Recent content by troyak

  1. troyak

    Poll: Do you have an automatic coop door?

    I have the ChickenGuard automatic door. It runs off either 4 AA batteries, which I used during the summer, but once I required power for water heater, I plugged it in. You can set it to open to a certain time or a light setting. I use the light setting, so as the days get longer, the door...
  2. troyak

    Do you keep eggs that were in freezing temps?

    If they froze, the yolks are very different. cloudy and more solid. No way to tell for sure until you crack it open. We provide eggs to friends and family, if there is a chance that an egg may have frozen, or is very dirty, we save those for ourselves as we don't want others to think that our...
  3. troyak

    Do you keep eggs that were in freezing temps?

    No, we don't keep them for ourselves. We only have 12 hens (poulets technically), who are all laying right now as they are 9 months old. If we think an egg may have frozen, we don't eat it as we are getting more than enough for our needs, and if there may be a crack, we err on the side of...
  4. troyak

    Do you keep eggs that were in freezing temps?

    I use an infrared thermometer on any egg that may have frozen. If I think they have frozen, they get cooked up with any eggs that may have cracked for whatever reason, and the ladies get some scrambled eggs with their sprouts. I am in Northern Alberta, just getting over a cold spell of -30s...
  5. troyak

    Topic of the Week - Insulating the Coop

    I don't have insulation in my coop, it has been getting down into the mid -20s C each night lately . The young ladies are fine. If its going to get colder than -25 I have an oil filled heater that I will turn on low (600 Watts). This is probably more for me to feel better. If it is going to get...
  6. troyak

    Ended Chilly Coop Contest!

    A beautiful -23*C day. As long as the sun is shining, they are happy
  7. troyak

    Automatic chicken door timing for winter?

    I don’t want my chickens out of their coop until the sun has been up for at least a little while, hopefully all the nasty critters are gone by then. I don’t want to test the predator proof theory. I have the Chicken Guard auto door. It opens at 240 Lux. It happens to be pretty close to the time...
  8. troyak

    Winter Waterer

    I am North of Edmonton, I have a 4 gallon bucket with lid from Home Hardware, horizontal nipple waterers and a 250 watt tank de-icer from Amazon https://www.amazon.ca/Farm-Innovators-C-250-Submergible-Aluminum/dp/B001E8X2CA?ref_=ast_sto_dp So far so good.
  9. troyak

    Coop schedule

    I have the chickenguard pro. It has worked great so far. You can program it to open and close at a certain time, or at a certain LUX setting. I have a lux setting set as the days are rapidly getting shorter here in northern Alberta. I originally had it running on 4 AA Batteries, but switched to...
  10. troyak

    Testing the brooder plate

    I have 12 brown layers, they were born May 14th. My brooder plate is 12 x 12.
  11. troyak

    Testing the brooder plate

    No snow North of Edmonton, this morning was the coldest at 5 degrees C. They didnt seem too phased by the cold. They were all out in the coop, none under the brooder plate.
  12. troyak

    Testing the brooder plate

    I thought my brooder plate was too hot, also, so I hooked up dimmer switch to a plug and was able to turn it down a bit. The girls are still alive at 16 days, I moved them out to a unheated coop with the brooder plate 3 days ago, they are happy and healthy in Northern Alberta
  13. troyak

    Heat plate placement

    So the high side would be 4 inches or so?
  14. troyak

    Heat plate placement

    Wow. Thats really low, i have one side at 1.5 inches, the other 3, i guess I will lower the low side some more
  15. troyak

    Heat plate placement

    This was my thinking too. My chicks will be in s heated garage, i plan on turning the garage heat and heat plate on the day before. I plugged in the brooding plate when I first got it, just to make sure it works, heated up quite quickly, but will give it a good 24 test before I get the chicks. I...
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