, with cute Porcini and Poppy snuggles in their cat house:

Snuggles

Poppy and Porcini on their deck:

Poppy and Porcini

Spud, Poppy, and Pommie at the cabins:

Spud, Poppy, Pommie

Poppy has been spending a lot of time in the cabins; here she’s in the left one, with Spud behind her, and Porcini in the right one:

Poppy (Spud behind), Porcini

Poppy returning to the cabins, with Spud and Porcini still there:

Poppy, Spud, Porcini

Spud sleeping on top of the ever-patient Poppy, and Porcini still in the other cabin:

Spud, Poppy, Porcini

Pepper watching me in the shop, while I was working on the duck island project:

Pepper in the shop

Cat

It snowed a bit on Sunday night; here’s Porcini with a bit of snow on the cat house awning (the ground in front is fairly sheltered by trees):

Snow and Porcini

Porcini, Poppy, and Pommie at the cabins again:

Porcini, Poppy, Pommie

Spud arrived too:

Spud, Poppy, Porcini, Pommie

A glimpse of Poppy and Porcini in the cabins while I walk up the path to the bird box (visible on the left). This picture is useful for context, too — our main deck and gazebo is above the cat cabins, with the bird feeders off to the right:

Poppy and Porcini

Porcini leaving:

Porcini leaving

Poppy thought about leaving as I got closer:

Poppy

But returned to the cabin and watched me cautiously while I refilled the bird feeders:

Poppy

As a feral cat, she’s cautious of all humans, but I think she recognizes me as not a threat.

Another busy day at the cabins, with Spud & Poppy in the left one, Pommie between them, and Porcini in the right one:

Four cats

That evening, a little more snow, and two cats:

Snow and cats

Pansy trying out a different chair in the back of the shop:

Pansy in the shop

Spud starting to throw up:

Spud yawp

A possum was happy to clean up the mess (time-lapse GIF), supervised by Pommie:

Possum and cat GIF

Spud was fine, he just ate a mouse or something that didn’t sit well. Here he is in the breezeway this morning:

Spud in the breezeway

Flock Friday for January 29

It’s Friday again. Today, a bunch of pictures of hummingbirds, chickens, and ducks. I know, very surprising for a Flock Friday post.

As mentioned on my personal blog, the hummingbird feeder was starting to freeze overnight, so I added my hacky heater. The heater comes on when the temperature gets down to 35° F, and goes off when above 45° F, via a thermostatically controlled outlet:

Thermostatic controller

The heating pad gets quite hot, enough to melt the ice, but too hot for the plastic base of the feeder, so it hangs a bit below via some paperclips:

Hummingbird feeder heater

Here’s a closer view of the feeder and heating pad:

Hummingbird feeder heater

The first customer approaches:

Hummingbird

A couple of hummingbirds:

Hummingbirds

A cam shot of the ducks on a snowy morning:

Ducks

Did you see the snowy aerial photos? Here’s one picture of the pond and ducks that I didn’t include there; check out that post for more:

Aerial ducks

Snowy ducks:

Ducks

A couple more pictures of hummingbirds, with at least 15 visible on the two closest feeders:

Hummingbirds

A closer look at the hummingbirds on the house feeder:

Hummingbirds

A bunch of pictures of the chickens, with new pumpkin and apple treats (and the older pumpkin shells slowly dissolving):

Chickens

The ducks on the back lawn:

Ducks

Snowing:

Ducks

A GIF of ducks going after mealworm treats while it’s snowing:

Ducks

A couple more pictures of ducks:

Ducks

Duck

We still haven’t decided on a name for that Silver Swedish male duck formerly known as Sassa; options include Stefan, Silvan, Sigfrid, Sigge, and Silvester; what do you think? I rather like Stefan, though am tempted by Sigfrid in honor of Siegfried from the All Creatures Great and Small TV series we’re enjoying at present.

Duck island tweak

Only a little time to work on the duck island project yesterday (Weekend Wednesday). I spent about a third of the time planning the previously-mentioned upper platform, about a third changing my mind about the position of the pipes, obviating that platform, and a third moving the pipes. Read on for details.

Last time I wrote about the buoyancy of the island, and adding the ring of 4 inch pipes inside the frame as part of that. The plan was to add the dirt-containing pond liner over the top of the pipes, then build a third platform level on top of that. So I started by laying out some scraps of wood to prototype the platform:

Platform prototype

Another angle:

Platform prototype

But on further reflection, I thought that the position of the pipes was suboptimal… or not optimal for submarine buoyancy. As mentioned last time, I wanted the water level to be about halfway up the pipes, which seems a waste of the buoyancy potential of them… and with the expected weight of the island and dirt, I need every bit of buoyancy.

