Larsen Poultry Ranch - homesteading journey

Bruce

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Yes, it's a manufactured home.
Oh that does make a big difference!!! I seriously doubt the "foundation" is rated for 2 stories and the walls of the home surely aren't.

Starting to freak out a bit.
Om, om, om
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Larsen Poultry Ranch

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Mama hen hatched 3 babies.

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I decided she needed more. 1 buff Orpington, two Easter eggers, and three salmon faveroles.

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She came right over to them and started talking to them as soon as I added them to the cage.

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We went out after dinner and there were three not under her, everyone else was tucked in. I scooted the three underneath and she pecked me a little for grabbing at the babies but didn't take off. The pecks didn't hurt and didn't leave a mark.
 

Larsen Poultry Ranch

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seriously doubt the "foundation" is rated for 2 stories and the walls of the home surely aren't.
The house is actually on a permanent foundation, permitted too! The permanent foundation is literally piers/posts though, so very much doubt a second story would work as it stands currently. We'd definitely be pouring some concrete foundations and redoing the supports if we were going to do a second story.

The walls seem to be 2*3s, not even 2*4s. So there's not a lot of strength there either.
 

Baymule

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The whole house fans I'm familiar with are installed in a central location of the house in the ceiling. I don't think I've ever seen one that was a wall unit.
We call them attic fans. They run in reverse, drawing in the air from outside and can create a good sleeping breeze.
 

Jesusfreak101

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I second what baymule said and winter you ll freeze. We had to deal with that granted ours is an older single wide but they built the same just wider lol. My dad tore theirs appart and rebuilt the walls and ect. He also use normal sheet rock. My three year old son can make holes in the wall very easily here. Drives me nuts.
 

Ridgetop

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Manufactured homes have come a long way. The newer ones are nicer, but still made flimsily.

Prefab homes on the other hand, are made in sections, then assembled on the foundation. They are better made and are actually like a real house when completed.

Manufactured homes used to be set up and left with the axles and wheels still attached. Then skirting was added around the outside to hide the wheels. However, the mfg. housing people realized that those wheels and axles could be reused and that by leaving them on the mfg. houses they were losing a lot of money. Now they bring the mfg house out to the site, connect it together and use pillar and beam "foundations' to set it up on. Then they remove the axles and wheels to use on the next mfg. house. If you examine the "pillar & beam foundations" you can see that some of them are simply concrete block stacked to support the underpinnings of the "house". Often the concrete blocks are not even mortared together. Some mfg houses have stacked block with wooden shims to level the "house".

When we were shopping for property we saw some pretty crazy support systems on mfg houses!

The best thing will be to go to the Building & Safety department in your city or county and get a copy of the codes governing building as well as the codes governing mfgd. housing. That way you can read up on the requirements and plan accordingly. Alternatively, you can take advantage of the new regulations coming in California relative to "granny flats". Start with a stick built granny flat and then add on to it later to convert it to the main house, keeping the mfg house as a "granny flat" or rental.

Whatever you do, you need to read the building codes for your location so you won't make any expensive mistakes. Relying on hearsay is not the way to go.

Exciting about the new addition (human) :love
 

Larsen Poultry Ranch

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"granny flats" here have to be less than 1200 sq ft, or I think 1200 sq ft max, so can't claim this one as a granny flat. The county actually has a program that provides I think 3 pre-approved building layouts/designs for a granny flat to allow the permitting process to go through quicker.

The current house is actually in the best place on the parcel, not sure if there's even a second spot we can use for building a granny flat without a bunch of dirt work to prep the area.
 

Larsen Poultry Ranch

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Mama hen hatched 3 babies.

View attachment 87500

I decided she needed more. 1 buff Orpington, two Easter eggers, and three salmon faveroles.

View attachment 87499

She came right over to them and started talking to them as soon as I added them to the cage.

View attachment 87501

We went out after dinner and there were three not under her, everyone else was tucked in. I scooted the three underneath and she pecked me a little for grabbing at the babies but didn't take off. The pecks didn't hurt and didn't leave a mark.
Mom checked on them Friday morning, they were fine. Checked on them Friday evening and all the bought chicks were dead or dying from head wounds. Not a fun find. Guess we can't trust this hen after all. Not a great start to the weekend.
 
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