# Biring’s Poultry Palace



## Biring

Work started on Istana Unggas Sembiring Kembaren (Biring's Poultry Palace) earlier this week. Today the concrete pillars have been completed.










Work on the floor starts on Monday. On the advice of the lead carpenter we've increased the width of the barn to 3.5m (11.5'). The length is 12m, although only 10m (33') will be available to the birds. This is because no carpenter here with any self esteem will agree to build a chicken coop. We had to say it will be a storeroom and a couple of guest rooms and chill out zones with maybe a few perches for our chickens.

At 4 sq ft per bird I calculate it will be big enough for almost 100 birds, but there's no way even half that number of feisty gamefowl will be happy there. I'm still thinking about how many chickens we can feasibly keep here (0.75 acre). I'd like one cockerel and several hens plus their chicks. Several is still an undefined quantity.


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## robin416

Here we go. We get to see another bird palace coming out of the ground.

I see the water. I see the water channel. I can see why it has to be raised off the ground and from the looks of the pic it's a ways off the ground.


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## Biring

Yeah, we had a downpour and the water from the channel poured into the field. It’s reversed now and mostly drained, but this is the reality here - lots of water all at once.

The whole area has flooded twice while I’ve been here but the barn should be raised high enough to avoid any problems.


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## robin416

Mosquitoes have to got to be a real challenge with all of the wet. I whined about our explosion this year, I can not imagine how much whining I'd do there about them. 

I forgot to ask, what's going to happen when the carpenters find out that isn't really what the building is for?


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## Biring

Mosquitoes aren’t so bad here. Maybe the ducks help with that, maybe it’s that the water isn’t still. In our woodland they are shockingly bad, partly because of the way the rubber tree latex is collected and processed. The guy who taps our rubber trees seems to keep a smoky fire going while he’s there, which at least makes a dent in our burnable waste.


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## Biring

robin416 said:


> I forgot to ask, what's going to happen when the carpenters find out that isn't really what the building is for?


My father-in-law is on top of that. This carpenter walked away at first, but Dad talked him around.


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## Poultry Judge

This is exciting!


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## Poultry Judge

Thanks! Post lot of pics of the progress, I always learn so much from your posts!


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## Slippy

Looking forward to the build!!


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## Biring

Slow progress today - just one guy turned up and it rained heavily. The first joists have been attached to the pillars, and a couple of perpendicular joists have been fixed on top of those.


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## robin416

What a perfectly beautiful pic.


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## Poultry Judge

Yes, a wonderful picture!


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## Biring

The floor beams have been added and tidied up. We've been struggling to find the 1" thick planks I wanted for the floor so we've had to settle for 0.75". We ended up spacing the beams 14" apart, instead of the 18" originally planned, to make up for the thinner floorboards.










The chickens are already getting used to the idea of moving in!


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## Biring

We’ve also changed our minds a bit regarding the floorplan. The storeroom will now be 4m x 3.5m with a couple of windows, so we can convert it at a moment’s notice into a guestroom. That guestroom will have a 2m x 3.5m terrace leading to a 4m x 3.5m room with various nestboxes for the hens, with a second terrace at the front. So, two terraces for the birds plus a 4m x 3.5m barn, 8m x 3.5m in total.


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## robin416

This is weird, the construction seems to amplify the beauty of that spot. 

Is that Mom and her peeps?


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## Biring

That’s our matriarch plus batch no.3. To improve genetic diversity we should cull the matriach, but we’re thinking about swapping eggs instead.


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## robin416

Having an experienced bird around to teach the peeps is always a plus.


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## Biring

The main lesson she taught them was don’t use our old coop! Hopefully our new coop will be different.


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## Poultry Judge

Biring said:


> View attachment 36452
> 
> 
> The floor beams have been added and tidied up. We've been struggling to find the 1" thick planks I wanted for the floor so we've had to settle for 0.75". We ended up spacing the beams 14" apart, instead of the 18" originally planned, to make up for the thinner floorboards.
> 
> View attachment 36454
> 
> 
> The chickens are already getting used to the idea of moving in!


Maybe, they're going to help. Maybe they're organizing a union?


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## Poultry Judge

What kinds of wood do you utilize for construction?


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## Biring

Tropical hardwood. It’s good that it’s increasingly hard to find despite the proximity of millions of tonnes of suitable timber. Maybe there is hope for the jungle yet.


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## Biring

This jungle is home to several seriously endangered species including Sumatran tigers and orangutans.


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## Biring

And of course it’s home to wild junglefowl too.


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## Poultry Judge

Thanks for the photos and updates!


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## Biring

The floor is almost complete. We've run out of planks and can't get any more for a couple of days.


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## robin416

Just as things start moving rapidly. 

With the floor in place now I can see what a drop off there is from the one side.


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## Poultry Judge

That looks great!


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## Biring

Starting to take shape. They've made it a lot taller than I asked for (I said 2m would be fine for the side walls).


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## robin416

You are going to be so glad you took pics as this came out of the ground. I know I am. You might be used to the view but from here it is stunning and for some reason the structure is adding to it.

The birds might like the extra height and decide they like the new Palace.


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## Poultry Judge

Maybe you can utilize some of it for increased storage too.


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## Biring

The birds will certainly enjoy the extra height. They like to roost as high as possible. The extra height may well come in handy for storage as well. The reason I asked for relatively low walls is because this barn is close to our neighbour's boundary and I didn't want to spoil their view (although there's not much of a view in that direction anyway, at least not compared with the view to the southeast).


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## robin416

OMG, that is amazing! Now I really understand why flooding can be such an issue there. But the view? So worth it.


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## Biring

Tomorrow I’ll take a better photo of the view. It’s the jungle-clad foothills that mark the boundary of 8 million hectares of protected primary rainforest, home to hundreds of endangered species. 

Today I noticed all of our chickens suddenly run for cover. About 30 seconds later I heard an eagle in the distance. About five minutes later it was soaring overhead but all of our birds were safely hidden under our house.


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## robin416

I've always found the instinctual reaction of even chicks to overhead threats fascinating. Hear it and they're gone, invisible hunkered deep in the grass.


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## Biring

There is a pair of quails (no idea whether they are wild, feral or kept) that live about 50 yards from our property. Our puppy loves to find them when we take her for walks. Yesterday she pointed to some undergrowth. I checked and checked but couldn’t see anything. Then the female quail flew out to the east. Puppy moved in closer. I checked again - nothing. The male then flew away to the south. I never would have seen them if puppy hadn’t forced them to fly (and thankfully she’s good enough to point but not kill).


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## robin416

I'll bet they're wild. Quail are like pheasants once they get out, return straight back to the wild.

It sounds like puppy is growing up and learning what is OK and what isn't. That will make your life so much easier not having to monitor constantly.


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## Poultry Judge

robin416 said:


> I've always found the instinctual reaction of even chicks to overhead threats fascinating. Hear it and they're gone, invisible hunkered deep in the grass.


There's millions of years of evolution there, big raptors eating smaller raptors.


