I'll Take One Completed Treehouse

And just in time for 20-degree weather!  ;)

We just completed the ladder and used some left-over deck stain to protect the railings (built to code BTW). It's looking pretty good!

Youth Dear Season Approaches

Been taking the eldest target shooting more often in preparation for deer season this year. Since it will be the first year he will be on the gun, we  have been drilling on marksmanship fundamentals.

For the different skills he has been learning we have been using different targets, and now that he has the basics down we are on full-size deer targets.

We'll hit it one more time for a final review, but after today I officially declare him ready:

The Treehouse Build Continues

 

One of the side-railings going up. The uprights are wide but will ultimately be covered in a galvanized metal skin.

 

The platform is about 10 feet off the ground so I constructed the railings to conform to current residential building codes, 36" high and 4" in between balusters.  

 The first side of the platform being skinned. The skin is lag-bolted against the top and bottom rails and along each upright. It need to be strong enough to stay in place if kids fall against it from the inside.

Tree House Madness!

 We selected a nice, straight tree that has no branches for the first 20-30 feet.

 The platform is supported by a triangular-shaped beam at the tree and lays across another beam about ten feet out from the base. The beam rests on two braces that will allow the tree to grow without tearing apart the structure. Beams are essentially slip-joins that can accommodate the movement of the tree while keeping the platform square and level.

  

The beams as supported on the far-end of the tree house.

Post footers that hold up the far end of the tree house.

 

With the platform decking on the beams.

 

 Cross-bracing on the tree house legs.

 

And a shot from the edge of the woods.

Over the next couple of weeks, we'll fabricate the railings, and covering.

Processing Day Has Arrived

 

The killing cones are hooked to a plywood saddle that I built to hang over a folding saw horse. When it was all over, the entrails and such are taken into the swampy part of the woods for the turtles to munch on.

  

Work table. I burned the remainder of a gift card at Bass Pro for this baby, and it is sweet. It is sturdy and the height is perfect and you can hook a garden hose to the faucet. I ended up using a thick HDPE cutting board to protect the table and hung the paper towels in-between the table legs with a wooden dowel. Shortly after starting, I got rid of the waste bucket and hooked up an old pool drain hose to the drain for the sink.

An old turkey fryer used as a scalder and kept at a steady 145-150 degrees. You to be careful not to let the wind blow out the flame. Getting the water back up to temperature while birds wait in the cones is not ideal.

 Automatic plucker

 Our plucker at work:

we used a 1/2 HP motor and found that with a steel feather plate, it lacked to power to really spin the bigger birds. For the next run, I am going to install a 1-1/2HP motor. There will be no lack of power after that!

 

Transport of the Cornish Cross "candidates". I was processing four at a time; cone, scald, plucker, table and finally to the cooler.

The abattoir in progress. Processing in the sunshine, the UV sunlight and fresh water keeping everything clean.

And into the fridge prior to final weighing, labeling, freezing. The end-of-the-day tally:

The 12 birds =

• 50.56 lbs of processed whole birds*
• 1.78 lbs of livers and hearts
• 1.75 lbs of necks

 *The individual birds weights were as follows (in lbs) :  4.9, 5.06, 4.7, 4.4 , 3.8, 5.1, 3.8, 4.3, 3.5, 3.1, 3.9 ,4.0

Moving outside

 The chicks being moved from the inside brooder to the chicken-tractor.

Help getting them in the tractor.

A fresh welcome meal.

 The chicks enjoying the fresh grass. 

One new hen was mixed in with the broilers, she have been names spot and will join the other layers once she gets bigger.

Getting Caught up on Posting

 

The tractor was completed, and seems to keep in varmints quite well!

 

We moved a couple of watering buckets from the inside frame to either side of the tractor.

 This is one of the custom axle-plates I fabricated so I could put wheels on the tractor to move it around.

And those same axle-plates with wheels on them.

Broilers on Deck

Our Cornish Cross broilers arrived tonight.We picked them up at Orschelns and they are doing just fine.

Transported like little Happy-meals...

 Finally all set up for the evening in the brooder pen. This is just an old baby gate, cardboard floor, and pine wood chips. The silver material in the corner is called Reflectix, and is gold for spot insulation for critters (It's gold Jerry, GOLD !)

Now I just have to get the chicken tractor finished so they will have a home once they are ready to be put outside...

We are raising Pterodactyls apparently

Pulled this out of the nesting box tonight. It's a big egg... 

The Chicken-Tractor Cometh!

Finally got crackin' on the chicken tractor today. We are hoping to pick up a couple of dozen Cornish Cross at the local farm store in the next few weeks and I really need to get this thing finished.

All pressure treated for the exposed lumber:

Starting to frame up:

Finished with the roof support and the framing to hold the water buckets:

Strong enough to support one vigorous chicken dance!

I'll post more as work continues....

Swiper! no Swiping!

Aaaaaw man...

So this little guy has been trying to get to our hens for weeks. In fact, last weekend (using a spotlight) we witnessed it attacking a neighbors cat in the wood-line near our house.

I had tried live-trapping it for the past few weeks but he always manages to get to my secret recipe bait without getting caught in the cage.

Tonight, he was at the hens again so we discussed it and came to terms... That is, I shot him.
Unfortunate really, they are truly beautiful animals.

In case it ever comes up, here is the how MO DNR covers nuisance animals and protecting property in the state regulations:

3 CSR 10-4.130 Owner May Protect Property; Public Safety
http://www.sos.mo.gov/adrules/csr/current/3csr/3c10-4.pdf 


A big nod goes to the Boone county Missouri DNR conservation agent, I have worked with him a couple of times now and he has always been super-nice, very helpful and provided solid info.

More red fox information:
http://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/red-fox

Not to be confused with the hilarious Red Foxx I grew up watching on Sanford and Sons:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redd_Foxx

And finally, a little info on the Remington Nylon 66, one of my all-time favorite rifles and as fine a varmint gun one could expect straight-off-the-shelf with no mods.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remington_Nylon_66