[Cob] Insulation Idea

[Dorothy Bothne]

Charity,
I built a structure for my chickens which is very
similar to what you are describing.  A combo chicken
coop/greenhouse/garden shed.  The walls are about a
foot thick, and it has a shed roof - seven foot tall
at the low end and nine foot tall at the high end.  my
chickens love it.
If I had it to do over I would raise the stem wall to
about 3 feet.  The current stem wall is only 1 foot
and the splashing of the rain and careless bumps from
yard equipment take chunks out of the lime plaster on
the exterior (no structural damage).  Also, the
chickens sleep on a shelf and their urine keeps the
cob wall below a little damp.  I try to keep straw on
the shelf and below them on the floor, but it still
stays damp. With a three foot stem wall, the moisture
wouldn't be a problem and I could hose out the coop to
keep it clean.
We also have  pot belly pig and he tried to dig his
way into the coop through the cob (still only a little
surface damage that I need to replaster).
Dorothy


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