# Jury Rigging



## seminole wind

We can't all have those beautiful perfect gingerbread coops. A lot of times we end up making due with what we have available. Post your creations!

Nest built for 2


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## seminole wind

Ramp for my bachelor silkies


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## seminole wind

snap that won't get lost


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## seminole wind

Nest with Privacy


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## seminole wind

Silkie Roost


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## seminole wind

Lock on pen


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## seminole wind

Support for A frame tarp


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## seminole wind

Needed door-used cattle gate


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## seminole wind

Preventing a pool from rain


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## nannypattyrn

You're good, Karen! Our coop door is made from a part of an old trundle bed frame. The young lady is the granddaughter of a friend.
View attachment 27974


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## dawg53

Gutter for the main coop, works great!


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## dawg53

4" hose drains rain water in yard.


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## dawg53

$10 small kitchen cabinet from Habitat of Humanity is a perfect nest box.


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## dawg53

No mosquitos or flies in my coops.


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## dawg53

Small diameter hardware cloth over fine screen mesh on all vents stops insects and predators.


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## dawg53

Fan inside main coop.


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## dawg53

Fan inside small coop.


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## nannypattyrn

My water supply (in the background) never mind my beautiful daughter and granddaughter.








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## robin416

Why? They've really prettied up the scenery.


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## seminole wind

I love it all! My favorite stuff is bringing bailing twine home from the barn.

I save all fencing wire and wood that can be reused.


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## dawg53

Karen. I really like your "A- frame" idea. I might consider something like that in the future.
Patti. I like your "water tower." I've seen it before in some of your pics, but not close up.
I like using clothesline to tie things off. It's cheap and practically lasts forever.


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## chickenqueen

My kinda people!!!I have metal sheds for the poultry(still have to get the goose house up) and the nursery/grow-out pen/infirmary.It's raining or I'd take some pics.I have taps,bungee cords,rope,scrap wood etc. I pay for a good floor and heavy duty tarps,everything else is scrap.


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## Sylvester017

I didn't have the money to order a chick brooder kit which can cost from $50 to $100 depending on where they are ordered from. So I jury-rigged an emergency brooder with a 48" hard plastic kiddie pool and the smallest feeder and waterer from the local feed store: $3.18 for each feeder and waterer, $10 for the kiddie pool, and a small square CorningWare dish from our kitchen for their grit. We already had the flooring chips on hand already. I love CorningWare products because they clean up great no matter how grungy they get. Garden bird netting was a leftover piece we secured with office supply clips to the top of kiddie pool to keep the 3 Dominique chicks from jumping out of the kiddie pool when they get bigger -- I've also used bridal net tulle in the past as a cover. Our stuffed Teddy Bear was free for them to sleep with! I did not have to use a heat lamp for the chicks since our temperatures have been in the 100s. At night I put a towel over the netting over the Teddy Bear area so the chicks feel secure while sleeping. Once I found all 3 of them sleeping in the tiny CorningWare dish! The chicks have lots of room to run around, I don't have to worry about them jumping out when they start feeling adventurous, and it's easy to unclip the net to change the water or add feed or grit. This kind of water dish gets the messiest and we have to clean it a couple times a day. I would recommend a nipple valve bottle waterer but I had nowhere to attach one so opted to get the little $3.18 stand-alone water jug.


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## seminole wind

That looks cool! I found that if I put the feeder and waterer on a book leaving enough book exposed for a step left my food and water cleaner.


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## dawg53

I use bricks or short 2x4's placed under feeders and waterers, and add a brick or piece of 2x4 as chicks grow.


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## seminole wind

I have used screws on everything for the last 10 years. Good thing because they can always be reused.


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## chickenqueen

I always use a kiddie pool for my babies.There's lots of room,it's water tight but I have to put a fence up at 2-3 wks to keep them from jumping out.Then you can place perches in there for them to practice roosting.Friends and family know something's coming when the pool goes up in my living room.


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## Sylvester017

Thanks for the supplemental ideas about how to use the kiddie pool for our Dominique chicks. I will definitely elevate the water, that was a good comment, thank you. As for when the chicks get older, we already have a 4x4 foot dog kennel 3 feet high so I have that problem solved for the juveniles because I usually only get 2 or 3-month old birds, but I kinda had to get babies this time if I wanted only Dominiques. I don't usually deal with baby chicks but this was an emergency to get some layers before the New Year and no one had juvenile or POL Dominique layers locally. Getting chicks unexpectedly is why we jury-rigged a cheap brooder. I didn't want to spend lots of money on a regular brooder kit when chicks grow so fast and only get 4 or 5 weeks use out of it, then have to store all the pieces and parts in an already packed storage garage. Costing only $10 I can afford to pass the kiddie pool on to a neighbor to use. I'm zoned for only 5 hens and have no need for using a brooder again.


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## seminole wind

If I need to "donate" something, I put it out front and it disappears by the end of the day.


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## dawg53

Karen, you have scrappers too? I recently threw out a disintegrating tarp and it disappeared by the end of the day.
I have to admit, I've done a little scrapping lol. You never know when you need to jury rig something and see something that someone has thrown out that can be useful.


