How to Assemble (DIY) Harris Farms Nesting Box (Hint ~ The instructions are almost useless!)

 It took me 2 hours to assemble the nesting box by myself with a phillips screwdriver and 8mm socket wrench. The instructions are semi-understandable but they leave many of the fine details out. So I will explain some of those for you. The images can be clicked on to enlarge.

This guide is for the two nesting box metal version, but I'm assuming that the others are not too much different. 

1) Have some WD40 or some other synthetic lube handy to help start the nuts on the bolts. They are locking nuts with nylon inside, and on occasion, some of the nuts are rusted. The nuts are described as being 5/16". 

2) Count the nuts and bolts (aka screws). There should be 28 short bolts, two longer bolts and 30 nuts. 

3) They will recommend that  you "finger tighten" the nuts, but with the nylon on the inside of the nuts, that's next to impossible.  Using a screwdriver and wrench, I just didn't quite tighten them all the way until almost the very end. 

As instructed, do attach the divider panel and outer panels to the back piece at the bottom.  I chose to have the bolt head on the inside the box with the nuts facing out on the back.  The bolts are a bit longer than necessary so there is some sharp portion exposed, and I wanted those to face away from the chickens, especially on the ones that don't get covered by the base/floor. The example below is when it was almost finished, but is a good example of how much of the bolt is exposed. I wanted as many of those facing away from my hens, as possible. 

 

4) After getting the side panels attached to the back piece, now you need to attach the front panel. It is not totally clear if the side (bar) holes should be near the top or bottom.  Place them near the top with the metal lip facing away from the box. I did put the bolt heads on the outside with the nuts on the inside of the box on this portion. My hens like to push far back into their boxes so I felt that this would be a relatively safe choice. This next photo, again is showing more than you need just yet, but you seen the lip is facing outward, and the bolt head is also outside the box, opposide of the ones on the back panel. 

5)  Remember don't quite snug everything up just yet, just tight enough to be stable. It's times to attach the long perch bars on the inside of the box. These look like U shaped bars a short piece that will stick out through the holes on the front panel. They should be "mirror" pieces that look the same but with holes drilled on opposing sides of one another. It is not real clear which goes on which outer panel. The image above actually will give you a good hint. The U should be facing downward and the holes should align with the outer panels.  Insert them from the back side and slide the short section through the front panel holes. 

6) The short perch sections are the folding part of the nesting box perch. I think those are pretty self explanatory based on the picture below.  Use the short bolts to attach them to the long perch bar BUT don't over tighten, or at the very least, use a washer before attaching the nut so that you will be able to lift the perch upwards, to "close up" the nesting boxes. 

7) Attach the perch to the folding perch bar with the longer bolts. I will alert you that the flooring in the example here is WRONG!  So don't follow that portion or the bottoms will fall out unless you have the nesting boxes setting on the floor of the hen house. But the example for the Perch is correct. You can tighten the wood perch to the perch bar since there won't need to be any adjustments after this point. 

8) Now it is time to attach the top panel. While the instructions will suggest that now is the time to insert the floor sections, I don't recommend doing it until you have the top panel on. Another recommendation is that you attach the hanging brackets last.  It is much harder to attach them last if the front portion of the top panel is all attached and in place.  

Instead, attach the hanging brackets and the top panel on the back by laying the box on its side so that you can angle your screwdriver/socket wrench up under the top panel. As you can see in the example below, I was able to push the front portion of the top out to give more room in the top steepest angle from the back.  I also secured the center/divider panel to the top back in this same way before moving to the front.  I continued on the same theme of bolt head inside, nut outside, but that's not necessary if you want the top of the box to fit more snuggly to the wall. 

9) We're heading to the home stretch BUT things may get more challenging. Once you have gotten this far, you may discover more difficulty in lining up the holes.  I ended up wedging a large nail into the holes to "enlarge" the openings a bit and helping to align the two pieces. I attached the two sides of the top panel, then attached the two front outer corners of the top to the front side panels. I encountered issues with the center panel with the top panel and well, yah, I gave up at the point. I tightened up everything else at that point, and I think it is about as good as it is going to get. 

10) I put in the floor the correct way, and now we are off to install the nesting box in the hen house. Be sure to secure the nesting box with the brackets to a wall or 2x4, or something stable, because if the hens step onto the perch, it will fall forward onto them. 

I hope this helps you with a better assembly of the  Harris Farms Nesting Box!

New Shorter DIY Rainproof Chicken Feeder

Now, with the Welsummers in the smaller pen, we needed a shorter feeder. We found a laundry detergent bucket that was just the right height, so with a few minor modifications to the last rain proof chicken feeder design, we have done it again.  Since this was not a food-grade bucket, I made certain to wipe it all out, then soaked it overnight in a bleach water solution, then wiped it down with apple cider vinegar, just as an added cleaning agent to try to ensure that all the soap/detergent was removed.  One bucket, two 9-inch long 1-inch PVC sliced open, six short sheet metal screws (to attached the PVC channel inside, one piece of plastic corrugated signage board, two L brackets, and six screws and nuts to attach the rim. I made a smaller opening on this one and it seems to be way more balanced without having to add any weight just inside the top of the rim.

