Consolidated Kansas

[turboscooby07]

We went and picked up our piglets on sunday! They are grunting and digging up next years garden. Every bit of leftovers the chickens cant have the pigs are very appreciative for. I don't know which makes funnier happy noises.

 

[Dani4Hedgies]

Jeez my bad luck continues found out this afternoon that when I fell and twisted my ankle on Sat I didn't just sprain it nope I have a hairline fracture.

Congrats on the new piggies!!!

 

[Plinky]

Hello! New chicken keeper here in Larryville. Four 8 week old pullets. I would like to know if people here are vaccinating? Do you do it yourselves? is there a chicken vet around? Thanks!

 

[sharol]

Two little Breda babies hatched overnight. One of the English Orp eggs is pipped, so the hatch is underway. It is a bit of long hatch. The two eggs that hatched overnight were under the broody for a day before I set the eggs in the incubator, so I'm expecting the others to be a day later at least. They all looked really good at lockdown, so I'm cautiously hopeful. The two little Breda came from the black hen and are blue. They are face planted in the extra incubator sleeping off their ordeal.

Oh and my broody Araucana gave up on the nest 3 days ago, so the only broody I have has only been on the nest for a few days. ****. I put those eggs in there to give her some chicks, and now she has changed her tiny mind.

My pregnant foster Chihuahua is getting along really well with the rest of the zoo -- dogs, cats, chickens. She looks like she swallowed a soccer ball, but I have no idea when she is due. On Monday (a week ago) the vet said a week or two but she is still eating so probably not today. She has apparently had several litters of pups before, so hopefully she knows what she is doing since I don't. She has weaseled her way into sleeping in the dog bed in our bedroom. She wanted up on the bed, but I drew the line there. Can't have her jumping off and hurting herself.

 

[Trish44]

Jeez my bad luck continues found out this afternoon that when I fell and twisted my ankle on Sat I didn't just sprain it nope I have a hairline fracture.

Congrats on the new piggies!!!

I'm sorry about your ankle, I know how those fractures can hurt, hopefully it will heal fast.

Hello! New chicken keeper here in Larryville. Four 8 week old pullets. I would like to know if people here are vaccinating? Do you do it yourselves? is there a chicken vet around? Thanks!

Welcome to our thread! I don't vaccinate my chicks & if you got them from a hatchery they would have already been vaccinated for Marek's most likely. The vaccine is too expensive to just use a few doses out of it because it's a large bottle. There are very few Vets who will care for chickens & most just don't know anything about them. We share our experience here for that reason & help each other out. Good luck with your chicks & feel free to share pics of them & your setup. What breeds do you have?

 

[Dani4Hedgies]

Trish,
Thanks yea it sucks but thankfully i just brought a knee scooter when i broke my foot last year so at least im not on crutches and docs saids 2 wks and it should be healed.

 

[Plinky]

Thanks! We've got Plinky, a Brahma, Winky, a Wyandotte, Blinky a RIRed, and Pinky a Leghorn! All seem to be doing great. Wyandotte and RIRed very friendly, love to be picked up, Brahma OK, Leghorn less so. will post pics soon.

 

[Trish44]

Trish,
Thanks yea it sucks but thankfully i just brought a knee scooter when i broke my foot last year so at least im not on crutches and docs saids 2 wks and it should be healed.

Well luckily on the positive side it's only a hairline fracture. I broke my leg right close below my left knee two years ago & it was a spiral fracture because I was on a hill on ice & my legs twisted when I fell. That was the first time I had a broken bone in my life & it was painful. It really didn't feel normal again for 9 months even though it had healed way before then.

 

[Trish44]

Thanks! We've got Plinky, a Brahma, Winky, a Wyandotte, Blinky a RIRed, and Pinky a Leghorn! All seem to be doing great. Wyandotte and RIRed very friendly, love to be picked up, Brahma OK, Leghorn less so. will post pics soon.

It sounds like you have an interesting mix there. The Leghorns are very flighty birds, I have some of them. They're good layers but not friendly at all, they just want nothing to do with humans. I have several Wyandottes & really like that breed. I also raise Heritage RIRs & they're good layers.

 

[lizzyGSR]

Dani - oh gosh! I hope you heal quickly!


So, I could use some input from everyone. I am currently using a milk jug with a hole in the side and an ice cream bucket with a hole int he side/top for feeders for my chickens. These are a short-term solution, as they aren't water resistant and need to be filled at least daily. I'm looking for a solution that will be large enough to keep the birds fed for a few days and will also be water resistant/proof so that I can leave it out in the run. My aim is for simplicity/ease of care while also ideally not attracting rodents. With a baby on the way, I need something that will be easy for someone else to take over.

The ideas I've come up with so far are:

• Peck feeder - I'd have to probably use a 5 gallonb ucket on this and was hoping for something that would hold a whole 40 pound bag. I like that it's cheap to implement though
• PVC Barrel feeder - I like that it holds more feed, but is considerably more expensive to implement.

Surely, there's got to be a middle ground that's both cheap and holds more? I've got access to some 30 gallon plastic drums that I could use.... Any ideas? What do ya'll do?