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## chickenqueen

That's funny!I just put a working stand up freezer at the curb,hoping someone will take it.We don't get a lot of traffic even though my street is a through-way.If I have to call the garbage people,I will have to pay $10.


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## oldhen2345

I had to repurpose an old table I made for the yard and 1/2 of an old coop. I turned it sideways. the front used to be the side where another piece was inserted to make one coop. It rotted, so I just tossed it and used the piece left for the baby barn. I cut the table legs down to about 3 feet and put some support boards along the front and back. the chicks love to roost on those.


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## seminole wind

Awesome!!!


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## Sylvester017

Great ideas, guys!

My chicks have kept the waterer clean since I elevated it about an inch off the kiddie pool floor! I didn't think the little midgets would find it but they're much smarter than I gave them credit! They are just the right height to dip their little beaks into the elevated waterer!


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## chickenqueen

As your chickens grow,you will be amazed at how smart they are,some are smarter than others.They can learn their name and short commands.Some will learn how to tug your heart strings and will become your favorites.Handle them a lot now so you can continue to hold them when they mature for worming,butt trims,first aid,etc....


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## dawg53

CQ is spot on. Favorites: It always seems it's a favorite that has a health issue or injury that sometimes requires making the tough decision to cull. 
I try not to get attached, but it's tough not to.


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## seminole wind

Dawg, you are so right. The 2 exceptions to that I had ended up being killed by a raccoon.


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## Sylvester017

IF I HANDLE THESE DOMINIQUE CHICKS ENOUGH DO YOU THINK THEY'LL LEARN TO TYPE? THEY LOVE SLEEPING ON THE WARM KEYBOARD!


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## dawg53

I dont know if they'll learn to type, but I know for sure they dont need to taught to poop! LOL.


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## I love chickens

My chicken shed was a old style hog barn then a highschooler club hose then when we moved here we put our rabbits and poultry in it


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## Sylvester017

seminolewind said:


> If I need to "donate" something, I put it out front and it disappears by the end of the day.


TeeHee! My neighbor took the kiddie pool brooder to use for her water turtle. She got tired of keeping a large turtle in her bathtub when it outgrew the water aquarium.


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## dawg53

Sylvester017 said:


> TeeHee! My neighbor took the kiddie pool brooder to use for her water turtle. She got tired of keeping a large turtle in her bathtub when it outgrew the water aquarium.


I hope she didnt take a bath with the turtle, especially if it was a snapping turtle LOL.


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## chickenqueen

Sylvester017 said:


> kiddie pool brooder


I use kiddie pools for brooders,too.Lots of room,easy to clean and waterproof.I do have to put a fence up when they start jumping out.


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## oldhen2345

Ok, so when my brother built my coop he did it to my specifications- sort of. He did a great job, but I forgot to mention that it needed to be waterproof. So, after using tarps, corrugated plastic roofing and plywood roofing, I finally had an AHA moment and put shower curtain liners up all around- they can be drawn back in warm weather and pulled to in rainy or cold weather- gotta love ******* Ingenuity.


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## chickenqueen

And cheaper,too!!!I love the privacy fence...


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## seminole wind

oldhen2345 said:


> Ok, so when my brother built my coop he did it to my specifications- sort of. He did a great job, but I forgot to mention that it needed to be waterproof. So, after using tarps, corrugated plastic roofing and plywood roofing, I finally had an AHA moment and put shower curtain liners up all around- they can be drawn back in warm weather and pulled to in rainy or cold weather- gotta love ******* Ingenuity.


Nice pic! I use a brooder lamp on a pole or 2x4 that hangs or leans outside the coop and is aimed in . I can move the lamp closer and farther away depending on how many want to sleep near direct heat and how many sleep farther away. Their sleeping area is a low cardboard box with shavings in it. In this way, there's no chance of fire and the heat is very adjustable.


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## Sylvester017

dawg53 said:


> I hope she didnt take a bath with the turtle, especially if it was a snapping turtle LOL.


TeeHee! She has two bathrooms and being a home school mom she's kept many unusual reptiles in aquariums and tubs for teaching purposes! Visiting is always interesting -- new bunnies, poultry, exotic reptiles, spiders, rare insects, you name it!



chickenqueen said:


> I use kiddie pools for brooders,too.Lots of room,easy to clean and waterproof.I do have to put a fence up when they start jumping out.


We had baby Dominiques last August and right from the start they were jumpers -- so we just clipped outdoor bird netting to the top edges of the kiddie pool. After a month we removed the netting and the chicks were big enough to jump in and out of the kiddie pool. They were in our kitchen for almost 3 months before they were big enough to join our two backyard hens -- an old Partridge Silkie and a Cuckoo Breda hen.



































oldhen2345 said:


> Ok, so when my brother built my coop he did it to my specifications- sort of. He did a great job, but I forgot to mention that it needed to be waterproof. So, after using tarps, corrugated plastic roofing and plywood roofing, I finally had an AHA moment and put shower curtain liners up all around- they can be drawn back in warm weather and pulled to in rainy or cold weather- gotta love ******* Ingenuity.


I've used clear plastic shower curtains for a lot of other projects so why didn't I think to use them for the coop?! Thank you for reminding me of ******* Ineguity haha! P.S. I like to use clear plastic so I can see through it. I have mischievous Dominiques and need to see what they're always up to!


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