So I decided that the ring of pipes should be below the 2x4s, not above, i.e. underneath the island instead of within the surrounding frame. Which also means I probably won’t need the upper platform I’d just prototyped; the dirt can just go to the edge of the frame, as I’d originally envisioned.

Having decided that, I unscrewed the metal hanger straps and carefully removed the pipes:

Removed pipes

I then lifted the island onto an edge, so I could access the bottom:

Island on edge

Then mounted the pipes underneath:

Pipes underneath island

A closer view:

Pipes

A pipe strap:

Pipe strap

I also mounted a couple of the buckets, attaching them with heavy-duty fence staples:

Bucket

Maybe the last view of underneath the island, with the pipes and a couple of buckets:

Underneath

I didn’t attach the other two buckets, as they would get in the way of the cart. I can just tuck the buckets under there while installing; they’ll be contained by the wood and pipes.

Back down on to the cart:

Island

A closeup of a bucket and the pipes below the frame; the bucket will be lower down later; it’s just resting against the pipe for now:

Bucket and pipe

The current state of the island:

Back down on cart

So not as much progress as I’d hoped, but that’s fine; this was a worthwhile tweak.

Next time, hopefully, I’ll add the pond liner. But before that, I’m thinking I’ll add a few 1×2 strips to help support the liner, to prevent sagging.

Duck island buoyancy

On Sunday I did some more work on the duck island project, focusing on the buoyancy aspects. It’s a bit of a guess on how much I’ll need to make it float at an appropriate level, but I figure more is better; having it sink would be not ideal, and if it floats too high, I can always pile on more dirt, or remove some of the buoyancy.

There are two components to making it float: four 5-gallon buckets, and a ring of 4-inch pipes.

Here is a bucket, with a bead of silicone around the rim to help seal the lid:

Bucket

As you can see, the lid also has a rubber seal, and clamps on to the bucket.

A stack of four sealed buckets:

Buckets

Next I moved the island onto my cart, up the right way; this is the first time it’s been upright. Placing it on the cart makes it easier to work with, and it’ll be ready to transport to the pond:

On cart

Another component of the buoyancy is a ring of 4-inch ABS DWV pipes. The sizing worked out perfectly; the pipes came in 2-foot lengths, and I didn’t need to cut any of them to make them fit:

Pipes

I put some pool noodles inside the pipes; I don’t know if that’ll help at all, but can’t hurt.

I sealed the pipes with ABS adhesive:

Pipes

Then I attached the pipes to the frame with pipe hanger straps:

Pipes and hangers

My ideal water level would be about halfway up the frame, at around the midpoint of the pipes, so the middle platform (where the tools are in the above picture) would be just under water. We’ll see if that eventuates!

Here’s a closer look at a strap:

Hangers

Once again, Pepper the shop cat was supervising my work (or really just waiting for me to go away so she could get to her food):

Cat

Here’s the current state of the island:

Island

Next up, I will add the pond liner to contain the dirt, and a third platform level above the pipes.

January snow and aerial photos

Last night it snowed a little for the first time this season. Less than an inch; just enough to give a winter wonderland feeling around the homestead.

So this morning I flew my drone to capture the snowy landscape from the sky, plus some ground-level pictures on my morning rounds.

Here’s my DJI Mavic Mini drone hovering in front of me on our deck:

Drone

An overview of much of the snowy homestead:

Snowy homestead

Angling up a bit to capture the lightly dusted trees and mist:

Trees

Closer to the trees:

Trees

Our pond from above the back lawn:

Pond

Another angle of the pond, and a better look at the ducks:

Pond and ducks

Looking straight down:

Pond and ducks

From further back, you can see the pond, back lawn, and flowerbeds:

Pond, back lawn, flowerbeds

Back a bit more, adding the shop, hoop house, veggie garden, and chicken runs:

Pond, back lawn, etc

Looking down on the white gazebo and dormant flowerbeds; the cat house is also visible in the top-left corner:

Flowerbeds

The back lawn, brown gazebo, grove, and veggie garden:

Back lawn, grove, veggie garden

Down on the ground, here’s the greenhouse, with a sheet of snow sliding off the roof:

Greenhouse

Our beehives; they’re all huddled inside, keeping themselves warm. We’ll see in a few months whether or not they all survive the winter:

Beehives

By the pond:

By the pond

The duck house and pond — the water maintains its temperature well; it needs to be cold much longer to freeze:

Duck house and pond

The white gazebo and flowerbeds, with a glimpse of ducks on the back lawn in the background:

Flowerbeds

Finally, looking across the fountain garden towards the cat house:

Cat house and fountain garden

Cat update for week ending January 23

It’s Caturday! 22 pictures today… and yes, one of them includes Bernie. Probably the last time I’ll succumb to that meme. Probably.

