Illinois...

[Molpet]

Happy Thanksgiving

 

[homeschoolin momma]

Happy Thanksgiving y'all!

 

[FBMcrazy8]

It’s been a real hot min since I have been on this but wanted to say Happy Thanksgiving!

 

[Molpet]

It’s been a real hot min since I have been on this but wanted to say Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving

 

[SnootyHen]

Been a while for me too. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope all of our birds are enjoying this last snap of fall. Mine definitely are! After winterizing everything, it's a nice reprieve. This year I am working on trying to find a way to keep their water from freezing. I tried the salt water bottle and at first thought it was working but it only worked a little below 32. Once we were in the teens, it was useless. Has anyone had any luck with this?

 

[FBMcrazy8]

Been a while for me too. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope all of our birds are enjoying this last snap of fall. Mine definitely are! After winterizing everything, it's a nice reprieve. This year I am working on trying to find a way to keep their water from freezing. I tried the salt water bottle and at first thought it was working but it only worked a little below 32. Once we were in the teens, it was useless. Has anyone had any luck with this?

I haven’t tried anything yet. I was given a heater to put the water on top of but I’m not sure I wanna run electricity that far in the middle of winter…. I also was given a water bowl heater but again, running electric that far just doesn’t set well with me. My duck coop is closer but even then, I’m just not so sure. So far now, my plan is to just leave the water in a plastic bowl and flip it over when it freezes and give them more water. I hope someone has better ideas cause I don’t have much myself. Maybe I can just pug in the electric stuff when it get super cold . Kinda thinking as I type so please don’t mind me lol, this is my first winter with chickens and ducks so still trying to figure a lot of this out.

 

[cavemanrich]

SnootyHen​

Do you have possibility to run an extension cord to the coop/run???

I have 2 of these going now.

One for the chickens, and one in the side yard for the squirrels, and cats.
When it is warm, the thermostat turns it off.
Have been using same ones for many winters now. Nothing lasts for ever,,, but these have served me well.

 

[BReeder!]

Been a while for me too. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope all of our birds are enjoying this last snap of fall. Mine definitely are! After winterizing everything, it's a nice reprieve. This year I am working on trying to find a way to keep their water from freezing. I tried the salt water bottle and at first thought it was working but it only worked a little below 32. Once we were in the teens, it was useless. Has anyone had any luck with this?

I use a heated hanging waterer with poultry cups. You can DIY one of you don't want to buy it - a bucket with a lid, bird bath heater and poultry cups.

 

[Faraday40]

I made this waterer in 2013 & it's still going strong. Back then if you wanted a heated chicken waterer, you had to make one..... but it was easy.

Just a 5 gal bucket, chicken nipples & a heater plopped in during winter. I like to hang my waterers so the height can be easily adjusted.

My 1st attempt was in 2012. The same heater was used, but I didn't know that horizontal nipples existed.. The vertical chicken nipples are easy to find but can freeze when we get below zero. So, some mornings, I'd have liquid water inside.... but frozen nipples hanging down. My pics above are the improved version with the horiz nipples. If it goes below zero overnight, the hens may have to give it a couple pecks to get the water flowing again. It even worked when we had those -40'F nights!!!

BTW- I'm still using the original heater. It was made for 5 gal plastic buckets and turns off when water gets to 33- 35'F. Water will be cold but not frozen. The only design flaw I found was the anti-chew coil around the cord. Why would they use a material that could rust in a submergible heater? I fixed it by pushing it up with a bit of electrical tape.

 

[Faraday40]

Trouble saves the Day!

This morning as we were cleaning the coop & the hens were out scratching around, Trouble started freaking out and making warning calls. The chickens took cover and even the squirrels froze and looked around. As I stepped out of the coop, a hawk swooped across the yard and landed about 20' away. I scared it off and counted the birds. Everyone made it to the inner coop.

Because there's no tree cover, I keep the chickens locked up - except for a few min each day when we're cleaning. That hawk was so brazen.

Of course tiny Trouble is the queen and protector of the flock.

Trouble is also a stubborn & fearless mama. She cares for her chicks long after they bigger than her.