Recent content by Doopy

I'll take some pics later today as I'm away from the farm until after supper tonight. Where do you folks purchase the horiz. nipples. I think I saw someone here that sells them. I have only used the push-in type of vert. nipples or the all metal, threaded type for pigs, goats, rabbits, etc...

Thanks folks. I think I found what I was looking for. I'm designing a watering system for 80 to 100 birds and there is no way I want to tote water out there or fiddle around with hoses in zero degree temperatures. Although I have a few electric heat traced hoses that work pretty well. aart...

I'm searching for a cold weather waterer design that I had a diagram of several years ago. I had a barn fire two ears ago and my plans were destroyed. Now that my new barn has electricity I would like to build the waterer. The design had a large cooler for a reservoir - a tiny water...

I agree - just let them get good and hungry and they'll eat it. In the future you will probably want to make slow and gradual changes in their food. It's easy to do and easier on the chickens, too.

Thanks for the replies everyone. I think I'll hold off until I have the funds to make a purchase. In the meantime I might tinker with a homebrew. I'm not into show birds at all and the only purpose for us having chickens is for meat and eggs.

I'm ready to try incubation but the units that I have researched are very expensive. The Hova and the Little Giant are around $120 U.S. with auto turners. I am a little shocked at this as these prices do not fit into my present budget. Can you guys offer any recommendations? I'm studying...

Yup, my nesting boxes are about 8" off the floor and my roosting boards are about 36" above the floor. But one hen prefers to spend the nights in the box. Dumb bird!

Isn't it funny how the pecking order determines the fate of some chickens? I have had the present flock for three years and just last week one of the hens has started to sleep in the nesting box. I don't want any chickens sleeping in there because they poop all night long and I don't like any...

For those of you who keep their rooster segregated from the girls . . . do you have a separate coop for the boys? I'm considering keeping our one rooster in a sectioned off part of the chicken run but we only have one coop. How do you folks provide roosting space for the chooks when they are...

Hmmmmm, it sounds like you guys are putting the sand/litter to good use. I guess we had never considered (in 14 years) putting sand or anything else on our poop boards. Luckily our coop has not had any serious smell issues. But then this is a farm and odors seem to like farms. Or maybe farms...

I don't understand why someone would want to put sand on a poop board. Our three poop boards are 72"x20"x1/2" plywood with two coats of polyurethane on them for waterproofing. Three times a week someone scrapes the poop off with a wide drywall knife and into a wheel barrow and takes it to the...

You should be able to find it at a farm store more than anywhere else. Make sure you get the food grade kind. Call them first to see if they have it. All DE (food grade and otherwise) should be handled carefully and most importantly kept away from your mouth and nose. Do not breathe it in...

Hi smalldog - I came here to post my questions about some unusual behavior in one of my chickens. But as I read your opening post it seems that we share many of the same symptoms. We're on a small farm so our chickens are not considered close friends or pets like many here but I do pay close...

Thank you for the great reply, Brandi. I really like the bucket idea. I have a small farm here and our animals are animals and not pets (except for the dogs and cats) so locking up the chickens shouldn't bother me. But it does. They come running up to the fence every time someone walks by or...

This thread is confusing to say the least. 1. Be very polite but very firm - Tell the old owners and Tyson to go pound salt. 2. Add more chickens to your flock and put your pen as close as possible to the Tyson property. 3. If necessary call a lawyer and have them be your voice. 4. Make...