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## Poultry Judge

Biring said:


> The birds will certainly enjoy the extra height. They like to roost as high as possible. The extra height may well come in handy for storage as well. The reason I asked for relatively low walls is because this barn is close to our neighbour's boundary and I didn't want to spoil their view (although there's not much of a view in that direction anyway, at least not compared with the view to the southeast).
> 
> View attachment 36502


That is a spectacular view!


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## Biring

Poultry Judge said:


> That is a spectacular view!












This is the view I wake up to every morning. The paddy fields are flooded to soften up the ground before turning the soil. Hopefully within a couple of weeks the fields will be full of lush green young rice plants.


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## Poultry Judge

Wow, you live in such a beautiful area!


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## robin416

OK, I'm jealous. That's the view to sit on your porch, drinking your morning drink and relaxing before the craziness of the day begins.


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## Biring

The craziness of the day starts well before dawn. Out cockerel woke us up at 4:30am, the puppy was bouncing around the house shortly after that so I took her for a walk. On a damp morning like this she’s a leech magnet - I had to pull one out of her nostril and another from her upper lip!


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## robin416

Sorry but I'm laughing. Maybe you shouldn't let her get into the areas with leeches for that morning walk. LOL

Isn't it full on dark that early in the morning?


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## Biring

robin416 said:


> Sorry but I'm laughing. Maybe you shouldn't let her get into the areas with leeches for that morning walk. LOL
> 
> Isn't it full on dark that early in the morning?


There are leeches everywhere here.

Yes it's dark at that time of the morning - I used a flashlight.


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## robin416

Huh, the only leeches I've encountered were in the water with a bunch of some sort of water vegetation. Another one of those differences. We are all going to become so educated about what it's like where you live we'll be able to show up on your doorstep like family. 

That's bad that you can't walk past something and not pick up a leech or ten along the way. I guess puppy is more of the leech magnet in this case.


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## Biring

They are natural hypertension medicine! I get bitten a few times a week. Our chickens get bitten occasionally too.


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## robin416

Won't the other birds remove them? 

It's hard to wrap my head around that they are not water born but hanging out on vegetation like ticks.


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## Biring

If they see leeches they avoid them. I’ve seen a few chicks bleeding but I have no idea whether the leech gorged itself and dropped off or if the mother hen picked it off. I suspect it’s probably the former.


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## Biring

Day 9: More work on the walls.


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## Biring

A clearer view of today's progress.


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## robin416

They use a lot of cross pieces to keep it from racking or folding over. And I saw the scaffold. Do you know how many people don't use scaffolds here when they should be? Those guys you have helping you are impressive.

Is part of your palance sitting over a concrete retaining wall?


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## Poultry Judge

Biring said:


> If they see leeches they avoid them. I've seen a few chicks bleeding but I have no idea whether the leech gorged itself and dropped off or if the mother hen picked it off. I suspect it's probably the former.


Wow, you would think the chickens would gobble them up.


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## Poultry Judge

Biring said:


> View attachment 36514
> 
> 
> A clearer view of today's progress.


That's progress! Looks great!


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## Biring

robin416 said:


> Is part of your palace sitting over a concrete retaining wall?


Yes it is.


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## Biring

Poultry Judge said:


> Wow, you would think the chickens would gobble them up.


The puppy tries to eat them. Perhaps that's why we find so many around her mouth.


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## Poultry Judge

The dogs pretty much steer clear of the snakes and other critters too?


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## robin416

Poultry Judge said:


> The dogs pretty much steer clear of the snakes and other critters too?


From the sounds of it, Puppy is game for just about anything.


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## Biring

Poultry Judge said:


> The dogs pretty much steer clear of the snakes and other critters too?


When I lived on the other side of these mountains I used to watch puppies learn about giant scorpions the hard way. One sting to the nose was usually enough for the puppy to get the message.

Yesterday I took a photo of a snake that had caught a frog. The frog was squeaking and our puppy rushed in to see what was going on. I'm glad to say she kept her distance (although this particular snake is not dangerous to us).


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## robin416

One of my cats was stung by a scorpion as a kitten, she got really sick. 

I'm really surprised she stayed back. She seems to have the instincts that will keep her from getting into trouble with the wrong critters.


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## Biring

Day 10: The "bones" (to use the local term) are almost complete.


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## robin416

Once they get going they move right along. It won't be any time and it will be under roof. 

Have they caught on yet to what the purpose of the new building is?


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## Biring

Yes, the room with wooden walls will be our storeroom, the next 6m x 3.5m is for our chickens and the 4m x 3.5m at the front is my chill out zone/place to sit while fishing in the water channel. They are already piping up with ideas to improve the design.


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## Biring

I predict the chickens will eschew their assigned space and all try to roost on the front porch.


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## robin416

Biring said:


> Yes, the room with wooden walls will be our storeroom, the next 6m x 3.5m is for our chickens and the 4m x 3.5m at the front is my chill out zone/place to sit while fishing in the water channel. They are already piping up with ideas to improve the design.


Wait, you said they didn't know it was going to be a coop. Did you let the cat out of the bag?

What an excellent idea for a protected fishing spot. Protected from the sun and rain.


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## Biring

The carpenters are onboard with our plans, but we don’t want it to be known locally as a chicken barn in case neighbours start to get worried about the smell. I can’t see us keeping more than 50 chickens/chicks.

Fortunately, our neighbour has just started building another huge 1,000 broiler bird barn less than 100m away from our barn, so if people want to complain about something they’ll actually have something to complain about!


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## robin416

Where do all of the broilers end up? I can't see that many staying in the village so they must be moved to somewhere else. But where? Since most everyone has their own chickens.

It's going to be a good looking building so they have one less thing to complain about.


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## Biring

The broilers end up being eaten locally. A couple of thousand birds wouldn’t last a week here.


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## robin416

I'm surprised. Of course I was thinking your village is on the smaller side. Sometimes thinking and reality are two totally different things.


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## Poultry Judge

Looks great!


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## Poultry Judge

I am so jealous of the fishing spot! You have such beautiful property!


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## Biring

robin416 said:


> I'm surprised. Of course I was thinking your village is on the smaller side. Sometimes thinking and reality are two totally different things.


Villages here are administrative units. There are three "villages" between here and the nearest town about 10 miles away. Each village is split into a number of hamlets. I don't know what the population is here, but villages are grouped into districts and districts grouped into regions. Our region covers 2,500 square miles and has a population of about 1 million.


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## robin416

Dang, that's way more than I was imagining. Village for me means a few hundred people. I don't think I'd want to be living near the city with its higher density population. I know I wouldn't. That's why I live where I do and not near big cities.


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## Poultry Judge

Biring said:


> Villages here are administrative units. There are three "villages" between here and the nearest town about 10 miles away. Each village is split into a number of hamlets. I don't know what the population is here, but villages are grouped into districts and districts grouped into regions. Our region covers 2,500 square miles and has a population of about 1 million.


Wow!


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## Biring

Well, this should be interesting - the carpenters have made some changes to my design! I'm curious to find out what they are going to build.


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## robin416

Was it supposed to have an aisleway?


