New to this forum but not new to chickens!

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Graham Lane

Graham Lane

In the Brooder
7 Years
Apr 8, 2012
11
16
22
Castello delle Forme, Umbria, Italy
I'm new here but have been keeping chickens, rabbits and ducks for about ten years. I'd like to share some of my ideas and also gain some knowledge and ideas myself.

I'm English but live in Umbria, Italy. We bought an old villa about twelve years ago and have restored it to create a B&B with swimming pool. Over the last year we have converted the stables into a two-bedroom apartment for our daughter and her husband who have joined us in our business, www.laportaverde.com. Kate is about to hatch any day now!

First up I'd like to share my latest idea for a water feeder.

 
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Looks like it could be cool but stunningly lacking in details. Maybe it's because of what we can and cannot get locally in this country? It looks like you've used what is otherwise scrap of some sort but I can't tell what exactly besides the jug and a very large PVC pipe. And a dog bowl.
 
Welcome. Making something for the chickens is what gets a lot of us thinking. From what I see it looks like you use the pipe to hold the bottle upright. The bottle is a used as a vacuum tank to hold the water. Did you set the bottle on something or did you put a hole in the neck to regulate the depth of the water?
 
There are simply three parts; a stainless steel dog or cat bowl, a plastic bottle with (or without cap, but better with), and a piece of plastic pipe, the sort usually used for toilet drains.

The pipe in this case has an inside diameter of 10cm (4"). The hole in the neck of the bottle is about 1cm from the base of the bowl and can be really tiny as the water will trickle out to top up when the bird is not drinking. The bowl could be plastic but I find rabbits can gnaw that. And yes, the bottle acts as a vacuum and no more water can come out once the level has been reached. I hope that helps.
 
I've tried to find advice on storing and rotating eggs here, but can't. So, here is my method. We have a separate fridge for drinks and eggs in our larder. In fact it's a fridge-freezer along with two more freezers so plenty of space for chicken and rabbit meat too. In the bottom of the fridge are two plastic trays. I put a piece of soft pipe insulation in each - one green and one red. My wife is under instruction to only take from the green one. I fill the red one. When the green one is empty I move the red ones into the green so the oldest are on top. It works like a dream.





 
How do you clean your eggs?

I have a stainless steel scouring pad and give them a scrub under the tap in the utility room. I then put them in a cardboard egg tray to dry and take the previous day's eggs out to put in the fridge.

 

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