Hi all! I am venturing into the world of chickens as a Grammy :) My dh raised meat birds once or twice when the kids were little, but I am excited to have gotten 18 "dual purpose hens" (because a friend wanted 3 or 4, and figuring that I'd lose a few...lol...she decided not to take any and I haven't lost any! So I have 18 lil layers) ad 10 meat birds to get us "started"
Several of the meat birds (Cornish x) appear to be roosters, so I plan to keep the gentlest of the crew as a breeder for the layers, and I am looking for a couple of Silkie Bantams to use as brooders for my future meat birds and replacement stock.
We built an adorable hen house and I decided to be "me" and painted it purple and pink! :) It has grown on the guys and the uproar has dissipated! lol
I am now in the process of designing a Nipple Watering system that uses PVC pipe, but exits the 5 gallon pail from the side rather than the bottom so that I can sit the bucket on a heater in the winter if necessary...the hen house will be heated, so it probably won't be necessary, but time'll tell...and I like to be "safe rather than sorry" :)
As soon as I figure out how, I'll post pics of both the purple pad and the waterer! :)