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## Biring

Sort of, but I’m happy to listen to their ideas. The important thing is plenty of roosts plus a choice of places for the hens to lay their eggs.


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## Biring

Most of the walls are up and they've made a start on the roof. The room with wooden walls is the storeroom, then there are three 2m x 2m rooms for broody hens and a 1.5m x 6m aisle with plenty of roosts and finally a 4m x 3.5m area at the front (also with roosts).


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## robin416

Now to convince the birds that's their new digs. If there are no doors to confine them how do you think that's going to work?

I just saw something I might have done. Not being there can't be sure. But a shed roof with the low side facing the canal so all the water from rain shed into the canal. But the pic from yesterday, or is it today for you? Showed a bunch of standing water in front of the new Palace. So, it might not have made any difference at all.


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## Biring

There will be doors - we’re a few sheets of woven bamboo short today and will add them when they are available. The three 2m x 2m rooms will have doors. 

Half the rainfall that hits the roof will fall to the channel straight away. The other half will fall to the field unless we put in some guttering. I’m still thinking about that. We agreed a fixed fee for labour so I’m wary of adding more and more things for them to do.


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## Biring

It probably won’t make a difference if we add a gutter because when the water in the channel is higher than the standing water in the field it just flows right in. When the channel is lower it flows out again - a sort of Mekong river/Tonle Sap lake situation in miniature.


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## robin416

I kind of thought so after thinking about it for a moment. There is no roof there to shed additional rain into the area so it probably wouldn't have a big impact either way.

Oh goody, chicken wrangling. Have fun trying to round them all up. I wonder if the five will go hide in the house when the move begins.


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## Biring

My chickens are all tame enough to handle so I’m not worried about that. I call them and they arrive. My father-in-law gave me his unruliest hen for a laugh and now she comes running when I call her, in fact the problem I have is trying to stop her from flying onto my shoulder.


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## robin416

One of the biggest advantages for having game birds, they're like for their humans. 

Sometimes the change of place is enough to tame even the most unruly. I sold a mean Silkie roo to someone, warned her he was a butt. Turned out once he was at her place he was just a docile old man.


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## Poultry Judge

Beautiful construction!


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## Poultry Judge

And you have a flexible layout with a ton of options and directions to go!


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## Biring

The "bones" of the roof have been fitted but still need to be cut to length.


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## robin416

Do you mean the rafters shortened? 

Is that a drain pipe I see?


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## Biring

Yes, rafters shortened is better English. Where do you see a drainpipe?


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## robin416

On the near end, there is what looks like a white pipe sticking up from the ground into the floor of the building. 

Or is that something supporting a center floor joist? 

How many power tools do they use for the construction?


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## Biring

That’s a 4” pipe filled with cement and a couple of 9mm iron rods. It supports the beams under the floorboards.

Not a single power tool has been used in the construction of this barn. I’ve not even seen them use a spirit level! Saw, hammer, chisel, crowbar, string and that’s pretty much it. And they only use the crowbar because I have one!


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## robin416

That is absolutely amazing that they've constructed that building all with physical labor. 

I was thinking how my impression of a village is different from the reality and that of course they're using power tools. 

It was only after I stopped to look at the pic again that I realized that it might be a support.


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## Biring

Don't be distracted by the definition of "village" here. We are extremy remote. This is a satellite photo of our plot and our neighbours.


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## robin416

That looks very much like the view from above of where I live. I guess we don't have a description for our area other than being rural.


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## Biring

And here I've zoomed out a bit. Now you can see why tigers are on our radar.


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## robin416

Is the whiter line a road or a river? 

I haven't zoomed out here so I don't know what I'd find but I don't think it would compare to the remoteness your pic shows. 

Does this mean that being self sufficient is vital in your area or do you get goods delivered?


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## Biring

Self suffieciency is pretty important. Goods are delivered - we even can get fresh sardines from the coast 4 hours away. But the road is in a terrible state and transport is not guaranteed.


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## robin416

There are not many places left like that in the states. I think one of the things that makes us a bit different is that we really don't have the condensing of populations in just a few places. 

What do you do for medical care?


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## Biring

For basic first aid for cuts, scratches, bites and stings we use a range of herbal remedies. They can be surprisingly effective.

There are pharmacies that sell a range of medicines, which you can buy without a prescription (including ones with “prescription only” clearly printed on the packaging). 

There are local health centres, typically run by midwives, and there are various hospitals in the cities, but the quality of care is pretty abysmal. 

Those who can afford it travel to Malaysia or Singapore.


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## Biring

We hired a car/driver to take our puppy to the nearest veterinary clinic, two hours away from here, for her first vaccination. She doesn’t travel well so we tried to find a local solution for her second jab. There’s a guy here who vaccinates various livestock but he’s not qualified. We ended up paying for a vet to travel here to administer the jabs. It was pretty expensive in local terms but cheaper than hiring a car.


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## robin416

At one time I might have been able to meet those types of challenges. Because I like a good challenge. Not any more. 

Now you can relax for a while, Puppy is protected for a while. The one guy you mentioned I would be concerned about. Rabies vaccine needs to be kept refrigerated, if he slipped up on that she wouldn't have been protected. 

So your vet made a farm call. Will the vet visit other animal keepers while he/she is in the area?

One of the criteria for moving here was access to good medical care. It sounds like I can scratch your village off the list.


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## Biring

It’s best not to get ill! The lifestyle here is very healthy. All meals are cooked from scratch using fresh ingredients, people get plenty of exercise, the air quality is generally very good.


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## robin416

It would be a plus if no one got ill. People are beginning to realize what they put in their bodies matters.


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## Biring

The barn has half a roof, one of the small rooms has a front wall and they've fitted the first 18m of perches for the birds.


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## robin416

Once they got cranking they've really moved fast. And from this side of the screen, some really nice construction.

It's going to be a pretty building with the lap siding and the grass walls.


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## Biring

I think so too. The lead carpenter asked for a 6.5% increase to his agreed fee. My wife was outraged; I think that’s perfectly reasonable and I exercised my rarely-used veto to overrule my wife!


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## Biring

OMG, my wife just dropped the bombshell that the agreed fee also includes another building - 3m x 3m but we think it should be 3.5m x 6m. I’ll have to lobby my wife to significantly increase the fee and she’ll hate me forever for it, but I’m impressed with these guys’ work and I think they should be able to put food on their tables as a result. My wife is so mean! She worked in payroll for a public company and knows how much everyone earns. I only know what it’s like to earn a daily wage but I know our guys have already earned their fee.


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## robin416

OK, I'm glad I'm not in your house right now. Things just might be a little tense. 

Was this other building part of the original deal?


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## Biring

I have no idea. My understanding of Karo language is about 35%. My understanding of why people get up in the morning and go to work is 100%. I think they’ve earned their fee. My wife begs to differ, only she doesn’t beg she demands!


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## robin416

So you weren't totally aware of what the deal was that was put together? 

Wife might understand better the nuances happening here. The agreement was made for a price but now they're coming back asking for more because they under bid to get the work. 

Not trying to take her side here. Having been married to someone in construction I know some of the tricks played.


