Pallets

It's been a long day collecting and loading pallets. We need another pig shelter, a toilet shed, quail shed, log store and hen house, to name a few. That means we need loads of pallets. Today was a good day and we collected 28 pallets, loaded them into the van, unloaded them, made a jenga tower on the tiny trailer behind the kids quad bike and then stacked them behind the outhouse.














This young fella is surely going to complain about muscle ache tomorrow. He worked hard and has earned his keep for today.

Hatching time

Due to the lack of broody hens this time of year I placed eggs in the incubator. One chick decided it was a bit tight in that egg and hatched last night. 2 days early. Guess who wasn't ready?

Yep. Me of course. So I had to set up the brooder this morning (which was on my todo list for tonight, mental note: even chicks can come early, be prepared) and I am now waiting for the right temperature to be reached so that I can move the chick. Usually I wouldn't open the incubator, but this little thing is hyperactive, rolling all the other eggs about. Yes, I know it's Easter, but rolling eggs is only fun when they are hard boiled!

Pretty lonely in that brooder with all the other chicks still in their eggs... Before anybody asks, this is an Ancona chick, listed as critically endangered by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust.

Two days later and it's pretty busy in the brooder now. Four cream crested legbars have hatched and seven ancona chicks, one of which is all black.

Kune Kune Pigs

Guinea Fowl

We have been thinking about keeping guinea fowl since last year. It so happened that somebody only 5 minutes away from us has 3 spare hens and a cockerel. Well, we thought, why not have a look at them.

So we went today and guess what? Yes, we need to build another animal house. Small one this time, but it needs to be nice and warm as there is only 4 birds living in it until we get a few more.

So here we go again, taking pallets apart. Unfortunately we don't have any dry pallets which makes the job of taking them apart harder. The van is still not back on the road so we can't collect any more pallets until it has passed it's M.O.T. next week.

The boards of timber are taken from the top of the pallets and the remaining nails are taken out. The nails are straightened and used to nail the boards back onto the base.

The base strips taken from underneath a pallet. The boards on top are cut to size and nailed onto the strips.

I finally found some time to carry on with this project today.

After the storm 3 days ago ripped the back wall apart I fixed it today and reattached it to the floor.

Three posts where added to the front. The left area is for 2 nesting boxes whilst the right side will be the door.

The posts are cut at an angle for the roof structure to sit on. Haven't got roof material yet, but I will surely find something...

The strips of wood will hold the roof. I think I will clad it in wood first to insulate it, then add waterproof material.

The left side is on, next I need to cut the boards to the right lengths.

The door frame is in. I hope the weather is going to hold up so that I can carry on building tomorrow.

 

Two days later and finally the sky has changed from black to grey and I can carry on. The right hand side is now screwed onto the frame and the left side cut down.

After cutting the right wall down to size I placed timber onto the roof and screwed it together with two strips of wood. This will help insulate the roof.

To prevent drafts and help with waterproofing I cut open two empty bags of layers pellets and nailed them onto the roof. The overhang at the back will be nailed onto the back wall.

 

After adding a couple of hinges the roof is nearly ready. Next I am going to make the flap for the nesting boxes at the front in much the same way I built the roof.

 

At this point I had to rush back to the house to see to kids, dogs, chickens, quails and hatching eggs. More in a wee while...

Straw bales

Ann has gone to England for 19 days and with the arrival of the pigs I am as busy as ever.
The weather has been dreadful and some of the less feathered laying hens are not coping too well. So far we have lost two of them and I am thinking of new ways of constructing a hen house whilst the hens have temporarily moved into the garage, roosting and pooping all over my bike, tools and of course the floor.

Straw bales are fairly cheap and insulate extremely well. They are also environmentally friendly as they compost at the end of their life. With some waterproof roofing they should be fine for a few years without external render.

I am trying to work out a design with egg boxes, door and enough light for the hens to stay indoors if the weather is really bad.
The one thing I am wondering about is the wind. As straw bales aren't as heavy as timber they might get taken by the wind.
Looks like I have lots to think about. Any suggestions?

The pig shelter

 










We are finally working on the pig shelter now the snow has melted. Here is a picture of the floor. The pallets sit on old roof beams. The floor area is 8ft x 8ft (2.4m x 2.4m) which will give the pigs plenty of room to sleep.  

The walls are going up. Securely screwed to the floor and screwed to each other, they should be strong enough to cope with pigs rubbing their backs. Fingers crossed!

The gaps between the pallets are filled with cut down strips of pallets. The quad in the picture is a useful work horse, pulling a trailer to move pallets, tools, roof beams and sheets. Amazing what a kids quad with a tow bar can do.

 

Great day to be working on the pig shelter. Walls are up now. Roof will hopefully be tackled tomorrow. Just hoping the weather stays dry until the roof is on.












Some old roof beams that were collected for firewood seem sound enough to make a roof structure. I also found some pieces of old corrugated metal sheets that should cover the roof.












Beams spaced out and at different height to facilitate water runoff. I might even add some recycled guttering to collect rain water for the pigs. Any ideas? Empty squash bottles spring to mind.

The sheets I found were different colours, so we'll end up with a striped roof. Green and blue. I am going to screw them directly onto the beams.

  










A little silicone will prevent rainwater from seeping through the hole that I drilled for the wood screw.

The roof is finally on although I didn't have enough sheets for the overhang by the door. If I get another sheet sometime I will add it to the roof. For now the roof is finished and keeps the rain out.

Next I am building a ramp for the pigs to get in and out easily. I have cut down a pallet to the width of the entrance. Next I need to add some counter battens as the ramp will be slippy in wet conditions.

The battens are screwed onto the ramp and then cut to size. A job less to worry about. Our first volunteers have joined the project and are enjoying a light breeze (28mph) and a lightly scattered sky (rain every 5 minutes).

Nevertheless they quickly get to work and help me finish the pig shelter as the pigs are arriving today, unexpected but most welcomed. Just a few gaps to close. Will these fit?

Maybe I leave it to daddy, he seems to know what he is doing, I could maybe manage the electric screwdriver but I certainly can't stand like that at the same time, so best to leave such jobs to professionals.

The gaps are just overlapped with whatever wood is lying around. Once cut to length it's screwed on top and bottom.

Nearly finished. Now we just need to add some boards where the roof is higher to make the rainwater run off to make it nice and cosy inside.

There, all done. What a good team effort. Thank you very much, neighbours!

The doors are still missing but they can be built after the pigs have moved in. There will be two doors, one at the top to keep the rain out and let me in, and one at the bottom to keep little piglets in and daddy out, if we ever get any.

Looks warm and dry. Totally irresistible, to a pig, not me. And here they are, nameless and nameless, a fine pair of rescued black kune kune pigs. Any suggestions for names?