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

[perchie.girl]

This is a picture of babies home. it is 10x20. I used 2 old dog runs and put them together leaving off 20 feet to add on later if we wish. The coop is an old hound dog house that was already off the ground, bought it at a estate sale for $20. There is 4 hens in there now and 3 babies growing waiting to be added to the flock. I am all about recycling any and everything I can. I love my babies and now they have a safe home to do their job, make me smile and lay some eggs LOL

When you add the babies you will need to line the base of that kennel with hardware cloth. Either wire or plastic. I used plastic. Even fledged chicks can squeeze through and get out.

My coop is all Dog kennel panels. Those littleuns walk right through. Though at the time I had a couple of broody hens out there with a passle of chicks.

Nice part about the plastic hardware cloth is if you start at the door and just zip tie and un roll it you can work all the way around the base of the chainlink without having to cut it. Might take two rolls of the plastic because a ten by twenty enclosure is sixty linear feet of Hardware cloth. If you normally open the door out to go in then start with the door open zip tie the hardware cloth in place. Then roll the hardware cloth around to the fixed part of the gate panel and zip tie the cloth in place. What that will do is give you a loop of cloth free to open and shut the door. And yet still have the gaps between gate covered. Cant really do that with the metal hardware cloth.

deb

 

[jknox1982]

When I got the babies 4 days ago i thought they wouldn't be able to get threw well as you said they escaped and thankfully i was able to catch them. Right now they are in a large dog kennel where they will stay safe. I was looking at the plastic cloth at tractor supply yesterday may be my weekend project

 

[Leahs Mom]

I took rolls of the plastic and cut it in half lengthwise rather than using the tall roll. I leave mine on permanantly. Put some extra at the bottom so I could bury it in chips so they wouldn't get under. Looks like this:







Overlapped at the gates.














http://www.menards.com/main/buildin...-plastic-poultry-netting/p-1750924-c-5770.htm

 

[jknox1982]

awesome!!! for sure going to be my weekend project if I can. I have to take my step son home but if I have time I may give it a try!!! if not for sure next weekend

 

[Penny Hen]

Yes, I am interested in all this as well. I tried tarps and shower cloths last winter and both got torn to shreds (I live in a VERY windy, open area). The tarps also made my run too dark once I had them on all sides and they had no interest in going out of my coop. I don't currently have any sort of a cover on my run (other than wire) and would like mine to have an outside shelter area too.

What about trying the plastic corrugated roofing bolted onto the fence as walls. Get the clear ones and you won't have the darkness problem.

 

[Leahs Mom]

I used shower curtains and tarps. The shower curtains outlasted the tarps. Got them at Lowes. Zip tied at the top and clipped with "spring clips" down their sides to the dog kennel. They never tore at all. Lots of wind and a hard winter.

I believe it was this one. No anti-mildew treatment.

Edited because the link wasn't working. This is the model number from Lowes
Item #: 255490 | Model #: 0071135I CLR

 

[Leahs Mom]

I'm also planning on doing a stable roof over part of the run so that I don't have to knock snow off of the shade cloth I have up there. I want an outdoor covered feed area that has solid walls this year so they have more area than just the shed that doesn't get covered by snow.

 

[Chipper Chicken]

If you get access to something like this it works great for all of those issues of wind,snow, rain, etc. I got mine at a greenhouse supply place, but a farm store could maybe order it in for you...I chose it because it's sturdy, opaque, and long lasting. Also easier to work with than the wavy corrugated type of fiberglass type products and cheaper.

http://www.fiberglasssheets.com/Gre...ss/1-16-x-48-X-96-Flat-Clear-Fiberglass-Sheet

I used this on my original greenhouse to make the end walls, but although we get snow and high winds it's lasted about 20 years. Mine is mounted vertical, not horizontal BTW.
These two pictures show what it looks like RIGHT NOW. it is 20 years old and still holding up. Granted it is not as clear as it used to be, but it looked good for a long time.

Outside west end of GH

Inside looking through sliding door

Edited to add, I just checked the price on the website again, it is pretty expensive there, so I would just use this distributors site as a starting point to track some down. If I have more time later I'll see what I can find and repost.

 

[Leahs Mom]

So those are 4x8 sheets? Very interesting....

Are there fibers coming through? Most of the FRP items I've seen end up w/the fibers exposed after some wear.

 

[Chipper Chicken]

No, no fibers, just "murky" looking.