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## Biring

I know the tricks that can be played, I just want to pay a fair price for good work. Usually my wife squeezes too hard and we end up with unsatisfactory work. This time I’m impressed.


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## robin416

And there's your argument, they're good. And you might have a need for them in the future but if they're underpaid they'll tell you to go pound sand.


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## Poultry Judge

Wow, thanks for the information, it is also fascinating. The construction on your coop building is marvelous, the amount of hand labor!


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## robin416

It is, isn't it? I keep going back and looking at the pics.


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## Poultry Judge

I would not want to be in the middle of a labor dispute. Hopefully, there is a way to satisfy all parties. The craftsmanship does look good!


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## robin416

I'm willing to get in the middle of this one only because Biring's wife won't see this. I'm on his side in this standoff.


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## Poultry Judge

Yes, good point!


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## Biring

No work today - the carpenters think it will take them a day to finish it off but they want all the outstanding materials on site before they continue. We should get them tomorrow. It looks like our matriarch is about to start laying again. Hopefully she will find somewhere in the new barn she likes.


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## robin416

Where do the materials come from? Is there a lumber yard, I'm using the only term I know, that is in the area? What about those wonderful grass walls?


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## Biring

We have a few hardware stores here that remind me a bit of the old mom-and-pop hardware stores of old - rows and rows of shelves full of boxes of everything you’d need to build a house, and plenty more besides. 

The woven bamboo sheets are made locally, the green one in the photo was made moments before it was delivered (by motorcycle rickshaw). We have a couple of dozen clumps of bamboo in our woodland, for example, and last year a guy bought the bamboo and cut it to size on site then took it home to weave the sheets.


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## robin416

I miss those old hardware stores. Go in and find all sorts of stuff you never thought you just had to have. Now it's so focused on what sells the most. 

You do realize all of this is fascinating to us here in the west and really appreciate that you're taking the time to answer our questions.


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## Biring




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## Poultry Judge

Biring said:


> We have a few hardware stores here that remind me a bit of the old mom-and-pop hardware stores of old - rows and rows of shelves full of boxes of everything you'd need to build a house, and plenty more besides.
> 
> The woven bamboo sheets are made locally, the green one in the photo was made moments before it was delivered (by motorcycle rickshaw). We have a couple of dozen clumps of bamboo in our woodland, for example, and last year a guy bought the bamboo and cut it to size on site then took it home to weave the sheets.


That's great, how long does the bamboo last, is it super durable?


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## Biring

Hopefully it will last a while. We’ll varnish everything once the barn is complete. It’s about $4 for a 2m x 2m sheet so we don’t want to have to replace it too often.


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## Poultry Judge

Biring said:


>


That's too funny!


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## robin416

What a hoot! He's a good example why I take pics sometimes because I don't know what it's called.


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## Poultry Judge

That's a good idea.


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## Biring

The roof is complete. They've added another woven bamboo wall, some trim and a few more planks to the storeroom.


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## Biring

The lead carpenter is putting in a bit of overtime and fitting the last woven bamboo wall. I’m thinking of using the offcuts to make some nestboxes.


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## robin416

It's going to be a lovely building. Probably the best chicken coop anyone in the village has ever seen. 

Have you told the guys how much people across the world likes their work? 

I just realized that the weather must be cooperating since there's no water to wade through to get to work.


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## Biring

People keep asking what the building is for. I’ve been saying it’s guest rooms. Here that’s believable as people’s average height is well below what we’re used to in the west. I may even invite my foster daughter and her kids to stay - a 2m x 2m room is easily enough for her whole family!


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## robin416

How do you keep from smiling when you tell them it's a guest house?


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## Biring

LOL. It’s perfectly feasible. Put a couple of planks across the channel and you have a toilet!


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## robin416

Yeah, get caught doing that here and they'll put you under the jail. LOL


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## Biring

At that exact spot my neighbour built a wall years ago to stop people entering her property to fish at the confluence of two channels, so we already have a blind spot. And anyway, no-one would bat an eyelid. Crapping in public water channels is perfectly normal here.


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## Poultry Judge

The finished construction is fantastic! I want to see your fishing spot when it's finished.


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## Biring

The carpenter says one more day and it’s done. He also said that yesterday. It’s getting closer to the point where the carpenter thinks he’s done all that be’s been contracted to do.


----------



## Biring

I’ll probably have to build the nestboxes myself. No worries.


----------



## robin416

How are you going to close off above the woven walls?


----------



## Biring

I’ve been wondering about that too. I suspect they will be left open, but that’s OK as part of the reason for building the barn is our need for storage. We have quite a bit of wood and currugated iron sheets we can store up there.


----------



## robin416

Won't the birds use that as their escape route when you want them to sleep in there? 

It's so close to being done.


----------



## Poultry Judge

I hope your wife doesn't put a hex on the builders!


----------



## Biring

robin416 said:


> Won't the birds use that as their escape route when you want them to sleep in there?
> 
> It's so close to being done.


Let's see what happens. The birds hate to be locked in anywhere. There are a number of ways I could close it up if I need to.


----------



## robin416

Oh, this could be fun.


----------



## Biring




----------



## Biring

I took this photo a few hours ago. They since fitted the door (but not the lock and handles yet).

The lead carpenter explained to my wife that there is no second building without a new fee. I knew this moment was coming. Fortunately she was only angry with me for a couple of hours.


----------



## robin416

Absolutely amazing work. It's almost as though it could be housing for something other than the birds.

Well, at least you were prepared for her anger.


----------



## Poultry Judge

Yes, absolutely beautiful work! Are you still planning the second building?


----------



## Biring

My plan was to build the barn, move all of our clutter over there then see what we need once our house is empty.


----------



## Biring

My wife’s plan, however, is somewhat different! The guys have stopped work on my barn and are now working on my wife’s al fresco kitchen. I’ve spent the past couple of hours digging up banana plants and replanting them to make way for the kitchen.


----------



## robin416

Right now you can't win for losing. 

I'm beginning to think that PJ has either lost power or internet again.


----------



## Biring

One of the banana plants I moved probably won’t grow, but it should produce some shoots. As soon as I planted it the puppy leapt in and killed off the one visible shoot!


----------



## Poultry Judge

robin416 said:


> Right now you can't win for losing.
> 
> I'm beginning to think that PJ has either lost power or internet again.


Yes, the internet was down twice today, late morning and then again this evening. It's back up but suuuper slow. I drove to Newton Falls at 3 today and counted nine power, utility or tree cutting trucks. Folks are still cleaning up from the wind damage.


----------



## Biring

The chickens have added some footprints to the barn's step!


----------



## Biring

I ended up planting five banana plants today. Planting them is the easy part; digging them up in the first place is hard work. Three sweet plantain, one gold banana and one candle banana, which I got from a neighbour in exchange for one of my Ambon banana plants.










The poultry palace almost complete. I can't figure out what my darling wife is building, but it's attached to the barn, which messes up my plan to sit there and fish in the channel.


----------



## robin416

Biring said:


> One of the banana plants I moved probably won't grow, but it should produce some shoots. As soon as I planted it the puppy leapt in and killed off the one visible shoot!


