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

[brothersmother]

No construction skills, limited equipment and only $40 in material (mostly scrap) but I'm proud of the coop me and my boys (12, 7, and 3) made : )

 

[insanity]

Not bad at all. You should be proud.

 

[Kassaundra]

No construction skills, limited equipment and only $40 in material (mostly scrap) but I'm proud of the coop me and my boys (12, 7, and 3) made : )

Great job.

 

[CutlassL29]

What a great thread! Thought I would add to it. It's not so much an invention but a modification of a heat lamp.


I wasn't a big fan of the spring clamp that came with the heating lamp so I decided to make something more secure. So, I came up with this.


All the steel parts were in my scrap bin (I do alot of side weld jobs). I marked the pole (conduit) it slides on with 1/2" increments (not shown). The pole extends about 10" above the box. I liked the thought of knowing how high up the lamp is from the floor.
The chicks aren't here yet but when they are I can at least sleep at night knowing this thing won't fall in the brooder and start a fire!
There are some other slight mods I'd like to do so it's more versatile but for now this works for me.

 

[ByrdWc3]

Here is my Coop design so far, I was just approved for my Chicken Permit and we are looking to get chicks in the next few weeks. Any suggestions or tips? We haven't decided or talked much about the door and I've seen some expensive and DIY options out there...

Also we thought about putting pavers down in the run and we also have a sandbox planned, but I've seen a great deal of dirt bathing hens, any suggestions on pavers or just dirt? We are a little concerned about run off water in the yard and thought pavers might keep them a bit less muddy.


GREAT THREAD BY THE WAY!

Wendy

Chicks in Richmond, VA!

 

[Leahs Mom]

If you're building it yourself - would you be able to build a full-sized shed that you can walk into?

I think you'll appreciate that kind of setup much more as time passes. And if you have the ability to build such a nice drawing I bet you would do a great job on a regular shed or yard-barn type dwelling!

 

[Leahs Mom]

Oh - and a good deep litter in the run is the best! Provides a healthy substrate and doesn't get all packed down and unhealthy.

You can often get wood chips free from the tree trimming companies when they are working in your area. You can call some and see if they will do it for you. Those wood chips help make a great substrate! For dust bathing you can put out some peat moss from time to time...or if they are allowed to range outside the "run" they'll make their own

 

[OScarlet]

Our run is built on a slope covered with pavers (with wire underneath) then we have a row of cinder blocks on top of that (with small gaps between them for drainage) then the run and coop are built on them. We put down about four inches of masonry sand and then collected dry leaves and put them in the run, there is about one and a half trash bins in there. It has been a month and I haven't had to clean the run at all and there is no smell at all. We haven't had rain but I plan to put a shade cloth cover over the run which should divert the rain. Our chickens love the leaves and I love that all I do is turn the sand and leaves a bit once a week.

 

[DMRippy]

What is a great thread! Thought I would add to it. It's not so much an invention but a modification of a heat lamp.


I wasn't a big fan of the spring clamp that came with the heating lamp so I decided to make something more secure. So, I came up with this.


All the steel parts were in my scrap bin (I do alot of side weld jobs). I marked the pole (conduit) it slides on with 1/2" increments (not shown). The pole extends about 10" above the box. I liked the thought of knowing how high up the lamp is from the floor.
The chicks aren't here yet but when they are I can at least sleep at night knowing this thing won't fall in the brooder and start a fire!
There are some other slight mods I'd like to do so it's more versatile but for now this works for me.

That is GREAT! now how to make it...... maybe hubby can help.

 

[PrimroseMom1]

No construction skills, limited equipment and only $40 in material (mostly scrap) but I'm proud of the coop me and my boys (12, 7, and 3) made : )

So nice!! I love doing projects with my granddaughter. So much more fun!!