The Trap Nesting Thread

[galanie]

Yes, I do cut down one side of the milk crate. I was thinking when seeing your pictures that you weren't going to use milk crates. Actually, I'm not sure if you really need to. I just do because that's what they are used to.

 

[ki4got]

Quote:
i wondered why you didn't do a lift top... that's what i[m doing on mine now... may put trap doors on the nests, not positive yet for this coop... but i'm having fertility issues with the dorkings and wondering if it's a single hen or just random between the 2... so we'll see...

 

[ki4got]

Quote:
I'm curious, what size milk crates do you use? i've got a bunch of the 12" ones and wonder if they'd be big enough for LF birds.

 

[MANOZ]

my milk crates measure 13 inches square, cj this is what we had already you may not need them though, the belgian maran's club boxes look like yours inside. i think they used pine chips. you may need to remove the roof to put the doors on. 1x4 lip shouldnt be to high.

here is a pic of my first trap nest that actually worked
this is how i cut the crate to let the door swing freely

ki4got-----12 inch crate should be more than big enough

 

[MANOZ]

this pic is to show the "diva runway" in front of the boxes

 

[cjwaldon]

ki4got - I made one with the top that opens for a new smaller coop (4'x8') and I haven't yet figured out how to stop it from leaking. I swear sometimes I don't know where they dig up the employees at the do-it-yourself stores from. Some of them are more clueless than I am. I'm determined to figure it out though. Then I'll have one that the top opens and this one with the doors. Then I can fairly assess the pros and cons of each design.

Manoz - great picture. I see you have just a little lip. Maybe if I move my 1x4 piece back into the box?

I believe in screws! I sure can take that top off if (when) I need to!

 

[In His Service]

cjwaldon -
Where is it leaking? where did you hinge it?
If you hinged it right where it joins the coop, maybe try the stuff they use on roof edges, kind of a 90 degree piece of aluminum. If you hinged it somewhere in the middle of the "roof", I have used the vinyl stuff they sell for molding around bathtubs. It is about 4 inches high with a small lip that fits in the 90 degree angle between the tub and the floor and it is flexible.

 

[ki4got]

leaky nest door...

do you mean it's leaking in when you open it, or any time it rains?

my other coop (and this one will be) i have a 2" piece at the top of the slope joining the box, then hinge on lower section. the roof on the coop overlaps where the gap is, but it leaked when it got openned, so I took a scrap piece of water hose, sliced it down one side and screwed it to the roof sections, forming a U channel to divert water flowing into the hinged area, so now the water that leaked in now runs into the hose and out the sides and onto the ground... no more soggy hens.

and on a happy note, today I found my d'anvers in the doghouse (aka dorking coop, till the big one's done). she'd been laying in the regular nest box, so don't know why she decided to switch to the doghouse nest, but my dorking hen who had a hidden stash of eggs i found saturday laid her first egg in the nest today! the other dorking has been laying in the regular coop-nest pretty regularly... so "Owl" gets an extra goodie for showing the new girl 'the ropes' 8)

 

[MANOZ]

this is a pic of my first tractor showing somthing similar to what ki4got explained. and yes ladies and gentlemen its a bicycle tube.

it goes up the inside of the wall

 

[cjwaldon]

Oh you guys are great! I just couldn't think of anything flexible. I like the bicycle tube idea.