Interior Design: The Chicken Coop Kind

Now that the exterior of our breeder house is complete we’ve headed inside to construct a cozy home for our flocks. That’s right, we’ve changed hats from chicken hatchers to interior designers.

Smack down the middle of the entire house, we poured a cement walkway for people traffic. On either side we have plans for individual pens for each breed.

While the concrete hardened, we got busy finishing up the interior walls with plywood, followed by ventilation installation. Fresh air is so, egg-stremely important in any coop! We hung dozens upon dozens of vents to keep the air circulating and keep our hens happy.

In addition to a great ventilation system, we installed an extraordinary feeder operation. We can raise and lower it as the birds grow. This cuts down on changing out the feeders as the chickens mature, like many of you have to do. Obviously, there are lots of pullies needed for this to work. Notice all of the braces hanging from the ceiling in the photo below. They are attached to the pulley system on one end and will attach to the feeders on the other end. This will be one continuous feeder trough carefully designed to run through each divider wall so every pen has access to the same feeder.

Those aren't streamers, they're the beginnings of the feeder system going in.

Separate from the chicken housing area, is an “Egg Room” (Yes, we’re good at coming up with clever names for various areas of our operation.) The “Egg Room” will contain the eggs waiting to be picked-up for delivery to our hatching facility. We’ll collect, count, and sort them daily, but only pick them up once a week. Pictured below is Bob, finishing the doorway that will separate the two sections of the breeder house.

Each day we have more of the project checked off the list. Take a look at this shot of the hen house now. You’ll see we’ve installed the main pen walls down the center aisle and spread the very first bedding our flocks will walk on!

Roll-out nest boxes will hang from these walls. The eggs will roll out towards the center aisle making egg collection a breeze! Speaking of nest boxes, we’re building those now. We came up with a custom design and had them manufactured just for our hens! We put them together back at the hatchery to stay out of the way of the non-stop construction back at the breeder house. Here’s owner, Karen Meyer, assembling one, and then another…and another….and, well, you get the point.

Check back soon for another update. Things are moving fast now!

Sunny-side Up

Finally, a little sunshine! It’s what we’ve been waiting for. Spirits seem lifted and progress on the breeder house is moving right along. In a previous post we showed the first wall being sided. That left us with three to finish up after the ceilings were wrapped up. Lucky for us the sun was shining on a day that would be spent entirely outdoors.

One would think the longer sides would be the easiest to put on, considering the metal siding sheets would be cut to fit the never-changing height. However, with all the ventilation necessary for our large “coop” there would be what seemed like an endless amount of cuts made by hand, to allow room for the vents…or serious business meetings as pictured below!

Tyvek was rolled out and stapled to the frame of the building in small sections followed by the siding; much like a game of cat and mouse.

Russ knows, you always measure twice and cut once.

Here’s Bob moving down the line.

Not wanting to miss an opportunity to get a picture of the brains and brawn of this major project for the Hatchery, I stopped owner, Karen, along with project leaders, Russ and Bob for a quick photo. Say cheese!

While Russ and Bob got back to work, Karen and I made the trek to the very back of the building. We found the boys had already nearly finished putting up the siding.

Just around the corner, we found John working hard to dry up the very muddy North side of the grounds. By moving the dirt, John allowed the ground to harden just a little making it much easier for the crew to work.

It’s been pretty amazing to watch what was once just a dream, come alive.

On a Roll

Construction on our breeder house is rolling right along. We have a roof over our heads to shield us from the rain at least. The latest addition to the project was putting in the ceiling. We decided on a durable sheet material that comes on a roll.

Installation was quick and sort of funny to watch. Two men held the roll while a third one grabbed a hold of the loose end; He then ran like a chicken from a butcher! This comical technique allowed enough slack for the remaining crew to staple the sheet to the rafters, once detached from the roll.

Off and running!

 Square it up.

 

 

Time to staple.

 

Repeat this dozens upon dozens of times until finished. In no time at all we had a ceiling! Now, to refine it, we had to secure thin strips of material running the opposite way. After a while, it sort of looked like we were throwing a party. Those thin strips, before the excess was cut, appeared like streamers hanging at a birthday bash!

 

 

Let the party begin!

 

 Once, those were in place, it was back the other way with strips of wood for more support. 

 

 

 

 

In no time, we had a fully functioning ceiling in place…now, if we just had some of the walls covered, we would be closer to move-in day!

 

Please, share your coop construction stories in the comment section. We would love to hear about your success, tips, tricks, even mishaps!

 

Rain, rain, go-away…We have to work either way!

