Suburban Chicken Coop Preventing Freezing Preparing For the Winter

In this video, I show some of the ways that we are keeping the chicken coop warm in the winter including keeping the watering system from freezing. We have had a few days in the 20s here in Michigan so I have had some time to test out the heating system that I have set up and it is working great so far! The watering system that I put together this summer has been working well and it has been so nice not to have to clean out the water!

 

To prevent freezing in the watering system I am using a product called heat tape or heat cable. You can find that product HERE.  All that is required is some electrical tape, duct or foil back tape, pipe insulation, and some zip ties. The installation is pretty straight forward for any piping system. You run the thermostatically controlled heat cable under the pipe you would like to keep from freezing and hold it in place with zip ties or electrical tape. Then wrap the pipe in insulation and cover with foil back or duct tape. The heat cable only turns on when the temp is below 40 degrees and then turns back off once the water is heated up enough. So far this seems to be working great!
 

We have also installed a heat lamp on the inside of the chicken coop to provide a little bit of heat for the chickens as well. They enjoy the light it provides and also some warmth! To control the temperature in the coop we are using a small thermostatically controls outlet. This product is available HERE. This little outlet turns the heat lamp on when the temps gets down to 35 degrees and then warms the coop up to 45 degrees and then shuts off.  We got this idea from someone who commented on one of our videos.  We really appreciate feedback like that!  This saves energy and allows it to automatically keep the temps above freezing inside the coop. I know that the chickens can probably do without the heat but they do seem to enjoy it!

 

 

Next year, I will run more permanent electrical wiring, light sockets, and installing an outlet for the heat cable, but for now I have a extension cord run to the coop from an outdoor outlet on our home. This will work for now but I plan on implementing a more permanent solution.


I hope this helps you with your own coop in some way!


SSL Family Dad

 

 

 

 

 

 

        
 

This post was shared at:  Homestead Barn Hop, Simple Lives Thursday, The HomeAcre Christmas Hop

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Preparing Barrels for Grow Beds Aquaponics or Hydroponics

Every aquaponics or hydroponics setup needs to start with a good set of grow beds. But, what should you choose? Cement mixing trays, PVC pipe, gutters, pond liner with wood boxes, troughs, feeders, waterers; there are so many options! The best option in my opinion, for an aquaponics system especially, is these 55 gallon plastic barrels. They are cheap, durable, food safe, and generally come with food products in them so they are easy to prep. Below is a method that I have developed to get these cut perfectly in half and ready for your setup.

I have used both the white and the blue 55 gallon drums but I prefer the blue ones. These generally come with food materials in them and are easiest to clean. In my first system I used the white ones and they had some type of cleaner in them. A quick trip to the power washer took care of it but I was always unsure if I had removed it all well enough. I have had the best luck on Craigslist finding these and pay between $10-$20 depending on how far I want to drive to get them.

 There are a couple of different types of plastic that you should be aware of when working with anything you are growing food in. Some  grades and types of plastic are safe while some are not.

HDPE, Vinyl, LDPE, PP, and PSare some of the labels that you will see, most commonly HDPE, which is High Density Polyethylene. All of these listed here are considered food grade or food safe plastics. I have also seen the label above "PE-HD" with the same recycling symbol (2). I cant say why it is labeled differently but it is also supposed to be High Density Polyethylene and food safe.

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 Now down to the fun part, cutting stuff! For a perfect grow bed you need two perfect halves. There are two methods to accomplish this. the first is to just follow the seem with a circular saw and cut the barrel in half. The only problem with that method is that the seam goes right through the bung on each side of the top lid rendering them useless. This is fine if you do not plan to use them and I have actually done this for some of mine. However, the best way is to leave them intact. So how do you cut a cylinder perfectly in half? Well, the easiest way is to first make yourself a larger square. I screwed these two pieces of 2X4 together at a perfect 90 degree angle to use here. You could also use a large carpenters square.

Start by measuring out and marking the center point on the top of the barrel lid. Then use a square to draw a perpendicular line across the top of the barrel. This will give you your references to draw down the sides. Now, use your large square placed on the lid to match up to the line on the top and transfer it down the side of the barrel on each side. You can then transfer the line onto the bottom on each side and connect the two together. You now have a perfectly straight line to follow with your saw. You can cut these anyway that you would like but I have found a circular saw to be the easiest. You could also use a reciprocating saw, saber saw, jig saw, hand saw, router, dremel, angle grinder, etc.

