The outdoor air temperature in the month of May was in the upper 40sF for the first week of the month, then jumped to the 50s and low 60sF. The biomeiler has fully switched to air conditioner mode and has steadily chilled the incoming air to 37F for the entire month. In consequence, the coop […]
May Experimental Results Read More »
The first batch of spring chicks have reached the age when they are visibly bigger each time I come to feed them. More so than any past group of chicks that comes to memory, this group has rapidly outgrown the need for heat in the brooder room. My earlier concern about the difficulty of distinguishing
Moving Day Completed Read More »
We have two outdoor chicken pens in our lot across the street. The “triangle pen” is in the best condition for immediate use. During the winter, the snow load broke two of the legs and further stretched the wire mesh that covers the walls, but that was the extent of the damage. The two legs
Moving Day Preparations Read More »
The first batch of spring chicks are almost two weeks old, now. There are 10 True Green chicks, which should eventually lay green eggs, 7 Pearl White Leghorns, which should lay white eggs, one surprise chick, and 30 Big Red broiler chicks. Because we purchased a batch of layer chicks in the early winter, we
2026 Spring Chicks Read More »
The chart accompanying today’s post shows the temperatures measured in the biomeiler at a height of 4’ above the ground. This height marks the boundary between the pre-existing biomeiler and the recent extension. The data were collected by a thermocouple buried in the pile at that height at the very center of the inner core,
April 2026 Experimental Results, part 2 Read More »
The outdoor air temperature in the month of April was relatively constant in the upper 30s and low 40sF for most of the month. In the closing days of the month, the temperature jumped to the high 40s and low 50sF. The coop, as usual, responded to the broader trend, but only slightly acknowledged the
April 2026 Experimental Results Read More »
Here are example pieces from the largest printing job I have run, thus far. These four components are for the driving system that will turn the seed collection disks and set the spacing between the seeds when they are planted in the ground. By carefully selecting the physical destinations of the different pieces on the
Seeder Project – Driving System Read More »
The seeder I designed has hoppers that can be repositioned, as needed, to drop the seeds wherever the user desires them. The current plan is to arrange five hoppers on two 4’-long rails. If the hoppers are spaced every 6”, with open space at each end, the effective coverage area would be about 3’ wide.
Seeder Project – Supports Read More »
While testing the function of the seed collection disk, it immediately became clear that circular indentations were not the best choice for collecting seeds. My thought was that a circular indentation would allow for the seeds to be collected in any orientation. Unfortunately, it also allows for multiple seeds to be collected at once. Another
Seeder Project – Disks Read More »
Today, I reached a milestone in an important project. Making better use of our field across the street has been a perpetual endeavor. Unfortunately, planting a crop has proven easier than harvesting one, due mostly to the difficulty of keeping weeds under control during the growing season. A major component to the difficulty of
Seeder Project Begins Read More »