INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[bwindell]

So I have been throwing around the idea of fencing in my whole yard. I have 2 acres. Main reason for wanting to is to help prevent the chickens from wondering off property (they like to cross the road as well as visit the church next door. I was looking for opinions on the best fencing to do this. I'm thinking horse fencing that is 2x4 openings. Would 4 Feet be tall enough? I know most chickens could fly over this, But Would they? Would I be wasting my money? I also like the idea of having it all fenced in for the possibility of keeping other animals. Just looking for a good cheap way to accomplish this.

We are also going to fence in a lot of our yard this Spring, because our birds are wandering way too far away.. I put a temporary fence up this past fall to keep them out of my landscaping and yes, they will fly over a four foot fence. I had to clip their wings to stop the practice.
We plan on putting up a 6 foot fence, mainly because we have coyotes in the area,(which they can jump a 4 foot fence), as well as stray (?) neighbor dogs that have come in the yard and attacked my birds. From all the fencing I've priced, there is no cheap way around it. But at least it only has to be done once....

 

[Leahs Mom]

I would LOVE to have a bigger hen house. I think we're going to make a second sometime this summer.

On the cup waterers:

THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT IS ASSUMING YOU DON'T HEAT YOUR COOP. IF YOU HEAT YOUR COOP THIS DOESN'T APPLY!
On the cup waterers - I'd encourage people to wait to try them out until the spring. They're designed so that there is little or no water in the cup itself. They stay empty unless the birds trip the trigger.

If the birds leave water in the bottom of the cups, that water will freeze and the trigger can get frozen down in the bottom of the cup so that they can't trigger it. I'm around enough to be able to keep a check on the waterers a couple times/day. I just turn them upside down and empty out the water when it's in the teens whenever I'm out there if they have water standing. But if you travel, I'd say they aren't a good winter option.

I HAVE used mine all winter.



WINTER CUP WATER HEAT UPDATE:
I found that no matter how I used the birdbath heater, it was not enough to keep the mechanisms from freezing when the weather is in the mid-lower TEENS.

************************************
I did find a GREAT heater option that I now use. A Fish Tank Heater.

The difference between the bird bath heater and the fish tank heater is that the water is kept warmer than the bird bath heaters keep it. Got one from my local pet store and ended up w/the 50 watt just because the higher wattage ones were too long for my bucket. (I reduced my bucket size to a 2 gal from a 3 gal. I think a larger one would fit in a 3 or 5). They have to be kept completely submerged.



Interestingly - the bird bath heaters are 250 watts so IT REDUCED WATTAGE USED while also keeping the water warmer!


It stands at an angle and stays under the water. Here's a photo...


Here's what it looks like. Dial thermostat on the top.


Dial thermosatat


It comes with snap on brackets for a suction cup. I didn't put the suction cups on since my bucket is too small to use it completely vertical. Instead, I hooked a package of marbles onto those holders so that it would have a weight to keep it under the water. Works great!

 

[danand]

Very clever-Leah's mom!!

 

[cwaf]

I got 3 eggs today! Yay, only 2 more need to start. I've been letting mine free range more. Today was their first time without me outside with them.... though I watched them from the window. They stayed within 20 ft of the coop. The cats inspected their fortress, and decided they didn't have any goodies. The only dog other than ours in a mile is the neighbors old gimpy dauchson mix. It has an invisible fence, and stands at the property line wagging her tail when she sees the chickens out. If she did make the 50 ft walk, she couldn't catch one anyway. My carton is almost full in the fridge! Glad they decided to start laying. I figured out why my shells are even harder than the store eggshells.... they have been eating the PDZ. It says its safe for them, so I'm not worried.... but I think i need to replenish it. Anyway, hopfully next time I post will be a 4 egg day. Good night all

CONGRATS!

