NY chicken lover!!!!

[marquisella]

I'm having a problem with byc. I'm trying to post in the auction section, and it wonn't let me. It says I have "open classifieds", and have to cancel them, but when I go to my account, it says I have zero classifieds...I emailed support, and obviously they didn't even read my email, because they said to "ask byc members for help.....well, that is dumb....its a glitch with byc.
So, anyways, has anyone else had this problem? I'm trying to list Coronation Sussex eggs and a trio for sale...

 

[Tab's chicken obsession]

I am gone for a few days and you guys chatter up a storm!!  This heat and humidity is terrible!!  Can I go back on vacation?

Welcome all newbies!!

Go ahead you deserve one! I want one too, take me with you!

 

[Cass]

This may sound like a stupid question, but we are new to the whole water system with a well - how can you tell the water supply is getting low or see that the well is almost empty? I feel like we go thru so much water between all that we use inside the house, but I've also been using it outside ALOT to water all my plants twice a day, sometime to run the sprinkler because our grass was drying with the lack of rain, my kids use the sprinkler as well, and we also have a pool they like to use once in a while so we'll fill that up. We haven't has any problems yet though with any water coming thru faucets that looked dirty or smelled.

Ack....back off on watering anything you don't eat. There is a way to find out, but it isn't easy. When you bought the house didn't the bank require "flow test" on your water source? And it depends on what kind of well you have. With a drilled well there isn't a supply of water sitting in a puddle waiting to be pumped up the well casing....there is an aquafir that your well has tapped into and the water has to "leak" into the area made by the well driller to be pumped up from the ground for your use. When that aquafir gets lower it takes more time for that infiltration to happen, so your pump can't bring water up for your use as soon as it used to. Now the aquafir is underground water that is replenished by above ground water falling from the sky. As you may have noticed there is distinct lack of replenishing water falling from the sky. And once it DOES fall from the sky it takes time to filter down to to the Aquafir to be pumped up for your use. Many people who "run their well dry" (meaning their well casing isn't long enough to reach the underground water source) find themselves spending a ton of money having their well drilled deeper and some of the less fortunate can not find water at any depth on their property in deep drought situations.

Here is the skinny on living with a well in a drought situation. If you can't eat it, don't water it. If you are gonna water the kids make it a treat not a daily thing and move where you do it each time so you water that area of lawn at the same time. And forget grass. You don't need it and it cost money to mow it when you get it to grow. Fill your small pool once a week and add 1/4 cup of household bleach to it daily to keep it sanitary.

IF you are unfortuante enough to find out your well is not recovering fast enough for your needs you are gonna be very very very unhappy. It will mean trips to the laudramat for clean clothes, trips to freinds or relatives for clean bodies and carrying in all the water you need for cooking and drinking. Oh, and paper plates so you don't have to wash dishes. And your toilets won't flush.
And bottles of water carried to the sink to brush teeth. And clean hands? Nope, you'll have to use hand sanitizer and hope it kills everything you have been exposed to recently. And bringing in every ounce of water the birds need. It's not pretty. Best to limit your water useage and never have the problem then adjust your entire life to living with inadequate running water from your taps..

 

[Lynzi777]

Well thats just awesome! Glad I've been spending all sorts of money on sprucing up the yard just to find out I shouldn't be wasting all this water. We actually rent here, we did not buy. And I do no recall anything about the water/well being talked about in the lease, I would have to go back and check. All I know is when this guy remodeled this house down to the stud, he installed this whole water filtration system in the basement that we have to take care of. But he did not stress the anything about the actual water usage. We're a family a four and my husband works in the restaurant business so it's easily 2 showers a day for him, one me or every other, the kids get a bath every other night at least, laundry is done at least twice a week, if not more, dishwasher is ran every other night, and then here's me watering every day like I have enough water to supply the US. LOL I'll have to get in touch with our landlord and see if what his thoughts are on it and what size our tank is. Cuz now I'm freaking out! LOL

 

[Cass]

Well thats just awesome! Glad I've been spending all sorts of money on sprucing up the yard just to find out I shouldn't be wasting all this water. We actually rent here, we did not buy. And I do no recall anything about the water/well being talked about in the lease, I would have to go back and check. All I know is when this guy remodeled this house down to the stud, he installed this whole water filtration system in the basement that we have to take care of. But he did not stress the anything about the actual water usage. We're a family a four and my husband works in the restaurant business so it's easily 2 showers a day for him, one me or every other, the kids get a bath every other night at least, laundry is done at least twice a week, if not more, dishwasher is ran every other night, and then here's me watering every day like I have enough water to supply the US. LOL I'll have to get in touch with our landlord and see if what his thoughts are on it and what size our tank is. Cuz now I'm freaking out! LOL

When you contact the landlord find out how long he has owned the house. If he bought it to renovate and rent, he may have no clue how much "stress" the well can take. If he bought it a while ago any information he got from the water flow test might be misleading/inaccurate for the drought times we currently find ourselves in.

