Drstratton - My Backyard Journey Journal

[B&B Happy goats]

That stinker of a dog needs to go, hope you get that persistent pest before he gets any of you rabbits

 

[drstratton]

That stinker of a dog needs to go, hope you get that persistent pest before he gets any of you rabbits

Agreed, he would have been gone this morning, if I'd been on the ball yesterday...next time!

 

[drstratton]

We made a little more progress on the chicken pen yesterday! My husband has been working on the posts for the gate and we were able to set it in place! We will be putting a post across the top to make sure the weight of the gate doesn't make it sag. I have a friend who is going to make a powder coated metal sign for me to place on top! It will have a hen & rooster on the left and a rabbit on the right! In between it will say, "Fluffy Butts & Bunnies". It will probably be a couple months before that happens though!

 

[drstratton]

I worked on a little project of my own today! I wanted a Rabbit manure collector, the following is what I came up with! This was just a figure it out as I was doing it project. I will also share what I will do differently on the next one! I might have to eventually redo the screen on this one, we'll see how it holds up! All in all, I'm happy with it, but the next one will feature the improvements I came up with after completing some steps!

First I drilled a pilot hole in the bottom of my broken bucket so that I could cut it out with the jigsaw!

Next I drilled 2 holes, for a total of 6 sets around the bucket, the first hole was 3" from the bottom! Next time I will drill the first hole at 2.5" from the bottom, it will allow for a better fit inside! As you can see I have two sets, I drilled the first set to close together and the plastic broke when I tightened the wire. The wire I used came off of the roll of chicken wire that we have!

I cut the window screen about an inch larger than the bottom of the bucket. Then I placed the screen on the bottom of the bucket and bent it to form to the bottom! Next time, I will cut it 2" larger and after I've bent it over the bucket, I will leave it in place and then bend the extra inch back up so that I will have a double thickness!

View from the bottom! After I wired the screen in place, I went around and took some of the bend out to make the wire conform to the inside of the bucket a little better!

View from the Top!

In place under the feeder!

 

[farmerjan]

Why would you not want to also collect the urine? That is nitrogen fertilizer. I'm just curious.... because I would want all the by products from them. I realize the bucket was cracked, we have out share of them around here and use for feed instead of water.... but put a couple of layers of newpaper, add some sawdust to soak it up, and then get the benefit of all the "waste". Maybe you are just wanting the "berries" they make?

 

[drstratton]

Why would you not want to also collect the urine? That is nitrogen fertilizer. I'm just curious.... because I would want all the by products from them. I realize the bucket was cracked, we have out share of them around here and use for feed instead of water.... but put a couple of layers of newpaper, add some sawdust to soak it up, and then get the benefit of all the "waste". Maybe you are just wanting the "berries" they make?

I want the pellets...they are a cold fertilizer and it will be nice to just add them into the garden and not have to worry about them burning anything! I might also use them to make a compost tea! I suppose I could make a bucket with a screen that would collect the urine too, but keep the pellets separate, I could add a valve on the bottom to empty it! Thank you, it would be nice to utilize everything we can!

 

[drstratton]

This little bugger is taunting me! Lol!

 

[farmerjan]

He is feeling lonely, and feels safer being around the others. Maybe the dog was out near the tree he had run under too. Maybe you can get him into a pen or something near there to catch? Maybe the trap in there since he is hanging out there now?

 

[drstratton]

He is feeling lonely, and feels safer being around the others. Maybe the dog was out near the tree he had run under too. Maybe you can get him into a pen or something near there to catch? Maybe the trap in there since he is hanging out there now?

I have the rabbit tractor next to the tree and the trap during the day, then we take it back to the sidewalk at night so the dog can't dig under it! He goes over to them and says hello, then he takes off and explores the yard! I have pellets in the trap and we have placed a tarp over it, he goes inside to eat the pellets, so he's getting comfortable with it! Hopefully soon, he will go further in to get to the pellets that I have in the dish and will be caught!

 

[farmerjan]

Good luck