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To: Diana in Wisconsin

If the black drums work for you...

I actually bought one to try much the same, but have had so much going on that I didn’t get it set up. I also bought a thermostatically controlled heater for it. The big thing for the chickens is getting the drum elevated a bit by the “primary” “coop” (basically an 8’ x 8’ x 5’ covered cage with an ~3:12 pitch roof). I want the elevation about 16” above “ground level”, and have a “waterer” dispenser on the side of the drum. Inside the coop is a roost the chickens can hop onto. The ground there (outside / east of the coop) gets pretty mushy in the winter if it’s NOT frozen, so, I have a little more prep work to do than just stacking some concrete blocks.

After that’s in place, I’m hoping to add water collection so filtered rain water from the coop roof gets pumped into the drum, at least when temperatures are above freezing.


563 posted on 03/24/2026 5:04:11 PM PDT by Paul R. (Old Viking saying: "Never be more than 3 steps away from your weapon ... or a Uriah Heep song!" ;-))
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To: Paul R.

The spot for my drum is actually slightly southeast facing. Hopefully that will help on cold mornings, once the sun is up.

Our daughter unexpectedly dropped by with her boyfriend, mid-day, today. That kinda blew up “projects” (except all the garden hoses were run and flushed by then.) After they left I worked on our ol’ Chevy Tahoe a bit, started a corned beef roast, and got my “rigged up” soda bottle / LED light stink bug trap completed in rough form. I don’t know if this LED element will attract the bugs any better than the 1st light I used over an aluminum pan, so, I didn’t go for “permanence” in assembly — I may very well want to try something in the way of a LED element with bluer light or more “purplish light, or with more UV content. The element is connected to a small 12v lead-acid battery, same as what’s in some UPS power backup supplies, and all other light in the plant room is off for the night. So, we shall see if the stinkbugs go for the trap...


566 posted on 03/24/2026 6:43:03 PM PDT by Paul R. (Old Viking saying: "Never be more than 3 steps away from your weapon ... or a Uriah Heep song!" ;-))
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