We have a roof!! Hallelujah!
Next step – create the hardware cloth ceiling panels to allow air circulation and predator protection.
Knock on wood, chickens should be secure. (Please chicken gods.) Next weekend we will tackle the hen house and this project, that we thought we could mostly complete in a week, will be done!
We have walls!! Finally.
The weekend started and ended on slightly frustrating notes, but in between we erected 4 walls.
Three of the walls are mostly hardware cloth. Hardware cloth is half inch galvanized wire screening. It is better at deterring predators than the classic chicken wire of yesteryear.
To apply the hardware cloth, you can either use poultry staples and hammer them into the frame, or use a pneumatic stapler. We opted for the second route. Neither of us have used a pneumatic tool before and let’s just say the learning curve was steep.
Saturday morning was spent cursing at the pneumatic stapler because it kept misfiring. It turns out it needed more oil, so we were able to successful apply the hardware cloth in the afternoon with the help of Steve’s parents.
Today, Steve’s parents and my mum came down to help use erect the walls. It was very exciting to see the walls come up and fit together so well. We were done with them by lunchtime!
After lunch we started working on the rafters for the roof, but ran into some issues with the circular saw. There are cuts that need to occur at an angle and the saw was going all over the place. Apparently we need a better quality saw.
We have our work cut out for us this week, but we should definitely be able to finish next weekend. Only 2 weeks after our original date.
Triple Nickel Farm 