Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[BullChick]

Ideas on ducks and water in the coop. You can actually find piglet waterers that look deep enough for a duck to submerge it's bill. It looks like a dog or cat ...
Here.

Another idea is to use plastic coffee cans.
Lastly, a rubber bowl with a brick in the center.
I have tried many things, especially last winter. The coffee cans and the brick in the bowl were are my go to's. However, I am going to be considering a piglet waterer for this winter.

 

[LadyBehir]

I was supposed to keep the broody and her babies away from the others? Huh. Well, I didn't. They do just fine with mom protecting them.

I put Jaebels out with the others in the run today with me supervising for a while. Several of the big girls went after her (separate incidences) so I had to smack them. Mom gave her a small peck but then ignored her. Sister Rory gave her a peck and then started grooming, wandered off and ignored her. I think I will keep doing that until she is all better. She is much better, but not ready yet to go out full time.

 

[BullChick]

You have more patience than I do. All of the ducks were in the coop by one to three weeks. The Muscovies were outside this past April at three weeks. It even went down to 30* and snowed. No heat lamp.

 

[BullChick]

I was supposed to keep the broody and her babies away from the others? Huh. Well, I didn't. They do just fine with mom protecting them. 


I put Jaebels out with the others in the run today with me supervising for a while. Several of the big girls went after her (separate incidences) so I had to smack them. Mom gave her a small peck but then ignored her. Sister Rory gave her a peck and then started grooming, wandered off and ignored her. I think I will keep doing that until she is all better. She is much better, but not ready yet to go out full time.

Nope. Mama is there to protect from day one.

 

[fisherlady]

I was supposed to keep the broody and her babies away from the others? Huh. Well, I didn't. They do just fine with mom protecting them. 


I put Jaebels out with the others in the run today with me supervising for a while. Several of the big girls went after her (separate incidences) so I had to smack them. Mom gave her a small peck but then ignored her. Sister Rory gave her a peck and then started grooming, wandered off and ignored her. I think I will keep doing that until she is all better. She is much better, but not ready yet to go out full time.

We give mama and chicks a few days in the 'People area' of the coop, which is separated by chicken wire but wide open for watching by the flock. Usually by the 2nd or 3rd day the broody is wanting to head out so the man door is opened and broody takes out the littles to range in the yard. They are then ready for a floor box in the main part of the coop.
We do adjust locations and time frames based on which coop they are in and when we are working or home and able to watch a bit for problems (navigating ramps is sometimes problematic until they are 4 or 5 days old)
Generally after day 4 the hens and chicks are considered part of the flock and fend for themselves mostly.

 

[gonehencrazy]

Just let her sit for a while, give her some golf balls to keep warm and pull any real eggs at least once a day. After a few weeks she may give up, or at least be easier to break. In the mean time, remember this is "fun" for her, it makes her feel she has a special purpose, so let her have that for a while.

I was worried about her starving. Should that be a concern? I keep a feeder in the coop but water is outside until it gets cold or we build a covered run. Should I still make her get up some still?

I've been thinking about letting her have some eggs but we go to Peru from Oct 10-17 and wouldn't want the chicks to hatch until back. Afraid it will get too cold soon

 

[dheltzel]

I would worry about bugs with leaves inside the henhouse although I love 'em in the run. If you think that each large fowl hen generates maybe 10 watts of heat, I think the number of hens and the size of the henhouse makes the biggest difference in how warm they will be.

I love to use dried leaves in the coop, but never again in the runs. They are a soppy, soggy mess when wet. Worse than plain mud.My runs are largely mud with some sand in there when I get some and am ambitious.

The bugs are a feature for my birds, they hunt though the leaves looking for anything that looks edible. After a few weeks, there are barely any recognizable leaves in there, so I dump more on top. My main coop has a dirt floor, so I'm going for deep litter, though it rarely gets that deep before I haul most out and add more bedding.

 

[gonehencrazy]

Lol, yeah the freeloaders are driving me crazy here. I have 42 chickens, at least 7 are roos and I'm getting 2-4 eggs a day right now. Granted, about half the flock is too young still to lay but still!

2-4?!? I'm cranky about getting 6-8 out of 12 hen/pullets!!! The two Welsummer crosses are the only two not laying except my broody EE.

 

[dheltzel]

I was worried about her starving. Should that be a concern? I keep a feeder in the coop but water is outside until it gets cold or we build a covered run. Should I still make her get up some still?

I've been thinking about letting her have some eggs but we go to Peru from Oct 10-17 and wouldn't want the chicks to hatch until back. Afraid it will get too cold soon

She will get up for food and water when she needs it. They instinctively know how long they can be off the nest. I regularly have hens nest way up in a hay loft in the dead of winter. They have to go a long way to get water and search for food, yet they manage to not only hatch chicks, but get them down a 10 ft drop to the barn floor. I've tried to explain to them why nesting up there is a bad idea . . . .

 

[hippiechickX4]

The point of deep litter is to keep the flock warm. Holding heat is good. Dust is dust. It causes respiratory issues for humans and fowl.
I am not understanding how he is against the sand because it's too cold, but against the wood because it holds heat.
Sand is fine year round BTW.
As for the leaves, if you are cleaning the coop weekly (though you may have meant monthly) no smell can develop from the leaves decaying.

I like the sand myself and he does too, but he thinks it will be cold on the chickens. He doesn't like the deep litter method, because he thinks it's very unsanitary and would smell horrible. I meant weekly like I said because my husband is a clean freak and wouldn't let the wood chips sit longer than that. We read with the deep litter method you don't change it out very often.