Recent content by B4chicks

Working great. Nipples just screwed in. used 11/32 bit and carefully drilled hole. Plastic spigot screwed right off jug and hose bib fit in hole perfectly. Used washer from spigot , a little silicone and it was good to go. No leaks. One thing I have changed from picture is to let hose go a...

Thought I would post a picture of the horizontal nipples we installed in a grow out pen. Made from some milk hose we had lying around,a 3 gallon water jug that was discarded without a lid and nipples purchased online. Fastened hose to a board that can be easily unscrewed from wall and raised as...

Here is a pic of our two brooders. They will most likely be re-purposed in the future as broody coops or rooster cages. Both are about 3' x 6' with the top one a bit over 2' tall and the bottom 3' tall. 21 RC RIR in top and 19 Buff Orps in bottom. . They are out in our old milkhouse.

I am sure they will be fine. If you are concerned the one time you might want to feed some medicated feed is when they have their first access to dirt or older chickens. But for 36 chicks must be wasting a bunch to be through fifty pounds by three weeks.

We used to tie a dead chicken in a tree about 2 feet off the ground and set a leg trap underneath. Quite effective. Fox are persistent and clever. If you can't contain the chickens they will stay at it till they are dealt with.

Here are our stacked brooders. 21 in top and 19 in bottom. They're about 3x6.To the left is the bulk tank that runs through the wall. If we were still milking cows the milk inspector would not be pleased.We stopped in 2009 with no desire to milk again. I did know a farmer whose chickens went in...

These forums were so helpful into our venture into enjoying some chickens on our farm that I thought I would give back a little with some pics of our chicks in their new home. Pic of both brooders. 19 HinkJC Buff Orps little over two weeks old in bottom and 21 Rose Comb Rhode Island Red from...

Have two 3'x6' brodders set up and both now have chicks in them. 21 Horstman RC RIR that just arrived this morning and are all drinking well and making poo. Have HinkJC Buff Orps right below them that we brought home last Tuesday.(brooders stacked in old milkhouse) 19 Orps, as we lost one the...

Fox is one reason I wouldn't think of free ranging birds here. The other is the constant threat from Red Tailed Hawks. Can't go into one of our hay fields without seeing one.Seeing a Cooper's Hawk taking a pigeon right from the end of the feed alley is one thing; not sure if a Red-tailed would...

New guy here from New Haven,NY. Twenty Buff Orps from HinkJC out in brooder in our old milkhouse. Adding 20 RC RIR from Dick Horstman that are coming first week of June. Have a 10 x 16 secure pen built in our (formerly) freestall barn and am sawing hemlock now for a new coop with a secure run as...

Hello, My name is Scott and I have found this thread to be very interesting, as was the original Blosl thread.I have read here for over a year and decided to finally join as we are about one month away,I hope , of beginning our journey into Heritage Poultry. I have read most of Mr. Blosl's...

Not sure.Know we don't want games from past experience.Too aggressive. Our ideal chicken would be a calm layer of large brown eggs, a good forager as we have plenty of room and may even follow some intensively grazed beef,decent meat production for our own use and decent broodiness as it is the...

We have been here from 1996 and built our dairy from scratch, including clearing land. In hindsight I wonder what I was thinking.The simple naivety of a first generation farmer, my wife tried to warn me. But If that is what it took to make me the person I am today then it was worth it.

Hello from New Haven,NY. I have been trying to expand my knowledge of chickens while reading this forum for some time and decided it was time to join. Not new to chickens, just haven't been around them in years and never on this farm. My father in law, who I worked with daily on the farm at one...