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

[liveoak]

Hey I have bucket nesting boxes too!!
Picked them up free at the dump. I screwed half moon pieces of 2x6 in as "bedding holders" with one screw coming through the bottom. They swivel open for easy cleaning.
The nests are just sitting in the 2x6' peices that the half moons were cut out of - not attached.
Everything is easy to pull apart and remove from the coop for sanitizing.

 

[liveoak]

Thanks Duke....Dad said only build it once...Unfortanately this weekend my grand-daughter stepped on the leg of one of my four week old chicks and she is really favoring that leg now..we are hoping for the best....next is finish trim on run and the watering nipples inside the run....

Hey, years ago I had a vet set the leg of a duckling for me with a popsicle stick (he did it for free and even gave it some pain killer!). It healed just fine. I had to massage the foot a few times a day to make sure the tape didn't cut off circulation.
I doubt you will find a kindly old vet that will do that these days, but it might be worth a try to do it yourself.

 

[SouthDakotan]

I am trying my hand at making a homemade brooder. Its a plastic tub this year. Last time I used a indoor rabbit cage to house my new chicks, but I want something that will keep drafts off. So I came up with this.


I got a large plastic tub from the Habitat ReStore that was missing its lid. I also got a window screen (metal screening) and mounted it by making holes along the rim of the tub and edge of the screen framing.




I also mounted a small thermostat on the inside wall of the tub, so that I can monitor the temps of the tub.



I plan on having the heat lamp mounted at one end. So the chicks can go from warm zone to cooler zone. At the moment the lamp is merely laying on top of the screen, but it will be mounted so it hangs, not lays on the screen.



I saw something similar to this, but in a smaller scale using a small tub and thought it may work for my needs if I made a larger version. I like the idea of me being able to see through the walls and monitor the chicks while having a lid to keep out my dog's muzzle!

 

[mandelyn]

Ducks are messy because of their use of water. Solution: Catch the water before it hits the bedding!

This is a 24x18x8 plastic tote, with a wooden frame built snugly around it, and covered over with hardware cloth. Installed a handle on one side, to easily lift the frame and pull out the tote when it needs emptied, about twice a week. Way better than mucking out wet bedding every day!

Someone in the duck section made one from a plastic drawer style tote.

You can also make a smaller one for ducklings, or build it into a duck coop by having part of the floor as hardware cloth, enough to allow for at least 6 inches of open wire around the drinker.

 

[DMRippy]

Ducks are messy because of their use of water. Solution: Catch the water before it hits the bedding!

This is a 24x18x8 plastic tote, with a wooden frame built snugly around it, and covered over with hardware cloth. Installed a handle on one side, to easily lift the frame and pull out the tote when it needs emptied, about twice a week. Way better than mucking out wet bedding every day!

Someone in the duck section made one from a plastic drawer style tote.

You can also make a smaller one for ducklings, or build it into a duck coop by having part of the floor as hardware cloth, enough to allow for at least 6 inches of open wire around the drinker.

I just love this... I saw this in another post too and I need to make one. I use nipples and there is always a mess under the waterer. The litter get wet and nasty quickly. I need to go to the dollar tree and see what I can find to put under the waterers.

 

[crittergarden]

I'm so glad I subscribed to this thread!
I'm just designing my first coop now and you all have such good suggestions!

 

[SouthDakotan]

Ducks are messy because of their use of water. Solution: Catch the water before it hits the bedding!

This is a 24x18x8 plastic tote, with a wooden frame built snugly around it, and covered over with hardware cloth. Installed a handle on one side, to easily lift the frame and pull out the tote when it needs emptied, about twice a week. Way better than mucking out wet bedding every day!

Someone in the duck section made one from a plastic drawer style tote.

You can also make a smaller one for ducklings, or build it into a duck coop by having part of the floor as hardware cloth, enough to allow for at least 6 inches of open wire around the drinker.

So do the ducks walk onto the hardware cloth drain area or is it placed so they just come up to the area? My ducks seem to "Water" the soil outside the tub area and then filter the "mud" back into the tub of formerly clean water! So are you keeping them from accessing soil altogether?

 

[mandelyn]

So do the ducks walk onto the hardware cloth drain area or is it placed so they just come up to the area? My ducks seem to "Water" the soil outside the tub area and then filter the "mud" back into the tub of formerly clean water! So are you keeping them from accessing soil altogether?

That's their inside water, they walk up to it now, when they were little they'd hop on it. They get their mud fix out in the yard, I'll place a tub out there, and move it around, so that they don't get any one area for too long. Saves the grass. Or when I drain their swimming pool, they get let out to play where the water is draining out. The full time run is gravel base with pine straw over it, no mud in there... stinks too bad when they have full time access to the same mud pit.

 

[chickenhatcher]

Hi I designed a pringle can candler. Sadly it's in pieces so no pics. I do have a diagram.Around the egg there is 3-4 big holes for viewing and putting in the egg.

 

[Hawgon]

Chickenhatcher-Would love to see a pic.....Where the holes to put the egg in and the holes to see the egg located...Are they on the same level as the egg? Very simple and cheap....

Hi I designed a pringle can candler. Sadly it's in pieces so no pics. I do have a diagram.Around the egg there is 3-4 big holes for viewing and putting in the egg.