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  1. EasterEggDrew

    frozen chicken

    Thanks, PirateGirl! The roosting problem seems to have resolved itself over the last two days, they're all using the bar. When I say the tips of the comb are black, I really mean the smallest amount, like a single grain of table sugar size black spot at the very tip of each comb. Does that...
  2. EasterEggDrew

    frozen chicken

    Headed back down to 0 one night this week, and a night in the single digits on either side of that. All the girls were fine last time, so I'm sure they'll be fine again, but I did see a little black at the very tips of the barred rock's comb. Should I put vaseline on it, or leave it alone...
  3. EasterEggDrew

    frozen chicken

    Thanks for asking. I was at work all day, and didn't get home until at least 2 hours after they retired but my wife was home all day, and she checked in on them around 1pm. She said the water was still liquid (first use of our heated waterer) and they all seemed to be doing fine. She hung...
  4. EasterEggDrew

    frozen chicken

    Thank you, @PirateGirl! Poop scooped today, dry PDZ in the poop tray, a nice layer of pine shavings on the floor, and straw in the nesting boxes. Their roosting bar (above poop tray, which is above nesting boxes) is a four foot section of 2x3 lumber, and they seem to be able to hunker down on...
  5. EasterEggDrew

    frozen chicken

    We're forecast for a few nights near 0 degF, in the next few days. Not all that unusual for us, but after a few abnormally warm years in a row, it's by far the coldest my flock has experienced. The flock: 2 year olds: Easter Egger, Plymouth Barred Rock 4 month olds: Golden Lace Wyandote...
  6. EasterEggDrew

    fuel-based heated waterer

    I love this idea. We always have a few wood stoves running in this house, and could easily keep a few bricks on them, to take out each morning with the water. If placed in a somewhat-insulated box, with a galvanized waterer on top (a plastic one might melt!), they'd likely do a fantastic job...
  7. EasterEggDrew

    fuel-based heated waterer

    That reminds me, somewhere I have a microwaveable stadium seat cushion. Same basic idea. But if I use it for chickens, I might be cursing myself, the next time I have to sit on metal bleachers while watching the kids play soccer in November.
  8. EasterEggDrew

    fuel-based heated waterer

    Wow, thanks everyone! These are fantastic ideas! I think I'm going to give that cooler idea a whirl. Seems like an ideal passive solution, for our climate, with several other benefits. Then I'm going to need advice on how warm (or hot?) to make the water I put in the cooler, to make it thru...
  9. EasterEggDrew

    fuel-based heated waterer

    I've been dealing with no electric, and thus no heated water, the last few winters in my coop. It's a small flock of 4, and I get thru most of the winter just fine with tucking my 2 gallon plastic waterer behind a clear plastic basement window dome on the sunny side of my run. It keeps the...
  10. EasterEggDrew

    Uh oh... what we bought ain't what we got!

    That's great news. How can you tell it's a pullet? I've always wondered that.
  11. EasterEggDrew

    Uh oh... what we bought ain't what we got!

    That would be great news, but I have been unable to find any photos of Asian Blacks that look like this.
  12. EasterEggDrew

    Uh oh... what we bought ain't what we got!

    Yes, I put them in there for a few minutes twice each week, while I clean out the brooder and fill it with fresh bedding. The brooder is a large rubbermaid tote with a chicken wire lid and low roosting bar, which works great up to about four weeks, then starts to get crowded. That's why...
  13. EasterEggDrew

    Uh oh... what we bought ain't what we got!

    Thank you for your reply! I'm trying, unfortunately we realized the problem after it got dark tonight, and I'm trying to do my best to resolve this before tomorrow. Here are some with better lighting.
  14. EasterEggDrew

    Uh oh... what we bought ain't what we got!

    Recently purchased several pullets, two of which were supposed to be Asian Blacks, but at 5 weeks, it's clear one of them isn't like the other. Complicating this, we're supposed to be giving on of these to a friend tomorrow, and now we don't know what it is (or if it's even a hen!). Let the...
  15. EasterEggDrew

    Coop for three hens

    I’ve been keeping three to four chickens in a 4x4 coop and 6x8 run, and that’s about as small as I’d go. In fact, they really only work because they’re full standing height, so I can go vertical on things that would otherwise take up floor space. Nesting boxes are high enough off coop floor...
  16. EasterEggDrew

    Living in a tractor?

    We’re nearing the end of year 2 with our small flock, and they’ve been doing great, thanks to the start-up and coop building advice we received here at backyardchickens.com. However, we have found our chickens really love free ranging, and while I can tolerate the mess the’re making of our...
  17. EasterEggDrew

    Fleas?

    Cool. Will stop by Tractor Supply and pick up a bag of DE this week. Even if it doesn't work, it's worth a try, before moving onto harsher things. Thank you!
  18. EasterEggDrew

    Fleas?

    Oh, how much DE should I buy? 4 lb? 40 lb?
  19. EasterEggDrew

    Fleas?

    Thanks! PDZ is something I learned about here. Seems it was quite popular (at least last year) for poop trays. I was reading up on DE, and also thought it might be a good idea to mix that with the PDZ, but have no experience with DE. My girls don't have a dedicated dust bath, they usually...
  20. EasterEggDrew

    Fleas?

    I was doing the weekly cleaning of our poop tray (under roosting bar in coop, filled with PDZ), and I saw a lot of little bugs bouncing around, as I was sifting the PDZ. I really don't have any expertise to tell whether they were fleas, gnats, or something else. Their "bouncy" nature made me...
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