Surviving Minnesota!

[Bogtown Chick]

I too am getting eebie jeebies reading about these audits and such. 'Fond' memories--not-- of the IRS stealing our Savings account last year. Imagine our surprise when they wanted to audit us and the amount they needed was a few dollars off from what we had in our Savings account. We fought, we lost.

Okay guys...I'm too lazy to dig in this thread for the drinking cup or water nipple links...Ralphie...did you try some of these? Or is it @Cluckies that has this winter water down to a science? @erlibrd ? I think you and Cluckies have similar set ups?

Jerry, you really have troubles with those masked bandits! I don't know why...and I shouldn't maybe talk too loud...but we do not have the issues that I've anticipated. DH thinned the herd one year. But maybe they like resorts and town more than our little neck of the woods ...maybe? We have our share of the aerial preds though. Yuck.

 

[KlopKlop]

I too am getting eebie jeebies reading about these audits and such.  'Fond' memories--not-- of the IRS stealing our Savings account last year.  Imagine our surprise when they wanted to audit us and the amount they needed was a few dollars off from what we had in our Savings account.  We fought, we lost. 

Okay guys...I'm too lazy to dig in this thread for the drinking cup or water nipple links...Ralphie...did you try some of these?  Or is it @Cluckies
that has this winter water down to a science? @erlibrd
?  I think you and Cluckies have similar set ups? 

Jerry, you really have troubles with those masked bandits!  I don't know why...and I shouldn't maybe talk too loud...but we do not have the issues that I've anticipated.  DH thinned the herd one year.  But maybe they like resorts and town more than our little neck of the woods ...maybe? We have our share of the aerial preds though.  Yuck.

I'm pretty sure they were horizontal nipples in a smaller bucket with a heater and maybe a circulation pump

https://www.amazon.com/Horizontal-Side-Mount-Poultry-Nipples/dp/B00JXUAD0K

 

[MNChickMom]

I too am getting eebie jeebies reading about these audits and such. 'Fond' memories--not-- of the IRS stealing our Savings account last year. Imagine our surprise when they wanted to audit us and the amount they needed was a few dollars off from what we had in our Savings account. We fought, we lost.

Okay guys...I'm too lazy to dig in this thread for the drinking cup or water nipple links...Ralphie...did you try some of these? Or is it @Cluckies that has this winter water down to a science? @erlibrd ? I think you and Cluckies have similar set ups?

Jerry, you really have troubles with those masked bandits! I don't know why...and I shouldn't maybe talk too loud...but we do not have the issues that I've anticipated. DH thinned the herd one year. But maybe they like resorts and town more than our little neck of the woods ...maybe? We have our share of the aerial preds though. Yuck.

I have the drinking cup system inside the coop. I can ask my husband to give exact info about it, he designed it. It has 7 drinking cups attached to a small pvc pipe and the pvc pipe is attached to 35 gallon garbage can with lid. (I only fill 5 gallons at a time). My run has the flippy pain in the neck waterers. I plan to put a small tank heater in the garbage can this winter. This is my first winter with hens so I can not comment yet. I LOVE the drinking cups so far.....so clean....no mess. On occasion I do have to clean out the cups if they are filled with wood shavings but generally that is only once a week.

 

[Bogtown Chick]

Thank you Kloppers.
Are you using these? And the horizontal don't seem to freeze up like the vertical? With Circulation and Heater?

 

[KlopKlop]

I have the drinking cup system inside the coop. I can ask my husband to give exact info about it, he designed it. It has 7 drinking cups attached to a small pvc pipe and the pvc pipe is attached to 35 gallon garbage can with lid. (I only  fill 5 gallons at a time). My run has the flippy pain in the neck waterers. I plan to put a small tank heater in the garbage can this winter. This is my first winter with hens so I can not comment yet. I LOVE the drinking cups so far.....so clean....no mess. On occasion I do have to clean out the cups if they are filled with wood shavings but generally that is only once a week.

I use cups in the summer. If you do not have the water circulating between the tank and the pipes your cup valves will freeze. The heater in the tank alone will not be enough to transfer heat down the pipe.

@duluthralphie tried some setup with cups last winter and even with a heat lamp shining on the cups they froze on cold days. Correct me if I am remembering wrong!!

 

[Bogtown Chick]

I have the drinking cup system inside the coop. I can ask my husband to give exact info about it, he designed it. It has 7 drinking cups attached to a small pvc pipe and the pvc pipe is attached to 35 gallon garbage can with lid. (I only fill 5 gallons at a time). My run has the flippy pain in the neck waterers. I plan to put a small tank heater in the garbage can this winter. This is my first winter with hens so I can not comment yet. I LOVE the drinking cups so far.....so clean....no mess. On occasion I do have to clean out the cups if they are filled with wood shavings but generally that is only once a week.

Thank you MNChickMom. I think there are some good cups and bad cups...that don't work. I think I think... Since i'm a flipper...I can't talk to much about it safely. LOL.

 

[KlopKlop]

Thank you Kloppers.
Are you using these?    And the horizontal don't seem to freeze up like the vertical?  With Circulation and Heater? 

I used heated dog bowls myself. I think cluckies is the one who uses those.

In theory if the water is above freezing the heat should transfer to the nipples and stay thawed.

If I get time this fall yet I may try to build a similar setup

 

[Bogtown Chick]

I wish I would have paid more attention to the watering experiements last year...now.

Sometimes you just get so you do what you do....and you don't want to spend money on an experiment that may not work...etc. etc. I also have tried nipples ...my first year and the birds drank from founts ...and do you think they would drink from them. No. I finally gave them their fount back after all day and they drank like they had never drank before in their lives. I felt bad. I haven't tried anything different since. I even had brought each bird over and put their beak to the metal piece to show them water came out of there.

 

[oakridge]

Just got off the phone with the neighbor, it is official we are not renting to him next year and he is coming over tonight to talk about the piece of his field I want to buy. It's about 1 acre and he wouldn't have access to it without us providing easement. Plus it has a decent wet spot in it. Best for us to buy it and save all the hassle as long as he is willing to make a deal.

Now I have to figure out how to get it planted in spring. Option 1 is to hire someone to custom drill the seed for me Option 2 is to buy an old style ground drive drill and do it myself.

Price will probably decide between the two. I am so excited!!

Is that wet spot a certified wetland? Thats one question I would definitely bring up. Certified wetlands have a lot of rules and regs that go with them. One being if it is a wetland you can never INCREASE the drainage of it. Also, if there is any "woody" vegetation such as small trees or willows you cant even touch it with farm equipment.

 

[KlopKlop]

Is that wet spot a certified wetland? Thats one question I would definitely bring up. Certified wetlands have a lot of rules and regs that go with them. One being if it is a wetland you can never INCREASE the drainage of it. Also, if there is any "woody" vegetation such as small trees or or willows you cant even touch it with farm equipment.

Nah, just a pothole. Maybe 70' across. He plants it every spring and it floods out and kills the crop and is bare all year. The issue is the nearby ditch needs to be dug down as it has filled in some and is higher than the pothole. Fortunately none of my land or the surrounding areas are wetlands