The Old Folks Home

[gryeyes]

Vehve, I am very interested in those feeder units in your photo. Looks like there would be minimal waste from the silly birds beaking the feed out onto the floor. Can you show other photos and/or explain the set-up for those of us wishing to copy from you?

 

[Bunnylady]

I was joking about eating possum and armadillo the other day lol. I read those links about the dangers of eating roadkill that a few of u pmed. I appreciate yall looking out for my health...but i was just joking

Why am I having a "Boy Who Cried Wolf" moment?

 

[Dragonfly216]

I'm so sorry to hear that, chicki! My kitty, and the dog I had before, are my babies, so I totally understand! Prayers up for your puppy and your family! I'm glad she's at least not in any pain.

Vehve, great set-up! I was just about to ask about your feeders myself! Looks like they stick their head in the tube? And I LOVE my chicken nipple waterer!

 

[vehve]

Vehve, I am very interested in those feeder units in your photo. Looks like there would be minimal waste from the silly birds beaking the feed out onto the floor.

Can you show other photos and/or explain the set-up for those of us wishing to copy from you?

It's a modified version of the "5 gallon no waste feeder" that there's a thread about.

Here are pics of how I built the first one,






The container is a trash can. This one we have inside the coop, but for those in the run we used trash cans from Ikea. This one is slightly different, but I liked the straight sides on the Ikea buckets better.

The opening holds a storm vent I bought from a local cheap hardware chain. It has a 100mm vent, and a flapped, covered outside fitting with a small grill. I installed it inside out on the bucket and removed the flap from inside. The original design used a 90 degree angle or elbow, but I liked this one better, and it was cheaper. I just drilled a hole with a 100mm hole saw, and the vent fits snugly in that without any glue or other fastening. This thing cut down our feed waste to virtually zero. One pullet still likes to pull out some feed, but she gets maybe a quarter cup out of it daily, and most of that is eaten by the others.

The ventilation department would be where to look for such a part, while the elbows would be among plumbing supplies if you can't find a similar vent. Biltema only has stores in Scandinavia, so that exact vent would need to be shipped, which would cost a lot. But I built this feeder for about 8 euros I think. And the chickens learned to use in two minutes. Really works great.

The first pic also shows the rectangular plate with a round hole which I bought thinking I would need to secure the vent with screws, but I didn't need it. I was going to go with a pipe feeder, but I think this was a better choice, especially as the plumbing parts sold here are built to withstand quite a lot of cold, and it would have ended up costing three times more with those. Inside the coop I installed one of these feeders and a waterer on a service door, they flip out together with the door when opening it to allow easy maintenance.


This pic shows how it is installed. My first feeder was rubbish though, and the one pictured in the earlier pics is now mounted on the door instead of the one shown here. I just didn't have a picture of the updated one.

 

[vehve]

I'm so sorry to hear that, chicki! My kitty, and the dog I had before, are my babies, so I totally understand! Prayers up for your puppy and your family! I'm glad she's at least not in any pain.

Vehve, great set-up! I was just about to ask about your feeders myself! Looks like they stick their head in the tube? And I LOVE my chicken nipple waterer!

I'm not completely happy with the waterer in the run. I have a doubled system securing it, but I'm still a bit worried about how it is installed. I don't really like the vertical nipples, but I thought removing ice from the bucket in winter is easier if they're installed in that direction instead of being on the side like a horizontal nipple would have to be.

But the Ikea buckets have really dodgy handles, don't use those for securing. The main support for this one is two hooks that hold it up from the lip of the bucket. We'll see how it fares. The fastenings seen in the picture are only there as a secondary support.

 

[Sylviaanne]

I was joking about eating possum and armadillo the other day lol. I read those links about the dangers of eating roadkill that a few of u pmed. I appreciate yall looking out for my health...but i was just joking

*Sigh*
When I moved to MO from AZ I thought there would be a lot of people eating animals that were around here. No, they eat normal food. I thought, squirrels, possum, raccoon, whatever. Nope. I wanted to eat more "free" food. I found a book, Stalking The Good Life by Euell Gibbons but it didn't cover things in the desert. I found a book, practically a pamphlet about desert foods but because it was so small it didn't offer enough options to my family. I did find out you can prepare and eat tumbleweeds before they are 7 inches tall. Fix 'em like spinach. My family was not on the same page as me but we really needed some options to the grocery store. I even prepared prickly pear paddles and the kids ate them but they were slimy like boiled okra so I couldn't stand them. LOL

Even when I found a book on eating weeds, plants, tubers from out here, I didn't/don't know how to find them. If I can't find exactly like the pictures in the books, I don't pick them. I don't want to pick something that looks like chicory and end up poisoning my family.

THEN Duck Dynasty and Swamp People came into my life and although I am willing to bet that 99% of the time those people eat "normal" foods, they wouldn't tape the families eating squirrel if they didn't occasionally do it. I looked up Kay's cook book hoping there would be several recipes for wild life but there was only one squirrel recipe, if I remember correctly. Most of the time they make squirrel and dumplings and I am sure I could make that but what kind of seasonings do they use? There is a bottle of Poultry Seasoning at the store but I am sure there will not be a bottle of Squirrel Seasoning to be found anywhere.

Snakes! People eat snakes, they eat crocodiles and alligators. There was even a restaurant here that served alligator or crocodiles but I didn't get the chance to go there before they closed. I am not saying they closed because of what the served but I'd be willing to bet there prices were sky high.

 

[vehve]

Quote: I'd try some rabbit recipes for squirrel. I think that would work well. Probably needs to be cooked for pretty long on a low heat.

 

[Dragonfly216]

I love some alligator tail! I've had rattlesnake, too stringy. Tried frog legs, not a fan. Love all the deer I've tried. Tried both domestic and wild rabbit on the same night, liked domestic better. The wild rabbit was more gamey...go figure! We've been talking about raising rabbits to have a quick, homegrown meat readily available, besides the chicken.

 

[Sylviaanne]

I'd try some rabbit recipes for squirrel. I think that would work well. Probably needs to be cooked for pretty long on a low heat.

I like rabbit but there's just not enough meat vs bone. LOL

 

[chickisoup]

Thank you everyone for all the prayers and encouragement. I really appreciate it. For those who asked, her name is Angel.

No problem Oz! Not harsh at all. Your grasp of the situation was spot on, as they say. Looking at the logic of a situation does not diminish the emotion (aka caring).

I like the feeder design Vehve!