My run & winter waterer

[Don]

I knew there was a post somewhere that asked for pics but I cant recall which.

Below is a pic of my outside waterer. It's just a 5 gal bucket with the lid on and a few holes drilled in the side below the height of the metal pan that it sits in. To keep it from freezing I took another pan, turned it upside down and put a 100 watt light bulb under it in a ceramic base. (The electrical connections are sealed with silicone.)

Also below is a picture of my 20" x 20" run. I have field fence around the run as well as 1" chicken wire and aviary (plant) netting completely encasing the top so nothing gets in or out. The coop is a modified old tin shed I got free from Craigslist. I built a door into it and right above I installed a window. There is wood around the base on the chicken side so again ... nothing in or out. Also, you may see the edge of a pallet off to the right of the run ... this is where it separates the run from the back yard where the dogs live. The pallets are to give the chickens a little bit of a break from the dogs harassing them through the fence.

Please feel free to ask questions or make comments!

Peace, Grace and Merry Christmas folks!

 

[lovemychix]

Very creative.

 

[Renee]

Hmmm. I see.
And how much did I spend on a waterer that uses exactly the same principle?

 

[FrontPorchIndiana]

That waterer thing is brilliant.

 

[chicksalot]

Good idea. I like the pic of your birds...all nice-lookers!

 

[Don]

oh yeah, I forgot to post this picture of my homemade feeder as well. As you can see, I like using 5 gallon buckets.

I sat the bucket into the pot base and marked a line showing the height of the base. At this point I took a 2" hole saw and drilled 4 holes across from each other at the bottom of the bucket below the line I just made.

Then, using 4 bolts washers and nuts, I bolted the bucket to the pot base.

Since I was going to hang it in the coop ... with the lip just about head height ... I had to make a "V" bend in the handle so it hung level.

Now, I can just unsnap it ... take it out ... pop the lid ... pour in a boatload of feed and put it back. This lasts my 6 chookies about 2 weeks ... sometimes 2.5 weeks per fill.

The tape on the lid is covering a hole that was from when I used it as an upside-down tomato planter.

If you need clarification on any of that in case you'd like to make one ... just lemme know! The only real changes I would make would be to put an upside-down cone inside the feeder at the bottom to make sure that all the feed goes out the sides. So far there haven't been any issues with it flowing freely though.

OH YEAH! That piece of plywood is what I had on hand to pop a hole in and let dangle so they dont roost on the feeder. It works!

Peace!

 

[Sissy]

Great work
you have some excellent money saving ideas.

 

[Don]

Quote:
I wish I could claim credit for these ... but I can't and (sadly) I don't recall where I got the ideas.

So for now, I'll just try to help others save a lil bank by passing them on...

Peace and Merry Christmas!

Don