BOZ AND ANNIE'S CHICKEN/RABBIT PEN

(AS OUR FRIEND TREBE WOULD SAY)  ANOTHER BOZ PROJECT IN THE HIGH SIERRA IN THE DEAD OF WINTER

This is what happens when you say you want to have some chickens.  The BOZ attack happens.  We ran water lines, electrical, radiant floor heating (just in case you want to heat the c-train this way) extra lines just in case you want to run something else.  Its all in and buried and ready to hook up.  This project has been a couple of years in the making, different locations, designs, etc.  Other projects were ahead of this and now we are trying to get it to a point we can work on it, even if it snows, which it is suppose to in 2 days..... 

     Had to bury all lines from shop to c-train because of the cold temps up here.      It begins, John cut and welded the door frames and window frames last weekend.        Cages, doors, feeders ready to install.   Now its cutting time on the c-train                                               I was in charge of fire control.  John was cutting with a cutting torch and the sparks were flying.     Hiway and Mohawk were stand (or should I say laying) guard.                    The chickens and rabbits are going to have a beautiful view from their house.                           Mo from his hillside, still laying guard       Hiway is hiding in the grass.                           It is finally done and it opens and closes.....   This slider was donated to us by our good neighbors Carl and Paulette Cappelen.            They are still laying guard.  It is the last weekend of deer hunting season and their are just waiting ........

Day 2 - Today we are working on tacking up the frames for the 4 small windows, 1 larger window and a door.  Next weekend John will cut in the windows and door.  It was not fun holding the frame up while he tacked it, those little sparks goes down the back of your neck and burn.  I had to put a hat on because it was burning my head..... 

            John is tacking on a strap to keep the fram square.       We are making sure the frame he made fits the door.  And of course it does....                      We are ready for next weekends fun.....

Day 3 - Well we had our 1st snow of the season, 8" fell on Monday and Tuesday of this week.    

We are putting in the entry door today.  Well it didn't start good today.  The cookie baker left to get her camera and when she got back the drainage hose was on fire because I left my post.  NOT GOOD!  Ok, I had to dig in the dirt and we got the drainage hose out of the way and I wrapped wet towels over it and the electrical hookup.                Yes Mohawk and Hiway are on duty.                 With the door cut, John is untacking the door frame from the c-train                   And we have an opening.          And they wait for their afternoon walk.....     Making sure everything fits before proceeding and of course it does....      John grinding off the bottom so it is a smooth fit for the door.                       And WAAALAAA we have a door.  I want to paint it bright Red, didn't get much of a response on that one....  Tomorrow the windows....

Day 4 - Here we are again, today we are putting in 2 windows, 1 large and 1 small.  Carl and Paulette came by to see the project and check out there sliding glass door.  Shawn and Michel came by later to check out the project. 

                 These pictures shows John cutting the window out.        John had to shovel off the snow because it was dripping on the window frame where he had to weld.  The cookie baker is afraid of heights , so he got that job too.     We have our 1st window     John starts on the larger window                        This is my lovely job, I get to hold frames in place while he welds and cuts, it is just a lovely job, I get sparks down my shirts and all the while you don't dare move or let go.......     The cookie baker did strike again today, I was cleaning out the large window frame and broke the glass that had a bullet hole in it already from some guests kids that thought it would be fun to shoot at the window that was on the side of the building.  I just love KIDS!!!!    This side of the chicken/rabbit pen is done, except for caulking.  Tomorrow we are going to try to get the 3 small windows in on the other side. 

Day 5 -   John started the day by caulking all the windows and doors we have put in so far.  Finally the final windows.  We have 3 small windows on this side of the c-train.  These pictures show John cutting the holes, grinding the frames and inserting the windows.  And guess what????  The cookie baker didn't strike today.....                                                      The dogs are watching and waiting.   

Day 6 - The final 2 windows, then more caulking and the windows are doors are in.                    

Day 7 - Our friend Trebe stopped by to see the project and we ended up putting him to work.  He should be use to this now, he has helped us with some real doooozzzzie projects....  John had just finished revamping the cages to make each larger and then he wanted to hang them.                           And now we have rabbit cages, ready and waiting for our 5 rabbits. 

Day 8?  - The cookie Baker fixes her boo boo.....  and also gets some pine needles for nesting under the rabbit pens.  Turns out , 1 of the best nesting materials for chickens is pine needles.  And we have an abundance of them.          

John with his rabbits.        

This shows the laying boxes and the backs of them, John made it so the back come down for a shelf that I can set the cartons on while gathering the eggs.           This shows the area for the chickens and they have a terrific view while being safe.    You will notice above the roosting rack John made for the chickens. 

Today we worked on getting the water line to the rabbits.  We put the line to the c-train underground before we started, now we are hooking up the cold and hot water.         Of course everything is up high  John connected the water line to his water can that has a circulation pump to keep the water moving at night when it freezes and also has a light bulb under it to keep the water warm.      John moved to the shop to connect the water to the system. 

Last weekend in February we are getting the brooder pen ready for my chickens.  They will arrive the 1st week in Mar.   I got the lovely job of getting into the crate to push the insulation firm against the cage so John could attach it.      John is making an attachment for the heat lamp to attach to.  We can slide the light up farther away as we decrease the temp for the baby chicks.        WAAA LAAA  the cage is ready for the chicks

March 5th our chicks arrived in Springville.  I drove down and picked up the chicks (51).  They came all the way from Ohio and took 3 days.  They were all alive and ready to get out of the very small box. 

  Arrival day at 3 days old.         1 week old           2 weeks old.  They are growing fast. 

3weeks old and they made the big move out to C-train.  They had room to run around and try to fly.  They weren't quite sure about coming out.    So I put their food outside the pen and then slowly came out to eat.     We put in a traditional feeder along with their little one but their wasnt' enough room around it so John made a super duper Boz feeder that holds 2 bags (50 lbs. ea.)  with plenty of room.   Next is the automatic water system for them.    I was just sitting with my chicks....  They are so much fun to watch.