July Hatch-a-Long (including 4th of July hatch-a-long)

[FortCluck]

Thanks for this info. I currently use self filling waterers but I am planning to switch over to nipples. This makes me reconsider.

Try the cup waterers mine love them and they get plenty of water with them. We actually just bought more cups today and I’m making buckets tomorrow. I’ll post tomorrow to show how easy it is.

 

[AgnesGray]

Try the cup waterers mine love them and they get plenty of water with them. We actually just bought more cups today and I’m making buckets tomorrow. I’ll post tomorrow to show how easy it is.

I'd love info about some good cups. My chickens broke the ones we got in <24 hours by trying to stand on them. lol

 

[Trisseh]

This is awesome! I need to do something like this for the little guy. I can tell you, he's not going to like it, but I think this is his ticket! Thanks!!!!

The key is to give them nothing to leverage themselves out with. Haha. This fit the bill because it was tall enough she couldn’t touch bottom, and smooth on the inside so she couldn’t get purchase to push herself out. Although she tried, oh how she tried.

 

[CindyinSD]

I'm going to be nervous about broodies for a while after my first time broody chicken managed to get her eggs to hatch day and threw one egg out right before it was ready to hatch and killed another one when it did successfully hatch.

Since you can't trust her with chicks, maybe it would be best not to allow her to brood again. And if she ends up being one of those broody-always hens, I think I'd add her to the soup flock.

 

[CindyinSD]

About the skywalker bieles... they were my first bieles also. He is a great packer, for sure! And shipped right away. My caution would be to keep an eye on those bieles in the heat though. I lost one in the first really hot spell this summer that I'm not sure if she was ever quite right, but can only think it was the heat as the remaining members of that flock are visibly umimpressed by the hot weather we've been having. They look how I feel about the heat and that is kind of droopy and uninterested in being outside. They also needed more water than they were getting from the nipple waterers and I put a pan of water out for them, but they still seem to suffer in the heat.

Try putting a block of ice in the pan. (Put it in deep shade if you can.)

 

[SnapdragonQ]

About the skywalker bieles... they were my first bieles also. He is a great packer, for sure! And shipped right away. My caution would be to keep an eye on those bieles in the heat though. I lost one in the first really hot spell this summer that I'm not sure if she was ever quite right, but can only think it was the heat as the remaining members of that flock are visibly umimpressed by the hot weather we've been having. They look how I feel about the heat and that is kind of droopy and uninterested in being outside. They also needed more water than they were getting from the nipple waterers and I put a pan of water out for them, but they still seem to suffer in the heat.

Oh, I didn't know you were part of the skywalker siblings/cousins gang!
Sorry to hear you lost one to heat.
So his Bieles had more trouble with the heat than others do? He's outside of Chicago so that might make sense vs a breeder I saw selling eggs from TX. And I had read somewhere they are not the best in heat, but I know when I looked at Chantecleres I figured they would melt and die where I am.

I would. My other bieles don't seem to have any issue at all with the heat so I've culled those first ones out of any breeding service (still love on them though).

Can I ask where where you got the other more heat tolerant Bieles? If mine prove to have heat issues I'd like to continue with the breed but from a different source.

 

[FortCluck]

I'd love info about some good cups. My chickens broke the ones we got in <24 hours by trying to stand on them. lol

I got mine from tractor supply, but I just ordered some from amazon. I set my buckets up on bricks so they’re pretty much at beak level of the chicks.

 

[TheBajan]

Try the cup waterers mine love them and they get plenty of water with them. We actually just bought more cups today and I’m making buckets tomorrow. I’ll post tomorrow to show how easy it is.

Originally I was going to go with the cups. However, I'm in Michigan and everything I've seen tells me they will freeze in the winter. Whereas the nipples (with heat and pump) will make it through without freezing. That's why I wanted to go with the nipples. The self filling buckets have been what I've used since I started out with chickens 2+ years ago. The problem I'm having with that is the mess. I don't mind it outside but in the inside run where they spend most of their time during the cold weather, it's becoming a problem. We had sealed the floor with Blackjack roofing tar to protect against water damage but I'm feeling some spongy spots where we keep the water. Right now, we have 7 Icelandic pullets between 6-10 weeks old. I've never had this breed before and they are cute, funny, pretty chatter boxes. The down side is that they are INCREDIBLY MESSY! We use J-feeders and have never had a mess or waste with the food. They literally pull the food out and dump if on the floor so they can forage! The water is elevated enough that we've never had an issue with shavings getting in it but they kick shavings up so much that it doesn't matter. They also like to perch on the edge of the water and make a mess so in just a few weeks time, we've gone from a working food/ water system to having to re-think how we want to move forward. Little stinkers are truly a surprising learning curve for me!

 

[FortCluck]

Originally I was going to go with the cups. However, I'm in Michigan and everything I've seen tells me they will freeze in the winter. Whereas the nipples (with heat and pump) will make it through without freezing. That's why I wanted to go with the nipples. The self filling buckets have been what I've used since I started out with chickens 2+ years ago. The problem I'm having with that is the mess. I don't mind it outside but in the inside run where they spend most of their time during the cold weather, it's becoming a problem. We had sealed the floor with Blackjack roofing tar to protect against water damage but I'm feeling some spongy spots where we keep the water. Right now, we have 7 Icelandic pullets between 6-10 weeks old. I've never had this breed before and they are cute, funny, pretty chatter boxes. The down side is that they are INCREDIBLY MESSY! We use J-feeders and have never had a mess or waste with the food. They literally pull the food out and dump if on the floor so they can forage! The water is elevated enough that we've never had an issue with shavings getting in it but they kick shavings up so much that it doesn't matter. They also like to perch on the edge of the water and make a mess so in just a few weeks time, we've gone from a working food/ water system to having to re-think how we want to move forward. Little stinkers are truly a surprising learning curve for me!

I haven’t had my water cups freeze but we are in different areas.

I’m having issues with the quail in the brooder getting water everywhere from the self waterers. It’s driving me mental so tomorrow I’m going to get a gallon jug and put a water cup on it to see how they like it. Then I’ll add 2 more.

I got 15 for $12 on amazon. The ones at TSC are 2 for $9.

 

[AgnesGray]

Since you can't trust her with chicks, maybe it would be best not to allow her to brood again. And if she ends up being one of those broody-always hens, I think I'd add her to the soup flock.

Definitely!

Try putting a block of ice in the pan. (Put it in deep shade if you can.)

We did end up putting the pan in the shade. Great idea on the ice block! Will do that! Thanks!