Puppies, you have to love them.


----------



## robin416

Poultry Judge said:


> Yes, the internet was down twice today, late morning and then again this evening. It's back up but suuuper slow. I drove to Newton Falls at 3 today and counted nine power, utility or tree cutting trucks. Folks are still cleaning up from the wind damage.


That storm really pounded you all.


----------



## robin416

Biring said:


> I ended up planting five banana plants today. Planting them is the easy part; digging them up in the first place is hard work. Three sweet plantain, one gold banana and one candle banana, which I got from a neighbour in exchange for one of my Ambon banana plants.
> 
> View attachment 36708
> 
> 
> The poultry palace almost complete. I can't figure out what my darling wife is building, but it's attached to the barn, which messes up my plan to sit there and fish in the channel.


I was going to ask how it's going to mess up your fishing but then I realized you don't have a porch off the back over the canal.


----------



## Biring

Let’s see how this works out. What they’re building looks very flimsy. I could rip it all out in half an hour. I’ve half a mind to too, but I’ll wait to see what the end result is.


----------



## robin416

Now you've got me wondering what it is. What they built for you is impressive but what they're building for the wife isn't? Is it payback for being too tight with money?


----------



## Biring

Looks like it!


----------



## robin416

hehe


----------



## Poultry Judge

Biring said:


> I ended up planting five banana plants today. Planting them is the easy part; digging them up in the first place is hard work. Three sweet plantain, one gold banana and one candle banana, which I got from a neighbour in exchange for one of my Ambon banana plants.
> 
> View attachment 36708
> 
> 
> The poultry palace almost complete. I can't figure out what my darling wife is building, but it's attached to the barn, which messes up my plan to sit there and fish in the channel.


Yes, what is she building?


----------



## Poultry Judge

They better be careful!


----------



## danathome

I enjoy the pictures and seeing the palace take on shape and form. It is not cold today, but I am bundled up and shivering wishing I were where you are. What fun to grow plants like what you are growing. Bananas! I wish...


----------



## robin416

danathome said:


> I enjoy the pictures and seeing the palace take on shape and form. It is not cold today, but I am bundled up and shivering wishing I were where you are. What fun to grow plants like what you are growing. Bananas! I wish...


There was someone in Lawrenceburg that was successfully growing a banana tree. I never went by the house in the dead of winter so I don't know what they did to protect it.


----------



## danathome

Yes, bananas can be grown here-for decorative purposes. Our season is too short for fruit. Rather like figs. Here in TN we have figs coming out our ears. Kimmi love them and I've lost count how many trees and varieties that are growing in our yard. In the northern states fig trees will grow, but the season is too short to get ripe figs to eat; unless you have a good greenhouse to grow the plants/trees in.


----------



## Poultry Judge

Did the work men survive?


----------



## Biring

Poultry Judge said:


> Yes, what is she building?


My wife wants an al fresco cooking area. I guess my fishing spot will become a dining room instead. Oh well.


----------



## Biring

Growing bananas takes a lot time. We have a few plants my wife planted two years ago that haven’t produced any fruit yet.


----------



## robin416

Then about like it is with fruit trees we have here in the states.


----------



## Biring

Except banana plants aren’t trees, they’re plants in the same order as ginger and various other monocots.


----------



## Biring

I tried moving the terrorists (batch 3 plus the matriarch) over to the barn at dusk. Matriarch plus four chicks moved back to our terrace, three chicks remain in one of the stalls. I suspect the matriarch will start laying again soon. Hopefully I can convince her to lay in the barn.


----------



## Biring

Biring said:


> Except banana plants aren't trees, they're plants in the same order as ginger and various other monocots.


Hence the expression here "a banana plant only fruits once", equivalent to the English expression "fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me".


----------



## robin416

Biring said:


> Hence the expression here "a banana plant only fruits once", equivalent to the English expression "fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me".


I'm confused, are you saying they only produce once a year or that's it for all time?


----------



## robin416

Biring said:


> I tried moving the terrorists (batch 3 plus the matriarch) over to the barn at dusk. Matriarch plus four chicks moved back to our terrace, three chicks remain in one of the stalls. I suspect the matriarch will start laying again soon. Hopefully I can convince her to lay in the barn.


The chicken wrangling begins.


----------



## Biring

robin416 said:


> I'm confused, are you saying they only produce once a year or that's it for all time?


Each stem produces once then it dies and a shoot takes over. But you have to make sure there aren't too many shoots otherwise your yields will suffer.










Here are the seven shoots I've just planted in our triangle field at the edge of this plot. It will be a long time before we get any fruit but hopefully they will produce shoots we can transplant elsewhere.


----------



## Biring

Oops wrong photo


----------



## Biring




----------



## robin416

LOL I was looking at that first pic and thinking, those are shoots? 

I'm going to have to look up growing bananas to fully understand the part about shoots and dying and harvest. Since we have Google that will make it easier on you.


----------



## Biring

Yup, those are shoots. Sweet plantains can grow to 20’ before they produce fruit. Most other varieties top out at about 10-12’. Mini bananas are much smaller; I haven’t planted any there yet but hopefully I’ll be able to squeeze one or two shoots in at the edges.


----------



## Poultry Judge

Biring said:


> Hence the expression here "a banana plant only fruits once", equivalent to the English expression "fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me".


That's interesting!


----------



## Poultry Judge

I love the local culture stuff you post!


----------



## Poultry Judge

Biring said:


> Each stem produces once then it dies and a shoot takes over. But you have to make sure there aren't too many shoots otherwise your yields will suffer.
> 
> View attachment 36748
> 
> 
> Here are the seven shoots I've just planted in our triangle field at the edge of this plot. It will be a long time before we get any fruit but hopefully they will produce shoots we can transplant elsewhere.


Nice pic.


----------



## Poultry Judge

robin416 said:


> The chicken wrangling begins.


It might be a gradual process involving chicken psychology.


----------



## robin416

Uh huh, he's got a gang that likes to slip in the house. Check themselves out in the mirrors and stretches out on the rug for a nice nap. It should go smoothly.


----------



## Poultry Judge

robin416 said:


> Uh huh, he's got a gang that likes to slip in the house. Check themselves out in the mirrors and stretches out on the rug for a nice nap. It should go smoothly.


And the problem is?


----------



## robin416

Him?


----------



## Biring

Poultry Judge said:


> It might be a gradual process involving chicken psychology.


I think the obvious solution is to force the hens to lay their eggs in the new barn - either by moving eggs they've laid elsewhere (and this has worked for us before), or by eating eggs they lay elsewhere until they get the idea. Our matriarch is about to start laying again, and our cockerel is the father.


----------



## robin416

A whole new episode of Chicken Keeping is about to begin.


----------



## Biring

A couple of hours ago they told me they were done, save sweeping up the sawdust. My wife had other ideas and now they’re working into the night using a headlamp and a lightbulb powered by a battery.


