Keeping Chickens When You Have Arthritis.

I can't wait to read this thread! I plan on starting tonight after locking the chickens and ducks up. Seems like some very helpful information is being shared.

Welcome to the thread! We are all for the most part, joint challenged here so yes, hopefully you will pick up a few helps and be able to share some of your own.

Most of us seem to have chickens for the same reason, to prod us into staying active.

I find myself adapting new ways to do things daily. I've completed my switchover to one gallon containers from the big 2.5 kitty litter jugs that I love. Now I just roll my little wagon into the shop and fill up or stop by the stock tank on my way to the coop. It takes more jugs but my neck and arms appreciate it a lot.

I think my best advice for anyone with chronic joint disease is to take each day as it comes. Slog through the bad days and cherish the good ones.

Tonight I set and spent 15 minutes talking to a little 9 week old pullet who loves to be cuddled. Foot and neck pain? What foot and neck pain. Those simple 15 minutes made all the aches and pains worth while.
 
Awesome! Simply awesome! But don’t you just want to cuss out yourself for what work life took out of ya! Just ticks me off what all I gave to making other folks well has made me almost a cripple at 43!some days. But Lord willing only some days. God love my chickens and what a blessing they are to me though!

Just about every day but that is all water under the bridge. For me it's like, it took me 10 years to get back on my feet and when I got done being caregiver for my mom and dad what did I do? Go back to nursing. It's like....am in insane?

Now there are so many more career choices open for young women. IF I had it to do over again would I go into nursing. No, probably not. I may have gone into physical therapy or gotten completely away from it and gone into something non medical. Woulda coulda shoulda. As much as I enjoyed nursing, if I had known it would do to me what it did I would have ran screaming into the forest never to be seen near a nursing school again. :lau
 
Sure does boop it is 4 or 10 till been out to the coop like 5 times .. guys think I am nuts have a sweathshirt on but not that warm today actually nice day just cooler in my book .. Graves my auto immune does not let my body auto regulate temps
I also have Graves' disease and Hashimoto's disease, Pancreatitis and Diabetes. I have been hospitalized in the past for my Pancreatitis. Of course I have to watch what I eat. I have been good for a few years. I can normally recognize the systems and make adjustments accordingly. A few months ago my Graves flared up and my eyesight went crazy. This time it lasted a few months instead of a few weeks but finally settled down. It's hell getting old. I love my birds...
 
This thread is really helpful :)

Would anyone here know if there's a way to both heat and cool my chicken coop. There's no electricity so think maybe a battery or solar way?

Any thoughts will be gratefully received
 
I neither supply heat or cool. I have plenty of ventilation in the coops. It's actually cooler in the coops in the summer and warmer in the winter months but I live in Florida. We do get some freezes in the winter and it's hot in the summer but the birds can handle it. All of my coops have shade trees in the pens and during the day the birds are usually outside in their pens. My brother lives in Northern Michigan. He doesn't heat or cool his coop either.
IMG_20190302_104317.jpg

The coop on the extreme right in the picture has a vent on this side of the coop and it totally open on the other side.
IMG_20190302_104435.jpg
 
I was going to say that it depends on where you live.

I don't heat my coop and it gets below 0 here in the winter with long sub freezing temps and occasional deep snows.

I do have wiring to the coop so for cooling I use a fan that is ceiling mounted. It's just a little regular rectangular window type fan but it moves the air around for them.

The rule is that if you heat in the winter you will weaken your birds resistance to cold should power go off and they have to 'deal'. I have boys with huge combs and while I do see a small amount of frost bite, nobody loses any 'tips'. Of course my coop is as leaky as an old shed...which is what it is but the birds seem to love it anyway.
 
Need to replace the main coop my dome seems to take a back yard to allot projects but .. I say allot nights if I have to push so hard to latch the door darn thing will colapse one day ..
 

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