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

[Chipper Chicken]

You're very welcome! I'm planning on doing something like the last links on my house, maybe this winter. The website Says plan for 3-5 days work...that's for 1100 sq' and someone that knows what there doing.....
But for a coop, probably a lot less. Add in some black water barrels to slowly release extra heat over night, also passive, and it might be enough......

there are so many projects on that site I can get side tracked for hours.... but lots of great ideas regardless. I'm going to put a 45watt 3 panel harbor freight solar system on my coops roof with batteries. We'll see if I can make something like @blooie 's mamabrooder run off of it to keep the chickies warm.

 

[bruceha2000]

Well bother.
Do you think only another week? I was counting down the reduce temp by 3c per week and thinking it's going to be another month? Or does it sort of plateau out when they feather up and you don't need the gradual decreases?

That whole "n degrees for the first week, n-x degrees the next week" thing is a bunch of malarky. I bought into it as well with the older ones. The now 21 week old birds were mail order but raised by a broody hen. Have to be continuously at 35C for the first week, then 32 for the next week? Bull hockey (or the Aussie equivalent

)! Those littles were out from under Zorra in 12C temps a LOT even the day after I stuck them under her (then 4 days old). She had them out in the run at 5 days and would take them back into the brooding pen periodically (their food and water were in there) and at night. At 2 weeks she decided "to heck with having to wait for the stupid looking chicken with no feathers to let us out in the morning" and took them up into one of the nest boxes. Access perch at 18", lip of the box at 2'.








Go read through Blooie's Mama Heating Pad thread:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/956958/mama-heating-pad-in-the-brooder-picture-heavy-update
to see what is a much more natural way (for the next time).

They need nothing once they are fully feathered. My now 3 Y/O hens went out to the barn at 3 weeks because they were getting out of the brooder bathtub but couldn't get back in. Besides that, I didn't REALLY need all the chick poop on the newspaper covered bathroom floor

It was July and the night time temps were about what you have now. Give them a nice quantity of shavings to settle in to and they will probably be fine.

All of the 7 broody raised Juves were up on the roosts by 4 weeks. Some still stuffed under Zorra (as best a chick that old can on a roost) but most looked just like all the older hens. Parked up there next to another bird.

You're very welcome! I'm planning on doing something like the last links on my house, maybe this winter. The website Says plan for 3-5 days work...that's for 1100 sq' and someone that knows what there doing...

..
But for a coop, probably a lot less. Add in some black water barrels to slowly release extra heat over night, also passive, and it might be enough......

there are so many projects on that site I can get side tracked for hours....

but lots of great ideas regardless. I'm going to put a 45watt 3 panel harbor freight solar system on my coops roof with batteries. We'll see if I can make something like @blooie 's mamabrooder run off of it

to keep the chickies warm.

I think the Sunbeam pad runs about 65W of power. That is per hour. I'm sorry to say that you won't run it with a 45w solar panel unless you have a HUGE bank of batteries already charged. And you need an inverter to convert the 12V to 120V. And you can't charge a battery while it is being used so you need automatic isolating technology to charge part while the other part is being used. Really, much as permanent extension cords are to be avoided, you can get waterproof connectors (if you have to link some together) for a LOT less than solar panels and batteries. Run your MHP off that for a few weeks then pull in the cords. And for the next time, if the ground allows, rent a trencher, make a minimum 18" deep trench between the house and the coop, thread 12-3 wire through underground rated conduit and wire up the coop permanently

Basic electrical work isn't hard but it MUST be done correctly. Reseach this if you are handy, get an electrician otherwise.

 

[aart]

Quote: Ditto Dat^


Here's my notes on chick heat, hope something in there might help:
They need to be pretty warm(~85-90F on the brooder floor right under the lamp and 10-20 degrees cooler at the other end of brooder) for the first day or two, especially if they have been shipped, until they get to eating, drinking and moving around well. But after that it's best to keep them as cool as possible for optimal feather growth and quicker integration to outside temps. A lot of chick illnesses are attributed to too warm of a brooder. I do think it's a good idea to use a thermometer on the floor of the brooder to check the temps, especially when new at brooding, later i still use it but more out of curiosity than need.

The best indicator of heat levels is to watch their behavior:
If they are huddled/piled up right under the lamp and cheeping very loudly, they are too cold.
If they are spread out on the absolute edges of the brooder as far from the lamp as possible, panting and/or cheeping very loudly, they are too hot.
If they sleep around the edge of the lamp calmly just next to each other and spend time running all around the brooder they are juuuust right!

