DIY Thread - Let's see your "Inventions".

[perchie.girl]

Here is another idea that I "modified." I saw this feeder somewhere on BYC but I can't find the thread but here is the YouTube video:

I thought what a great idea. But what is that lever? The BYC thread showed a picture of the lever and I was trying to think of what it looked like "to me." To me, it looked like one of those peg board thingys that you hang tools on in the garage.

My husband had some of those so I tested it out and it worked! Here is a pic of the peg board thing that I am talking about. I wrapped it in red duct tape to attract the ducks and chickens:




I discovered that the small ones don't do as well (but that could have been user error) I think the double prongs on the small ones work great though. I guess you can just buy some longer ones that have the double prongs but i was just using what we had at the house.



I drilled holes in the bottom of this compost bucket that we do not use and put the peg board thingy in the hole, put in feed and tested it.



it worked so well that I decided to do the same thing with some extra hanging plant pots that I had. The pots already had holes but they needed to be a little bigger.





The ducks and chickens learned how to use it in just a few minutes.

Since this is "Stephanie construction", I don't know how big the holes are. I just messed with the holes until it was big enough for feed to come out but small enough so that the peg board thingy would not fall out.

EXCELLENT..... Awesome use..... I had seen these feeders and was thinking of using a Spoon but this is better much better. I am going to use this for my next feeder construction......

deb

 

[MamaRoo]

We made a live trap out of wood scraps and other leftovers. Even the hardware was from old projects.

 

[Frugal Que]

We used to have goats and there was no way this would have worked with them around. They are now gone though. I wanted to say that with our setup, we don't leave the water on. I just turn it on, feed everyone and turn it off. It just takes a few minutes. In fact, we only use the water from the house during the dry summers. In Portland, our rainy season will be here soon, so I just have the hose go from the barrels to this system.

I would like to use floats in each container but I am already construction challenged. Maybe I will get my husband to help me with that part.

Yes, we raise rabbits on the ground in colonies. MUCH BETTER in my opinion. Each rabbit colony area is 7 feet by 12 feet. We laid fencing down two feet, covered it with all that dirt that we had just dug up and put hay on top of that. We did put nesting boxes in there and they do use them. They also love to burrow so we are just careful when we are walking around in there. The rabbits love to come up to us and nibble at our shoes.

 

[Bducky]

I know alot of people make these. But i made an incubator.

 

[perchie.girl]

We used to have goats and there was no way this would have worked with them around. They are now gone though. I wanted to say that with our setup, we don't leave the water on. I just turn it on, feed everyone and turn it off. It just takes a few minutes. In fact, we only use the water from the house during the dry summers. In Portland, our rainy season will be here soon, so I just have the hose go from the barrels to this system.

I would like to use floats in each container but I am already construction challenged. Maybe I will get my husband to help me with that part.

Yes, we raise rabbits on the ground in colonies. MUCH BETTER in my opinion. Each rabbit colony area is 7 feet by 12 feet. We laid fencing down two feet, covered it with all that dirt that we had just dug up and put hay on top of that. We did put nesting boxes in there and they do use them. They also love to burrow so we are just careful when we are walking around in there. The rabbits love to come up to us and nibble at our shoes.

for your duck water you would want to stay the way you have it so it would clean its self. But float valves are very easy. But then again I buy the kind that clamp on to the edge of the bowl. They run about twelve bucks a piece and work with any container that can support the clamp. You can screw them directly onto a hose or pvc Male hose thread directly to the pipe. ONly one moving part and a little seal flap that I have NEVER had to replace


What I want to do is fasten the clamps and hose (I use washing machine hoses for the connection to PVC) to a solid unmoving piece of wood and slip the water tub underneath. This way I can swap out the tub for a clean one in a nanosecond. The floats only offer a trickle of water so very little wastage would happen. I have one on my horses 110 gallon water tank and one on my Goats 80 gallon water tank and each of my chcken pens five gallon tubs. In 110 degree summer heat everyone goes through alot of water.

I am not at home to make sure the tubs get filled so this is what is necessary for me for now.... sigh.

deb

 

[hotrodflash]

Hey... Do you raise rabbits on the ground in enclosures? My Grandpa did that in Texas. They would dig fence down about two feet and set fence at about four feet covering about half an acre Then put two rabbits in there. They would dig their own houses and dad said you wouldnt see a single rabbit till feeding time then they would appear out of their cool homes to have dinner. An excellent natural way to keep rabbits.

deb

There may be some that allow their rabbits to live on the ground, but the wild rabbit population here has been decimated by fire ants. So I would think that it would be really difficult to raise rabbits like that anymore. The wild rabbits are starting to come back but the numbers are still down. Or at least they are in my area of Texas.

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote: Oh gosh Grandpas rabbit raising was back in the 40s. Back when he was a sharecropper. Dad must have been ten or twelve then. I was born in 55. I know how the fire ants have invaded..... I just didnt know if ANYone raised them in colonies still.

deb

 

[PrimroseMom1]

Oh gosh Grandpas rabbit raising was back in the 40s.   Back when he was a sharecropper.  Dad must have been ten or twelve then.  I was born in 55.    I know how the fire ants have invaded.....  I just didnt know if ANYone raised them in colonies still.

deb

This is certainly not a colony, I only have one rabbit in it, but I ended up with one rabbit more than I thought and she had a litter so I wanted to separate her. I was short a hutch, but had a small one, so I made her a temporary playpen for day time and put her in the small hutch at night to protect her from predators. She seems to love her natural play pen so much that I bought the materials to build a permanent one that the little hutch will fit in. I put a tunnel and wood house on it. I had to put temp top on it because the chickens would get in it. She has never tried to get out. It is still very hot here so I put a couple of frozen bottles on the ground, put a fan and a misting system. She got snuffles and the vet said from heat stress although under a big tree with a breeze, so I added the misting. She does like it and stays near. Here's a foto.

 

[gigiok]

Has anyone tried a zip line to carry feed into the coop/barn? I'm thinking it might work well - hook up a zip line so it runs directly into the coop but use those tighteners with the hook end so you hook and unhook your line. Then I'm thinking that something like a canvas horse stall 'gate' that has hooks. You would hook up your zip line, back up the car or pickup to the line, wrap the bags of feed in the canvas carrier, run nylon rope through the hooks and then hook the rope onto the zip line pulley. You then just slide your bag of feed along the line until you get to the end where you have your feed can. Open the bag and let the feed pour into the can. It would save lifting and toting and for all of us who just can't carry 50 lb bags it would also save our backs. You could use it for bales of hay also... Just a thought - I ordered a zip line kit today so am going to put this together. Plus grandkids can hook it to a tree and have a great time - lol!

 

[TexasLisa]

Has anyone tried a zip line to carry feed into the coop/barn? I'm thinking it might work well - hook up a zip line so it runs directly into the coop but use those tighteners with the hook end so you hook and unhook your line. Then I'm thinking that something like a canvas horse stall 'gate' that has hooks. You would hook up your zip line, back up the car or pickup to the line, wrap the bags of feed in the canvas carrier, run nylon rope through the hooks and then hook the rope onto the zip line pulley. You then just slide your bag of feed along the line until you get to the end where you have your feed can. Open the bag and let the feed pour into the can. It would save lifting and toting and for all of us who just can't carry 50 lb bags it would also save our backs. You could use it for bales of hay also... Just a thought - I ordered a zip line kit today so am going to put this together. Plus grandkids can hook it to a tree and have a great time - lol!

I like the idea! Please take pictures when you set it up.

Lisa