4-week old chicks & a feeder mod.

[Firefyter-Emt]

Well, after cleaning thier "dog crate coop-brooder" I once again needed to raise the chick feeder a bit higher to keep it clean. Well I used this and seeing as they only have another two weeks before they get kicked into the big coop, I figured this would be a nice way to raise the feeder up. I cut a large coffee can in half and it slipped right under the lip of the chick feeder. I added a few dabs of crazy glue to keep it from falling off too.

The girls are four weeks old now, two BR's and four BO's.

Nice and clean, no sharp edges at all. BTW... the feeder is not that deep, the original bottom is still on it.

 

[goldnchocolate]

That looks great! I have 6 wk old chicks so I know what you mean about cleaning the shavings out of their food and water. I like the way you hung their water jar up. I had more trouble with keeping the litter out of their water than anything else.

 

[mmajw]

Are they in the house?
They may not need that light any more

 

[Firefyter-Emt]

They are in my shop and the light is only a 25 watt bulb. I do have it off in the day time, but will turn it on for the colder nights. I turned it on just to get the photos.

The waterer was a bit hard to hang up, but I found some plastic bottles at our local Co-Op so I was able to drill a hole and insert a hook with some sealant. However, they still manage to kick up some shavings into the water!

It is higher than it looks, but the chick in the foreground and the one on the roost in the back makes it look much lower. The can walk under it , but have no problems reaching up to get water.

 

[DottieMarie]

Nice job with the coffee can; I can see you have some creativity genes; unfortunately I don't so I have to steal all your ideas

 

[bigreyhorse]

I love that idea,
I stopped using mine because they we're jumping on the top of them and pooping on them, do yours do that?

bigrey

 

[Firefyter-Emt]

Feel free to use any ideas, that's why they are posted!

They have not been up on top of the feeder, but it is a large mason jar, maybe 2 quarts. Plus they have that 2x4 "roost" which might give them something to sit on instead. They did not make all that much of a mess in the feeder, but did create a lot of waste.

 

[mylittlehof]

I placed the top of a copy paper box in the dog crate and put the shavings in there the rest of the crate is just paper towels. the water and food are outside the top This seems to minimize the shavings in the food and water.

 

[Firefyter-Emt]

Wait until they get a little bigger! Mine are kicking a "spray" of shavings on my shop floor about 24" around the door of the dog crate!

Well, the shop is used for a lot of woodworking so its not any worse than when I bury my lathe a foot deep in shavings!

 

[mylittlehof]

True - they are little peeps right now - I have much to look forward to!