The lamp is best at one end of the brooder with food/water at the other cooler end of the brooder, so they can get away from the heat or be under it as needed. Wattage of 'heat' bulb depends on size of brooder and ambient temperature of room brooder is in. Regular incandescent bulbs can be used, you might not need a 'heat bulb'. You can get red colored incandescent bulbs at a reptile supply source. A dimmer extension cord is an excellent way to adjust the output of the bulb to change the heat without changing the height of the lamp.


Or you could go with a heat plate, commercially made or DIY: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/pseudo-brooder-heater-plate

 

[Chipper Chicken]

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I think the Sunbeam pad runs about 65W of power. That is per hour. I'm sorry to say that you won't run it with a 45w solar panel unless you have a HUGE bank of batteries already charged. And you need an inverter to convert the 12V to 120V. And you can't charge a battery while it is being used so you need automatic isolating technology to charge part while the other part is being used. Really, much as permanent extension cords are to be avoided, you can get waterproof connectors (if you have to link some together) for a LOT less than solar panels and batteries. Run your MHP off that for a few weeks then pull in the cords. And for the next time, if the ground allows, rent a trencher, make a minimum 18" deep trench between the house and the coop, thread 12-3 wire through underground rated conduit and wire up the coop permanently    Basic electrical work isn't hard but it MUST be done correctly. Reseach this if you are handy, get an electrician otherwise. 

Ahh, I hadn't gotten that far yet in the research, but no doubt you're right. Well I'll have the trencher rented anyway for all the other projects we've been holding off on....so why not....thanks Bruce .

 

[scottcaddy]

Nice thread,marking it.
Scott

 

[cabinchicky]

Wish I could have used a trencher to cover my electric line but no I was determined! Have a small Stihl tillerthat I removed the two end tines and used it to dig a 25 ftx 12 inch trench.That lil bugger can dig! Works great for turning over the run too! Crap need to do that again too.

 

[perchie.girl]

Wish I could have used a trencher to cover my electric line but no I was determined! Have a small Stihl tillerthat I removed the two end tines and used it to dig a 25 ftx 12 inch trench.That lil bugger can dig! Works great for turning over the run too! Crap need to do that again too.

OMG I could do that... twelve inches deep is all I need. Just enough to protect the lines from the sun.

deb "OFF to look at used tillers on Craigslist"

 

[DeedeesInn]

The big outdoor feeder station looks great. How do you keep rodents out at night?

 

[MeepBeep]

Wish I could have used a trencher to cover my electric line but no I was determined! Have a small Stihl tillerthat I removed the two end tines and used it to dig a 25 ftx 12 inch trench.That lil bugger can dig! Works great for turning over the run too! Crap need to do that again too.

OMG  I could do that... twelve inches deep is all I need.    Just enough to protect the lines from the  sun.  

deb "OFF to look at used tillers on Craigslist"

My local Home Depot rents 18" deep trenchers for $66 for 4 hours... Here is a trick, rent it about 15-20 minutes before they close and you will have it overnight for the same 4 hour rate, as the hourly rental clock only runs during their business hours... So basically if you rent it about 20 minutes before they close you have it overnight and even for the first 3 1/2 hours the store is open the next day... I do this all the time with their rentals and plan an early morning or late night job, gives you several more hours for the base 4 hour rate and I stress a lot less about the wasted 'delivery' and 'return' time...

Of course anytime you trench have the area surveyed for buried pipes or wires just to be safe...

 

[BBQJOE]

My local Home Depot rents 18" deep trenchers for $66 for 4 hours... Here is a trick, rent it about 15-20 minutes before they close and you will have it overnight for the same 4 hour rate, as the hourly rental clock only runs during their business hours... So basically if you rent it about 20 minutes before they close you have it overnight and even for the first 3 1/2 hours the store is open the next day... I do this all the time with their rentals and plan an early morning or late night job, gives you several more hours for the base 4 hour rate and I stress a lot less about the wasted 'delivery' and 'return' time...

Of course anytime you trench have the area surveyed for buried pipes or wires just to be safe...

You can do the same thing with heavy equipment
You rent say, a backhoe for a day, and order it delivered on a Friday. They're not going to come pick it up on a Friday evening, nor Sat or Sun.
Fill a few cans with diesel. Run the machine the allotted 8 hours. Check the fuel level.
Then open up the fuse box, and find the fuse that runs the clock, and remove it.
Use the backhoe all weekend, and get as many projects done as you can. Put enough fuel back in it to bring it back up to where it was when you checked it after 8 hours of use.
Tada! Three days of use for the price of one day and some fuel.

Of course, I myself, would never do such a thing, I don't think.