Despite the constant rain showers we’ve experienced, work has continued to progress on our breeder house. Next on the to-do list: put some wall covering up to keep the elements from our flock.

As the author of this blog, I have to ask many questions about the building and the process of constructing it. I was sure there was some deeper meaning to the colors selected for the siding. I rationalized that white was selected to reflect heat. The green trim at the bottom was surely there to keep the building looking clean. After all, if white siding was run clear to the bottom, mud and muck would build-up around the bottom and make the house look dirty…right?

Wrong! Meyer Hatchery owner, Karen Meyer, has always wanted a white and green barn. She’s never realized that dream until now, since her homestead consists of traditional red and white outbuildings, she felt any new construction on her property had to fall in line with that same pallette. No one wants a farm that clashes! Since we keep our breeder flocks separate from the hatchery, she was able to finally build her green and white barn. Silly, me; always over analyzing.

Before the siding could be applied to the building, we had to secure the Tyvek covering. Seems easy enough, but of course, this day the wind and rain made things a little more difficult. None-the-less, the crew carried on. As long as they covered the front of the building, we could get the ceiling in the following day and worry about the three remaining sides later in the week.

Harvey, making sure the ladder is set in place. Notice the mud...everywhere?!

 

While Harvey prepared the outside in the rain, wind, and frigid temperatures, Russ and Bob were hard at work…or hardly working!

Say cheese!

 Just kidding! They were coerced into taking a break for a photo. They quickly got back to their work cutting and sorting the metal siding sheets to the perfect size. As I understand, it’s a little easier to do this BEFORE it’s secured to the building Makes sense.

Before long, everyone was ready to fasten the sheets to the house.

After many measurements, cuts, and screws the front was nearly covered and finished, except for a small window.

 

Cutting away the siding to make room for a window.

 

Did we plan on enough room for a perfect fit?

 

Of course! Fits like a glove.

By the end of the day Russ, Bob, and Harvey were able to finish enough of the siding so the ceiling crew could come in to work the following day. Way to go guys! The project is coming along nicely. Check back soon for another update.

Raise the Roof

Every shelter has its necessities. The [almost] non-stop rain we’ve experienced has made a muddy construction site, but also reminded that our flock will need a roof over their head, so that was the next task on our construction agenda. Our crew moved so quickly, we almost missed capturing the events of the day! In a matter of a few hours, they had already nearly completed one entire side of the roof.

 The metal sheets that make up the roof measure 31 feet and 8 inches long, while the width comes in around 3 feet. When the sheets are set in place, they overlap the previous sheet already secured to the trusses. It works similar to the idea of tongue and groove systems, except rather than the interlocking features being on the edge, ours were on the flat surface of the sheets of metal.

Each sheet was carried to the peak of the roof, set to overlap the previous sheet, then secured to the trusses.

 

Can't even begin to imagine how many screws this building has in it!

After returning in the afternoon to the construction site, nearly half of the second side was already fastened in place! It really helps the mind’s eye create a picture of what the finished product will look like.

We’re getting pretty excited about completing this project, but still have a long ways to go. Stay tuned for more updates!

Coming to Life

A lot has happened since we introduced our newest construction project to the world-wide web. It’s pretty spectacular what a few hard-working hands can accomplish in such a short amount of time. We’ve added the wall frames and roof trusses to our new breeding facility.

To make things move along more efficiently, the crew pre-built the walls before installing them.

 

Loading the pre-built walls so they could be moved closer to the site of the new breeding facility.

 

Stack of pre-built wall frames ready to be put in place.

 

Walls are ready to be installed!

The braces you see in the left corner of the picture above, were set in place to give some support until the trusses could be added.

 

Next, we needed a roof! We brought in a crane to move the trusses from the ground to the top of the new wall frames. The process was fast! The crew really knew what they were doing.

 

Here are the trusses stacked up waiting to be hoisted into the air.

 

 

Up…

 

up...and away!Almost there!

 

By the end of the day, we had what looked like a life-size popsicle stick model! Very rewarding to see the skeleton of a building sitting there, instead of a picture in our minds’ eye.

 

Skeleton of our new breeding facility!

How far we’ve come in a short span of time…next up: the roof goes on! We’ll keep you updated on the progress of our construction.

 

 

 

Looking for a Covergirl (or boy)

Think your chicken has the looks to be featured on the cover of Meyer Hatchery’s 2012 catalog? Then upload your photo to be a participant in our first ever catalog cover contest! Photos should contain poultry models only…no humans allowed. We are looking for a nice natural background, but coops and barns work just fine too. Please, submit untouched photos at least 300 dots per inch. Other than those few requirements, you’re free to use your creativity!  Deadline is Tuesday, October 4, 2011 by midnight. We will choose 3 winners.

