Consolidated Kansas

[JosieChick]

Thank you everyone for the very informative messages!!! I really appreciate everyones advice and concern and all your expertise!!! I promise I will get back to you guys tonight, I have lots of questions still but have got to get outside to get some stuff done in this nice warm DRY weather!!!

 

[sapphireblu76]

The nipple waterers in the pic do not work at an angle, they will drip constantly if you attach them that way.

Been there, done that. I bought a bulk bag of the 360 screw in ones off Ebay. Put "poultry nipples" in the search box. You can pick them up cheap.

The setup in the pics is secured to the post behind it, so it won't go anywhere. I don't think there was anything necessarily "wrong" with the Thermocube, but it was inside the coop out of the wind and such and the waterer was not. The water in the bucket never froze over, but there were some windy, freezing mornings the nipples did somewhat. Removing the Thermocube allowed the heater to run longer and I didn't have any problems after that. Maybe it could have been resolved with a higher watt bulb or the waterer more sheltered. I don't know, because I didn't take stuff down or move anything to try it.

Here are my favorite homemade heated poultry/nipple systems I would do if I already had the stuff laying around. http://avianaquamiser.com/posts/Heated_bucket_chicken_waterer/
and http://avianaquamiser.com/posts/Heated_chicken_bucket_waterer_good_to_20_below/ A bucket heater would do just as well.


I like my poultry cup drinkers too. I've also used them successfully attached directly to a bucket and cookie tin heater for 2 winters now. The only leaking issues I've had with them has been caused by dirt/debris/dust

something from the water reservoir. Dis-assembly and cleaning resolved every time. I've found the easiest way to avoid is to say attach tubing an Inch or so up the side, so possible debris can settle to the bottom of the reservoir and never get to the cup. Also a good lid on top.

Two things I like about the cups vs the nipples, no water mess if all is working well and deep drinks in Summer. The poultry nipples will end up with a wet area below when in consistent use. Not leaking, just drops the birds don't catch while using. Inside I use mainly cup waterers and rabbit type to keep things dry. I also add wood pellets to help absorb moisture and keep everything dry. Don't know it would be a serious issue, but I'm keeping them for outside and wire bottoms for the time being.

Off to bed. Hoping to enjoy sunny weather and dry out the next few days.

Thank you for the input! I think I may go with the cups

 

[tweetysvoice]

I just pulled yet another batch of chicks from the hatcher. 25 chicks and another 5 ducks. Got my first Ancona duck hatch so far this year. All the others have been cayugas.

awwww.. I see the little acona in there. What are the personalities of those ducks like? s/he is awfully cute!!! Congrats on the great hatch!

 

[sapphireblu76]

Can someone help me ID these hens, please? I only have one left and I've had her for a couple of years. She lays brown eggs and all her 'sisters' were black or black with kind of reddish brown feathers here and there on the chest/neck area. Then there's that girl in the back that had lots of that brownish red on her. Wish I had a better picture, but maybe someone can tell? Funny, I just noticed the one on the bottom left had a larger comb. It never crowed, though, so it wasn't a roo. And they all laid an egg a day.

 

[sapphireblu76]

$12.60 for a package of 5, before S/H, is the best price I've found on the water cups. Is that a good price for them?

 

[chicken danz]

Tweety the Anconas are a very domesticated sweet breed. They stay home and don't fly. And they are on the endangered list. I really like them much better than the cayugas. The cayugas aren't nearly as tame. People often come to buy cayugas and take home Anconas as well even though I charge more for them.
Sapphireblu, those are Black Star hens. Very good laying hybrid. Their excellent choice for layers.
I got my first guineas eggs today. Yippee! I really need to get a different pen built and get them moved. Poor things are in a big mud hole.
I'm trying to get DH to go get me a few bales of straw so every one will have new bedding to lay in. I've changed clothes twice today because I was covered in mud. I really wish it would dry quickly out there.

 

[MarcAustin]

I got my first guineas eggs today. Yippee! I really need to get a different pen built and get them moved. Poor things are in a big mud hole.
I'm trying to get DH to go get me a few bales of straw so every one will have new bedding to lay in. I've changed clothes twice today because I was covered in mud.

What do you do with Guineas ??

I took the kids out back for a little while today. They seemed to enjoy themselves, but every time i got more than 10 feet away they came chirping up close to me. Separation anxiety I guess . . .

 

[averytds]

Awww, such cute chick pics.

Saphireblu, I'm gonna go with black sexlinks of some kind. That describes all we've ever made to a tee colorwise.


