DIY: chicken feeder turned planter

while cleaning up the backyard a few days back, i ran across the feeder we always use when we buy our baby chicks in the spring. now that our 'ladies' are older, it's not longer in use... and i instantly thought of this beautiful photo i pinned several months back. 

 here's our 'ladies'... 

they LOVE getting their pictures taken!

 

the 'man' of the roost.... he's a playa'

there's another kind of hen around these parts...and i wanted to transplant them into the cutie chicken feeder i found laying around. i happened to have some leftover potting soil from the spring, so i grabbed it and set out to transplant all my 'baby chicks' into the feeder. you see those little chicks hanging down from the strawberry pot? there's a lot more of those on the back side.

 

hen-and-chicks are amazing little plants. my mother grew them all the time when i was young. it's the perfect plant for me cause you can't really kill them. i am NOT a plant person. i have never been able to keep a plant alive. even the mum my sweets bought me a few weeks ago is now dying. i snapped this picture with my new camera the day after he gave it to me; while it was still alive. that little green bug is trying to steal the show. silly guy.

i'm sure you could certainly figure out how to do this yourself without the help of this little tutorial. maybe i just wanted to write it so that it would inspire you to find something interesting to use as a planter, and try raising your own, non-pecking, hen-and-chicks. although i would highly encourage you to try raising chickens of your own if you can. they are super easy to take care of, AND you get thee best eggs ever. like this one my son Avery is holding; the first of the season:

 

 ok... so back to this planter. i just filled up the feeder with potting soil. i made a mess trying to get it full, but that's what brooms are for. 

 

 i then began plucking the chicks off the main plant. the root isn't very deep and is easily removed, so just start pulling. each chick has one main root. every so often i found one with lots of tiny roots, but for the most part, just one main sturdy root. even my kiddos got in on the action... pulling and fighting over who was going to poke theirs into which hole. ugh. when i got the chicks' root poked into the hole, i just stuck my fingers in from another hole to push dirt up against the root tightly. you'll feel that there is a point where it stops feeling like it's going to fall out... just make sure to get enough dirt around it so that when you water it, you don't have to pick it back up off the ground and start over. eh ehmm. i had to add quite a bit of extra dirt to get all the roots packed in tightly. you don't want them all loosey goosey.

 

just keep going until you have it filled up the way you'd like. i had JUST the exact amount of chicks; one per hole. i would LOVE to add more as i get more... fill it up nice and full. 

now just brush off that extra dirt. use your hands... makes you feel so 'gardener-ish'. sprinkle on a titch of water and place on a chippy-paint chair that your neighbor salvaged for you... and enjoy the scenery. see those teeny-tiny chicks? li'l newborns... so cute.

that's it. these guys live through anything. 

then, if your kiddos insist, let them dig some worms to add to the dirt. they found this one, and it was ''the biggest earthworm they'd ever seen!" (it was a monster!) it never did make it into the soil- my 2 year old wouldn't let it go. 

 

  so that's it! it took about 20 minutes from start to finish. if you would like to try and make a chick feeder full or green chicks, but don't have an extra feeder laying in your backyard, you can purchase one at Tractor Supply Company. see? and it's ONLY $6.29! i know you may have never guessed it... but i LOVE that store! i was raised in a farm family... maybe that's why. 

thanks for stopping by! leave me a comment and let me know what interesting things you have planted or planted 'in' this year!