ML, if you REALLY want to have fun, get some giant mealworms from the pet store. They are live food and most pet stores keep them behind the counter or in a fridge, so you'll have to ask for them. Mealworms are like crack for chickens. Or candy. They LOVE them, especially the giants. Of course, chickens being omnivores and VERY food-oriented, they love anything to eat. *L* I think the sunflower seeds have a higher fat content and just plain taste better than corn, so the chickens prefer them. Heck, I'd pick the sunflower seeds over corn, too! :) Chickens also like raisins, diced grapes, raw corn on the cob and tomatoes (as anyone who has ever grown tomatos a little too close to the fence can tell you). My chicks also prefer the water that's been dumped, I'm not sure if it's the movement that's attracting them...? During the summer we entertain our flock by tossing a handful of ice cubes on the patio, they love to peck at them and get some cool water that way. Velvet ~:>

I am in NE and I have straw but I prefer to use pine shavings. They are easy to keep clean. I have several hens that sleep in the nesting boxes and no matter how hard I try I cannot break them. I just deal with it by cleaning anything out every morning which is very minimal. I have read that long strands of hay is not good for the chickens to eat - impaction problems. But it would be suitable for nesting I just worry about them eating too much of it. Wow sunnfarm, I never heard of shag carpeting! That's a good use for that stuff.

Many of the birds you mention aren't cavity nesters, so a nest box wouldn't matter. Probably chickadees are the most likely. If you put up a box for chickadees, of course make sure it's protected from predators with a baffle on the post or pole, especially since you mention cats and racoons. The hole size is 1 1/8", small enough that house sparrows and starlings won't be able to enter. One thing I read is that chickadees might prefer a larger hole to start with, like 1 1/4", and then once they have established use of the box, you can put a 1 1/8" hole reducer on. Much depends on the habitat in your yard and in the surrounding area. Chickadees seem to like the nest box to be on the edge of a woody or shrubby area. A chickadee box might also attract house wrens, so I guess it depends on whether you want to potentially host them or not. You don't mention what state you live in, so I don't know if you have house wrens. Other suggestions for nest boxes could be wood ducks (since you live near water), or even screech owls, which could use the same box as wood ducks. Or, you could try putting up an Owl Shack in the fall. I've got two up, no luck so far with screech owls, but the woodpeckers sure like to drum on that nice resonant box! If you have many dogs and cats running around your neighborhood, then you might not get anything at all. If that is the case, then you might not want to try and attract wood ducks, because they have to jump out of the box to make their way to the water, and would be easy targets for cats.

Joe, The bar is there to keep the hole the correct size,I make mine 1-3/8" from the bottom of the hole to the bottom of the bar.The space above the bar is for ventilation.In these plans the bar is also being used as a hinge,the door(front of the box) would then lift up from the bottom.I myself prefer the door to swing down from the top.I only had the bar on the door,not going through the side of the box as shown in the plans,I then made my hinge on the bottom.I just used a seperate piece of the bar for the pin lock.For the bar and pin,I used a piece of 1/8"brass welding rod,but am sure you could use any 1/8"rod you can find,maybe aluminum.I guess you could have the bar like in the plans and still have your hinge on the bottom,but you would have to fish the bar through all the holes every time you opened the box. Matt