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

[perchie.girl]

Do chickens like suet? It looks like in the picture that they must.

Is there any certain kind that they prefer? Probably with sunflower and some corn in it?

Chickens are Omnivores just like us..... They get fat in the form of bugs and grubs and worms in their diet in the wild. They will also scavange dead animals. Throw the Thanksgiving turkey Carcass out there and Watch the fun. It will be so picked clean the ants wont be interested.....

deb

 

[Blooie]

We put apple cider vinager in the chick water for pasty butt. Around 4 tsp per gallon of water. We have 18 chicks with no pasty butts.

I do now..LOL I learned about the ACV (with the mother) on the forums a couple of days after I got my chicks, and haven't had an issue with Pasty Butt since I started using it. Of course, they may have simply grown out of it as they got older, but I prefer to think it was the tips learned here. From now on using it will be as automatic as filling feeders!

 

[rojororeo]

Welcome Greg M....

From San Diego. I thought of that too.... but hes got seeds mixed in it...

How about:

One of those saws that are a cable with a ring on each end. Kind of like a roebust cheese wire.

A cleaver and a hammer.... or machetti something you dont mind banging up.

And finally How about making a mold for the suet just the right size and shape using a wood form... Then remelting the suet and pour it into the mold? I dont know the particulars of suet so Have no idea if this is even possible.

deb

I "built" a mold from 1x2's to fit the suet cages I have...lined it with tin foil. It worked really well!

I used a clear plastic take out container that was about the right size.....or you could use an old container that you buy the stuff in.

Eggcellent ideas! After having issues cutting it, I did decide my next ones will be in muffin tins or something! Thanks all! I think for free-ness's sake, I will be chopping up yogurt containers to make them shorter, and using the bottoms... That way I van bust it out, then recycle said container!
Thanks all!

 

[Volcanic Egger]

Cheap and easy. Not my idea but it's the most ingenious auto door opener I have ever seen. Two buckets, two watering timers, some cord, couple of pulleys and a door. He uses a regular AC powered sprinkler timer to start but it's not necessary. By using two battery powered sprinkler timers you don't need AC power, wiring, solenoid,etc. Just the two timers and two buckets and a hose connected to the faucet. Just amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Kassaundra]

Cheap and easy. Not my idea but it's the most ingenious auto door opener I have ever seen. Two buckets, two watering timers, some cord, couple of pulleys and a door. He uses a regular AC powered sprinkler timer to start but it's not necessary. By using two battery powered sprinkler timers you don't need AC power, wiring, solenoid,etc. Just the two timers and two buckets and a hose connected to the faucet. Just amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That is cool. We have auto chicken doors too, but ours are w/ a timer and a car antennae motor. My only concern w/ this one is winter and pipes freezing.


When I am at work I can't post, just read, anyway I think this is the thread that was talking about pasty butt. I switched to brooding on sand and have never had pasty butt in any chick ever.

 

[PrimroseMom1]

I do now..LOL  I learned about the ACV (with the mother) on the forums a couple of days after I got my chicks, and haven't had an issue with Pasty Butt since I started using it.   Of course, they may have simply grown out of it as they got older, but I prefer to think it was the tips learned here. From now on using it will be as automatic as filling feeders!

I always still put ACV in their water and also in their layer pellets, then I add water to the pellets and slosh it around. They love it. It keeps them healthy. Just don't put ACV in anything that has metal. Red pepper is good. Chickens cannot sense the spice and it keeps them clear of parasites naturally.

 

[Ms Jellybean]

I always still put ACV in their water and also in their layer pellets, then I add water to the pellets and slosh it around. They love it. It keeps them healthy. Just don't put ACV in anything that has metal. Red pepper is good. Chickens cannot sense the spice and it keeps them clear of parasites naturally.

Does the spice really work?

I tried brewer's yeast with my dog and it didn't work for fleas. It did give her a gorgeous shiny coat though so I still give it to her. She loves the pills too.

 

[ozexpat]

I always still put ACV in their water and also in their layer pellets, then I add water to the pellets and slosh it around. They love it. It keeps them healthy. Just don't put ACV in anything that has metal. Red pepper is good. Chickens cannot sense the spice and it keeps them clear of parasites naturally.

now this is off topic and feel free to pm me your replies if they are remotely hostile because I dont want to start any wars but

I am really mystified by the "natural" thing.

1. what part of natural is introducing something that is not part of an animals diet into their diet natural?
2. if a chemical is not part of an animal's diet, then whether it was produced by a plant or by a test tube, is there a difference as it is alien to the animal?

now i give my chickens coconut sap vinegar - like ACV in the tropics but feeding them DE or Chilli - is that natural

 

[MEMama3]

now this is off topic and feel free to pm me your replies if they are remotely hostile because I dont want to start any wars but

I am really mystified by the "natural" thing.

1. what part of natural is introducing something that is not part of an animals diet into their diet natural? 
2. if a chemical is not part of an animal's diet, then whether it was produced by a plant or by a test tube, is there a difference as it is alien to the animal?

now i give my chickens coconut sap vinegar - like ACV in the tropics but feeding them DE or Chilli - is that natural

since my reply isn't hostile (though boy did you open yourself up to some touchy people there) I figured I would reply here. I totally see your point. I have a policy in almost all aspects of my life that I want to know what my family, my animals and me myself consume. Be it right or wrong, I prefer to at least try things that I have mentally deemed safe before pulling out the big guns I can't even spell. If I spot even one worm in poultry poo I will feed them a whole pumpkin. It may not work, but it certainly won't hurt them. In fact they rather enjoy it. If it doesn't work, I'll use chemical dewormer. I guess in my head I'm choosing to try the least drastic measure. Now some of it has to do with actual science. You can feed a food that contains an ingredient that is known to cure/fix/aide something or you can feed a medication that was created and modified to contain that ingredient as well as probably a bunch of other crap you don't need.

 

[ozexpat]

In the interest of keeping this thread pure, I opened a new one

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/862248/whats-natural-in-chickens/0_50

please give opinions