Quick Chicken Coop Upgrade

Before we left for our trip last weekend, Kirk spent a little time in the workshop to fix a major weakness of the water fount. 


Unlike the handle of the feeder shown above, the handle of the fount lacks the clever notch to keep it balanced as at hangs from its chain, even though it is specifically designed to hang. Stupid. Without that notch, the chickens are completely capable of knocking the fount off center in their greedy guzzling, and then all the water spills on the ground. 

And that would be a problem, since we didn't bother to ask our neighbors to check on the birdies while we were away, since it was just for a couple days.

So Kirk came up with this solution from some scrap blocks of wood:


Two pieces of wood just slightly narrower than the width of the metal handle were notched to fit around the handle, then glued together around it.


The top of the block has a hole drilled in it for the chain to go through. When it's hanging, it looks like this: 


This is the short end of the block, but the wide end is wide enough to keep the handle level and stable, so Martha can no longer tip the fount and spill it. Everyone was alive and still had plenty of water to drink when we got back, so it passes the test: a quick but effective fix.

Comments

  1. UnknownSeptember 14, 2016 at 8:20 AM

    I like the hanging feeder and watering can. My husband and I are in the process of building a coop now and I was thinking of pvc feeders as we'll have 3 separate pens inside the coop. I may go with your idea of the watering can though. One question, is it a bugger to take the can down to fill?

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    Replies
    1. BethSeptember 14, 2016 at 8:29 AM

      It’s a little bit of a pain (for me — I’m short) because of the big step up into the coop that we have through its big back door (you can check out the design my browsing some of those “You may also like” links below the post). If I had it to do over I’d make sure the hook is thin enough that the chain link fits over it with room to spare — ours is snug, so you have to get the angle just right. It does keep there water much cleaner to have it off the ground, though!

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