It’s all about design…
April 5th, 2010
You are currently browsing comments. If you would like to return to the full story, you can read the full entry here: “It’s all about design…”.
Posted in 
Tags: 7 Responses to “It’s all about design…”
Leave a Reply
April 5th, 2010
You are currently browsing comments. If you would like to return to the full story, you can read the full entry here: “It’s all about design…”.
Bad Behavior has blocked 41 access attempts in the last 7 days.
Just this evening found your site. Well! While you were up a gum tree today, hubby and I were beginning to wire up our first chook dome. We have used Robert Freeman’s “geodesic” design, also with poly pipe, which looks like a space ship, and which is probably sturdier than the “Woodrow” design.We used heavier black poly pipe for the base ring and all the joints around the base and throughout the geodesic dome have been screwed together.Another ring of slightly thinner black poly pipe around the outside of the base has small diamter chook wire clamped between it and the base pipe, the wire extending out for about a 30cm skirt.This and the base ring will be fixed into the ground with multiple tent pegs and possibly weighted down as well, so not at this point having a central tie down.Will probably have two slats for perches fixed across at right angles to each other supported by three of the dome joints.I’m hoping the chooks will move in by the end of April.
We have abundant and similar wild life to you, but unfortunately cannot afford an electric fence all around so our defences won’t be so complete.Most likely will be a circle of whatever wire fencing we can find around the 15 metre diameter area.My previous biggest problem in my no dig patch has been with rats, feral and native, impossible to keep out without a very major construction!Boundary spray possibly helped a bit.
No doubt you will have updates on your mandala project , and it will be interesting to compare our progress from virtually the same start point.Good luck!
Hi There Rosemary
Thanks for the info on your project. I have no doubt that your dome would be sturdier, a geodesic dome will do that, however inthis case I chose not to go down that path due to the materials required. I’d imagine you needed more pipe thani had to use… Though that trade off comes at the cost of rigidity.
I’d be very interested in seeing how the two projects compare in 6 & 12 months.
Thanks again.
Shane
Hi Shane Just as a matter of interest the Woodrow design uses 9 lengths of 6 metre pipe and the Freeman geodesic uses 10 to give close to the same ground area, so not a huge difference.We did choose to use heavier base pipe , mainly as my husband is a retired plumber and he had it on hand, so we bought 8 white lengths for the top.Putting the wire around is the tricky bit!! The extra heavy base pipes will add to the weight of the dome of course and will take the two of us – aged 67 and 74!! – to shift it.I wish we’d known all this permaculture stuff twenty years ago when we moved to this small acreage! Better late than never.
I will be so interested in your updates as the year progresses.I’m currently planning out my first “guild” planting for after the chooks have done their thing.Will probably go mostly for purchased seedlings this time and hope to perfect food crop propagation during the year.I have purchased a pack of mixed chook food seeds from Green Harvest.Where you will have your pond in the centre I have an old apricot tree that extends branches across a third of each chook area.I will probably put herbs and flowers around the trunk , not too close to it of course.I am in Kingaroy QLD and our summer sun can be death to veggies without a lot of shade.The tree of course is bare in winter.
Hi guys,
I’ve read Linda Woodrow’s excellent book and have begun implementing her design for a single Mandala at our place. Yesterday I was struggling with the step she briefly glosses over in her book: “Bracing”. I don’t know about you, but the man made baling twine you can buy these days is very slippery on the PVC piping. I was a boy scout in my youth so I know how to tie a clove hitch, but I couldn’t for the life of me get these knots to stay tight. I’d just work my way around the cross bracing, then get back to the first square which had worked loose in a matter of minutes. The arc braces are even worse. All this “bracing blues” led me to think there must be a better way to build a chook dome, and I came across the Geodesic design by Freeman. Does anyone know where I can get his original detailed plans? Willing to pay. Also I wish I’d thought of cable ties before starting. I’ve drilled 2mm holes in all my pipes now which must weaken them a bit. Rosemary, love your idea of using rural poly pipe around the base and the skirt edge. I will incorporate that into my design.
How are your designs holding out?
Hi Nathan
I really like Linda Woodrow’s concept, but found the concept of the chicken domes difficult due to the layout of the property and the risk of foxes. Instead I am building a different system which, broadly speaking, follows Linda’s design.
However if you are looking for plans for the Geodesic Domes then check out http://www.byexample.com/projects/current/dome_construction/ I have found that their site provides an excellent step-by-step description of building a dome.
Hi Shane,
Thanks for that link! That’s just what the doctor ordered. Since I’d already purchased all the materials listed by Linda Woodrow for her Chook Dome design, I went ahead and finished that one off. However, when it gives up the ghost I will definitely build a true geodesic dome using these ByExample instructions. Surely such a strong dome with a good wire skirt around the outside would have to be fox proof?
I hope you post some info about your alternative vege garden system soon!
Cheers.
Hi Nathan
I will be putting up some information in the very near future. Right at the moment though the pigs are occupying that space on the property but they are only with me for a short period of time… a shame as they are quite cute but that’s the discipline…