Strawbale Buildings
The farm is home to two
strawbale buildings. These buildings are constructed entirely of straw, with
plaster exterior. One is home to the chickens and the other is home to the
ducks. The thick walls in both structures ensure that the poultry are cool
in the summer and warm in the winter.
Bales of straw make an ideal insulating and building material. The R-value for the wall in the chicken coop is 58.
Strawbale walls are less expensive than conventional construction, make use of locally available straw, and have been
shown to be up to twice as fire resistant as wood frame construction.
The bales are stacked like bricks, pegged together, wrapped with chicken wire and plastered with a cement,
lime and sand mixture.
Strawbale walls can be structural and hold up the walls or they can be used as in-fill with
post and beam type construction.
Copyright © 2007
Last modified: August, 2008