What you end up with is two perfectly neat and equal halves with the threaded bungs intact and centered at the bottom of each barrel. These are very useful for connecting barrels together, external bell siphons, water supply piping and other things I am sure I have not thought of yet. I will talk more about installing these and building a frame for them in a later post and video, until then, thanks for stopping by!

Full Video here

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Suburban Aquaponics Preparing The Grow Media

Check out this video to learn more about which grow media to choose and preparing that media for your grow beds. In our indoor aquaponics system, I have been having a lot of trouble with rising pH levels. Due to some limestone in the river rock that I initially purchased, I have not been able to lower the pH below 8.2. I have decided to replace the river rock with a new media that I found at a local landscape supply place. This is a video showing the process I am using to wash the stone and prepare it to be put into the grow beds.


The growth on the tomatoes and other plants has been great even with the high pH in the system. We have been eating a few of the smaller tomatoes, green beans, celery, and kale and they are awesome! I have had to cut the tomatoes back weekly and I have been cloning some of the cuttings and feeding the rest to the chickens. We are patiently waiting for the green peppers to be ready to pick and will be planting some more peppers in the system soon.

This post has been shared at:  The HomeAcre Hop, Simple Lives Thursday, The Backyard Farming Connection Hop, Simple Saturdays Blog Hop, Homestead Barn Hop, Natural Living Monday

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Preparing for Winter

Daffodils - Plant in Fall for a Spring Treat

Today I wandered by the hardware store and bought various things for upcoming projects. The daffodils were a splurge, but something I knew my daughter would enjoy.

Ive got two projects in the works - the greenhouse-style shed, so I can show you how to finish off the greenhouse at the ends, and a solar heater, to keep things toasty in the greenhouse as it gets cold outside.

I posted the Cansolair video yesterday, but Im doing a DIY version, our of pop cans. A particularly good set of instructions can be found online at http://solar.freeonplate.com/solar_panel_DIY.htm. Though Im still at the beginning of the process, Ive figured out a couple of improvements.

• Use an empty soup can to brace the aluminum cans as you start cutting. The closer it is in size to the aluminum cans, the better. The point is that your aluminum can will not buckle (twist, tear, shred, undergo other plastic deformation) as you work, because the soup can will stabilize the perimeter. This is good.
• Having a massive nail/spike and tin snips is nice, but all you really need is a 1-1/4 inch spade drill bit. I put the bit in my power drill, not because I want to use the power tool, but because the tool gives me leverage and control. The idea is to push the bit into the ends of the soda can - it slices through like a hot knife through cold butter.

Some argue that you dont actually have to punch holes in the cans, but wanted to post these tips for those who want to do the "classic" soda can solar heater construction technique.

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Whats in a picture

This past week some of us were designing a T-shirt to celebrate World Water Day and Aquaponics. The T-shirt is now live at Cafepress, and its cool.

In the process, however, I came up with a slightly different logo, which Ill be using for my own aquaponics efforts. Thought Id explain what I was thinking, and why this is such a perfect logo for "365 Aquaponics."

The T-shirt slogan talks about growing more food with every drop. Since I often have to explain aquaponics to folks, I thought a design that showed the fish in clean water and the plants in fertilized water would be cool. Of course, the plant would have to be above the fish. Since the system cycles constantly, I decided to show the drops chasing each other - it would also look a bit like the yin yang symbol, which implies completeness. Super-excited about my concept, I shared a sketch with the team:

They were underwhelmed. Frankly, I dont like it, after getting a good night of sleep. The term "hot mess" comes to mind.

The official T-shirt went forward with its elegant and simple graphic, but I couldnt get the idea out of my head. Around this time I decided to research the yin yang symbol, to make sure there wasnt some weird symbolism I wanted to avoid. Thats when I found out that the original yin yang symbol was all about the seasons of the year.

Allen Tsai has a nice page describing the original origin, with plots showing the day when the sun shone longest (and cast the shortest shadow) versus the day the sun shone least and cast the longest shadow.

If you put a little white spot to symbolize the day the sun starts to "conquer," and a little black spot to symbolize the day the moon starts to "conquer," you get the familiar yin yang symbol. And its all about the seasons of the year.

I created my yin yang art, and drew a fish. The plant is supposed to be generic plant - neither lotus nor lettuce nor flower, but somehow representative of all of these.

The final touch is the curved white line of bubbles, suggesting movement and the need to oxygenate the fishes water. Voilà! An image that explains aquaponics and the full year, winter as well as summer.

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