Keeping Chickens When You Have Arthritis.

[cmom]

@cmom - Whoa! That's a lot of birds!! I hope you have them for many more years. They do bring a lot of joy.

I have downsized my coop. I've gone from 3 10x10 coops w/10x20 runs down to just one coop/run. We got a 6x8 storage shed back in April, and converted it into a chicken coop. We added an 8x20 covered run. I have 5 chickens left from last year, and they seem to really like it. Since it is smaller, I've added a poop board in the coop. I fill it with sweet pdz and clean it every morning like a litter box. I have pine shavings on the floor and this fall I'll be putting leaves out in the run.

My garden has done really well this year. I have 6 cinder block raised beds and I've been canning like crazy out of them. It's starting to slow down a bit with the hot weather we have.

Some things I use to help me with gardening or chicken raising: For my chickens, I water them with a 5 gallon bucket with horizontal nipples. I usually refill it once a week to keep the water fresh, but it could go for 2 weeks or longer with just 5 birds. For their feed, I use a clear tote that holds 50 lbs of feed. Taking out the daily feeding & watering really helps. I still give them daily treats, greens out of the garden or kitchen scraps. Not having to fill a dirty flip waterer every day really helps. Sometimes my hands don't work so well and they are hard to unscrew & carry when full.

For the garden, I have a couple of wagons. A little red wagon that was my granddaughters and a garden wagon. That thing is so easy to pull. I love it! I just wish mine had sides. I also have a couple of wheelbarrows, one has the double wheels. It's a little harder to turn, but much harder to tip over. We also have a side x side that I use A LOT. I use it to haul off stuff or bring in the feed from the suv. We have a little trailer that attaches to it when I need to haul something bigger that won't fit in the back.

It gets a little harder each year to do things, so I make adjustments all the time.

I'm in my 70's and hope to have several more years. I'll keep going as long as I can. Many years ago I put auto waterers in all of the coops. One malfunctioned and I had a flooded coop so then I put all of the waterers outside next to the pop doors. I left the water pipes inside the coops and had to cut the pipes so I could put them outside but it has worked out well.

 

[ronott1]

@cmom - Whoa! That's a lot of birds!! I hope you have them for many more years. They do bring a lot of joy.

I have downsized my coop. I've gone from 3 10x10 coops w/10x20 runs down to just one coop/run. We got a 6x8 storage shed back in April, and converted it into a chicken coop. We added an 8x20 covered run. I have 5 chickens left from last year, and they seem to really like it. Since it is smaller, I've added a poop board in the coop. I fill it with sweet pdz and clean it every morning like a litter box. I have pine shavings on the floor and this fall I'll be putting leaves out in the run.

My garden has done really well this year. I have 6 cinder block raised beds and I've been canning like crazy out of them. It's starting to slow down a bit with the hot weather we have.

Some things I use to help me with gardening or chicken raising: For my chickens, I water them with a 5 gallon bucket with horizontal nipples. I usually refill it once a week to keep the water fresh, but it could go for 2 weeks or longer with just 5 birds. For their feed, I use a clear tote that holds 50 lbs of feed. Taking out the daily feeding & watering really helps. I still give them daily treats, greens out of the garden or kitchen scraps. Not having to fill a dirty flip waterer every day really helps. Sometimes my hands don't work so well and they are hard to unscrew & carry when full.

For the garden, I have a couple of wagons. A little red wagon that was my granddaughters and a garden wagon. That thing is so easy to pull. I love it! I just wish mine had sides. I also have a couple of wheelbarrows, one has the double wheels. It's a little harder to turn, but much harder to tip over. We also have a side x side that I use A LOT. I use it to haul off stuff or bring in the feed from the suv. We have a little trailer that attaches to it when I need to haul something bigger that won't fit in the back.

It gets a little harder each year to do things, so I make adjustments all the time.

Thanks for the tips!

It is nice that you are able to keep going with keeping the chickens

 

[ronott1]

I'm in my 70's and hope to have several more years. I'll keep going as long as I can. Many years ago I put auto waterers in all of the coops. One malfunctioned and I had a flooded coop so then I put all of the waterers outside next to the pop doors. I left the water pipes inside the coops and had to cut the pipes so I could put them outside but it has worked out well.
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Your have a nice setup!

 

[cmom]

Thanks for the tips!

It is nice that you are able to keep going with keeping the chickens

I have a couple dozen Rhode Island White eggs in an incubator. I never hatch in the summer months but had a poor hatch this past spring so I moved another male in with the females for breeding. Call me crazy but I really want a nice male from this hatch.

 

[ronott1]

I have a couple dozen Rhode Island White eggs in an incubator. I never hatch in the summer months but had a poor hatch this past spring so I moved another male in with the females for breeding. Call me crazy but I really want a nice male from this hatch.

I hope you get one!

Hopefully they will hatch well for you. Different seasons can change the way a hatch goes.

 

[cmom]

You are so right. Having issues with the temperature. When the heat is on and in the mid 90's during the day, I have turned off the heater in the incubator but not the turner and the turner motors emits a little heat. When the heater is off, so is the fan.

 

[ronott1]

You are so right. Having issues with the temperature. When the heat is on and in the mid 90's during the day, I have turned off the heater in the incubator but not the turner and the turner motors emits a little heat. When the heater is off, so is the fan.

I hope the temps are stable enough for a good hatch.

 

[cmom]

The last time I candled they are developing even though the temperature has been wildly fluctuating.

 

[ronott1]

The last time I candled they are developing even though the temperature has been wildly fluctuating.

Good! The important thing is for the temps on average to be close to 99.5 over the first 18 days of incubation

 

[cmom]

Friday is hatch day, we will see.