Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[RoyalChick]

Or; California property for sale: 1.5 acres good water, Sewer (Not septic tank) county zoned for livestock. Far from other neighbors. $240K With house.

It is well below freezing here today. It is tempting!

 

[RoyalChick]

I bring mine into my basement at night and put back out in the morning. They really shouldn't be drinking water at night anyway.

I have two and swap over in the morning for the one that spent the night defrosting in the garage.

 

[featherhead007]

It is well below freezing here today. It is tempting!

For you, $238,99! and I will throw in a nice warm breakfast with the deal!

 

[RoyalChick]

Le Rat est Morte

I feel confident in saying that the rat problem has been resolved. Sansa demonstrated to me on the Mars cam this morning how one of the tunnels was reopened. There has been no sign of any activity at the shed. While I am not declaring victory, I am feeling confident and much better about leaving them in the complex.

I will be closing off the rat tunnels this afternoon.

Does this make me an official rodenteer or do I need to hunt them one at time for that title?

Weapons of mass destruction do not disqualify you from being a rodenteer.
And as one rodenteer to another I have gone over a week without any rodent being spotted anywhere in the Chicken Palace. I am cautiously optimistic but watching warily!

 

[RoyalChick]

I assume you are punning here, if not,

Oh gosh - I am sorry @featherhead007, I too assumed it was a joke. So sorry if I offended.

 

[Shadrach]

Chicken waterer froze solid last night. How do you keep it from happening?

What sort of waterer?

 

[Shadrach]

I just ducked out before it got too dark to measure.

Their current coop is about 68cm (~26 ") internally from the floor to the highest point of the sloping ceiling. Their perches are about 27cm (~10.5") off the floor leaving them with about 41cm (~16") headroom currently.

My girls are about 35-40cm (~14"-15.75") tall when standing upright and relaxed so the current coop is a little snug.

The new coop will have lower perches that are just high enough to get a rake under. The distance from floor to ceiling is 69cm (~27") the whole length. Since I will be using a branch for the main perch, the height off the floor will vary from about 10cm (~3") to about 25cm (~9.75"). Head clearance will be from 59cm to 44cm (~23.5" to 17.5")

Ideally I would like a lot more head room too, so the heat has somewhere to go, but there should be enough to be comfortable at least.

We are mostly recycling left over wood from other projects and the frame of an old water bed so we are limited in the size we can make and the finished coop will be extremely heavy.

I'd be interested in your coop dimensions if you are able to share Shad. I'd also love a photo or two to show to hubby. I know you have shared photos before but I don't know where to find them amongst all our threads!
Do your chooks use a ramp or ladder to access the coops?

There are some pictures in this link AC. I've made a few minot changes and I'll try to remember to take some pictures when I clean out tomorrow.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/shadrach’s-multi-coops.74344/

 

[Shadrach]

Le Rat est Morte

I feel confident in saying that the rat problem has been resolved. Sansa demonstrated to me on the Mars cam this morning how one of the tunnels was reopened. There has been no sign of any activity at the shed. While I am not declaring victory, I am feeling confident and much better about leaving them in the complex.

I will be closing off the rat tunnels this afternoon.

Does this make me an official rodenteer or do I need to hunt them one at time for that title?

One at a time Bob with pictures of the corpses.

 

[goldenfingers]

Chicken waterer froze solid last night. How do you keep it from happening?

I use this:
https://www.premier1supplies.com/p/heated-poultry-waterer?criteria=Heated+Poultry+Waterer

 

[BY Bob]

Time to rename the coop too! to"Slushy Butt Acres"

I'm not sure I want to know what a "slushy butt" looks like. If you are going to post a picture, please use the"spoiler" functionality.