Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[misfitmorgan]

the cold weather can go away any time now, i have been so spoiled by the mild winter. Frozen chicken waterer and rabbit water bottles and goat water...all suck!!!!

 

[uchytil]

the cold weather can go away any time now, i have been so spoiled by the mild winter. Frozen chicken waterer and rabbit water bottles and goat water...all suck!!!!

Yep. Can you use the black rubber bowls for the rabbits? I do and I just throw them on the ground, stomp out the ice, and refill. Have the same for the goats but huge. I kick them and remove the ice chunks with a ice fishing skimmer. Nothing beats the heated 5 gallon waterer I got at FFH.

 

[tntchix]

we I guess im like a duck...cause I cant feel a thing.....or wait maybe that's my fingers being numb...from the weather....lol...its not that bad...the only time its bad is when the fingers get wet...and then the wind on the wet skin make it painful...but anything for my birds....

they are some of the prettiest birds i've ever seen. keep those fingers dry.

 

[tntchix]

Got back from Mom's doctor appointment where they injected into her lumbar spine to try to help out her bulging disk issues there. Collected eggs from everybody, and opened the door to the coop to try to get them out for a bit. There was some ham in the fridge that was left over from Christmas, it looked ok, but eh, needed to get used up. I tried to get the velocoraptors out in the snow, but they would run out just far enough to snatch a piece and head back inside with it, even with the other five there wanting to snag a piece of it.

Going to head over to Dad's later on. He slipped on some ice yesterday and shattered his wrist. goes in Thursday for surgery, and guess who gets to take him over there?

healing vibes for both mom and dad coming your way. owwie.

 

[bigmrg74]

the cold weather can go away any time now, i have been so spoiled by the mild winter. Frozen chicken waterer and rabbit water bottles and goat water...all suck!!!!

Suck it up Cupcake and Deal with It.

 

[tntchix]

 

[Monstro]

Just watched a Coopers hawk at my front window, and sitting on the front porch.  Hoping to get a songbird at the feeder, but flew away without.  Beautiful!  I'll keep my birds in their run today, just because.  They aren't thrilled with the snow anyway.  I'm not loving the cold!!!  Has anyone had Campines?  I'm thinking about spring, and haven't ever tried them.  Cold hardy?  They look cute, and I'm not  fan of Leghorns.  Mary

Not much experience, but we have 1 golden campine, had 2, just 6 months old now. Very curious will follow you around but dont like to be handled. Fly very well, always got out of 6 ft fence before we put the top on,thats how we lost one.

Edited to add: from a local breeder, not hatchery, if that makes a difference.

 

[JackieandChicks]

Just had to share...Brrr!

 

[misfitmorgan]

Yep. Can you use the black rubber bowls for the rabbits? I do and I just throw them on the ground, stomp out the ice, and refill. Have the same for the goats but huge. I kick them and remove the ice chunks with a ice fishing skimmer. Nothing beats the heated 5 gallon waterer I got at FFH.

The goats have the rubbery kinda hang over gallon buckets for water, so those we just tap on the center wall outside the pens and the ice comes out. i tried doing the cookie tin heater thing for the chickens but the duck keeps knocking the entire works over, so i pretty much have given up and just change water as much as i can. For the rabbits they are in breeder pens in a mostly closed in building except the two outdoor pens with the bucks and whatever ladies they have for breeding. So i am not sure black rubber bowls would work for radiant heat for most of them and they would need to be small bowls to fit in the cages. Cages are roughly 2.5ft X 2ft for floor space, excercise pens are not used in winter. The meat pen which is all less then fully gown get a 2 gallon chicken waterer since there are so many i like to make sure everyone can drink their fill before it freezes. We also have extra bottles so we can swap out most of the frozen bottles for thawed ones but we are still a few short, the local store here keeps running out of bottles for us to buy. i bought 8 on the last trip and thats everyone they had.

 

[Stacykins]

The goats have the rubbery kinda hang over gallon buckets for water, so those we just tap on the center wall outside the pens and the ice comes out. i tried doing the cookie tin heater thing for the chickens but the duck keeps knocking the entire works over, so i pretty much have given up and just change water as much as i can. For the rabbits they are in breeder pens in a mostly closed in building except the two outdoor pens with the bucks and whatever ladies they have for breeding. So i am not sure black rubber bowls would work for radiant heat for most of them and they would need to be small bowls to fit in the cages. Cages are roughly 2.5ft X 2ft for floor space, excercise pens are not used in winter. The meat pen which is all less then fully gown get a 2 gallon chicken waterer since there are so many i like to make sure everyone can drink their fill before it freezes. We also have extra bottles so we can swap out most of the frozen bottles for thawed ones but we are still a few short, the local store here keeps running out of bottles for us to buy. i bought 8 on the last trip and thats everyone they had.

I love the rubber buckets for my goats, and the rubber pans for my chickens/turkeys/ducks. They're too far for a water heater, so they're getting fresh water three times a day, at least, sometimes more. We've actually set up a big horse trough with a floating heater in it at a central location, and fill buckets from that. It is easier to fill one horse trough every now and then with a hose that lives in the house when not in use, as opposed to toting buckets all the way from the house. It is actually pretty warm, the water, when they first get it.

I can't believe the ducks act like it is summer still. They sit their butts in the water pan and splash about.