----------



## Biring

There are lots of small bits and pieces that still need doing - adding perches, making nestboxes, closing the top of the stalls - but that’s the kind of thing I can do myself. The barn also needs a coat of varnish and my wife wants wiring installed so we can put some lights in to deter nighttime intruders.

I’m delighted with the result. I think my wife probably is too, but she’ll never admit it! I’ll take some photos tomorrow morning.


----------



## robin416

Biring said:


> A couple of hours ago they told me they were done, save sweeping up the sawdust. My wife had other ideas and now they're working into the night using a headlamp and a lightbulb powered by a battery.


What the heck did she see that has them working after dark?


----------



## Biring

She wanted them to add a couple of gates; I was happy for the terrace to be open. Gates now fitted. My wife has just ordered another 10 2x3” x 4.5-5m joists for her al fresco kitchen. I think she expects the carpenters to turn up tomorrow and carry on. My understanding of Karo language is a bit patchy but I think we’re now paying them $340 for almost a month’s work. That’s 1-3 carpenters a day working six day weeks. I apologised to the carpenters just now and said my wife can be extremely quarrelsome. One laughed, the other said he’s family, related by marriage, so he’s obligated to work things out to everyone’s satisfaction.


----------



## robin416

I don't know your cost of living there but that does seem low. Especially for the quality it appears they produced. 

So are you betting that they won't be back tomorrow?

Wait, does that 340 also include the kitchen?


----------



## Biring

I’m still wondering about the kitchen. Cost of living is about $100/month for a family. I don’t think our guys are getting ripped off, but I also think we are getting good value for money. Including all costs it works out at just under $3 per square foot.


----------



## robin416

That's hard to wrap my head around. We've both lived in countries where we'd be on the streets making 100$ a month.


----------



## Biring

Bear in mind that people own their homes - there’s no rent or mortgages, there’s free food everywhere. So long as people have a constant supply of rice they don’t have much to worry about.


----------



## Poultry Judge

How are things taxed?


----------



## Biring

The little people don’t pay tax. If you earn more than $500 a month then theoretically maybe you have to declare your income. I have no idea what the tax rate is. Almost every vehicle here has expired plates, some dating back to the last millennium. No one worries about that so long as you don’t try to drive into the big city.


----------



## robin416

LOL It's fun reading things like this.


----------



## Poultry Judge

So when buyers buy produce and what not from you, they pay cash but other parts of the local economy are barter?


----------



## robin416

Poultry Judge said:


> So when buyers buy produce and what not from you, they pay cash but other parts of the local economy are barter?


That's an interesting question. Now we need for him to wake up to answer it.


----------



## Poultry Judge

Of course my brain gears are turning thinking there is a good local niche market for the right type of bird.


----------



## Biring

Yes, we’re paid cash for our produce and in rice for the use of our paddy fields.


----------



## Biring




----------



## robin416

Are you where major ocean storms could affect your crops? That's because I forgot just where you are.


----------



## robin416

Biring said:


> View attachment 36774
> View attachment 36776
> View attachment 36778


That is such a lovely view and that building belongs in that setting.


----------



## Biring

robin416 said:


> Are you where major ocean storms could affect your crops? That's because I forgot just where you are.


We're too close to equator for cyclones (hopefully), and we're protected from the Indian Ocean by 10,000 ft mountains. The big issue here is torrential rain, landslides and flash floods. A flash flood in 2003 killed over 100 people here, including members of my wife's family. And just last week a flash flood on a different river destroyed my parents-in-law's coffeeshop. They lost their shack but gained several tonnes of old-growth tropical hardwood - more than enough to build back what was lost plus more to sell. And the local government has said they'll help to rebuild.


----------



## Biring

“Bukit Lawang was a small village on the edge of an oil-palm plantation in Indonesia’s North Sumatra province. Since the founding of the Gunung Leuser national park and the establishment of the world famous orangutan rehabilitation centre a mile upstream, the village had prospered through tourism. On that tragic night, in the space of a few minutes, Bukit Lawang completely disappeared. 400 houses, 3 mosques, 8 bridges, 280 kiosks and food stalls, 35 inns and guest houses were gone. All in all, 239 villagers including 5 tourists, were dead and 1,400 locals lost their homes.”


----------



## robin416

Biring said:


> "Bukit Lawang was a small village on the edge of an oil-palm plantation in Indonesia's North Sumatra province. Since the founding of the Gunung Leuser national park and the establishment of the world famous orangutan rehabilitation centre a mile upstream, the village had prospered through tourism. On that tragic night, in the space of a few minutes, Bukit Lawang completely disappeared. 400 houses, 3 mosques, 8 bridges, 280 kiosks and food stalls, 35 inns and guest houses were gone. All in all, 239 villagers including 5 tourists, were dead and 1,400 locals lost their homes."


Well they built back but still right on the river.

I zoomed in on Kutacane, does that sound right? It's huge.


----------



## robin416

Biring said:


> We're too close to equator for cyclones (hopefully), and we're protected from the Indian Ocean by 10,000 ft mountains. The big issue here is torrential rain, landslides and flash floods. A flash flood in 2003 killed over 100 people here, including members of my wife's family. And just last week a flash flood on a different river destroyed my parents-in-law's coffeeshop. They lost their shack but gained several tonnes of old-growth tropical hardwood - more than enough to build back what was lost plus more to sell. And the local government has said they'll help to rebuild.


I'm not sure I could take knowing that it could happen at any time. The huge flash floods they had in CO and MD convinced me I never wanted to live in a valley like that.


----------



## Biring

Kutacane is about 30 miles west of here. They also have serious floods and landslides there. My old village is about 20 miles upstream from there, where the two wings of the butterfly (I’m referring to the shape of the national park boundary) meet.


----------



## robin416

It doesn't look like it would be an easy drive. It looks like going East would be an easier drive.


----------



## Biring

Yes, it’s only 30 miles but it’s several days’ hard trekking, or about 15 hours by road (depending on traffic, the current state of the road and flash floods taking out bridges).


----------



## Poultry Judge

Thanks for the new pics, it looks fabulous! 


Biring said:


> Kutacane is about 30 miles west of here. They also have serious floods and landslides there. My old village is about 20 miles upstream from there, where the two wings of the butterfly (I'm referring to the shape of the national park boundary) meet.


So for those areas, is there any way to build that would be more survivable?


----------



## Biring

Brick houses are thought to be more durable, but built on clay they quickly crack up. They are also susceptible to earthquakes, which are also a fact of life here.


----------



## Poultry Judge

Biring said:


> Brick houses are thought to be more durable, but built on clay they quickly crack up. They are also susceptible to earthquakes, which are also a fact of life here.


Wow, I forgot about the earthquakes. So you would need houses built of brick, on stilts and on earthquake springs, (like in Japan).


----------



## Biring

Don’t forget about the volcanoes! We’re not too far from the Toba super volcano that rocked the planet 70-odd thousand years ago.


----------



## Biring

All-in-all it can be a pretty exciting place to live. At least my wife’s tribe stopped eating people a few generations ago!


----------



## Poultry Judge

Biring said:


> Don't forget about the volcanoes! We're not too far from the Toba super volcano that rocked the planet 70-odd thousand years ago.


