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- #9,491
Mine too...I like using things that have a multiple purpose throughout the year. I currently have hay bales in use as insulation around the base of this same coop structure but on the outside. They are encased in heavy duty black trash bags so they won't get wet and will be used many times before they are then used for mulch or some such purpose.
The plywood pieces are now being used as a windblock on one side of the chicken's outdoor lounging area to keep the rain, snow and wind from their favorite place.
I have four empty trash cans pulling double duty by holding compressed, dry leaves to be used for bedding this winter...but those same trash cans will be used at the yearly family reunion in the spring.
The brooder lamp has a regular bulb in it now and is being used for my coop light when I need to work on the chickens after dark. Just about everything I use around here has a double and sometimes multiple purpose.
That pitchfork is currently in use as my bedding mover...sometimes it seems they scratch it all towards the door, so occasionally I take the fork and pitch it right back under the roosts.
The dog house not only houses their protector but I place it so that it is a wind block for their pop door and stretch a tarp from the coop to the doghouse to keep the rain and snow off their entrance and to provide them a tunnel in which to enter the coop.
The dog will also cut trail for them when it snows and the indentations made by his pads will provide the traction marks for better footing. It also puts him right where I need him and he can hear anything that goes on in that coop, though his house is snugged down into hay bales and he has lots of bedding in the house itself. He serves as a LGD, a watch dog and the family companion. He breaks up fights and keeps the hawks at bay.
I like things to have a purpose and I like it better if they have many purposes. I guess that's why I keep dual-purpose breeds.
The plywood pieces are now being used as a windblock on one side of the chicken's outdoor lounging area to keep the rain, snow and wind from their favorite place.
I have four empty trash cans pulling double duty by holding compressed, dry leaves to be used for bedding this winter...but those same trash cans will be used at the yearly family reunion in the spring.
The brooder lamp has a regular bulb in it now and is being used for my coop light when I need to work on the chickens after dark. Just about everything I use around here has a double and sometimes multiple purpose.
That pitchfork is currently in use as my bedding mover...sometimes it seems they scratch it all towards the door, so occasionally I take the fork and pitch it right back under the roosts.
The dog house not only houses their protector but I place it so that it is a wind block for their pop door and stretch a tarp from the coop to the doghouse to keep the rain and snow off their entrance and to provide them a tunnel in which to enter the coop.
The dog will also cut trail for them when it snows and the indentations made by his pads will provide the traction marks for better footing. It also puts him right where I need him and he can hear anything that goes on in that coop, though his house is snugged down into hay bales and he has lots of bedding in the house itself. He serves as a LGD, a watch dog and the family companion. He breaks up fights and keeps the hawks at bay.
I like things to have a purpose and I like it better if they have many purposes. I guess that's why I keep dual-purpose breeds.
