Heritage Large Fowl - Phase II

[armorfirelady]

Quote: I added some AVC a couple weeks ago. It didn't seem to help. I actually think I had more slime then I do with it just sitting in the shade being blocked with full sun.

 

[Wisher1000]

I'd like some reviews on the nipple waterers. I want to use them, but I don't want to have to buy several to try. I think I want to install them in a 5 gallon bucket, or in PVC pipe, run from a cooler. Which ones should I stay away from? Where is the best place to buy them?

 

[qball53]

Ok I am sure I will be chastized for this but I can't continue to read about all this scrubing of water dishes. Someone please help me understand where the wild birds drink from. Are there any mud puddles in your yard, don't your chickens drink from them? For the most part we have those rubber tubs for water several per pen usually. They get filled as needed which at this time of year is almost daily. When time permits they will get dumped and hosed out then refilled. Dumping of the water is more to control mosquito larve than the gunk in the water. It really is not necessary to scrub and sanitize the chickens dishes. There is plenty to do around the ranch/farm we certainly don't need to be looking for something to do.

 

[ronott1]

Ok I am sure I will be chastized for this but I can't continue to read about all this scrubing of water dishes. Someone please help me understand where the wild birds drink from. Are there any mud puddles in your yard, don't your chickens drink from them? For the most part we have those rubber tubs for water several per pen usually. They get filled as needed which at this time of year is almost daily. When time permits they will get dumped and hosed out then refilled. Dumping of the water is more to control mosquito larve than the gunk in the water. It really is not necessary to scrub and sanitize the chickens dishes. There is plenty to do around the ranch/farm we certainly don't need to be looking for something to do.

Thanks for the information. This has been a great discussion about water. I know someone that is famous on BYC is very much into clean water every day.

First, Nipple water systems will have "stale" water in it and it is an awful lot of plastic leaching into the water. I do notice that the metal water fountain does not go moldy like the plastic ones and there is no plastic leaching in metal.

second, green is good, pink is bad. If the stuff growing on the water fountain is green it is safe. I like the suggestion to rinse and add fresh water daily and then scrub weekly. I wait until I can't stand the green any more.

I wonder though, if fermenting is good why is a bit of the same type of thing in the water bad?

 

[finnfur]

Nothing scientific and I use the nipples but note the chickens drink of the ground when I run the hose to wash change water,
The white plastic 3 gal bucket I keep in rolling coop that doesn't get sunlight doesn't mold up like the ones outside. We keep a cover on it also. the outside nipple waterers do but I have found if rotate them daily they don't as they dry out between waters. I prefer the reused plastic coffee containers with two or three nipples . Not sure which vendor but we got the nipples off Ebay.
I would think leaching on PVC pipe is a non issue if you use drinking water grade. 90% of your drinking water comes thru some kind of drinking water grade plastic pipe.

 

[bnjrob]

I'd like some reviews on the nipple waterers. I want to use them, but I don't want to have to buy several to try. I think I want to install them in a 5 gallon bucket, or in PVC pipe, run from a cooler. Which ones should I stay away from? Where is the best place to buy them?

I use the nipples that will drip water if they are bumped from any direction - they're usually called "360 degree" nipples. There are some that require the nipple to be pushed in. I don't like those since the chicken has to be at just the right angle to get the nipple pushed in. I put my nipples in the bottom of buckets or soda pop bottles and then hang them. And with needing to be at a height that the shortest chicken can reach, that means taller chickens are going to be coming at the nipples from the side and would have a hard time being able to get a nipple pushed straight in.

Have heard that there is a new non-drip nipple for horizontal placement. From what I understand it has a mechanism that requires getting the nipple pushed in to get the water out. Not sure if I will try them or not - Don't know if chicks would have enough strength to push these in to obtain water. And with a cock that is blind in one eye after a fight - I wouldn't want to rely on a nipple that requires such precision to get a drink of water in his pen. The amount of dripping from the nipples I use is negligible - providing that it hangs vertically and at a height that the chickens are not constantly gathering underneath it and hitting the nipple with their heads and backs - which is usually a chick thing when they are still freaking out and huddling in groups when frightened. Then it's just a matter of raising the nipple higher to stop that problem.

There are screw in and push in nipples - I use both depending on what I'm putting the nipples into. Thinner materials do better with a push in nipple that uses an rubber gasket. The 5 gallon buckets and PVC do fine with the screw in type, but once the screw in type is in - if you take it out it usually messes up the threads so it can't be reused. You can get replaceable gaskets to use the push-in nipples repeatedly if your watering device breaks or you don't like the setup and want to try a different one.

I use ACV in my water year round as I find it inhibits the invisible slime that grows overnight that I can feel inside the bucket with my hand but otherwise would not know is there. I have not had any problems with the ACV degrading the metal portion of the nipples.