Whaaat???


----------



## Poultry Judge

Biring said:


> All-in-all it can be a pretty exciting place to live. At least my wife's tribe stopped eating people a few generations ago!


I did not know that.


----------



## robin416

On that note, why do you want to build a brick house if they suffer from the soil conditions and earthquakes?


----------



## Biring

They last a bit longer than wooden houses. But not much.


----------



## robin416

Wood would probably survive better in a quake too.


----------



## Biring

Yes, they do. The Boxing Day tsunami destroyed all but the brick buildings. And an earthquake a few years later destroyed those. You can’t beat Mother Nature.


----------



## robin416

Talk about serious challenges on which is the best way to do things. 

Although stilts might help with the flash floods.


----------



## Biring

Our house and barn are on stilts. They certainly keep our floors dry.


----------



## Biring

Stilts will help with general flooding, flash floods are more intensive and wash away everything. Hopefully we’re only susceptible to general floods here.


----------



## Poultry Judge

Hopefully! From your descriptions in the past, it sounds as if you are way more sheltered than a lot of places around you.


----------



## Biring

Looks like my wife is getting her kitchen!


----------



## robin416

Couldn't she have built it ten feet further to the side? At least the guys that do awesome work are building it.


----------



## Biring

I did suggest that, but I think it will look fantastic once the roof is completed.


----------



## robin416

Won't the chickens make it bit more challenging to use the kitchen being as curious as they are about everything?


----------



## Biring

My idea, several iterations ago, was to use chicken wire to block off the walls. No idea what the current plan is. I’ll wait to see what my wife has ordered the carpenters to build then I’ll add my input. The lead carpenter asked me, somewhat exasperatedly, who is behind all these alterations. I told him my wife changes her mind three times a day and he nodded knowingly. They’re related by marriage so there’s no escape for him. He has to work until my wife is satisfied!


----------



## robin416

That poor guy. I wonder if he'll ever get himself in this situation again.


----------



## Poultry Judge

It looks great! I get the sense they fear your wife a little.


----------



## Biring

We all fear my wife a little.


----------



## Poultry Judge

I don't know your wife and I fear her a little!


----------



## robin416

Biring said:


> We all fear my wife a little.


LOL


----------



## Biring

The carpenters have packed up their tools and gone home. There are still plenty of things to do, but they're mostly things I can do myself.

I really like my wife's add-on.


----------



## robin416

You were right, it did add something to the main building.


----------



## Poultry Judge

Great pic! You are going to get a lot of use out of your new building!


----------



## Biring

My wife has found some new guys to torment. Today they laid the cement kitchen floor and started installing the electrics.

It looks like my wife has highjacked my project. My fishing area is now a dining room and the chicken stalls are guest rooms. Pretty small ones admittedly, but just big enough. Oh well, I have to give her some (a lot of) leeway - she’s spent the past nine months carrying our first child and the sprog is about to pop any minute now.


----------



## robin416

How did that happen?

And didn't the word get spread through the village to stay away from her?


----------



## Biring

We actually had a couple of guys turn up this morning on the off-chance we hadn’t found someone to carry on with the project. Turns out there’s no shortage of guys looking for a $6 daily wage to put rice on their dinner table.


----------



## robin416

Considering the COL here it's hard to wrap my head around how low it is there.


----------



## Biring

My wife feels we are being ripped off if someone earns one cent over the daily minimum. I believe good workers should be rewarded for good work. This is the only source of friction in our marriage, but it is friction nonetheless. I pray we never have another project!


----------



## robin416

That's still a tough one. They say most stress in marriage has to do with finances. I can now see it's a universal issue.


----------



## Poultry Judge

Biring said:


> My wife feels we are being ripped off if someone earns one cent over the daily minimum. I believe good workers should be rewarded for good work. This is the only source of friction in our marriage, but it is friction nonetheless. I pray we never have another project!


I don't know how it is there, but with the sanctuary here, the projects never are one hundred percent finished.


----------



## Biring

Same here. I have to own this and work on our marriage going forwards.


----------



## Poultry Judge

And guest rooms? You are going to need a sign advertising: Biring's Poultry Palace/Hotel/Farm/Rubber Plantation/ and all the other projects you have going! You have a rich and busy life!


----------



## Biring

Don’t forget our oil palm plantation! It’s only 1.5 Ha/170 trees but it’s by far our most lucrative asset.


----------



## Poultry Judge

Yes, and you raise rice too?


----------



## Biring

The fields are ours but the rice isn't.


----------



## robin416

But you get a certain percentage of the rice. Correct?

How much land do you actually work? Remember you're talking to a Yank here. Although the good thing is that there is Google.


----------



## Poultry Judge

Thanks for the pic and taking the time to explain things for us!


----------



## Biring

robin416 said:


> But you get a certain percentage of the rice. Correct?
> 
> How much land do you actually work? Remember you're talking to a Yank here. Although the good thing is that there is Google.


The rent is about half a tonne (~1,000lbs) of wet unprocessed rice grain per acre per harvest. Here they grow two crops a year, although three crops are physically possible. We have half an acre of paddy fields here and another half acre about a mile down the road. We have another quarter acre here with our house, barn and banana gardens.

We have four acres of oil palm trees that yield 1,200-2,500lbs of fresh fruit clusters every two weeks.

Right next to that we have six acres of mixed woodland that yields about 120-150lbs of rubber latex a week (although sometimes we skip a week or two). There are also a few dozen durian trees there, some jackfruit, chocolate, bamboo and probably all sorts of other things besides. I haven't fully explored the wood yet. There are also dozens of arecanut palms that yield about 500lb of wet unprocessed nuts every two or three months.

We've also got another acre and a half of rubber plantation in another location but the trees are not currently being tapped and the other produce is stolen by one of the neighbours or monkeys before we can harvest it. I've suggested to my wife that we sell that plantation as we rarely visit and the price of land there has shot up due to its proximity to a hot new tourist attraction. But it's part of her family's ancestral land and it has to stay in the family.


----------



## Biring

I should add that the only land I actually work is our banana gardens, the rest of the work is done by locals. They earn a fee per lb for harvesting the oil palm, and half the value of the rubber latex they harvest (plus a small fee per lb for transporting it to the market). We get half of the value of other crops too, such as dogfruit, stink beans and betel leaf. People get paid per half day of clearing undergrowth and per litre for spraying herbicide. Arecanuts are harvested by the agent.

Our half acre plot down the road also has bananas, a type of palm whose leaves are used for making roofs and a small vegetable garden. The guy managing that plot gets to keep all of the side produce, except for coconuts, which we share.


----------



## robin416

So your property is spread out all over and not contiguous? It can't be easy to manage all of the various plots even if you have people hired to care for them. 

It's hard to wrap my head around a 1000 pounds of rice when I think of the few pounds I eat a year. What I eat is a drop in the bucket compared to what is consumed there.


----------



## Biring

Indonesians eat an average of 150lbs of rice per person per year. Our chickens also eat a lot of rice. We harvested our two remaining muscovies today so hopefully our rice will last a lot longer.

