Chicken coop: roof shingles

The project for the last few days was getting the roof finished on the chicken coop.

I previously added the roofing paper, and over the last two days installed the shingles. Though I had to make a run to Home Depot to get more yesterday, due to a miscalculation in the number required (short by about 8)… so I ended up working on it until almost sunset, to get it finished before the rain started today.

Here’s the starter strip, that helps secure the edge:


The south side of the roofing underway:


I used grip socks while on the roof, to avoid scuffing the shingles:


In progress (plus you can see the beehives in the background):


I think I might need new gloves. Working on the coop, especially the shingles, are rather hard on the gloves. Touching the hot shingles through the holes wasn’t fun:


Tools of the trade:


The ridge vent hole, the vent material (kinda like a scrubby pad), and uncut ridge caps:


Ridge caps in place over the vent (not super tidy, like everything else about the coop):


Inside view:


Completed roof:

First rain on the roof, this morning:

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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.

Chicken coop: pop door awning

A little addition to the chicken coop today: a wooden awning over the pop door (the chicken door into the run).

In due course it’ll have painted trim and shingles on the roof.

Here’s the side design:


Construction underway:


Completed (for now):


Underneath (the door is still covered, but outlined):

Beecoming beekeepers

Time for another phase of our homestead: we are now beeks — beekeepers.

This morning we picked up two nucs (nucleus hives) at the “local” bee supply store in Wilsonville (about an hour away, but pretty much everything is from our place):


The nucs are four-frame ones, half the size of our hive boxes, giving them each four empty frames to expand into before we need to add another box:


Here’s Jenn examining one of the frames. One or two bees there, all happily doing their thing:


After removing the four frames, there were a bunch of bees left in the bottom of the box:


So they got dumped in too:


Jenn in her bee suit (and you can see the new chicken coop in the background, which will give you an idea of where the hives are located):


Bunches of bees:


A frame from the second nuc:


Both hives populated, with sugar water feeders (plus pollen patties inside):

Settle in, girls! I hope you like your new homes.

Building a beehive stand

The little project for this morning was to build a stand for our beehives. I built it using recycled wood we inherited with the house, with the design inspired by ones I saw online.  The legs will sit on top of concrete blocks, for a firm foundation.

We currently have two beehives, but there’s room for three or four without getting too crowded, if we want to get more later.

We haven’t finalized where we’ll locate the hives… but we’ll be getting our bees on Friday, so we’ll decide soon!