And putting in a "whole water filtration system" can indicate a number of things....sulfur water and contanimated water requireing chlorine to make it germ free being the most common.

Right now several municipalities are limiting outdoor watering, which is an indication of how low the water table is getting. Regardless of how water gets to your indoor tap, using it prudently is always wise, because fresh water is in limited supply on this planet

 

[stonykill]

This may sound like a stupid question, but we are new to the whole water system with a well - how can you tell the water supply is getting low or see that the well is almost empty? I feel like we go thru so much water between all that we use inside the house, but I've also been using it outside ALOT to water all my plants twice a day, sometime to run the sprinkler because our grass was drying with the lack of rain, my kids use the sprinkler as well, and we also have a pool they like to use once in a while so we'll fill that up. We haven't has any problems yet though with any water coming thru faucets that looked dirty or smelled.

sounds like you are using more water than you should be in a drought. And it depends on your well. A really deep drilled well you will never be able to see.

 

[pharmchickrnmom]

Agree with all above posts. We have a well and we are careful with how much water we use. I wash dishes by hand, laundry twice a week, if its yellow let it mellow, if its brown flush it down. We never water the lawn or plants but the cheeps have water every day. You will learn to shower quickly and the kiddie pool outside idea is great for the kids. You can use the dirty water in your dishpan to water your plants (they will love it).

Ginny--nice that you are back.

Rancher--chicken...its whats for dinner!

Got a little rain but thats about it. Humid though.

 

[Henicillin]

At the moment, I'm using the "multiple big black rubber bowls" method of watering the birds (I love those things), as the enclosed waterer heats up and gets pretty funky in this weather. It just happens that the bowls are not only good drinking bowls, but just the right size for duck bathing. Loners use the smaller bowls, and ducks that want to bathe with a friend use the large one. Although the chickens don't appear to mind duck-flavored water in the least, with the heat and with our being gone much of the day we decided to try to redirect the ducks' attention, as their ablutions throw a lot of water out of the bowls and I live in fear of them drying the things out accidentally. So, yesterday we put one of those hard plastic kiddie pools into the run for the ducks to play in and as a backup water source, thinking - "there - now you have a mini-pond."

The ducks went wild with happiness and took right to the pool like, well, ducks to water, right?

Nope. These are odd ducks.

Although they'll climb or try to climb into literally anything else with water in it, including buckets, at the moment they're avoiding that pool like the plague for some inexplicable reason. Instead, they're sticking to their tried-and-true tubs. So, the ducks are bathing in the water bowls and the chickens are drinking out of the kiddie pool. Oh, well - as long as everyone is happy it's all good.

Those ducks are goofy things. We think they're half-convinced that they're actually chickens. They all sleep up on the roosts now, and the hens are flying up to investigate the top-tier nest boxes where you usually only find Leghorns. I half-expect the first duck-girl to lay to do it in one of those high-up boxes. At least somebody will get some use out of them!

 

[java girl 2]

I'm having a problem with byc. I'm trying to post in the auction section, and it wonn't let me. It says I have "open classifieds", and have to cancel them, but when I go to my account, it says I have zero classifieds...I emailed support, and obviously they didn't even read my email, because they said to "ask byc members for help.....well, that is dumb....its a glitch with byc.
So, anyways, has anyone else had this problem? I'm trying to list Coronation Sussex eggs and a trio for sale...

ok, have you EVER had a classified ad on BYC?? If so you need to close it before you can post a new one. If you have not had one before, then I have no clue how to help you, sorry, but try what I said and see if that works!

 

[Glasshen]

Lynzi,
The valley where you live is a very watery place. The valley floor actually changes elevation seasonally due to the use of water by the trees etc. I would bet that you will have less concern over water than many folks. There are mud boils in some of the fields. It is an area geology students world wide study.

That said, perhaps short showers, let the grass go dormant, and give shrubs about a gallon a day, not water from the hose for hours on end. Enough water to prevent the plants you spent money on from dying, be smart about it , but don't freak. And the water system is a very good thing, could be for either of the reasons stated.