I might try the vinegar on the smaller plastic waterers. Good idea.
I've heard that vinegar on the galvanized metal ones is no bueno. Also, 2 of the metal ones are painted blue so I wonder if they can tolerate the vinegar use repeatedly? The paint is not coming off yet, least not in the...
Thank you @All4Eggz for clarifying. I'm new to this but I also tend to geek out and my OCD kicks in so when I clean those waterers I CLEAN them. Even if there are 5 of them and each one takes me 15'. So be it! I think they need (and deserve) clean water. Plus I am also suspicious that some of...
I was looking for validation as to whether water should smell "funky" or as I said, "sewagy". I myself would not drink that crap. I'm not around on a daily basis so I don't clean them out daily. But every time that I do clean them out they smell! They are the "tray" kind, you know the outer ring...
It's not a very strong smell. As I walk by the waterer I do no smell it. But once I clean it and dump out the old water I get the distinct smell of, well, sort of like sewage. The water is definitely dirty. You know how chickens love to scratch up and kick up dirt and leaves so that ends up...
The chickens are definitely using the 2" PVC pipe roosts. I wouldn't say the prefer it over the 2x3s or 2x2s roosts we also have in there but they don't seem to totally hate it. However, I've not really watched them to the level of observation illustrated on that Experimental Perch post! :) I'll...
Yeah, I think we underestimated the need for ventilation. Drastically! So hopefully punching in some big holes with hardware cloth will help and/or completely eliminate the diseases our birds are getting. Fowl pox! Do you vaccinate your birds?
Thank you for the read and the recommendation :) I read it a bit too late and went ahead and set up only one of the roosts (out of 3 or 4 I think) to be PVC. However, I ended up going with a 2" size, primarily because I had it lying around. I also initially tried a 1.5" 8' piece of PVC that I...
This was an enlightening post! Boy have I got work to do and lots to learn. Gotta add more venting to our 8'x12' storage shed turned into chicken coop. I fear the lack of air flow is giving us problems with respiratory infections/fowl pox that the chickens keep getting. We're in Central TX..i.e...