Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[misfitmorgan]

The trailer coop has finally arrived after a week wait so the chickens now have a nice open space to hang out in. No run yet but there are only about 20 chickens in a 14ftx7ft trailer so i think they have lots of room for now.

Got all the parts to make a cookie tin heater except the tin, i will have to go to the second hand tomorrow and find one. For tonight they just have a 3 gallon bucket of water which hopefully wont freeze. Found out the trailer roof leaks as well so i have to pick up a heavy duty tarp to cover it until it can be repaired properly.

 

[Brennigan]

Quote:


This is the main set-up of our cookie-tin heater. I use a 57 watt bulb since it gets so cold with our 1 gallon plastic. It didn't freeze once last week during our low teen temps.

 

[aart]

Thanks snowflake...that's a chickenchick pic........do you put yours on a concrete block to keep it out of the bedding?

I wonder how hot the top of tin would have to get to melt the plastic....I wonder.....I might have to set one up to see how hot they get.

 

[misfitmorgan]

Morning Everyone!

Snow..

i got a 40watt bulb for the heater and i figure if it isnt hot enough just make sure my tin is big enough for a bigger bulb lol.

 

[Wynette]

Morning, all.

I used a 40 watt regular incandescent bulb in all of my cinderblock heaters; so far, so good. In the YouTube videos I watched, several mentioned that they first began with a 60 watt and it got too hot.

 

[chickwhispers]

I started out last year with a 25 watt and that was good to start but as the temps got colder I went to a 40 watt and then a 60 watt. Depending on the temps. As the temps began to warm up I reversed the process and went to a 40 then a 25. Otherwise the tin did get too hot. The year before I only needed a 25 and 40 watt.

 

[RaZ]

This stinks! I haven't had a fresh egg in 12 days.

 

[getreal]

hello all, been busy reading and trying to figure all this info out. first I live in the u.p. near the Wisconsin border. it's been in the 20s - 30s lately so we have left the coop open for the girls. I think they are molting but not sure. I'm sure hoping. I have looked for mites and can't see anything. now today I see one of the girls have blacks speckles on her comb. is this frost bite or pecking? I keep finding conflicting info. is it too cold for them to play outside? the humidity was outrageous. so my husband drilled holes into the rafters on top of the walls. this helped a lot. next I have 2 ducks in the coop with them. they all get along. my problem, the floor is always wet. we put down shavings then straw on top. that didn't work well and we are short on straw this year, so went to all shavings. I can't keep ahead of it. we put a heated waterer in like the one in the picture. it is empty every few hours. my thought is the ducks are wasting it. and it's getting all over the floor. we have it sitting on patio blocks

inside a big flower pot to catch the water. anyone here from this neck of the woods that can help me know what to do???
thank you

 

[RaZ]

Yikes! A wet floor is going to be a major problem. High humidity and dampness are causes for frostbite and winter respiratory issues. The always wet bedding has to go. You might have to better control how and when the birds get water so they don't get the bedding wet. Place the water fount out in the run where the bedding won't get wet.

Good luck.

 

[Brennigan]

Thanks snowflake...that's a chickenchick pic........do you put yours on a concrete block to keep it out of the bedding?

I wonder how hot the top of tin would have to get to melt the plastic....I wonder.....I might have to set one up to see how hot they get.

We followed the directions from chickenchick, but placed ours on a concrete block and out of the coop. Our girls don't have a problem going out in the snow, and I don't really want to deal with it in the coop and the added mess.