California-Southern

[OCeggs23]

I water twice a day, about 30 cups... it would be nice to have automatic system or water nipples like that.  

Did you get the  nipples from Home Depot also?

I got them on Amazon (because Prime shipping makes me deliriously happy). Type in chicken nipples. I got the 5 pack for $12.45 and free Prime shipping.

 

[JShubin]

I got them on Amazon (because Prime shipping makes me deliriously happy). Type in chicken nipples. I got the 5 pack for $12.45 and free Prime shipping.

thank you.. I have Prime as well. life is great.

 

[Jessimom]

Hi All!! I saw a video today on facebook - what do all of you think..????.

For a summer treat, take a baby swimming pool, fill it with water and load it with small gold fish. In the video, the chickens LOVED it. they went up to the pool, and just grabbed the fish as they swam by. My runs are almost entirely shaded, so I don't usually have heat related issues, but this sounds like it could be fun for them.

Only problem I see, is if my chickens just don't figure out what those swimming things are, what do I do with the goldfish?

Also, I have tried the water nipples, and my chickens hated them. I would have to take away ALL OTHER water sources in order for them to use them, I think. I just have too may watering areas to do that.

 

[JShubin]

Hi All!! I saw a video today on facebook - what do all of you think..????.

For a summer treat, take a baby swimming pool, fill it with water and load it with small gold fish. In the video, the chickens LOVED it. they went up to the pool, and just grabbed the fish as they swam by. My runs are almost entirely shaded, so I don't usually have heat related issues, but this sounds like it could be fun for them.

Only problem I see, is if my chickens just don't figure out what those swimming things are, what do I do with the goldfish?

Also, I have tried the water nipples, and my chickens hated them. I would have to take away ALL OTHER water sources in order for them to use them, I think. I just have too may watering areas to do that.

haha wife sent me that video as well.. must be viral on FB.

Put them in a fish bowl and watch them grow lol...

I have outdoor aquarium and I feed the chickens duckweed from it, but never thought about fish. They eat the water snails that hide in the duckweed.

 

[Jessimom]

haha wife sent me that video as well.. must be viral on FB.

Put them in a fish bowl and watch them grow lol...

I have outdoor aquarium and I feed the chickens duckweed from it, but never thought about fish. They eat the water snails that hide in the duckweed.

I have an indoor aquarium that I scoop out he duckweed and feed them. That stuff is NASTY if ignored. I'm thinking about setting up an outdoor one for the duckweed alone. I have about a dozen hens that escape the pen and wander the yard. They would probably catch on pretty quickly. They seem to always find the best places to dig for bugs.

 

[Skalabs]

I don't have those but definitely considered buying them. Then I wandered into the "Feeding at Watering Your Flock" section of the forums and got some great DIY tips.

For a feeder I bought some PVC piping at Home Depot and followed more DIY advice. I think all those pieces were closer to $20 when said and done. But the feeder holds a ton of food and they can't dump it out on the ground anymore.

Definitely check out that section before you drop $100 on the feeder/waterer!

I actually checked out the diy section. I found a feeder that looked promising, fairly simple using a 5 gallon bucket.

I like the idea of using pvc pipe to reduce the foot print of the feeder or waterer. Having a 5 gallon bucket is more cumbersome than an upright screwed to the coop or 4 x 4.

I also toyed with the idea of making a feeder using 4" pvc. I bought the pvc parts: 10 feet of 4" pvc $24 plus two elbows and a cap for $12. Same idea for the waterer. I already have water cups where the chicken pecks at it to fill the cup. Add two caps for about $9.

I can make them both for under $50 but I think the Royal Rooster is a well built product with self filling cups. Is it worth $50 more than the diy? Not sure.

I ended up using the pvc that I bought for another project. My local plumbing supply store has a much better selection of fittings over Home Depot, and the prices are similar.

Should I spend the extra money?

 

[Skalabs]

I'm in Riverside/Woodcrest, and we have a rapidly growing flock of chicks and just yesterday our first duck! We are starting over since moving down from Reno.

Would love to meet other people in the area!  

Hi Norco people!!!! 

Welcome to BYC! You are lucky to have good feed stores and a Tractor Supply in your area!

 

[Sylvester017]

Skalabs, I'm not familiar with either product, but I'm also interested in installing clean water systems and reliable sturdy feeders. Does anyone have any brands they recommend?

For a small flock of about a dozen a Brite Tap/Rubbermaid combination nipple valve waterer is great. Keeps water clean, cool, can add ice cubes, or medicine, doesn't build up algae, and easy to transport, hang in a coop, setup free-standing, and easy to clean. Not cheap but so clean and convenient. I can go a couple weeks without having to give ours a thorough cleaning with a light bleach solution. Can be used indoors for hospital pens, brooders, or outdoors. I bought 3 so that if one leaks (which they don't) I have a backup waterer set up plus keep one indoors for the inside hospital pen. The company was excellent in assisting me to get my old hens used to using nipple valves. I have a little Black Silkie that stands under the valves and takes a "shower" working the cold water into her chest feathers on hot days! She takes these showers during every hot day because the ice cubes in the jug keep the water nice and cold and clean and the wild birds can't get to the water to dirty it. While remodeling our backyard we had to move the water jugs all around the yard so the portability of these waterers is great. We got the protective Sun Covers for the Brite Taps also.
http://www.chickenwaterer.com/BriteTap-Chicken-Waterer-Cooler-Combo-Pack-p/bt100-2gal-combo.htm

 

[Sylvester017]

Wow small world... its a pretty rare last name... I am guessing she married a Russian Molokan descendant? Yep, Our parents and grandparents came at the turn of the 20th century before the 1917 Russian revolution. Here in the States "Shubin" was common like "Smith" and some weren't even related to each other or very very distantly LOL When did your group arrive -- the early 1900's or the mid-1950's?

Sounds like bad husbandry somewhere up the line. Probably intensive inbreeding or poor selection of broodstock. I think rare breeds suffer from poor health because people are prone to breeding only to the same type... The problem with Breda is that there are s-o-o-o few breeding flocks and most of them came from Greenfire -- Cuckoos I think came either from Europe and/or Canadian breeders before the agricultural ban tightened up years ago. I don't even know where the Mottleds came from.

IMO if you want to keep a line strong you have to add outside blood that compliments the original breed, but different enough to not breed the same defects. Then breed back to original with hybrids. Keeping things pure too long is bad husbandry and detrimental to the breed. IMO ;-) There is what there is, which isn't a whole lot to breed, and a little inline breeding to weed out the weaker stock is about the best way at the moment until breeders start trading their hardier lines with each other. Just like all rare breeds the gene pool is small. I would love to see Breda gain some ground because all the ones I've had are terrific layers with the best docile temperament of any breed I've owned. Wish I could breed them but I'm not zoned for roos plus I have a very small backyard.

 

[chapin]

Hi guys. I have some chicks for sale.
Bielefielder
Bresse
Queen Silvia
LEgbars
Some mix Breed maran roo and rodhebar hens.