 

[cwaf]

kinda of a stupid question but how do the nipples work and how will the chickens know how to use them?

not a stupid question at all. You need to sit with them and flick the nipple (not sure about if using a cup) from time to time to get a drop or two of water to fall while the chickens are watching. Soon their curiousity takes over and they peck it because it is new and shiny. It only takes one that learns how to do it and the others will follow suit. My 2 day old chicks found it right way--within 5 or 10 minutes. Just make sure the nipple is just above thier should height so they easily see it. If it is too low, they will not want to bend over and try to use it. If too high, they have to stand on their toes to reach it. Once they know what it is for and how to use it, raise it a little so they do not have to bend over at all, but rather reach up a little bit so the water drop goes directly down the chicken's throat.

 

[cwaf]

I am confused this morning as one of my reds is missing. I am pretty certain all were in the coop when it closed last night, so I am not sure where she could have gone this morning. The coop door was already open and the other chickens were outside my bedroom, telling me to get up and feed them. I even think I got an egg from her this morning. She is definitely hiding well, though. I walked all around the yard and no sign of her....'tis a meeestereee!

 

[animallover2202]

not a stupid question at all. You need to sit with them and flick the nipple (not sure about if using a cup) from time to time to get a drop or two of water to fall while the chickens are watching. Soon their curiousity takes over and they peck it because it is new and shiny. It only takes one that learns how to do it and the others will follow suit. My 2 day old chicks found it right way--within 5 or 10 minutes. Just make sure the nipple is just above thier should height so they easily see it. If it is too low, they will not want to bend over and try to use it. If too high, they have to stand on their toes to reach it. Once they know what it is for and how to use it, raise it a little so they do not have to bend over at all, but rather reach up a little bit so the water drop goes directly down the chicken's throat.

oh ok so from what i heard you can get the nipples at RKing but what all do you need for the watering thing besides the nipples

 

[christybmom9802]

here is what I did. I got all my chicken info between here and this woman's blog: http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/

She had someone install a nipple waterer and I loved it here is his link so you can get an idea of where I got my inspiration: http://chickenfountain.com/

for now I use a small version I built with a 90* elbow and some left over PVC
this was taken right after I put it up...I led one chickens beak to it and they all soon followed. This holds about 2 gallons. Which I would have had more left over pipe I would have made it a little longer going up. I purchased a 44 watt birdbath de-icer which works amazing and can be completely submersed and is flexible.

I've heard that the fish tank heaters are not meant to be in freezing temps and they will shatter if the glass version of short out in the water and shock the chickens when they drink so I opted for this. Yes I research everything way to much before I buy!

We don't have the run done yet and once we do the water will go strictly out side with this one we made...

In the middle we drilled a hole and installed a toilet bowl float. We will then hook up a hose in the summer and hopefully never have to fill their water (in theory)...my husband thought we should put clean-out caps on the end in case something needed to be fixed...they just leak so we will probably just permanently cap those. Ordered the nipples on eBay had some good ones arrived and some leaky ones (2 different people). well that's all I've got hope I gave someone some good ideas.

 

[cwaf]

oh ok so from what i heard you can get the nipples at RKing but what all do you need for the watering thing besides the nipples

it depends on how you want to build it. As the example above shows, you can use PVC pipe and drill 5/16ths holes to insert the nipples. There are different types of nipples, as well. There are metal threaded, plastic threaded, and some plastic ones that aren't actually threaded but have gripper rings on the base. The last ones I bought came from Ebay and are plastic, but has a way of screwing apart if the nipple should get clogged, allowing cleaning. Others are molded as 1 piece for the body. I am going to use the method where the nipples go into the bottom of the bucket. check this site for different options and instructions. http://www.grit.com/the-chicken-chi...uctions-clean-water-is-always-a-tap-away.aspx

 

[cwaf]

I am confused this morning as one of my reds is missing. I am pretty certain all were in the coop when it closed last night, so I am not sure where she could have gone this morning. The coop door was already open and the other chickens were outside my bedroom, telling me to get up and feed them. I even think I got an egg from her this morning. She is definitely hiding well, though. I walked all around the yard and no sign of her....'tis a meeestereee!

well, the Houdini chicken has appeared! she is magic!