We’ve been incubating some eggs since the 28th August. The first egg hatched right on schedule (day 21) yesterday.

The egg "Pipped" about 1pm on day 21

We've been incubating some eggs since the 28th August. The first egg hatched right on schedule (day 21) yesterday. We're told that we should wait up to two more days to see if any more hatch. Some of the eggs are chirping, so it seems there is a live chick inside. I guess we ...

We picked up some eggs on Sunday the 28th August and put them in our home made incubator. I took a one wire temperature sensor and connected it to an AVR micro controller and a solid state relay. It simply turns a 40 watt light bulb on and off as required to maintain a consistent 37.5 degrees Centigrade.

As for turning the eggs, we’ve got the eggs supported in a cardboad egg tray and we’re just tilting the entire incubator with a wedge of firewood.

We’re trying to turn them five times a day at 6am, 10am, 2pm, 6pm and 10pm. An odd number of turns means they’re not on the same side two nights in a row.

The eggs are due to hatch on the 18th September.

We picked up some eggs on Sunday the 28th August and put them in our home made incubator. I took a one wire temperature sensor and connected it to an AVR micro controller and a solid state relay. It simply turns a 40 watt light bulb on and off as required to ...

I’ve been interested in KAP (Kite Aerial Photography) for quite some time, but only ever tried it once (unsuccessfully) in the UK.

I picked up a Giant Delta Conyne kite at the Bristol Kite Festival (in the UK) a few years back and never really had the chance to fly it with a payload.

The Kite is huge - it's got a 2.7m (9 foot) wing span

I finally bit the bullet and brought some Pekabe pulleys for a picavet. Pekabe pulleys are the holy grail for KAP. They’re made for model yachts, are very small, light and smooth. They’re also expensive – I ended up paying US$93 for the pulleys (4 x Pekabe 515 single pulleys and 2 x Pekabe 525 double pulleys). (more…)

I've been interested in KAP (Kite Aerial Photography) for quite some time, but only ever tried it once (unsuccessfully) in the UK. I picked up a Giant Delta Conyne kite at the Bristol Kite Festival (in the UK) a few years back and never really had the chance to fly it with a payload. I finally ...

We picked up some hens on the weekend, the first of our farm animals (we only had a cat up until now) – does that mean we’re farmers now?

We’ve got some Black Australorp Eggs in the incubator, but it’ll be around February 2012 when they are ready to Lay (provided they’re not all Roosters), so we picked up three Hens which are already laying – It was a random mix, two Anconas and a black Bantam.

(more…)

We picked up some hens on the weekend, the first of our farm animals (we only had a cat up until now) - does that mean we're farmers now? We've got some Black Australorp Eggs in the incubator, but it'll be around February 2012 when they are ready to Lay (provided they're not all Roosters), ...

Over the weekend I managed to line the Hens end of the Hen house. This was done for a number of reasons, mainly that the building is clad with treated plywood and it’s best for the Hens to not be in direct contact with it. I also did it because I didn’t want the Hens pecking at the steel framing and to make it a bit easier to clean.

I’ve installed a sacrificial plywood floor. This is on top of the treated 19mm plywood floor – Hopefully if this floor fails, I can replace it easily.

We’ve created four nesting boxes and installed two perches – all out of untreated pine.

Check out the funky door locks

Over the weekend I managed to line the Hens end of the Hen house. This was done for a number of reasons, mainly that the building is clad with treated plywood and it's best for the Hens to not be in direct contact with it. I also did it because I didn't ...

I managed to finish the eaves on the hen house over the weekend and fitted the doors and their hinges.

The latches for the doors are pretty simple, they’re just a cam made out of ply which you turn to lock the door. They seem reliable, but I can imagine the screws holding them getting tight, or the bits of ply expanding in the wet, so it’s not an ideal long term solution.

Doors fitted

I managed to finish the eaves on the hen house over the weekend and fitted the doors and their hinges. The latches for the doors are pretty simple, they're just a cam made out of ply which you turn to lock the door. They seem reliable, but I can imagine the screws holding them ...

After a bit of bad weather, I managed to get the roof and external cladding onto the Hen House.

The roof frame was too heavy for me to lift by myself, so I had a friend come over and help. We quickly got the roof frame on and the corrugated iron attached.

Roof attached and now starting on the walls

After a bit of bad weather, I managed to get the roof and external cladding onto the Hen House. The roof frame was too heavy for me to lift by myself, so I had a friend come over and help. We quickly got the roof frame on and the corrugated iron attached. I decided to ...

I managed to get some work completed on the Hen House over the weekend.

I got the floor frame onto the posts and screwed in position. The floor was very heavy as it’s made out of 1.6mm thick high tensile steel – Absolute overkill for the project, but at least it should last!

Floor frame in place

Matching 3D render

I managed to get some work completed on the Hen House over the weekend. I got the floor frame onto the posts and screwed in position. The floor was very heavy as it's made out of 1.6mm thick high tensile steel - Absolute overkill for the project, but at least it should last! 19mm Treated ...

I haven’t been able to do any work on the Hen House recently. The grass in our paddocks got up to knee height, so we asked a neighbor if he wanted to put his cows in the paddocks to get the grass down.

It turns out year old calves are very curious and with around 20 in our paddock at the moment, they like to sneak up on you from behind and surround you.

On the plus side, the grass is now to a more manageable height and the cows will be moving out before next weekend.

I haven't been able to do any work on the Hen House recently. The grass in our paddocks got up to knee height, so we asked a neighbor if he wanted to put his cows in the paddocks to get the grass down. It turns out year old calves are very curious ...

Yesterday I had the fortunate experience of reminding myself why I don’t like digging holes.

The Hen House is held off the ground on six 100×100 (4″x4″) treated posts concreted into the ground. The posts are only sunk 600mm (24 inches) into the ground, but digging is definitely not my forte, and ten plus years of desk rot sitting at a keyboard doesn’t seem to help one bit.

Photographic Evidence...

Either way, I managed to get the holes dug and the posts concreted in place.

Yesterday I had the fortunate experience of reminding myself why I don't like digging holes. The Hen House is held off the ground on six 100x100 (4"x4") treated posts concreted into the ground. The posts are only sunk 600mm (24 inches) into the ground, but digging is definitely not my forte, and ten plus years ...