It tried and tried and the clouds went north and the clouds went south, and FINALLY this afternoon it actually RAINED. I had thrown all my bedding from the trampoline inside and found a more or less indoor job… made a meatloaf for supper… posted on Facebook because… RAIN!
And…
It stopped.
.03″ of an inch.
Ah, well. There’s still a good chance for rain tomorrow. A chance for snow above 8500′. And it’s supposed to be COOL.
Guess I’ll take COOL.
It did give me a chance to see that this, a project from a few weeks ago, will actually work…
I’ve had the rain barrel for a couple of years, purchased from the Conservation District. Sometimes, my chickens need extra water: sometimes it’s very hot, or the hose isn’t close, or I’m in a rush. This will help me until freezing weather hits. I had actually planned this to be a shower barrel for my studio, that’s why I painted it black, to absorb heat. I don’t think I will ever follow through with *that* plan, so now it’s a chicken waterer rain barrel!
The other accomplishment today…
Steal 5 five gallon buckets from the shop… cut the lids.
And, voila! five new nest boxes in the chicken coop!
This row I spaced them out so they aren’t touching. You can see how the top row catches some chicken poo back when they preferred to try to stand on them instead of the roost. I’m getting six or seven eggs a day now from 16 hens.
The chickens are also banned from free ranging until they learn to use the nest boxes like Good Little Chickens should.
Hopefully, they’ll like their new buckets!
Love your pictures each day in my email! Are you familiar with the BTI {bacillus thuringiensis israelensis) MosquitoeDunks or granules. This product can be used in any standing water to kill mosquito larva and it is a biological control. It won’t hurt human or animal. I have rain barrels and bird bath (no rain now in California)that I use it in. I learned of it from a favorite radio show “You Bet Your Garden” Are the hens still cooped up??
Great job re-purposing the buckets. I like how many clever and creative things you make. I’m sure the chicks are doing the “chicken dance” in appreciation!!
How do you attach those buckets to the wall? I tried enlarging the picture to see if I could see, but my computer wasn’t cooperating.
there’s just a small piece of board in there… two screws into the board, bucket and wall. the buckets are also sitting on a board for extra support. Most chickens don’t weigh too much, so they should last until the plastic just gives out!
Thanks!
Nice job! What did you use to keep the partial lids in place?
I just used my cutting wheel on my grinder and cut the 2/3 of the lid off, leaving the remaining behind undisturbed. They are hard to remove.
We catch rain water to water my house plants and any hanging baskets I might get. Our water is too salty to water anything. And I saw the bucket nest boxes on Pinterest and thought that was a great idea. I will be watching to see how you like them.
I’ve had the top six buckets for two or three years, I just added the bottom five. I like them, the chickens seem to as well!