Need some strength

[catjac1975]

Hi all, esp Baymule (my hero lady). I need some strength. Hubs has done all the repairs and projects for 30 years. Now that he has abandoned me and this wrecked house, I need to do the projects.

1. Garden: surrounded on one side 40' long with plastic fencing. Three other sides board fencing and cattle fencing. Bad red cattle dog keeps getting into humongous compost pile. Today he came in with rancid croutons breath. I cannot afford to replace the 40+ ft of plastic fencing. He's made a hole in the fence and I've woven sticks thru it, tied it up with string, etc. Suggestions?

2. One year old coop is leaking from the roof down to the nesting boxes and then seeping into the coop floor. I need to clean it out, place a heater on it for a couple of days. I need a gutter which I can buy at HD and bring home. Approx 8' which I'll somehow jam into my Toyota Venza and out the side window. How do I attach the gutter? Are gutters plastic? Can I slant it down on one side to let it drain?

3. We do have freezes here. A few weeks ago it got into the 20's and all of the sprinkler timer battery stations slowly exploded over that week. I found where to turn off the main water to the lawn, but there are still areas of PVC piping that are active. I don't know how to turn them off. Are these styro covers effective?

Gonna go take pics. Thank you for your advice.

Maybe the jerk can tell you some of the secrets to the problems you are having. If you can tolerate speaking to him. I always have this thought for the 'other woman.' So, the kind of man you want is the guy that cheats on his wife? As school teacher we had the 2nd wife come to school to be a substitute teacher. Weirdly she did not seem to know we were friends and colleagues to the 1st wife and knew the details to the relationship.(The secretary) Wife #1 moved on to marry a wonderful guy. #2 seemed to indicate she did not trust her husband. Tigers and stripes and all that. I hope your heart heals quickly, Murphys.

 

[Nyboy]

1st marriage for love 2nd marriage for finances. Get some golf clubs a cute golf outfit and nail a rich old man. But remember I am shallow

 

[baymule]

 

[ducks4you]

On drying out the chicken coop, use a fan, not a heater. Fire danger.

Agreed. I need to put my mind to some of the other problems, but I Can address the hoses. Take them up coil them up and leave them. I use hoses 365 days/year. I keep a heated hose bc I have to get water to my horses and chickens, but when it hits 0 degrees F here it freezes at the tap. I don't think you get temperatures that low where you live. I have NEVER had a hose split on me and I am
V E R Y S L O P P Y about how I keep mine (except for $200 heated hose, which I baby). You might be able to repair the leak in the coop with Flextape. It comes in 8 inch wide strips. Just used some this season around my AC. Wait for a dry day, use a hair blow dryer just to be sure that any wood, etc. is Really dry and tape it on. It is suppose to work under water. Become a BYC member and rebuild next season, or send all of them to freezer camp and be done with it. Buy a 40 lb package of Equine Fresh (or goes by other names), extruded and super dried out pine pellets). It is natural, same for bedding and is super absorbant in the coop. It first turns to powder, then, the 2nd time it absorbs moisture it becomes damp. Chickens NEED a dry place and it has kept mine healthy for several years now. I put shavings on top of it and their poo sticks to it. One package should last through the whole winter.
Read the instructions on any sealant that you buy. Some of them will not press out if it is below 40 degrees F. They gum up. Buy a decent gun for it, too. I broke a WM special caulking gun bc I bent the metal and had to buy a better and sturdier one to finish my winterizing this year, so it was money down the drain at WM. When you buy the sealant, keep it next to your heater vent before you use it, so it will squeeze out easily.
If you have any leaks around doors or windows you can caulk with a removable caulking that is clear, if you don't wan't it to be permanent.
Just fyi, we got down to -20 last winter, on and off for 2 weeks, so our winters are seriously cold. I will see if I can think of some other things.

 

[baymule]

-20 I can't even begin to imagine.

 

[Rhodie Ranch]

I took a pick axe and dug out the old litter. I use the deep litter method and since the shavings had been in there for 11 months, it was time anyway. I scraped, dug and scraped some more. The chicks poop in their mortar tubs all night long so the chips stay clean for a very long time! I then sprinkled a bag of kitty litter on the floor and let it sit for two days. Then I scraped that out.

I completely ignored all your warnings. I put a heater in there all day yesterday. I went out every 30 min and kept checking out the french door for smoke while i was in my office! It dried out enough even at 36 degrees all day yesterday, so that I then put new chips down. Next issue is one of my chicks is moulting! She shivers. Someone on FB told me to make her a sweater, which reminded me of Rudy, on this forum.

 

[baymule]

Pat yourself on the back, you completed a big task!

 

[Rhodie Ranch]

Oh, and the local HD carries gutters but they come in 10' lengths. That is way too long for my little Venza. Hubs called and one of the many things talked about was that when I go down to Mother's for Xmas, he'll come here and work on things. Gutter for coop. Burst lines of water timers. Curl up the detached hoses. Clean out the house gutters of leaves and pine needles. Blow off the roof.

I'm also going to be out of money in three-four months, so I'm going to put on his to-do list: finish raw painting in common areas. Clean up huge bonus room and finish anything that can be done in there. I'll be renting out that bonus room to a Traveling Nurse. I joined 4 or so FB pages and have learned alot about how to be a good landlord to a 13 week assignment traveling nurse. They get stipends for housing, and since I'm pet friendly, I may just be able to snag one to help with the bills here. I won't gouge, cus this is a big 1983's cold drafty house with humongous high ceilings and altho pretty on the outside, not so great on the inside due to the torn apart, partial remodel issues.

Thank you Baymule!

 

[catjac1975]

I took a pick axe and dug out the old litter. I use the deep litter method and since the shavings had been in there for 11 months, it was time anyway. I scraped, dug and scraped some more. The chicks poop in their mortar tubs all night long so the chips stay clean for a very long time! I then sprinkled a bag of kitty litter on the floor and let it sit for two days. Then I scraped that out.

I completely ignored all your warnings. I put a heater in there all day yesterday. I went out every 30 min and kept checking out the french door for smoke while i was in my office! It dried out enough even at 36 degrees all day yesterday, so that I then put new chips down. Next issue is one of my chicks is moulting! She shivers. Someone on FB told me to make her a sweater, which reminded me of Rudy, on this forum.

As you get the back log of things done it should make you feel better. If you can get a good extension cord out to the hen house a heat lamp or 100 watt incandescent bulb will put off a lot of heat. Cover any windows with plastic.

 

[Rhodie Ranch]

Cover windows with plastic. I have a 3-0 x 2-0 in there. I can cover it today. Thanks!