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

[aart]

I've been thinking about trying the sand/grit filled heated pet bowl concept, glad to see it proven.

What are the lowest temps you've seen so far with no freezing of the rim water...or maybe you don't monitor temps inside the coop?

My modified heated pet bowl setup has been good down to about 12 degrees, then the rim water starts to freeze up...by rim I mean the rim of the red part of the waterer where they drink from, in case anyone was confused.

 

[Scott H]

Only time I've had that problem was when it was snowing. ....

 

[Leahs Mom]

Those are kept inside so there is no wind chill to accommodate for. So far it's been down to 5 F. and the water in the rim of the bowl did not freeze for either type of waterer.

When I put the jar in dog bowl outside, it began to freeze when the temps were in single digits. But the wind chill was probably around -20.

 

[Leahs Mom]

PS: I tried sand and it did not conduct the heat at all. But I didn't put any water in the sand. Just thought it would be too messy.

With the grit, I filled it up with water so that the water is conducting the heat.

 

[Leahs Mom]

aa - another thing can be done with a dog bowl. Do you remember mlowen's waterer where she drilled a hole at the bottom of an iced tea plastic gallon? It's in this post: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/631861/diy-thread-lets-see-your-inventions/1040#post_12038164

One of the people on the Natural Chicken Keeping thread is using that idea except with a bit of a twist. She has a 1 quart heated bowl (like the blue one in my photo) and is using a smaller plastic container that will fit in the quart bowl. drilled at the bottom to the appropriate height then just set into the dog bowl. (Remember this has to have an air-tight seal or it will just dump all out.)

It creates a "restricted opening" for the water to prevent frostbite, and since the container and water is in the heated dog bowl, keeps the water from freezing in the container of water.

If I had a water container that was the right size I might just do that and skip the waterer on top. However, with the honey jar it provides a lot of water and it's easier to carry outside and change out since I can carry it upright. I keep 2 of those chick water bases (which cost about $1.99) so that I can just carry out a filled jar and replace the other with it.

 

[rojororeo]

Wanted to show my secondary waterer in case it would give anyone some inspiration. Had to have a second waterer for the 16 week olds for various reasons.

This is a 1 quart heated dog waterer. I DON'T LIKE OPEN WATERERS IN WINTER due to concern of frostbite...mistakenly stepping in a bowl of water and wattles hanging into the water in the olders - so I always offer "restricted opening" waterers in the winter. Therefore I won't use a heated dog bowl just open.

This 1 quart bowl is filled with grit to make a base for the jar waterer to set securely on. Then I put water into the bowl full of grit then set the jar waterer on top of the grit. The water conducts the heat to the jar waterer. It has been working well. That is a 5 lb. honey jar rather than a quart. Holds quite a bit more water.

Even though these are chick watering bases, my adults will drink from them also.








The main waterer is my glass waterer on the heater base I made from the larger dog bowl heater. I put some red electrical tape on the glass bowl so that it was more of a visible cue for the girls. It's a half-gallon canning jar. (I posted how I made both the base and the waterer earlier in the thread.)


You can see how the bricks it sits on are spaced apart so that the cord and the ridges on the bottom of the base sit down in the space so that it sets securely.



ETA - credit to Scott for the inspiration to use the grit in the blue bowl for a stable base!

I tried variations to get the dog bowl more enclosed as well. But I guess because I keep all food and water out in the elements, I couldn't prevent it from freezing. heck, using the electric dog bowl alone, with water in it, it freezes over, sometimes solid more than 50% of the time. Especially at night, so I just make sure to empty and unplug it at night, then refill and replug in the morning when I let the chickens out, wastes a bit of water, but saves electricity in the end! Cool setups though!

 

[PrimroseMom1]

I finally finished my chicken shelter. It cost very little to make. First, I picked up the posts that were on the side of the road as discarded material.

I took off the trim, cut the posts shorter and replaced the trim.

Then I prepared where I wanted to build it.

Then I framed the four posts in place. The posts are very heavy.

I framed in the roof.

I put the plywood and shingles on the roof. The plywood was given to me and I got the shingles from Lowes from broken packs, total for shingles was $12.

Got some lattice from a garage sale that I put on the side that gets intense sun in summer.

Added some trim to the roof line and painted it a contrasting color I already had. Got exterior high quality paint from Loews mis-mixed clearance section. Added a metal painted wreath got from a garage sale.

 

[rojororeo]

That looks awesome Primrose! Looks almost big enough for animals even bigger than chickens!

 

[PrimroseMom1]

That looks awesome Primrose! Looks almost big enough for animals even bigger than chickens!  

Well, I could put a couple of goats on there, but I'm planning to put their coops in there. I did have the coops under a canvas canopy which started to dry rot and I didn't want to buy another one.

This was the old setup.

This is the replacement.

 

[RentaPig311]

Not mine but I found a great design for pvc feeders over at

http://prepforshtf.com/diy-pvc-chicken-feeder

It was easy to build and works great. Rain resistant with low waste and zero contanimation. While I've seen a ton of pvc feeders I picked this one due to the reducer inside making it no spill while filling and the lack of a tray type end means I don't have to worry about my dogs eating the chicken feed.