Recent content by Folara

Thank you for your experience, I share the same thoughts on the buckets! Good idea to start with smaller holes, you can always go bigger but you can't go smaller. I'm sure different types of feed have different hole requirements so everyone has to experiment with what works for their specific feed.

That's good thinking - from the tutorials I've seen online no one has mentioned anything about the weight of the food preventing the bolt from moving much. I think saysfaa brings up a good point, it takes some experimenting to figure out the right hole size vs bolt toggle to allow enough food to...

I am interested in hearing everyone's thoughts, opinions, and ideas on using a bucket toggle feeder as the only or primary feeder for chickens. Below are pictures from the internet showing examples of this type of feeder - the chickens peck the cork/wood and a small amount of feed falls out of...

Do you mind explaining what lining you used and how it hasn't help up to your expectation? I was thinking of something exactly like this for my next run, lining the bottom foot or so with something solid and able to withstand moisture from the litter.

You have a great open-air coop - does the litter build up against the hardware cloth portion of the coop? Do you have to step-up onto that foot of litter when you enter? Thank you for explaining, those are great reasons for a raised floor!

Temporary deep litter in a tractor sounds great - being able to just lift up the tractor to harvest the goods is definitely an easier task! My run is also primarily leaves this time of year - I love the look of a leafy run and they break down beautifully. I'm actually glad they break down so...

For those doing a true composting deep litter in their runs (or walk-in coops), I'd love to hear your experiences with the height of the litter! My current run is about 7ft tall with fencing over the top, which I thought was plenty tall since we are shorter than that, but I didn't factor in the...

If you have a feed store nearby that has stacks of baled hay, ask them if you can sweep up some of the fallen hay on the ground. Some feed stores will do this themselves and sell bagged sweepings for cheap (usually contains all type of hay, not just alfalfa), but one of my feed stores just gave...

+1 for some branch perches made up like sawhorses! I have a similar size run and it's difficult having big/permanent perches in the small space. I have a couple actual sawhorses and they are very easy to move around or move out of the way if needed. I added some old fence boards on the legs to...

Well guess who is now the proud owner of a $11 magnet sweeper from Harbor Freight! I didn't know this genius contraption existed and we conveniently found ourselves near a Harbor Freight today, so I had to try it. I had the most fun 20 minutes rolling around the yard and found a shameful amount...

I've learned to love it, just because it is so easy! Especially when you can just nail the board on with the same nails already in it. There are many imperfections with it but it has proven to be very functional on the shed and the compost don't care. I was thinking the same thing with the...

Thank you all! I love being able to share this work with like-minded pallet people! I did have one last pallet project today, redesigning my compost bins to better suit my materials and climate. All leaves and other organic material now go into the chicken run for a deep litter composting system...

The pallet shed is officially done! It took 3 full days to build and hang the doors because nothing is square, but we got them to be functional. A small cinder block is used to keep the bottom of the doors flush with the frame to help prevent critters from squeezing inside. We were quick to...

I am quite proud to say the pallet shed has survived a tropical storm! We had wind gusts up to 90mph with tons of rain, and the shed did not budge or leak except for a single loose screw on the roof. I was concerned the gaps between the overlapping boards would allow water to seep in but even...

I installed dollar store shower curtains along the west and south sides of the run which is where we get the most wind in the winter and they held up great! They are secured to the 2x4s of the run by 1x2 boards - the long stretch of these boards held down the curtains nicely so there was no...