Recent content by MedChicken

  1. MedChicken

    Chickens haven't found their nest box

    Thanks for the tips! My old coop had a long nest box sitting on the ground, so the dirt floor kept it cool in the summer. It was also open all along one side. With this one up off the ground, I can definitely see how it would need some extra ventilation. Is it better to do big holes (maybe 1")...
  2. MedChicken

    Chickens haven't found their nest box

    When I went back out last night, the hens were already roosting for the night. I picked up the one closest to the door and put her in the nest box. She ran right back out to roost with the others. Today I left for work at 6:30am and got home at 6:30pm. When I got back the hens were roosting on...
  3. MedChicken

    Chickens haven't found their nest box

    Help! I moved recently and built an all-new coop.This is what it looks like from the outside. The waterer was freezing so I just replaced it with my "winterized" waterer (a 5-gal bucket, painted black, with horizontal nipples). I didn't add the external nest boxes until my first hen started...
  4. MedChicken

    How can I winterize this nipple waterer?

    Rain refill is a big deal for me. If I added standard rain gutters and ran one of those flexible down-spouts into the top of the bucket, would that increase the chances of the bucket contents freezing? I guess if there is water flowing through the gutters I don't have to worry about that part...
  5. MedChicken

    How can I winterize this nipple waterer?

    Maybe a bucket hanging in the run with horizontal nipples? I might need to add gutters to the upper level of the coop to allow the new system to collect the water from the coop roof like the old system did. I put out a black livestock pan today and it stayed liquid (it was a bit warmer...
  6. MedChicken

    How can I winterize this nipple waterer?

    Thanks for the quick reply! I work 12 hour shifts six days a week, so I can't get out there to rotate things. Average lows here seem to be high 20s with highs in the 40s and an occasional cold snap (like the last few days) but never sub-zero. Maybe a 5-gal bucket with horizontal nipples? I could...
  7. MedChicken

    How can I winterize this nipple waterer?

    This is my current coop setup. It's not pretty, but it works for us. My waterer uses two saddle-style nipples in that segment of PVC pipe. We just moved to a new area with colder weather than our old area, and we just had our first big freeze (it was 15 degrees when I left for work) and the...
  8. MedChicken

    4 month old chickens (sex unknown) starting to fight

    I just came across this as I am getting back into raising chickens. It did turn out that both were roos - they started crowing about a month apart :( And in my area, that meant both had to go.
  9. MedChicken

    Best age to get chicks? Local farm "grow-out" option

    Hey everyone! I've been gone for a while - I had a flock of 13 a few years ago, some of which I got as started pullets, some were week-old chicks from a local farm's broody hen, some I hatched from eggs, and some were adults when I got them. The ones that I raised from chicks were by far the...
  10. MedChicken

    4 month old chickens (sex unknown) starting to fight

    Hello all! I have three chickens hatched 11/19/2011 whom I added to my flock of 12 hens in December 2011. I suspect one of them is a cockerel since I see a few saddle feathers, but they are both silkie mixes and the other is too fluffy to tell but has no visible saddle feathers and a much...
  11. MedChicken

    Hens out of water for an afternoon - how long before egg production returns to normal?

    The eggs that I am getting are perfectly normal (if perhaps a bit small), but there are only 2 a day and they are coming from the same 2 hens. Maybe the other ones are still on strike because of the cold snap that hit at the same time?
  12. MedChicken

    Hens out of water for an afternoon - how long before egg production returns to normal?

    Hello all! My water system is in limbo right now (switching to a nipple waterer). During the transition, they are getting their water from a five-gallon bucket. The little ones (2-3mos) perch on the rim and have plenty of water, but when the water level dropped the laying hens ended up without...
  13. MedChicken

    How do you advertise the eggs you sell?

    I sell all of mine by word of mouth to co-workers. I made a facebook group (I know, my generation...) and the people who are interested in buying the eggs joined the group. When I have extras, I just post something on the group and I usually get a reply within an hour or two from someone who...
  14. MedChicken

    Bumblefoot surgery - with pics and "how to"

    Bacrtoban is mupiricin, another topical antibiotic. If that's what you can get your hands on, I say go for it!
  15. MedChicken

    Bumblefoot surgery - with pics and "how to"

    Betadine is an iodine topical solution used to clean wounds, not an antibiotic. If you don't have access to topical antibiotic creams, I would recommend cleaning with betadine (or other iodine solution). If you need to pack the wound, you could soak strips of sterile gauze in betadine. Or, if...
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