I wrap my buckets in silver air bubble insulation material. It helps to keep the water cooler in summer and warmer in winter. During the worst heat of summer I throw frozen water bottles into the buckets. I still have to change water daily during the heat of summer, but it doesn't stay cool very long when it's 100+ degrees, so throwing in the ice bottle keeps the water cool enough to drink even in the worst heat.

I get mine from QC Supply. Have been pleased with their customer service and reasonable shipping costs.

 

[subhanalah]

I'd like some reviews on the nipple waterers.  I want to use them, but I don't want to have to buy several to try.  I think I want to install them in a 5 gallon bucket, or in PVC pipe, run from a cooler.  Which ones should I stay away from?  Where is the best place to buy them?

For juvenile and adult birds, I recommend solway horizontal nipples. They don't drip and are easier to set up in a winterized watering system since the valve is not full of water (it doesn't freeze as easily)

for hatchlings and babies, I use the vertical nipples bought at TSC.

Ok I am sure I will be chastized for this but I can't continue to read about all this scrubing of water dishes. Someone please help me understand where the wild birds drink from. Are there any mud puddles in your yard, don't your chickens drink from them? For the most part we have those rubber tubs for water several per pen usually. They get filled as needed which at this time of year is almost daily. When time permits they will get dumped and hosed out then refilled. Dumping of the water is more to control mosquito larve than the gunk in the water. It really is not necessary to scrub and sanitize the chickens dishes. There is plenty to do around the ranch/farm we certainly don't need to be looking for something to do.

For me, it's not open water bowls/dishes. It is the font type (moat+basin design) that gives me so much grief. Even after just a few hours, no poop or bedding in the water at all, but when I open up the reservoir and stick my nose in, it smells like a soggy garbage dump.
I would imagine that's my nose telling me not to drink that contaminated water! The thing I don't understand about it is how it happens so quickly. I have city water that is treated with chloramine. It shouldn't go septic/anaerobe so fast.
I'm not as stringent about water bowls/dishes because they simply just don't get nasty like the other types do.

Thanks for the information. This has been a great discussion about water. I know someone that is famous on BYC is very much into clean water every day.

First, Nipple water systems will have "stale" water in it and it is an awful lot of plastic leaching into the water. I do notice that the metal water fountain does not go moldy like the plastic ones and there is no plastic leaching in metal.

second, green is good, pink is bad. If the stuff growing on the water fountain is green it is safe. I like the suggestion to rinse and add fresh water daily and then scrub weekly. I wait until I can't stand the green any more.

I wonder though, if fermenting is good why is a bit of the same type of thing in the water bad?

Fermenting feed uses a different type of bacteria than what's in ACV. I don't know if that affects it or not.

But also, the concentration of "acidity" in fermented food would be no where near the %age you would add to their water. That stuff is pretty strong out of the bottle.

But also, when feeding fermented feed, the animals have access to fresh, clean water to dilute whatever acidity they encounter.

 

[3riverschick]

At three days old, my chicks go on to the small chips from TSC, in a big water tub. Get your babies off slick paper !

Hi,
I make sure it is absorbent paper towel. At least 3 layers thick.
Nothing slick. So they have something to grip with their toes.
Best,
Karen

 

[brahmabreeder]

Does anyone have any idea on what could kill Brahma hens and some decent sized turkeys( these turkeys are at least 20 pounds )? What ever it is attacks them in the coop and then drags them off into the weeds/trees that are near by. I just lost my third female today. Could it be a big coon? Just thought I would mention that yesterday something was above the nesting boxes in my light Brahma coop. It was probably the size of a small cat and was able to get up and down from about three and a half to four feet and squeeze through a two or maybe three inch gap. That problem was solved today though since I bought wire mesh that is the quarter inch size and put that all around the gap that's in the back to keep it out. Maybe I have two different predators

? Maybe next week I should work on that automatic door opener. Problem is that some nights, like tonight, I work until eleven so I don't always get the birds locked up right at dark. I think I figured it would cost me about $60 to build the automatic door.

 

[ronott1]

Does anyone have any idea on what could kill Brahma hens and some decent sized turkeys( these turkeys are at least 20 pounds )? What ever it is attacks them in the coop and then drags them off into the weeds/trees that are near by. I just lost my third female today. Could it be a big coon? Just thought I would mention that yesterday something was above the nesting boxes in my light Brahma coop. It was probably the size of a small cat and was able to get up and down from about three and a half to four feet and squeeze through a two or maybe three inch gap. That problem was solved today though since I bought wire mesh that is the quarter inch size and put that all around the gap that's in the back to keep it out. Maybe I have two different predators

? Maybe next week I should work on that automatic door opener. Problem is that some nights, like tonight, I work until eleven so I don't always get the birds locked up right at dark. I think I figured it would cost me about $60 to build the automatic door.

Could it be a Mink?

They are making a big comeback on the East Coast. They can get into very tight places but I do not know about dragging the big poultry around.