We have 10 acres that are almost contiguous. Those two plots are about half an hour away from here. I used to visit a couple of times a week but recently I’ve been busy here managing the landscaping and building projects.

The half acre down the road is managed by a family that lives right next door. All I have to do is turn up and collect our coconuts. Our coconut tree there stopped producing a while ago. It’s now back up and running but it will be a few months before we can harvest coconuts there again.


----------



## robin416

Nope, I don't come close to 150 lbs even though I do eat it fairly regularly. My birds like white rice but they don't care for basmati. Go figure. 

And we've enjoyed watching it all come together. Hopefully it's all together now as you wait on baby Biring to arrive.


----------



## Biring

Basmati is expensive. I give our birds broken grains we don’t want to eat ourselves.


----------



## robin416

I don't normally give that to them but it wasn't enough leftover for anything or to freeze. So, they got to tell me nope.


----------



## Poultry Judge

Thanks, that is super interesting!


----------



## Biring

Batch no.2 has moved into the barn of their own accord. No wrangling required.


----------



## robin416

I have to ask, if wife wanted it as a guest house how is that going to work if the birds beat her to it.


----------



## Biring

That means I win. It’s a zero sum game.


----------



## robin416

LOL For now.


----------



## Poultry Judge

Biring said:


> That means I win. It's a zero sum game.


Indeed.


----------



## Siobhan

Biring said:


> Work started on Istana Unggas Sembiring Kembaren (Biring's Poultry Palace) earlier this week. Today the concrete pillars have been completed.
> 
> View attachment 36386
> 
> 
> Work on the floor starts on Monday. On the advice of the lead carpenter we've increased the width of the barn to 3.5m (11.5'). The length is 12m, although only 10m (33') will be available to the birds. This is because no carpenter here with any self esteem will agree to build a chicken coop. We had to say it will be a storeroom and a couple of guest rooms and chill out zones with maybe a few perches for our chickens.
> 
> At 4 sq ft per bird I calculate it will be big enough for almost 100 birds, but there's no way even half that number of feisty gamefowl will be happy there. I'm still thinking about how many chickens we can feasibly keep here (0.75 acre). I'd like one cockerel and several hens plus their chicks. Several is still an undefined quantity.


Wow quite impressive!


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## Poultry Judge

But you are the proprietor of Istana Unggas Sembiring Kembaren!!!


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## robin416

How did I miss that the first time?


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## Biring

Four of them have moved in. Unfortunately one of those is due to go to the butcher soon, but it's a start.


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## robin416

Is that the four that would stretch out on the rug in the house?


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## Biring

Yup


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## Poultry Judge

There they are, in their new digs!


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## Biring

The second set of craftsmen walked out, as did the third. My wife called in her dad to finish it off.


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## Poultry Judge

Over money?


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## robin416

Of course it would be over money. But dangit, Biring, you can't just drop that little line and then nothing else so give.


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## Biring

Yes, the issue was money. The second set were incompetent but cheap but demanded a raise. I agree with my wife’s decision to sack them. Their work was terrible. The third set tried to gouge us. Totally unreasonable. Again I agree. My father-in-law is slow but his work is acceptable so I’ll keep quiet for now. It’s almost finished apart from the varnishing.


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## robin416

Has she figured out you get what you pay for. That first group appeared to be top notch. Although they probably will stay far away from her from now on. 

FIL will want the work to be nice because it is for his daughter. Even if he's still at it for months.


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## Poultry Judge

Well, that's good.


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## Biring

New development tonight: brown hen and cockerel have decided to roost here tonight. I hope it’s a permanent move. That makes six of 16 that are roosting where I want them to, and four of those are birds I want to keep. Maybe all six.


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## robin416

Refresher please. Are these yours? Or are you referring to them liking the new Palace?


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## Biring

Brown hen is one of our two original starter hens. The cockerel we bought a few months ago. Both are keepers, so it’s good news they’ve chosen to move into their new digs.


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## robin416

Is the matriarch still posing in front of the mirror? 

Have you thought about giving them one in the palace? My Guineas have a mirror and when they pass it they stop and give the bird in the mirror several pecks.


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## Biring

That’s not the matriarch, but her grandchild. I’ve called her Dolly, partly after your comment about her dolling herself up in front of the mirror, and partly in honour of my heroine Dolly Parton!


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## robin416

LOL 

I forgot to ask, how many more are still hanging at the house at night and not at the new Palace? Maybe if you gave them a rug to stretch out on you could get the rest to call it home.


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## Biring

It’s now 10 sleeping in the wrong place. We’re likely to start eating them soon so that number should go down.


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## robin416

Because some are your favorites or that have the personalities that draws attention it's hard to keep track of the poultry farm you've got going there.


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## Biring

We’ve got two hens and a cockerel, eight pullets, two wannabe cockerels (one of which I’ve seen mating with our brown hen) plus three chicks (at least one of which is male).


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## Biring

The two wannabe cockerels are first for the chop.


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## robin416

I remember you saying that you wouldn't be keeping the two younger ones. 

Are males easy to come by? What I'm thinking is if something happens to the boy you have now.


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## Biring

There are plenty of cockerels around here. Once our has fathered a few chicks we may get rid of him and rely on our neighbours’ cockerels for breeding.


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## robin416

That would certainly help keep the genetics spread out.


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## Biring

Maybe not so much. The neighbour seems to want our cockerel to breed with his hens. They never chase him away (as they do with our hens sometimes) and I’ve even seen them feed him!


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## robin416

You might have to go steal one from another village then to get new genetics flowing in the village once again.


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## Poultry Judge

robin416 said:


> You might have to go steal one from another village then to get new genetics flowing in the village once again.


Or the jungle.


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## Biring

We ate the mostly white cockerel. He was delicious!


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## Biring

Poultry Judge said:


> Or the jungle.


I saw a hen in a remote village today that looks exactly like a wild junglefowl.


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## Poultry Judge

Biring said:


> I saw a hen in a remote village today that looks exactly like a wild junglefowl.


Perhaps you can find one like that.


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## Biring

And now all of the chickens have moved in. No wrangling required!


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## robin416

Into the Palace? No more visiting in the house? That's kind of sad since the pics were so sweet to see.


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## Poultry Judge

Well, that's good then, they are using their new digs. What about the kitchen area, is it operational?


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## robin416

Poultry Judge said:


> Well, that's good then, they are using their new digs. What about the kitchen area, is it operational?


I forgot all about that.

Maybe MIL is breaking it in now.


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## Poultry Judge

robin416 said:


> I forgot all about that.
> 
> Maybe MIL is breaking it in now.
> Some of those curries look pretty delicious!


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## Biring

Yes, the kitchen is up and running, although three pullets are roosting there every night, so my first task every morning is to clean the floor!


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## robin416

The three that loved the rug. Put one in the Palace see if they decided they like that better.


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## Poultry Judge

Biring said:


> Yes, the kitchen is up and running, although three pullets are roosting there every night, so my first task every morning is to clean the floor!


As long as they don't fall off the roost into the stew pot!


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