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- #21
Made the feeder today. We will have 12-15 chickens living in here... and I'm constantly filling feeders, so I searched for a container that would hold quite a bit of feed. I went with a design I saw on BYC. With a using a 3" hole saw and cutting down an end of one of these 3" PVC elbows, the fit was so perfect I didn't have to use any caulk.
Here is the inside. The pipes sit about 1" off the bottom, and are just big enough for them to comfortably fit their head inside but they won't be able to flip the food out. I've got 1 pipe in each side for a total of 4. It sits under the poop board so they won't be getting on top of it, and I can easily slide it out the back doors when it needs refilling.
Finished building the roost and poop board. I'll be putting a mix of sand and Sweet PDZ in here (as well as sand on the coop floor). The bottom of the board is some sort of waterproof shower type wall board that my FIL had lying around. I swear...the treasures I find up in his shop and scrap pile!!! I've been able to repurpose so much for this project because he never gets rid of anything!
I wanted to use natural branches, so hubby was nice enough to head out into the veeeeery overgrown 20+ year old Christmas trees and find two that would work. The whole thing is sitting on L brackets screwed into the wall, as I wanted the roost and board to be easily removable if need be.
I scrounged up a piece of old vinyl window blind, cut it in half, screwed it down across the opening to act as a barrier board for keeping the sand in and away from the back door hinges.
I think I won't use the back doors (bottom half) too often unless I need to add bedding, do a clean out, fill the feeder, etc because they are so. stinkin'. heavy. At one time someone converted them from attaching on the sides to being hinged on the bottom, and bolting down heavy stall matting to them to make ramps. The easier door to enter into is the side man door.
I started screening off the manger area with hardware cloth and am taking some time to figure out how I want to make a door into this section that I can access from the inside ( it does have two working doors on the outside but I think an inside door would be handy too.
The manger area is going to serve as a chicken hospital place, broody hen area, and baby chick brooder as needed.
I can't add the flooring to the manger or tack area (where feed and supplies will be stored) until my FIL and husband repair the rusted through holes that line the front seam. This is where all the water damage seems to have been on this trailer. Their plan is to weld a "3 strip of sheet metal over as a patch, so due to the heat involved in that it wouldn't be smart to install wood and vinyl products in that area yet! This welding will be done shortly.
Until then I'll focus on the waterer, and platform/ramps for just inside the automatic door, as it is off the floor quite a ways.
Here is the inside. The pipes sit about 1" off the bottom, and are just big enough for them to comfortably fit their head inside but they won't be able to flip the food out. I've got 1 pipe in each side for a total of 4. It sits under the poop board so they won't be getting on top of it, and I can easily slide it out the back doors when it needs refilling.
Finished building the roost and poop board. I'll be putting a mix of sand and Sweet PDZ in here (as well as sand on the coop floor). The bottom of the board is some sort of waterproof shower type wall board that my FIL had lying around. I swear...the treasures I find up in his shop and scrap pile!!! I've been able to repurpose so much for this project because he never gets rid of anything!
I wanted to use natural branches, so hubby was nice enough to head out into the veeeeery overgrown 20+ year old Christmas trees and find two that would work. The whole thing is sitting on L brackets screwed into the wall, as I wanted the roost and board to be easily removable if need be.
I scrounged up a piece of old vinyl window blind, cut it in half, screwed it down across the opening to act as a barrier board for keeping the sand in and away from the back door hinges.
I think I won't use the back doors (bottom half) too often unless I need to add bedding, do a clean out, fill the feeder, etc because they are so. stinkin'. heavy. At one time someone converted them from attaching on the sides to being hinged on the bottom, and bolting down heavy stall matting to them to make ramps. The easier door to enter into is the side man door.
I started screening off the manger area with hardware cloth and am taking some time to figure out how I want to make a door into this section that I can access from the inside ( it does have two working doors on the outside but I think an inside door would be handy too.
The manger area is going to serve as a chicken hospital place, broody hen area, and baby chick brooder as needed.
I can't add the flooring to the manger or tack area (where feed and supplies will be stored) until my FIL and husband repair the rusted through holes that line the front seam. This is where all the water damage seems to have been on this trailer. Their plan is to weld a "3 strip of sheet metal over as a patch, so due to the heat involved in that it wouldn't be smart to install wood and vinyl products in that area yet! This welding will be done shortly.
Until then I'll focus on the waterer, and platform/ramps for just inside the automatic door, as it is off the floor quite a ways.