Let’s start with some cute snuggles inside the cat house:

Snuggles

Four cats; drinking, deck, eating, and background:

Four cats

Poppy drinking, Bella on the deck, and Porcini cutely peeking around the corner while stretching on the tree:

Three cats

Pepper supervising me while I was building the duck island in the shop:

Cat

Three cats:

Three cats

A couple of cats by the fountain garden:

Two cats

Bernie and a cat perched on the upturned bench:

Bernie and cat on bench

Too close!

Cabin cat

Three cats inside the house:

Three cats

Spud emerging from a cabin:

Spud

Cabin twins:

Cabin twins

Poppy emerging from the house when I went to refill their water dish:

Poppy

Porcini enjoying some sun on the cat deck, and Poppy drinking the refilled water:

Two cats

Poppy usually hangs out in the cat house, but a few times this week she has gone to the cabins instead; here she’s arriving, with Pommie already in a cabin:

Poppy and Pommie

Poppy and Pommie:

Poppy and Pommie

Porcini also stopped by to see what was so exciting:

Porcini, Poppy, Pommie

Poppy emerging in the morning:

Poppy

Spud and Poppy in the cabins while I approached to feed the birds:

Spud and Poppy

Spud in the breezeway cabin:

Spud

Poppy drinking, Bella enjoying a good stretch, Porcini eating:

Poppy, Bella, Porcini

It’s below freezing at present, so that heated water dish is really needed.

Spud emerging in the morning; sleeping in on the weekend:

Spud

Three cats enjoying the heating pads in the cat house on this sub-freezing morning:

Three cats

Flock Friday for January 22

Welcome to Flock Friday! I couldn’t help myself, I succumbed to the Bernie meme with a couple of the pictures this week.

But first, here are the chickens greeting me in the veggie garden:

Chickens greeting me in the veggie garden

Bernie watching the chickens:

Bernie watching the chickens

Chickens greeting me in their run:

Chickens greeting me in their run

Chickens waiting for treats:

Chickens waiting for treats

Me holding a container with some rice, which gets their undivided attention:

Chickens waiting for treats

They do love the rice:

Chickens with rice treats

Bernie in the pond; don’t sit there too long, the water is rather cold at present:

Bernie in the pond

Ducks:

Ducks

A wide angle of the pond:

Wide angle of the pond

More of the ducks:

Ducks

A foggy view from by the grove, with the new chicken coop on the left, the brown gazebo on the right, the white gazebo barely visible in the background, and if you look closely, some ducks on the edge of the lawn:

Foggy

A closer view:

Foggy ducks

Duck island progress

Yesterday I made some more progress on the duck island project. See my previous post for an introduction.

Having bought some 4 inch ABS DWV (Drain/Waste/Vent) pipes and 45° elbows from Home Depot, I dry-fitted them within the frame. I’ll need to trim a couple to make them fit, but they should help add some buoyancy to the island:

Pipes added

Here’s a closer view of the pipes, plus a bucket that I’ll optionally use if I need more buoyancy (as I probably will):

Bucket

If needed, I’ll add two or four such buckets spaced around the island, sealing their lids closed with silicone. I should be able to add them after installation, once I see how well it floats. (The lid doesn’t match the bucket as Home Depot didn’t have the black ones I wanted, and only had orange lids, but they fit the green buckets; I’ll face the lids towards the center of the island, so they won’t be visible.)

Pepper was supervising me:

Cat

Next I used scraps of wood and clamps to measure the boards for the platforms:

Planning platforms

There are two levels of platforms; one should (hopefully) be right about at the water level, the second lower than that, as ducks find it easier to swim up then put their feet down to step higher. The lower ones weren’t in my original design, but I think will be a good addition.

I lifted the island to lean it on the shop door, so I could attach the platform boards; this is our first look at the top of the island, too:

Leaning on the shop door

Here are the water-level platforms, made from 1×2 boards, attached with finish nails:

Adding platforms

A closer look:

Adding platforms

Back down on the floor (and upside-down again), adding the lower platforms:

Adding platforms

I know they aren’t super tidy; I didn’t bother cutting the boards at angles, or trimming with a nice clean line, since the ends won’t be visible when underwater.

Here’s a closer look at the two platform levels, and the pipe:

Adding platforms

That’s it for now. Next time, I will trim the pipes and stick them together (I forgot to pick up the proper adhesive for ABS pipes from Home Depot, so ordered some from Amazon).

I will attach the pipes with some metal hanger straps, and add the pond liner that will contain the island dirt. I’ll probably also add a third platform level above the pipes to help hold them in place, hide the edge of the liner, and make another step for the ducks to jump to before reaching the dirt.

Then it’ll be time for installation! We’ll see how far I get next time. Stay tuned!