Operation Chicken Fort: Freedom!!!!

Fencing was wrapped up over the weekend with a big push. Saturday, all the guys got out and wrapped the existing fence with wire fencing. We sent Josh out to get some more on Saturday afternoon as we were looking to run out. He ended up buying just enough

Our improved roadside fencing.

We got everything in place, leaving just a gate required to finish. Cliff finished up his gate the other day and yesterday we finally let them loose.

They are watching and waiting...mostly watching...

Market Watch: Prospect Lake Farmer's Market

My very first market. I jumped at the chance to take part in a market that actually falls at a time when I am not at work. This was it. A bi-annual market put on by the Prospect Lake District Community Association (www.pldca.org). The market did offer space outside but we chose to be indoors as there was more action inside.

Sample? 

Unlike most markets, we had electricity and decided to bring along a small freezer stocked with chickens and ground beef. Good call there. We sold a ton.

The market was fun. I think we were the only food-selling vendor as it looked more like a craft fair. We did very well as a result, bringing in sales over our higher days at Sidney last year. It was also very good for networking as we got to meet a lot of the faces in the area.

We are going to be at a lot of markets this coming season. I will do my best to get a list posted and times when we will be at each one.

Operation Chicken Fort: Don't sweat the small stuff

Don't sweat the small stuff, we say. Well all the small stuff remaining on the chicken coop certainly left me sweaty this past weekend.

We wrapped up the metal roofing this week...almost. We still need the cap but all the panels are on and secure. It looks good.

Our new roof.

Maaaaan Cooooooldddd

Sorry for the lack of updates this week. I have been beaten down by a vicious man cold.

Short update: We finished the bare minimum for the chicken coop on Sunday. Roofing needs to go on the plywood. We have our birds inside with roosting bars, food, and water. I will have pictures and a more detailed updated later this week.

Also an update on the Happy Cow Happy Pond project... I got my fascia up but now I will be doing the gutters myself. The company that was going to do them cited a minimum charge which would almost quadruple the price for the gutters. No thanks. I picked up my downspout filters and should have more updates after the long weekend for that one.

Happy Cow Happy Pond Project: Start your engines.

Finally got a chance to bring everything to the team last night. I reviewed what funding we had received. I explained my decision to drop the chicken barn from the rain-water project. I explained the fencing and rain-water numbers. Approval.

So now I need to figure out how to move forward with this approval. I have been given the go ahead to do gutters and PVC piping in the spring and install the tank and pump in the fall. I also have approval to purchase the fencing and proceed with the fencing I laid out previously.

The inner fence will be the spring project, followed by the outer fence in the fall.

Operation Chicken Fort: Getting closer

Another weekend. Another big push to complete the chicken coop. Cliff, Marc, and Josh made some excellent progress on both Saturday and Sunday. Hannah was out at 4-H and Charlotte was napping on Saturday afternoon so I managed to pop down to assist with the efforts.

The walls are up already.

At this point, the entire main room had walls with plywood already attached. They had even cut out a doorway. Josh and Cliff were inside building the roof trusses, so Marc and I set about building the walls for the side room, which was roughly 4' x 8'.

Operation Chicken Fort: Building Walls

I can't say that I have had much influence on this project this week as I work all week. I did stop by to check on the progress though. The flooring went down on Monday. It revealed the un-squareness of the base. It was not too bad though considering we were on such uneven ground.

I popped down again yesterday while Marc and Cliff were continuing work on it. The first framed wall section went up the other day. The second half of that wall and the two ends went up yesterday. A few more wall sections to go and we can start sheeting and looking at the roof.

I will post pictures with my next update.