The Trap Nesting Thread

[MANOZ]

yes cjwaldon i would put the lip inside the box, the lip would mimmick the crate by holding back hay from the front door.sorry for not clearing that up. you can hinge the doors directly to the outside wall and use the wall itself for your facing. i have 3 inch high lips on the bottom of my boxes. the lip i was refering to was for the hay. you may not need facing for your design since you cut the holes into the wall. in the pic with the black hen these boxes were being modified at the time but the final box design is the one right in front of the hen with the nonstained door.

 

[ki4got]

Quote:
Use what you've got. i've got tons of old hose... that's what i get for leaving hoses outside in the winter.

 

[galanie]

Yes, I do use the same crates that Manoz uses. I wondered if they'd be big enough too but my bigger Orps don't seem to have any problem fitting in, though their tails run up the back a bit lol. Bicycle inner tubing is a wonderful idea but let me warn you to check and replace every few years. I'm an old hand at using garbage like that LOL. And since I don't have a bike, I pick stuff up out of other peoples trash. Yeah, I feel like a ragpicker or a bag lady some days hehe but it's worth it.

 

[MANOZ]

one man's trash can be another man's treasure, if i can save a dollar i will esp. if i dont need a coupon..............lol

 

[MANOZ]

cjwaldon---- i think this design you are working on is the one. i would use that design in my future chicken tractors. secure that crack where the box meets the wall, simple calking and the little metal flashing over that and your done. i like this design because the roof i showed above keeps leeking. just like galanie said, by the up and down movement of the roof all the time always created a leak. doors on the upright part of the box [outside] is a better design in my opinion. the roof overhangs so rain runoff doesnt even touch the door. nice. or another way could be to make an overhang over the box. you can go 6-12inches above where you would hinge the roof. BUT if you do the roof type door you have 2 things to think about, 1 is keeping track of three birds jumping out at the same time when you open it up. 2 only way around that is to slice the roof into three, now you have more cracks to leakproof.sooooo looks like you have some decisions to make.

personally i like what you have now plus you're almost done with it! if you still wanna use milk crates just cut holes opposite each other and keep on rolling. the birds will exit the box from the door that you open for them. on the days when you use the food coloring you just prop your belgian doors up so they can come and go like they want. open outside door at nite to collect any eggs without disturbing them. you've built a nice running machine right there.

we are all rooting for ya

 

[MANOZ]

i recently had to buy a scale for my daughter's science project. i thought that i would get some use out of it, weighed my best layer's egg today. wondering if fertilized eggs weigh more??

 

[ki4got]

Quote:
the contribution from the roo would not be measurable, so no, a fertile egg shouldn't weigh any differently than a fertile one. tho i had a hen years ago that gave me double yolkers every egg, and we could tell hers by weight, even tho the shell was the same size. never tried hatching one, my grandmother snagged em all for cooking.

 

[MANOZ]

i didnt think so either just wishful thinking .....lol

i tried to cut feathers today for breeding, dont think i did a good job. do i clip the tail feathers also ? someone should really put up a few pics of this process. all i kept thinking was [this bird is gonna blast me]. i think i was shaking more than the bird. also thinking i'm gonna cut the wire to stop the bomb from ticking like in the movies. i snipped as close as my nervous hands allowed,i'll see if i had any luck in a week or so. hopefully i mght get lucky!

 

[galanie]

You just do a silver dollar size around the vent. I asked that question a while back and there's a good chicken butt picture here. https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=578252 Pretty funny thread too.

 

[MANOZ]

FEATHER REMOVAL FOR BREEDING PURPOSES

SOME PLUCK THE FEATHERS SOME CUT THE FEATHERS