Omlet Smart Autodoor - New in box

[beach chick]

well it's underway. OH spent a day building the panels in his workshop, and we spent about 2 hours putting them up this afternoon. All four walls are up and bolted together and bolted down to the deck, and about two thirds of the floor is in. it's SO EXCITING Last bits of floor and roof should be done at the w/e.

Looks fantastic (well we think so) - I'll try and post pics later when I can find the lead thingy to connect camera to pooter...

Edited October 11, 2010 by Guest

[alet_chicken]

How exciting! Looking forward to photo's.

[beach chick]

hope this works!

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/brooksbarn/VariousIncChookPalace?authkey=Gv1sRgCK7Zq9iR8OrcBw&feat=directlink

[Ms Marple]

Looks brilliant -well done. Are you still going to let them free range too?

[janeears]

I am seriously impressed!! It's going to look amazing. I wish my darling husband would make me one!!!

[beach chick]

thank you !

and yes they will still freerange, the leccy fence will go in a long, narrow shape from each side of the front (which should make it easier for us to catch the bunnies... chooks good at going to bed, rabbits less so!)

[janeears]

It's a great set-up. Lucky chooks!!

[Plum]

Looking great, how exciting and you have so much room

[beach chick]

thanks plum, we are very lucky to have so much space - an acre and a half or whatever that is in today's money (house is falling down, but never mind... well it's no longer falling down but it's fair to say that the animals live in better style than we do!!)

darling husband says he will accept commissions...

we got a quote from Aviaries 4U which was about £1000 before any kind of amendments; we reckon we've done it for £400 (although that obviously doesnt include a labour cost). also asked Forsham Arks for a price, but despite promises we never got an actual quote from them.

I would say that if you have a modicum of DIY expertise then buying individual panels and putting them together yourself is probably the way forward. I am a total DIY idiot, but given a fair set of instructions I reckon I could have done the job today (but why bother ? am married to construction genius and perfectionist!!!! - bless him)

[batcatz]

Hi, that looks great, but I need to know how your husband managed to make those panels in a day. That is quick!

[Purplemaniacs]

It looks great, what a clever OH.

 

Chrissie

[scarlettohara]

I'm almost as excited as you Can I come and live in an annex in your garden

[Roobaloo]

I'm in love with your garden....and your chooks....and your WIR!!!!!

[beach chick]

thank you all for kind words... most frustrating today, he has gone to London, and every now and then I just go and look... sad or what?!

the chooks are actually in the field which the garden opens onto - we've got a 'proper' garden as well. we built the deck to cover up a hideous slab of concrete that was too much trouble to remove, but it's a bit exposed to sit out on - not the weather, but to people walking along the sea at the bottom of the field, who all stop and stare and comment. for some reason the acoustics mean that if people talk in ordinary voices we can hear them!!! OH has a fantasy about setting up a 2-way loudspeaker system so we can answer back: "yes, they are chickens" "it's a cube from omlet" "yes it's a field" "no you cant picnic here"!!!!

[chick wiggle]

Thats looking fantastic, lucky you, having all that land Ohhhhh i wish!

Well done

[Snoxy]

What you have land wise is our dream

 

WIR looks fab already...it's going t be amazing when finished...well done your husband

 

Keep the pics coming

[janeears]

Can't wait to see more piccies!!!

[beach chick]

poor OH has come home today with the most hideous cold, so I am going to pamper him and feed him nicely this w/e instead of making him finish the WIR... he needs a break, he works too hard.

 

to everyone who wants this amount of land or more (we've got an acre and a half) yes it's fab, but it takes SO much upkeep!! I love gardening, but with work/kids/being a school governor/dog/cats/birds/bunnies, the garden takes a bit of a back seat....

[beach chick]

he's much better now, but we are unlikely to get the roof on this w/e. do you think it would be ok to put the girls and the bunnies in the WIR with no roof?? reason for asking is that I want to give the girls a lice spraying, and much easier to catch them in 12sq ft rather than 12sqm (although I guess I need to catch them anyway to move them in!); also I am desperate to give the bunnies more space than the current rablu and standard run.

I am confident the girls will go to bed, and of being able to catch the bunnies; I can put a sunshade in there and an old garden table for shelter. meanwhile the quail can stay inside the electric fence til we can move them.

would this work??

[beach chick]

weell its all a bit up and down at the mo... OH made the roof section on the drive on sat; but unfortunatley has run out of weld mesh. so we've got more on order; but when we tried to move the roof (so I could get the car out of the garage) it was clear that there is no way he can fit the onduline before it goes on top. so we wait for the extra mesh; and then till we can get some extra strong fit blokes round!! (he and I moved the roof section a distance of about 15 feet - practically killed me!!)

[beach chick]

still no real progress, and I am getting rather frustrated. roof is now propped up alongside the garage, has all its mesh on. just not sure when we will have enough manpower to move the huge thing over to the run and actually get it in place. once its on the onduline will have to be fitted in situ, and then the openings made for the cube and rablu. the quail are having two pens 6'x2'x2' (6 birds in each, does that sound ok? they could be bigger if necessary), so OH has got to make those as well.

it's fab that OH is doing it, and its going to be wonderful and cheaper than buying one in - but the frustration of having to wait is doing my head in!!!

[chick wiggle]

Hang on in there Beach Chick, Your both doing a fantastic job and you cant kill yourselves trying to rush it. My OH made our WIR and with him working on it after work and weekends it took a while to complete but soooo worth it in the end.

[scarlettohara]

Have an omlet get together in your big garden and we will all come and help put it up

[beach chick]

now THAT'S an idea Scarlett O'Hara!! cant guarantee it wouldnt rain tho...

[beach chick]

well, real progress today! the wire roof was screwed in place; the onduline roof is on; 3 out of 4 sides have their kickboards in place. so we moved the bunnies in tonight, so that one set of quail could go into their rablu/run. Sapphire and Lily are skipping around like mad things, they love having so much space!!

 

I've decided that the new quail pens will not go inside the run, but outside on the deck (WIR is set on decking with marine ply covering). cube will also be outside the run with an opening (yet to be done), and the 2 bunnies and 10 chooks will have the WIR to themselves, plus freeranging via the pophole into electric fenced area. the bunnies will also have the rablu in there, so that if they do want to cuddle up warm they can (although they mostly use it as a toilet... )

I will add photos tomorrow - too dark now, and we are both absolutely kn*ckered, as is youngest who helped all day. oldest meanwhile made us a cake - fair dos I think!!