August 2022 - Page 5 of 5

This Coop De Ville Build Is One Cool Coop!

Coop de Ville is my first poultry operation, but I studied lots of different plans for my cool coop. The floor is a 4-by-8-foot sheet of plywood raised a foot above the ground. The interior features a roost, two sets of shuttered windows (one would have been enough), three nesting boxes (with room for more), an outside egg door, a sweep-out door, a heat lamp on a timer, and a light-activated chicken door.

All used bedding and waste is composted.

The soil here is mostly sand, and the chickens love it. The run is very large, but I had an existing roof to work with. Both feed and rainwater dispensers hang from the ceiling beams. A chicken door leads into a fenced-in yard with wildflowers, garden boxes and an anthill.

Right now, we have three Buckeye and two Silkie hens, and they’re very happy and productive. This spring, I plan to expand my flock!

— Erich Decker-Hoppen, Rio Rancho, New Mexico

This article originally appeared in the July/August 2022 issue of Chickens magazine as a “Cool Coop” feature. Have a cool coop you’d like to share? Email us a short write-up (~250 to 500 words) about your chicken coop along with a few images to [email protected] with the subject line One Cool Coop, and include your name and mailing address. Check out Chickens magazine for current prizes and contest rules.

5 Things You Need to Survive a Radiation Disaster

Many people don’t have much awareness about radiation and its drastic effects on health. One of those invisible dangers, radiation is something that most people only comprehend through science fiction films. The average individual is typically suspicious, perplexed, nervous, and distrustful when faced with the unknown.

In actuality, radiation’s science, capabilities, and risks are well established. A nuclear bomb’s radiation is different from that released in a nuclear power accident. There is a significant variation in the type of radiation discharged, even taking into account the explosions that have happened at Japanese nuclear reactors.

Read the five tips and things to survive a radiation disaster, and how radiation suits are at the top which help you in protecting from harmful radiation.

Gamma Radiation Suit

Scientists estimate that there is a 50% probability that a similar calamity will occur in the upcoming years. This indicates that the time has come to invest in a radiation shield, more precisely, a reliable gamma radiation suit.

There are a number of suits available that advertise protection against gamma radiation, but those suits do not give the level of shielding you would find in a radiation shield. On the other hand, gamma radiation suits do offer the necessary radiation protection for people.

Scientists have clearly shown that some body parts are more susceptible to radiation than others; therefore, protecting only the most vulnerable organs provides a considerably more effective and efficient radiation shield and is the only practical way to guarantee protection from gamma radiation.

The midsection and hip region, where the body’s bone marrow tissue is located, are in particular need of the highest protection that the gamma radiation suits offer. The system provides the most protection against gamma radiation, which is the primary reason a rescue worker would need a radiation shield.

Staying Indoors

Enter a building as soon as possible if you are outside. Go to a basement or multi-story brick or concrete building if you can get there in a short amount of time. However, being within a structure is always safer than going outside.

During a radiation emergency, make careful to remain indoors. Lock any windows and doors that are open. Head to the centre or basement of the structure. The recommended course of action is to stay as far away from the building’s walls and top as you can because radioactive debris collects on the exterior of buildings.

Clothing and Protection Suit

Take off your outer layer of clothing before going into the structure. Like dust or mud, radioactive particles can cling to your skin, clothing, and body. When you get inside, wash the areas of your body that were exposed outside. Dress in clean clothing. This will lessen the amount of radiation you are exposed to.

Limit Ventilation

Eliminate outside air by turning off fans, air conditioners, and forced-air heating systems. Shut the fireplace’s dampers.

Cover your Sensitive Body Parts

If you are outside and cannot go inside right away, cover your mouth and nose with a cloth, mask, or towel. The quantity of radioactive material may be decreased as a result.

Conclusion

Gamma radiation…

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Plan Your Farm Layout For Maximum Efficiency

When starting a farm, it is important to follow some good principles for layout. The organization of roads, buildings, plots and other major infrastructure and field layout can be a major opportunity or constraint for the property owner for years to come. One mistake in layout can result in repeated impediments to easy management every single year!

Here are some principles for property layout for small farms

Understand the Levels of Permanence on Your Property

Some aspects of your property are more easily changed, removed or modified than others.

For instance, you cannot change where the municipal road is or the direction of the prevailing winds. On the other hand, you can more easily change the current vegetation of a field or shift the composition of the soil.

Understand How to Work with Permanent Features, Channel & Direct Environmental Flows

You cannot change the road location. But you could modify your driveway to access your property at the best point for your farm layout.

You cannot change the prevailing winds. But you can put in a wind break.

Strive to understand ways to channel the energy moving through the farm, and work with existing infrastructure.

Understand That Permanent Features Need More Consideration at the Planning Stage

If you want to shift the balance of your sandy soil and increase organic matter, you don’t need a lot of forethought before deciding to amend the soil with organic matter. On the other hand, raising a new building requires much more consideration to avoid placing in in the wrong location.

A poorly placed building can dictate so much about your farm over the years.

Layout Along Common Lines

When you start to design the layout for new roads, lanes, buildings, plots and such, you need to work with the lines that already exist in your property: fence lines, municipal roads, edges of buildings, current laneways, etc.

Build out from these features to make your property easily manageable for tasks such as future mowing, plowing and fencing.

Consider Natural Lines

You also need to work with the natural lines of the land. Consider your hillside slopes, wetlands and drylands, edges of woodlands and fields, old gravel pits and areas with rockier soil types.

When we map and understand the environment of our property, we can plan our farm layout to avoid issues with snow accumulation on roads, woodlot encroachment into a garden and broken tractor implements from stones.

Make Sure to Make Themes for Your Property

Before you lay out major laneways, plots and buildings, look at the current common and environmental lines, and consider your intended use of different existing fields and areas. Give themes to these areas by employing a circle map technique.

First, print an aerial view of your property. Make a…