That sounds fine on cup price, but highly depends on ship costs. Smith's is $12 for a 5 pack and if nearby, you could avoid shipping altogether. All the connectors and clips and what not was coming up my big expense, so I just ordered the assembled quail breeder unit and robbed what I needed for where I needed.

Ivy, I've only ever had cups leak that were directly attached to the caps of bottles. Like 2 and 3 liter bottles with filling holes cut in the bottom for a single drinker unit. Never to covered bucket/tube systems. Dirt/dust/debris was all I could think of as to the difference and cleaning solved any probs. We used in some small tractors for corner weights and additional summer water. An easy small system can be made with a T piece from the farm store screwed into the spigot hole from a sun tea jar.


I'm planning to try the new cup drinkers out this summer in tractors, but haven't built yet.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Well, we're back! There's no way I can catch up with you all-- but I did find Josie's goose story horrifying! I'd have grabbed my gun and went after it. Actually, I would have done exactly what you did first... and then I'd be sitting up nights or early mornings waiting for him to come back...

Danz-- you'll NEVER guess who I saw up at the show today!?!?!?! LOL!! Okay, you might, since they live nearby. I saw Darin and Duck!!! Got to meet them face to face and it was so incredibly cool to meet BYC people up there! They were up there buying... ducks! (of course!) hehe! Anyway, the guy that brought them down for them had the coolest looking transport cages I've ever seen! I took a picture and I'll post it later. BUt I'm totally going to build myself a couple of those cages! Seriously cool!! Everyone there was looking at those cages.

Okay, so we did well. My oldest did Showmanship for the first time ever. They did a couple of practice run thru's with him before it was his turn. The poultry leader there was super nice! I totally loved her! And a couple of other parents helped him and pointed out some tips with showmanship before it was his turn. Anyway, after it was all said and done, he did great, but he forgot to take his bird out of the cage HEAD FIRST-- so he got disqualified. The judge told the leader that he was hands down the best one there and if hadn't been for that, he'd have won first place for his age. Not that he had all the holding and stuff down-- but he was so impressed with his knowledge of the silkies and the parts on the body-- he named all the wing feathers, and body feathers (hackle, saddle, crest, primary, secondary, etc, etc...) Anyway, the judge thought he was going to trip my son up and asked him who brought silkies over to the "new world" and my boy responded back quickly, Marco Polo in the 13th Century! LOL Proud, I am. (Yoda's voice) We've been doing chicken flash cards for a while now to practice for it.

Our silkies did well, too. He said our cockerel only had a couple of faults and they were minor. Despite his comb being the perfect shade of mulberry and the right shape-- his wattles were a bit too red under the beard. He also said that his crest is a bit irregular, but it's not that big of a deal-- just would like more of a rounder shape to it. Our pullet did the best! She won first place in her breed and then she made it to the next round. It was down to 4 birds fir best of class (bantam) and then it was down to two-- mine and this beautiful black bantam cochin and they won it. The judge came back and told my son he'd have won grand champion but that our pullet's crest just needed to be a tiny bit bigger-- he said, not by much. He said maybe after her first molt, it might be there. (maybe not-- but he was patting my son on the back and telling him we had some of the best birds there) A LF Buff Orpington won Reserve.

 

[Hawkeye95]

rvRoman-- was it you who asked about the poultry shows? Where they are? We are signed up in 4-H, and are doing the 4-H circuit. We just got back from Jefferson County and our next show is in 2 more weeks in Lyons county-- in Emporia. I hate to say it, but I really doubt they will let you sign up for 4-H right now... but I could be wrong! Your projects have to be turned in by February (at the lastest-- usually everyone is signed up in Jan). The show season moves at warp speed and there is show after show... etc. Now, I know there are Open shows around here, too. I don't know where those are. I do know there is one in Hutchinson, but I think it's in another month or two. When I find out the date, I can let you know if you're interested. We'll be doing that one too-- at least, that's the plan! Your child has to be 7 yrs old by sign up to be eligible to participate in 4-H. If they are 6yrs, they can participate as a ---ugh, I forget the name of it. BUt it's like a "little" but you have to have an older child already in order for the younger one to participate. I would HIGHLY recommend 4-H, because these people were ALL very, very nice and super helpful and they want everyone to do well. Plus there are so many other things to do in it, too. I did it when I was a kid, and it hasn't changed in the least. I showed chickens for several years when I was in 4-H. You are eligible to be in 4-H until you are 18 years old-- or your last year of HighSchool. So it's a good long time to spend with friends and networking with really decent people.