Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[BY Bob]

Probably too busy keeping himself cool (excuse my bitterness, I'm very cranky about this man's ignorance)

Enjoying a cup of coffee in his air-conditioned house. I'm sure.

My Hollyhocks bloomed!!

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Mine are no where near that close to blooming. Congrats.

 

[featherhead007]

Good morning Bob and your feathered family “says Jaffar “

 

[BY Bob]

Have you seen the new contest, chicken poop bingo!!

I have. I am looking forward to it.

 

[BY Bob]

Good morning Bob and your feathered family “says Jaffar “View attachment 2731294

Good morning Jaffar.

 

[RoyalChick]

Good morning

Would anyone have any advice on how to keep slug out of the coop. I use the earth clay but they are still coming in. I thought of a metal copper strip but read that this can poison the birds as they are attracted to shiny things. Will try a can of beer later but how to keep the girls out of that is going to be another problem. I don't need raging drunk hens

Don't yours eat slugs? Mine love them so when I find them elsewhere I bring them into the coop as a treat.

 

[Blazinga]

Drip drinkers? Please explain. I have tried stainless steel nipple drinkers. But my chickens like a simple bowl of water

Yes, those. Are they more convenient to use?

 

[RoyalChick]

Yes, those. Are they more convenient to use?

Really young chicks are apparently not strong enough to use horizontal nipple waterers - I can't remember how old they need to be but I vaguely remember 6 weeks. The vertical nipples are OK for baby chicks apparently and next time I get chicks I am going to give that a go as it certainly keeps the water cleaner.
I have a variety of waterers.
- I have a bucket with horizontal nipples in the coop - it ensures there aren't spills in the coop and everyone seems fine with it particularly for a drink before bed. Interestingly I never taught the road-runners to use it, they just picked it up from the other Princesses.
- I have a hanging waterer in the run
- And out in the chicken garden I have a good old fashioned rubber bowl
When it gets really cold in winter I replace the horizontal waterer with a heated open waterer and I remove the bowl because of fear of Maggie getting frost bite in her wattles.
Sorry for such a long reply I got carried away!

 

[ChicoryBlue]

So I’m not quite caught up and have had lots going on. In addition to my (mildly) high blood pressure, I’ve had three recent episodes of a crazy, racing, pounding heart. Saw the doc. At her request/recommendation, bought a mobile EKG-at-your-fingertips device, managed to capture some recordings of my racing heart and sent a couple to her. A cardiologist reviewed them and confirmed her suspicions. I have Supraventricular Tachycardia and started on meds tonight. As a bonus, the meds prescribed for the tachycardia should also lower my blood pressure. Woohoo!

Tax
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Good news that you have a diagnosis for your tachycardia, I hope your meds work out! Nice picture too!

 

[featherhead007]

Yes, those. Are they more convenient to use?

The nipples stay dry. The chooks prefer a water bowl. I wasted money buying them but if you want them, I have 12 I could send you, but only if Jaffar agrees to it!

 

[ChicoryBlue]

What are your thoughts on drip drinkers? We've been wondering if they would be cleaner to use.

The Buckeye chicks took to the vertical nipple waterer immediately when I showed it to them. It worked really well, kept the water clean and the brooder dry, and there's no danger of drowning (but that you can overcome with a regular waterer anyway). I put a plate with a paper towel on it right underneath for any drips, so that was easy to keep clean of poop right there and the bottom of the brooder/litter dry.

Do the chicks have a warm but shady spot there to go to at night, and a place to be cooler if they want?