California-Southern

[FarmerJohn5626]

Hey, food, water, a place to dust bathe, and a pool to swim in - what else could birds ask of paradise? 
Just wondered, how do you drain the pool for cleaning?  Does it have a drain plug or how do you do it?

I bucket it out and water their grazing run remove it clean it and put it back

 

[FarmerJohn5626]

You can poke a hole through a head of lettuce or Cabbage and run a string through for dangling.... for chicken tetherball.
I bet an ear of corn would be a hit as well.  the dangly part acts as enrichment. 

deb

So what I've done here in my entire coupe I have of course the 12 lbs feeder then I have a little bucket for water as the ducks like mixing the food with the water it makes it easier to clean out on a daily basis I also have next to the feeder two hooks one hook I usually put bananas cucumbers corn anything like that the other hook has the chicken wire basket that I put in the heads of lettuce cabbage that way they have to work to get that food out I don't know if you can see but on the outset of the table there's also a small bucket attached to the outside of the leg it's a wire frame bucket with wire mesh surrounding it and then almost open bottom and I usually put apples and pears in there so they have to work to get the fruit I've got the dust bath box for the chickens the pond for the ducks I also keep the Haybale for them to find the wheat heads give them something to scratch and they also play chicken of the hill with it the structure holding all the food is actually A triple purpose structure it has rungs for them to jump around on and get to higher locations and play king of the hill like chickens like to do, it's a feeding station and it has a laminate table on top so that I can prepare treats for them or a work station to do more work to the run. Once a week I'll put a salmon out for them to all eat I also throw minnows and goldfish into the pond for the ducks to hunt, the coop is my shed that I converted half of it into a coop built ledges and converted milk crates into nesting boxes as well as installed roosting bars etc. adjacent to their run is a grazing area for them that they're allowed out under supervision that is always kept lush and green for them as of right now I am working on getting them a mirror as hens enjoyed looking at themselves and preening and as I don't have a rooster yet gives them something else to do the entire idea of my run was to keep them entertained as much as possible so i'm constantly changing and adding to it taking things out putting new things in that way they never get bored

 

[FarmerJohn5626]

Inside the coop before the renovation

The haybale

These are some older pictures I'll take some new ones this weekend there has been a lot of renovations since the girls in the coop were my first girls sadly I lost 10/12 to a dog incident on Febuary 17 so I have to wait a while for egg production to pick up again

 

[Sylvester017]

I bucket it out and water their grazing run remove it clean it and put it back

I saw someone on youtube connect a downslope pipe to his kiddie pool (for his ducks) to drain it into his garden bed, wash out the bottom of the pool draining it through the pipe, plug it up again, and add the new water. Having to deal with water for a couple ducks in our tiny backyard is why I didn't consider them. Sad, because I love ducks, but we've been content with our little flock of chickens. Our chickens are noisy enough without adding a duet of ducks. Close neighbors, you know!

 

[Sylvester017]

So what I've done here in my entire coupe I have of course the 12 lbs feeder then I have a little bucket for water as the ducks like mixing the food with the water it makes it easier to clean out on a daily basis I also have next to the feeder two hooks one hook I usually put bananas cucumbers corn anything like that the other hook has the chicken wire basket that I put in the heads of lettuce cabbage that way they have to work to get that food out I don't know if you can see but on the outset of the table there's also a small bucket attached to the outside of the leg it's a wire frame bucket with wire mesh surrounding it and then almost open bottom and I usually put apples and pears in there so they have to work to get the fruit I've got the dust bath box for the chickens the pond for the ducks I also keep the Haybale for them to find the wheat heads give them something to scratch and they also play chicken of the hill with it the structure holding all the food is actually A triple purpose structure it has rungs for them to jump around on and get to higher locations and play king of the hill like chickens like to do, it's a feeding station and it has a laminate table on top so that I can prepare treats for them or a work station to do more work to the run. Once a week I'll put a salmon out for them to all eat I also throw minnows and goldfish into the pond for the ducks to hunt, the coop is my shed that I converted half of it into a coop built ledges and converted milk crates into nesting boxes as well as installed roosting bars etc. adjacent to their run is a grazing area for them that they're allowed out under supervision that is always kept lush and green for them as of right now I am working on getting them a mirror as hens enjoyed looking at themselves and preening and as I don't have a rooster yet gives them something else to do the entire idea of my run was to keep them entertained as much as possible so i'm constantly changing and adding to it taking things out putting new things in that way they never get bored

Love the efforts you go through for your birds!!!

 

[MommaRivas]

Hi Deb,

Thanks for the welcome!
We're up in the Antelope Valley area.

 

[FarmerJohn5626]

I took these this morning, the yellow rings on the fence are the leg tags I could find from the "slaughter" hung in memoriam

 

[MommaRivas]

Hi sol2go,

We don't have other livestock currently.

I've wanted goats for years~ but haven't committed to them yet.

We are discussing turkey or other fowl to add to our flock.

Non-livestock we have 3 dogs, a cat, and an aquarium with an undetermined number of cichlids.
The other brood numbers 7 kids age 16 1/2 down to almost 3; girls: 5 ~ boys: 2

I've been a little slow on the photos, but hope to get something up soon.

Yes, we have wildflowers in bloom! No poppies in my particular area, but we are known for them~
I'm in the AV part of the High Desert, and the poppies are blooming well this year, just not in the reserve.

If you want to pm me with hen/pullet availability, price, locale~ I'd appreciate it!

(My 5 year old helped me pick that one. lol)

Have a wonderful day!

~Monica

 

[dadacat]

Love seeing everybodys set up. I am still in the beginning phases and love getting all this creative input.

FarmerJohn, are you not worried about daytime attacks? I noticed that your run area is open on top.

My girls are 8 week old today. Last night when I gathered them from outside to bring them inside (don't have a secure area for them outside yet) they were jumping all over me and were screaming in my face. No idea what was up with them. They seem to looooove to climb up on me to sit on my shoulders or preferably on my head. Which makes me nervous since, well you know....poop.

 

[sol2go]

Hi!! I have a few days old Polish chicks: white crested black, black on black, and mixed WCB and Silverlaced. I also have one 2-week old Blue Partridge silkie and black on black Polish for sale. They are straight run.
Anyone interested please PM me

Chick pics are always fun too look at =)