Chickens and all things fowl..........

[hsehntr98]

Joyce I don't plan on brooding mine in my house because I have to many dogs and cats and I don't think they would survive if I did. I will check on them regularly when they get here and since it will be in June hopefully it won't be to hot for them. Do you use a brooder lamp or a heating plate that is adjustable? Will the guinea chicks use a nipple drinker like the chicken chicks will? I have been looking through premier 1 supplies at the products they have. The plate looked like a more useable warmer than the lamp. Are your waterers hanging in your coop or do they sit on the ground? I think mine will not hang because that would make them to unstable, so I will use one that sits on the ground but I will elevate it so they can't put food and poop in the water.

[Joyce Hoffman-Gayley]

Mickey, the main reason I brood in the house is because I usually get my chicks in late March or early April. I have a large oval livestock trough (it's about 20"X48"X15" deep) that I use as my brooder. I have a regular brooder lamp with an infra red bulb that I built an L-shaped stand for so that it is about 18" high over the brooder. I center it so that way if the chicks want to be cooler they can go off to one side or the other. I'm not familiar with a plate heater. I'll have to look online at them.
Yes, the chicks will use the nipple drinker but you have to kinda show them how it works. Since water is the first thing they need once I get them home from the P.O. I take them one at a time and put their little beaks right up to the nipple. Once they get that first drop of water they usually get the idea. Sometimes it takes a couple tries before they get the hang of it. In the coop when the weather is warm I use the nipple waterer (I have 2), but when it gets cold I have a waterer that sits in the ground but I have it elevated on a round galvanized heater that I keep plugged into a thermostat control that turns on at 35°F and off at 45°F. It provides just enough heat so the water won't freeze. This heater is about 3" tall so it keeps the water from getting dirtied up.
I'm going to go now and see what Premier 1 has. I haven't gotten anything new for my girls in awhile. I think I'll just go shopping!

[nichevo]

I mix diatomaceous earth in the straw in the nesting boxes and in the pine shavings in the bottom of the coop and I have never had mites. I live in Texas, so very warm weather.

[hsehntr98]

nichevo thanks for the advice, I will look into that. Are mites mostly a warm weather thing or do they show up in winter also?

[hsehntr98]

Joyce is the heater thing you have water proof in case they dump their water? concern with shorting out the heater and causing fire.

[nichevo]

This is from Mother Earth News....

The past few winters have been brutally cold on our homestead in northeastern Pennsylvania. The frigid temperatures have caused my goats’ water buckets to freeze solid in just a few hours. I don’t have electricity in the pasture to supply heated buckets for the animals, so I needed a low-tech, inexpensive way to keep the water from freezing so fast.

My husband stacked two 14-inch tires together, drilled holes through the sidewalls, and connected them with bolts. He used large washers to prevent the bolts from pulling through. We had some leftover spray foam insulation from a previous project, so we used it to fill the tires to the edge of the top bead. After the foam cured, we trimmed it flush to allow our 4-1⁄2-gallon water bucket to sit securely inside the protective tires. The rim of the water bucket, being a little wider than the tire opening, allowed the bucket to stay suspended within the tires. A small amount of space remained between the ground and the bucket, so I filled it with a piece of leftover Styrofoam packing material for additional insulation.

The insulated tires have worked wonderfully. The black tires and bucket absorb the sun’s warmth during the day. Even on frigid days, only a thin layer of ice forms on top of the water, which isn’t enough to prevent the goats (or birds!) from drinking. This season, I plan to place a buoyant object into the bucket — such as some kind of thick ball that the goats won’t be able to bite — to cause enough agitation on the water’s surface to prevent ice from forming altogether

[Joyce Hoffman-Gayley]

This is not the exact heater I have but it is very close. Mine is quite a few years old now. Here's a link to see one like mine. cdn.opentip.com/pet-supplies/Miller-Little-Giant-Electric-Heater-Base-For-Waterer I hope this link works. The cord I have mine plugged into has an in line circuit breaker. Actually I've spilled their water and never had a problem. The cord on the heater is well-sealed.
I've never heard of anyone getting mites anytime other than the summer. I use the diatomaceous earth too. It really works well. You still have to carefully clean the coop at least once a week.

[Joyce Hoffman-Gayley]

I don't know why that link didn't come up properly, but if you go to Opentip.Com and do a search you should find it easily enough. Sorry, I messed that up.

[hsehntr98]

Nichevo I saw that same article in my MEN magazine, I have not had that problem yet. Yes my pigs bowl did freeze a few times, but I usually out checking on them/feeding about every 4 hours, so if the bowl is frozen I have fresh water with me to change it. As for my chickens I have a small pet bowl that has a heating element to it and I have it up off the ground so they can get to it through the snow and the cord is outside the fence so they can't peck at it. They used it a lot when it sat on the ground, but I'm not sure if they are using it since I raised it up, but I still put fresh water in the coop twice a day.

