Tuesday, June 17, 2008

New Chicks, really

Here is the chicken coop that I built last weekend to house our 6 new chicks. In keeping with farm tradition, I built it mostly from found and leftover wood. Even the tires and axle came from an old trailer that I found dumped on our property.






When I am not building chairs, I like to slam out work with a chop saw and drywall screws. There's no dovetailing here, it's called a butt joint and it's about all I have patience for. As far as coops go, this one is pretty tricked out, with hinged roofs, wheels and removable floor panels for easy cleaning. The laying boxes at the back are also removable.



Here are the chicks! If we can keep them predator (and dog) safe, they should provide nicely for Sue and my egg needs. These days, it seems like trying to constantly increase earnings to meet the changing prices in the volatile food and energy markets is a losing battle. So I am working towards better understanding our needs and meeting them directly. Hence, chickens.



Here are some shots of my students at Peters Valley. This is Earle planing the bottom of his seat.




Here is a medley of seat action.



The first day was blazing hot (so were the rest) and the student found refuge under an ancient sugar maple.



Perhaps you've noticed that my there are rarely (or never) photos of me on the blog. I figure that my rambling on is probably enough! But Wayne took this nice picture of me and Maleyne last week, and I thought it worthy of posting.




I will be going to the Furniture Society Conference in Purchase NY later this week. I have never been. I will be participating in a show put together by Jon Binzen and showing off my caliper in the trade show room. I'll report on it, and my chicks when I return.

3 comments:

  1. Sweet Coop for the chicks Pete! Em and I got partridge rock chicks this spring and just finished making the coop (based on a Scotland design) here about a week ago. We'll have to exchange stories and show you pictures of ours when we're up next.

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  2. 'bout time you got some grazers on all that grass. you need to throw a few lambs into the mix ahead of the chickens. The coop looks great. have you got some poultry netting attached to a fence charger to keep the predators away? Or are the trusty hounds doing their part?

    Hope your spring/summer is going well!

    Mark
    www.jerichosettlersfarm.com

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  3. LOVE THE CHICKS. Did you tell them that it didn't snow upstate as well?

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