Winners for the Homesteading Chores, Ideas, and Contraptions Photo Contest

First Place

Rhonda Silva won first place with this photo of her duck ramp. As first place winner, Rhonda won a $100 gift certificate.

Photo by Rhonda Silva

Here is Rhonda’s description of the ramp:

Our Rouens needed a larger pool as they grew, and the new one had 18″ high sides, making it impossible for them to get in. So, my husband constructed this little deck with duck ramp for them. It has the long ramp to the ground and a shorter one that rests on a concrete block inside the pool for them. They can easily and safely get in and out of the pool this way. We have kept this setup as our juvenile/hospital area now that they have a pond.

Second Place

Greg Bagley won second place with this photo of nest boxes and received as a prize a $50 gift certificate.

Photo by Greg Bagley

Greg used five gallon buckets for the nest boxes. He made a bracket that holds three buckets on top and three on bottom. He said that the hens love the nest boxes for laying, and the nest boxes are easy to remove for cleaning.

Greg provided this detailed description:

I got the idea for the buckets from someone online, but they used a couple of screws in the back of the bucked to screw it to the wall. I did not like this because you could not remove it easily enough to clean them when the hens poop in them or break an egg, so I came up with this bracket to hold some five gallon pails so that they were easy to clean and it would not break the bank. I have six nesting bucket in each coop, and I only spent about 50 to 60 dollars on the materials for the twelve nesting buckets.

The buckets rest in the bracket, and I have a screw that goes into the bottom front of each bucket. I leave the screw out about 5/8 of an inch, and there is a hole drilled in the bracket. When the bucket is in place the screw drops into the hole and keeps the bucket from rolling around while the hens go in to lay their eggs.

To remove the buckets you just lift straight up, and when the screw on the bottom front is out of the hole you can pull the bucket straight out towards you. Then you can clean them and replace them in a snap. They have held up well and work just as well as the day I made them.

In the new coop I made one adjustment in that I took pail lids and cut the lid in thirds and put them on the front of the bucket so that it keeps the shavings in better.

The gallery at the end of this article has additional photos of Greg’s nest buckets.

Third Place

Cathy Lott won third place with this photo of her daughter feeding the chickens. Cathy’s prize is a $25 gift certificate.

Photo by Cathy Lott

Cathy describes the photo:

Our daughter enjoys our Buff Orpingtons. She has helped raise them from the time they arrived in the mail. Gathering their eggs is like a treasure hunt for her. Each egg she finds brings her pride and excitement. As you can see, the Buff Orpingtons are gentle enough for her to feed out of her hand.

She picks up the hens and carries them around the yard and swings with them beside her in our porch swing.