[hsehntr98]

Joyce, I bought some diameteous red lake earth with carbon bio something. Now what do I do with it? I think one of my roosters is not feeling well. He hasn't come out of the coop in two days and I think that part of his comb might have gotten frost bitten. The tips were a little black and it looks like some in the front may have fallen off so that he has nubs. I watched him today and he is eating, but he just isn't as active as he normally is. Any ideas what I should be looking for?

[Joyce Hoffman-Gayley]

It certainly sounds like your rooster has suffered some frostbite. This may sound crazy but don't do anything. In all likelihood it will heal on its own. You would be amazed at how resilient chickens can be. I've even heard of a chicken whose feet have frozen, fallen off and the bird still gets around. I've never seen such a thing but it wouldn't surprise me. As to the DE, I'm not sure what you are asking so I'll throw a couple thoughts at you and see if they are of any help. First, make sure it is food grade DE you never want to use the pool grade (used in pool filters) for either internal consumption or dusting. I'm assuming you're planning on giving it to you flock in their feed because there is no point in dusting them this time of year. For internal parasite control, when I get a new 50 lb. bag of feed I mix in 1 lb. of DE then feed them as I normally do. When I clean out the coop I put a light dusting down and then the shavings on top of it. In warm weather I sprinkle some DE in the areas that they tend to use for their "dirt bathing". I hope I've given the answers you needed, if not, let me know. I don't know what the "carbon bio something" is so I can't help you there.

[hsehntr98]

Joyce the product is called Diatomaceous red lake earth with calcium bentonite. On the bag it says it is used in feeds as an anticaking agent. Bag also says Food Chemical CODEX grade powder, 25# bag. My rooster with the frostbite seems to be doing better, he finally came out of the coop yesterday. I think him and the other rooster are having territory issues. I can't wait for my new coop to get here. Our snow is finally melting, but I don't know if they will be able to put it where I want it without ruining my yard with ruts. Will have to wait and see. How big is your flock and how much do you feed them at a feeding? With my 6 chickens I have been feeding 2c cracked corn in the morning, afternoon snack of scratch or an apple, then 2c cracked corn & 1 cut food for laying hens at might. I have noticed that the hens like the apples but the roosters not so much. I think they are all finally getting used to me because when I come out they are all waiting at the gate and they will take the apple pieces out of my hand.

[Joyce Hoffman-Gayley]

To expand on what I was saying about DE, the more I've learned about it recently, I'm rethinking using it in the feed. It won't hurt but at this point I'm not sure it really does any good in getting rid of internal parasites. I'll prolly finish off the bag of feed I have now and then reevaluate.

Not that you've asked for it but my opinion on getting your coop; but I think it is more important to get the coop just where you want it and worry about the ruts later. I know it makes a whole lot more work for you - sorry just my 2 cents.

Right now I only have 28 chickens but I am seriously considering branching out and getting a few new breeds so that would add somewhere around another 25. I usually have between 35 & 40. If you've got the room it really doesn't cost all that much more to add extras - if you can't use them you can always sell the extra eggs. $$.

I don't mean to seem evasive but it's kinda hard to tell you how much I feed them in weight. I know how many scoops I give them but I'm not sure exactly how much is in each scoop.

Please tell me to back off if you like but I don't think what you listed is a good diet for your chickens. Corn in particular is high in carbs but not much else. I give my girls a good helping of corn at night cause it helps them stay warm but it's not a significant part of their daily feed. The feed I give my girls is not really a commercial feed in the strictest sense. It is a blend that our local feed store makes up and sells. It's composed of hard red wheat, oats, barley, sunflower seeds, flax & rye (not in that order). My girls love it. Then, as I've said before I supplement it with fruits, veggies, oatmeal, yogurt and meal worms.

I'm so glad your girls are "warming up" to you, or at least to you as the supplier of their apples, lol. It always gives me a little boost when I go out and I see mine looking for me and what I might have for them.

[hsehntr98]

Joyce, got a call today the coop is ready to be delivered. I still have to much snow for them to get it where I want it. But, I talked with my neighbor and they can bring it along the fence line on his side and they can bring it through the back gate. We are suppose to be getting some rain tomorrow so hopefully that will get rid of the of the snow. And we are suppose to be getting an artic blast coming through next week. So if the ground freezes enough then the coop can come in. The only reason I give them corn is because that is what the guy I got them from fed them.

[redman2006]

Joyce,
Are you allowed to sell from the farm or do you have to take them somewhere. In GA, if I sell anywhere but from my own "farm", I have to have a candling license. I understand the reason, but it sure put the kibash on getting rid of these eggs and paying for the extra feed.