Putting a gutter on the chicken house and use a 33 gal NEW never before used trash can as a catch barrel to catch the rain water from the gutter when it rains is a great idea you would think? Not having to haul water out to the chicken yard which is too far from the house for a hose and a "green" way to water the chickens right?
All was well until Good Friday, when I took some McNugget Jr and some friends into town for the day, (it was their spring break) for 2 - 3 movies they had been waiting to see.
In the rush to get out, I failed to see if the chickens had sufficient water for the warm day before we left. The next morning when I went out for the chicken's feeding, I check their water and it was empty, so I went to the water catch barrel to dip out some water and to my horror
, there was one of my hens... floating dead....
She obviously wanted something to drink and jumped into the barrel and drowned. Chickens can't swim like ducks! What was I thinking! How stupid can I be! I didn't think a chickens would jump up into the full barrel of water and then not be able to get out!
Now due to my stupidity, I've lost a hen and I had to dump the entire barrel of water and haul water until the next rain -- talk about behavior re-enforcement!
Now, the barrel has been secured with chicken wire and bungie cords (let water in - keep chickens out!) to prevent this from happening again, but allowing the water to fill the barrel. And the barrel has been refilled with recent rain.
But I'm still kick'in myself over the mistake!
All was well until Good Friday, when I took some McNugget Jr and some friends into town for the day, (it was their spring break) for 2 - 3 movies they had been waiting to see.
Now, the barrel has been secured with chicken wire and bungie cords (let water in - keep chickens out!) to prevent this from happening again, but allowing the water to fill the barrel. And the barrel has been refilled with recent rain.
But I'm still kick'in myself over the mistake!
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