Nevadans?

[SparksNV]

I have a digital thermometer on the outside of my coop - it was 20 degrees when I got up at 3:15am - brrrrrrrrrrrrrr.....

 

[Eglyntine]

So Ron...

I was looking up heated chicken waterers that require no electricity and I found this idea on another site so I thought I would pass it on. If it gets down to 8 F and still does not freeze the water with this cover on that should be pretty good.

I have no electricity out at my hen house. I have sewn an insulated "hat" for my plastic chicken waterers that works well. It is made from fabric and the foil/batting that you can purchase at Joanne Fabrics to make pot holders.

I do not keep water in the hen house because I worry about spillage. The waterer is in the plastic enclosed run that they have access to all day. The run temperature has been down to 8 degrees during the day and the water has not froze yet during the day. I bring them new, warm water and place the insulated hat over the bottle part of the waterer leaving the bowl part exposed. The system works quite well for my few chickens!

If you keep your waterer in the coop, I would think that this cover would be ideal as it is probably warmer than this woman's outside run. I think I might give it a try and see how it works as well. (Just need payday to come first hehe)​

 

[Jeeper1540]

Well, we got our first "Real" Snow of the season up here in Elko!

 

[saym]

Hey Jeep!

Groana was the first out the gate to check out the snow...looking for grapes! The others won't have anything to do with this stuff..yet.
Always exciting to get the first snow!

 

[Eglyntine]

It snowed here last night too. I was actually pretty shocked when I saw it. This has been such a freaky year for weather here this year.

 

[NevadaRon]

Thanks, Eglyntine - I don't keep my waterer in the coop, either. But the idea of insulating the waterer is pretty good. I have seen electric dog water warmers - it's like a plastic heating pad you put under the water dish. I was hoping to find something similar that I could power with a small solar panel.

How's your coop coming? Did you beat the snow last night?

I hope your new babies are doing well!

 

[SparksNV]

I bought one of those heated dog bowls and plugged it into my coop light. The only thing is it doesn't turn on until the timer turns on the coop light! But I hope it will help melt the ice in the mornings.

I think I am interested in buying 2 more hens. I want one that lays blue eggs (so an EE I think) and one that lays the really dark chocolate brown eggs - Copper Maran I think.

My coop is 8x4 and I have 6 hens that are very comfortable - do you think that will be too many?

 

[Eglyntine]

Quote:
We did not unfortunately but the girls do have a temp coop that I built out of pallets and it is covered and they have roosts and the nesting boxes we made out of totes so they were not on the ground or out in the snow. The babies of course are still in my bathroom but they are totally getting cramped in there. The things we have left to do seem like not that much but it is totally time consuming for one to two ppl to complete in such limited timeframes.

Plus not having all of the tools that would really help make this stuff a lot quicker. Live and learn as you go. We are really close to finishing everything and no matter what we get done tonight I am going to put the girls inside the coop to at least roost tonight in warmer conditions.

We want to put solar panels on the chicken coop too. With all of the sun we get here, even in the winter, it seems silly not to do it. But that is another project for later.

 

[NevadaRon]

Quote:
Where did you get it? Or what is the brand?

Quote:
My coop is also 8x4 and I have 10 chickens in it. They don't seem cramped at all.

 

[aubreynoramarie]

This might sound like an odd question, but would anybody be interested in trading a buff or for a blue orp? I've always wanted a blue orp but since I am maxed out right now I can't just go buy one, hence I'd trade off my buff orp who hasn't begun laying yet.

Please let me know

I would be forever greatful to have one of those fluffy grey cuties in my flock