D-I-Y 5-Gallon Bucket Rain Proof Chicken Feeder with Cover

Here in the Pacific Northwest, we get a LOT of rain. I was not finding any inexpensive hanging chicken feeders with rain covers or any rain proof designs that I wanted to tackle.  I decided to design my own.  I have not seen this exact design any place else online. If I have inadvertently copied someone else, I apologize. I would love to see other patterns to see if there is something that I could have done better,  I know that I have shared photos of the first five gallon feeder that I created.  I have crafted a second with a slightly different feeder layout.  I'm going to try the "bowl" effect with this one to see if it works better.  If it does not work as well, or better, than the last, I can cut it off and add the "red" strip feeder to the base.

I will include a lot of photos of the basic design showing the inside along with the steps I took to create it and the materials list. Most of the stuff I pulled from the garage and supplies I already had around the house. If I had to buy the materials, I think it would have cost about $15 total, for a new bucket, lid, brackets, signboard and screws.

1. Draw lines on the outside "face" to create the opening making sure to do it between the two hanger brackets. Cut out the rectangle as one piece. Precision was not essential, but having fairly straight cuts is helpful. I left a two-inch lip from the bottom of the bucket as the feeder bowl. 
2. Cut two one-inch diameter PVC pipe at 12-inch lengths. Score & cut the pipes length-wise to create channels for holding the signboard in place.
3. Mark the inside walls of the bucket where you want the PVC pipes to attach and mark a line on the bottom of the bucket between the two wall lines to give guidance for lining up the angle of the PVC channel before attaching PVC to the inside walls of the bucket.
4. Drill eight holes (four on each side of the bucket) slightly smaller than the sheet metal screws. Then align the PVC with the channel openings facing towards each other. Carefully mark each PVC to drill matching holes to line up with the holes just drilled on the bucket walls. Screw in the short sheet metal screws through the walls into the PVC pipe. 
5. Measure the distance between the two attached PVC pipes and then add approximately one-half inch to that for the top portion of the signboard wall section. At approximately an inch from the bottom of the bucket, measure again between the two PVCs and also add an extra one-half inch to that measurement. The wall created with the signboard will look like a trapazoid, approximately one inch wider at the top than at the bottom. Draw and cut a template from the poster board first to ensure that it fits well in the channel before cutting the signboard. 
6. You may discover that this portion is tricky because the poster board will be difficult to start or slide the board in the channel with the narrower bottom. I removed the three top screws from one of the PVC/wall, leaving the one screw at the bottom, to give enough flexibility to tilt the PVC inward for a slightly easier angle and board fit until the board is completely in place leaving a one inch opening from the bottom of the bucket. I carefully pull the loosened PVC back to the wall and look down the center of the PVC openings to see how the template fits inside. If all looks good, then remove the template to draw the trapazoid shape onto the signboard. 
7. Using the same technique as above, slide the signboard into the channels. Gently adjust the board inside the pipes until both sides are even in the middle. Then carefully screw the bucket wall back into the PVC pipe. 
8. For the rain shield, align two corner brackets on the inside of the bucket to attach the cut out wall section as the feeder shelter/cover. Inside the bucket, the rain shield area also serves as a place to put a counter balance weight after the bucket is filled with feed. I attached the rain shield with four machine screws and nuts. 
9. Washed it all down with a 5% Bleach/95% Water solution to make sure it was all clean and ready for the chickens. Dried it off, filled it with feed, put on the lid and hung it in the middle of the chicken pen so that rodents could not get into it. 

Materials List

• 1 clean five gallon bucket with lid
• 1 1" PVC pipe at least two feet long
• 1 poster board to use as a template for the plastic signboard
• 1 plastic signboard approx 12" x 12"
• 8 short sheet metal screws (#12 x 3/8" pan head phillips)
• 4 machine screws with nuts (#10 x 5/8" round head combo)
• 2 galvanized corner braces 1-1/2"
• Large hacksaw or reciprocating saw or other means of cutting the bucket wall in one piece and cut through the PVC. 
• Drill and drill bits to match screw sizes (I used a non-electric hand drill)
• Pen that can mark on plastic
• Phillips Screwdriver

From start to finish, if you have everything available at the start, the feeder takes less than two hours to complete. Having two people to cut out the wall piece and attach the signboard helps a lot! There are a lot of photos below that you can check on how it looks inside and out.  Good luck and have fun.

Inside look of feeder bucket without lid

Fill with Chicken Feed in this section of the feeder bucket

Attached Bucket Wall becomes a Rain Shield

Place Brick on the inside portion of the shield for counter balance when filled with chicken feed.

Front View

Left angle view

Right Angle View

Bucket feeder with Rain Shield - No Lid Attached

Five Gallon Bucket Chicken Feeder with Rain Shield