Raising Chickens ...
My two latest projects are related to raising new chicks. First up, when they're little we keep them in a stock tank (set on a bathtub in the bathroom, yes it's dusty). To make it easy to reach in for cleaning, feeding etc. and at the same time keep the chicks IN the tank I made a hinged lid (well, pair of lids).

Bending conduit on a 12" radius takes practice. The first one, left side in all the pics, I kinked it and didn't quite get the right size. The second is better but not perfect. This isn't the kind of project anyone will see so I didn't bother to try again. For my strawberry cages I had a bender with a 3' diameter. My kingdom for a 2' diameter bender!

One design requirement was that I not put any holes in the tank or attach anything permanently to it. Another was that the lids be removable for storage. For the hinges I used scraps of 3/4" pipe and some clamps I found in the electrical department that had a rubber coating. I ran out of time to figure out a good way to attach the clamps to the conduit so I used the handyman's secret weapon, duct tape.

Anyway, I'm pretty happy with these. They quickly clip onto the side of the tank, stay put while in use, and easily pop off for storage.

3
1 reply