Top Prize: Photo will be featured on the cover of our 2012 catalog and winner will receive a Meyer Hatchery gift bag.

Second Place: Photo will be featured on the inside pages of our 2012 catalog and winner will receive a Meyer Hatchery gift bag.

Third Place: Photo will be featured on the inside pages of our 2012 catalog and winner will receive a Meyer Hatchery gift bag.

Here is the raw photo of 2011's "Covergirl"

This is 2010's raw "Cover-Couple" photo.

 

Now that you’ve seen and heard what we’re looking for, get to snappin’ those award-winning shots!

 

Start uploading images now

 

You can also upload any photo, anytime, in the “Just for Fun”  category of our photo upload feature or post them on our Facebook page. We will select photos from both places to be included on the inside pages of our catalog.

Building a Breeder House 101

 

Maybe you don’t have plans to build breeding facility capable of housing thousands of chickens, but we do and we’ve already begun the construction process! We have over a dozen breeding facilities over an 80 mile radius (for bio-security reasons) from the hatchery, for our flocks. That might sound like a lot, but we need more space. Our customers have demanded we offer more breeds year after year. To keep up with your demands we are building a brand spankin’ new, top-of-the-line, state-of-the-art breeder house!

We weren’t able to do a Google search for free breeder house plans, like many of you may have done before building your coop. We met with many experienced people during the planning phases of the project to come up with our current model. The house will be 56′ x 244′, that’s 13,664 square feet! Down the length of the center we will pour a 6′ concrete walkway with access to each breeder flocks’ area. Accommodations include 400 amp electric service, an in “house” water supply, and plenty of ventilation.

First on the to-do list was to move some dirt! Well, a LOT of dirt, actually. Here is the crew getting the area ready.

Second on the to-do list: Pour 600 foot concrete perimeter. That took 52 yards of concrete!!! The next set of photos shows better than words could, what it takes to get that done.

We did mention it was HUGE, right?

Here is the "mold" to hold the concrete while we wait for it to set up.

It took more than these few cement trucks to fill the walls, that go well behind the two trucks seen in the back ground!

 

All hands on deck! Each crew member had a specific job following the cement truck on down the line. These guys do this for a living; Can you believe this is a small building in comparison to what they usually do?!

 

Pouring is finished...now we wait for the concrete to set up.

We will keep you posted on our progress. It’s been rainy around here for days so our work has come to a halt.  Do a rain dance for us, so we can continue to build this palace!

So we’re starting a blog…

Welcome, and thank you for checking out our latest and greatest way of keeping you up-to-date on all things Meyer Hatchery! To start this blog off right, we’ve interviewed ourselves to give you more insight into our company.

So, who the heck are we?

Meyer Hatchery is a year round hatchery offering 160+ varieties of poultry. On top of our ever-expanding selection of day-old and juvenile fowl, we offer just about every “accessory” imaginable for their rearing and comfort! Hence, our motto: Your Complete Poultry Supply Headquarters.” It all started when owner, Karen Meyer, started dabbling in hatching eggs out of her garage. What started as a hobby has turned into a business. Flash forward 26 years and you find that that this company is not just any “business”, but one of the top hatcheries in the country!

What makes us better than our competition?

We’ll answer that with a question…is there a word limit on this blog? We sure do have a lot of talking points on what sets us apart from the rest. First, and foremost, we care. Yeah, you heard right! We care about our customers. We care about quality chicks and products. We care about the well being of our breeder flocks. To keep it short we’ll just reiterate that WE CARE!

We are also interested in making your ordering experience the best it can be. We have the most wonderful customer service staff on hand to help you with the ordering process. We invented the three chick minimum order and have the most experience shipping so few chicks! We even let you mix and match breeds to meet the minimum. Flexibility is a great way to make sure your experience is a positive one. We like to let you take the wheel.

Our prices are always competitive and most often times cheaper (or is the cheeper?) than other hatcheries. No need to price check, we’ve done that for you! You’ll get the most quality for the best price around when you shop with Meyer Hatchery. No one’s ever officially confirmed this, but we may just have the largest selection of poultry and products all in one place, that you’ll find anywhere in the nation.

The bottom line:

If you’re in the market for chicks or poultry products, give us a try. You won’t be disappointed! Call us for your FREE COLOR CATALOG or visit us online at www.meyerhatchery.com to check us out for yourself.