mikecraghead

The wiggle board provides a flat surface so you can mount the corrugated roofing without gaps at the top and bottom edges.

Thank you!

Thanks! Hm, a Swiss Army Bat'Leth for crab and bottles and cans and your enemies, I like it! Regarding humane murder, I've used a small paring knife to good effect, and I'm not noticing a leverage problem when I hold it. But I'd definitely make sure version 2 works well before I subject any crustaceans to its wrath. Cheers!

Aw shucks, thanks J!

Many thanks, Alex! Thanks for reading.

Could be stickier sand, could be really good compaction, or if it defies too many laws of physics (and it’s not breaking rules in a contest) there could be a sneaky armature involved. Perish the thought! Thanks, though. Long Beach it is!

Thanks, Gadisha!

I have not; competitions generally forbid additives, but I know some commercial sculptors apply substances that slow the de-piling.

Mimikry, thanks! Snow is much more forgiving than sand, enjoy!

Thanks, jesseratfink!

For sure. As designed they're not going to keep the weather out, so you'd want to keep these under something rainproof, or move them under cover when it rains.

We've had better luck with pellets than with crumble, and some individual chickens (like those jerks you have) are definitely better at making messes than others. At the moment we only have one who seems to have figured out how to spill, the other girls in our current batch are much better behaved.I feel like a small arc of PVC at the bottom edge/lip of the Y might foil the mess-makers, but I haven't tried it.

Washing first is probably a good idea; these are clear for potable water so I wouldn't worry about offgassing over time, but it couldn't hurt to wash them before their first use in case there's some residue left over from the manufacturing process. And a god soaking now and then becomes necessary over time, depending on how much moisture is in the air or how dirty it gets where you've placed it.

We definitely have had better luck with pellets, both for spillage and clumping.

We just pour one into another as we refill, if you were to keep adding food without pouring it out routinely, things would get gross.

It did take them a while to figure out there was food in there, then they were fine. We’ve never had issues with the physics of the food itself, but our chickens definitely prefer pellets to crumbs.

Hi folks! I wrote this 'ible 11 years ago, and after a decade of practice and an appearance on Halloween Wars, I wrote a whole book on pumpkin skulls, and 3D pumpkin carving in general. More info here: https://mikecraghead.com/card.cfm?id=65&full=1&pag...Cheers!

We always pour it into another one when it gets low, so the stuff at the bottom never sits for too long.

Ive often been surprised at how resourceful the birds are, stretching to reach higher than you think they will. I’d say give it a try. And if it’s too tall for your bantams, either whittle the Y so it’s shorter, or cut a hole out of a 2”x8” and sink the feeder into it. That has the added bonus of making it free standing. You could even create “stairs” by stacking two thick boards of differing sizes.Hope that helps. Good luck!Mike

Wait... you SAVED time on instructables? ;) Glad I could help. Cheers!

Thanks for the kind words, darrenh!

Thank you, Seamster!