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SpurTopia virtual tour

State of the art technology - Maggot grower tin

Maggot grower tin

Chickens need a great deal of protein to produce nutritious eggs. Where does this protein comes from? A small proportion from grains and the biggest amount from insects, bugs and worms which chickens find in the garden. But how about providing chooks with a constant supply of protein? We came up with a solution - growing maggots from meat scraps, in a tin. Basically, find a tin  (we used a 4litre olive oil  tin) and punch holes all around including the bottom with a screwdriver. Partially cut the top off the lid to make the tin operable. We put meat scraps from the kitchen and local butcher into the tin. Flies get in and lay eggs and in a couple of days, the meat scraps are full of maggots. As they crawl around, they, every now and again drop and fall through the holes into the chook run and the chooks feast on them. This process will last for a few weeks. When meat scraps are exhausted and maggots eaten by the chooks, empty the tin and start again. We do this every few weeks, providing chickens with a continuous supply of protein - maggots. More importantly, we are reducing meat scrap waste which would otherwise go to landfill. This state of the art technology maggot tin grower, is free, so effective and works amazingly well.

Maggots dropping from tin are a treat for chooks

Bones for growing maggots

Chicken Grain Feeder from recycled material

Chicken Grain feeder

A common problem with feeding chickens is the mess they make throwing grain around which is not only wasteful but also attracts mice and rats. We addressed all these issues with our home made chicken grain feeder from recycled materials - a plastic bucket and  piece of PVC pipe - The feeder will store several kilos of grain which lasts for a few weeks.

How to make a "cheap-skate" Grain Feeder:

Cut a 150mm diameter PVC pipe to fit the full length of the bucket. Then cut a 2 cm slot  at the bottom of the pipe,  half way around the pipe. This will create a hole (slot) when the pipe sits on the bottom of the bucket and grain can flow from the pipe (grain storage) into the bucket. Cut two "windows" (holes) 5x10cm into the bucket about 5cm above the bottom for chooks to stick their heads in. The holes need to be just large enough for a chicken's head to get in, so when pecking grain, the grain will not get thrown out.

We don't have any wasted grain on the ground around the feeder and do not have any rat or mouse issues as there is no food to attract them. It works so well for us, it's the reason we share the chicken feeder with you. If we can make it for free you can make it for free.

Silo within the bucket

Inside view

Our chooks drink champagne – Home made waterer

Home made waterer for chickens

We made a waterer for our girls (chickens) from recycled materials - a champagne bottle and a piece of PVC pipe with bottom cap. The bottle holds water and automatically releases it when the water level gets below  the neck of the bottle. A small feeding window will keep water clean.
How to make it?
Cut  the pipe to length (approx. 25 cm) and this will hold the bottle neck about 2 cm above the bottom of the pipe. (see photo) A 2 cm water level will be constantly held in the waterer. Then cut a small window 5x10 cm for chooks to stick their heads in to drink. The window must be above the water level otherwise all water contents will spill out. That’s all. 

You do not need to buy a waterer, just recycle a bottle and a piece of pipe and it does the same job if not better.