Texas

[bnjrob]

I need some advice.

I've lived my adult life overseas in company housing where I called maintenance when a light bulb needed changing. Neither me nor my husband are remotely handy. I develop a rash if I touch a screw driver. A hammer caused painful blisters.

It seems I have a problem with the sump pump in the cabana. There's a big, bright red light that's turned itself on on top of a box with "Advanced Aerobic Programmer" written on it. The previous owner told my husband that was for the sump pump. All the circuits breakers seem to be on.

My house is above the septic tank, but the cabana by the pool is not. I gather I do not use any sink or toilet in the cababana. Can anyone give me some insight into what could be going on? Will I have a sewage nightmare, with the septic tank backing up through the toilet? (It was emptied and cleaned out before we bought the place 18 months ago.) I am having visions of Lucy Ricardo and the chocolate factory, but substitute sewage instead.

Who do I call?

Thanks for any advice.

Are you sure you have an aerobic septic system - the kind with the sprinklers and this is not for a pool or something? If so, you are supposed to have a contract with someone that checks the system 3 times per year to ensure it is working properly and sends reports to the county/state. That is the person you should be calling.

Generally the box for the septic system has the sticker of either the installer or the maintenance company on the electrical box for the system.

If you don't have an aerobic system or have somehow not gotten fined by your county for not having a maintenance check contract, then you can either contact whoever installed the system or you can find a septic installer/maintainer to come check things out. There could be any number of things causing the alarm light from wire damage due to rodents/ants to actual problems with the system itself.

 

[bnjrob]

With the COLD temps in Texas dipping into single digits tonight is anyone turning on heat lamps? My 16 week old chickens are in a coop with ventilation and no drafts...should they be ok? I only have 4 of them so they could huddle for warmth but I believe at least 2 are molting (roo neck is pretty bare). If molting in these temps would you use a heat source? We gave them warm oats and raisins right before lock in. We use sand bedding so I put in some hay on top of that.

Thank you for any and all reassurance and tips/hints.

~ Nicole

Are they fully feathered? If so, theoretically they should be ok.

Am I turning on heat lamps? No.

Here's a quote from someone on another thread as people talk about the cold weather and if they are doing anything special:

"I live near buffalo,NY so winter is usually cold here with frigid temps a few times a year. But it's been a long time since we have had -30 windchills. Or a real blizzard. The hens have fared well the past couple winter in a hoop coop covered with a tarp and hay bales on the side. It's all they know"

 

[mi2bugz]

Are they fully feathered?  If so, theoretically they should be ok.

Am I turning on heat lamps?  No.

Here's a quote from someone on another thread as people talk about the cold weather and if they are doing anything special:

"I live near buffalo,NY so winter is usually cold here with frigid temps a few times a year. But it's been a long time since we have had -30 windchills. Or a real blizzard. The hens have fared well the past couple winter in a hoop coop covered with a tarp and hay bales on the side. It's all they know"

Yes they are fully feathered except the molting. Just wondered if since we don't normally have this kind of temperatures if they needed any "special" treatment unlike the birds up north that are more acclimated to these temps. Thank you!

 

[showbarnmom]

My 8 week olds are outside in my grow out coop. No heat, just hay on the floor to snuggle in. They are all fully feathered and seem just fine. My coop is an old deer blind. So 4x8 sheets of plywood with 10-12 inch windows that I've got wire over. Right now the windows are covered with feed bags 3/4th of way to block wind.

Eta: they maybe 10 weeks now...I've lost track of time.

 

[bnjrob]

Yes they are fully feathered except the molting. Just wondered if since we don't normally have this kind of temperatures if they needed any "special" treatment unlike the birds up north that are more acclimated to these temps. Thank you!

I've got birds in several open air pens with only wind blocks and thus far they have been fine this winter.

When we go from warm to really chilly in one day, I do throw out grain, particularly sunflower seeds with the hull intact, out to them just before dark to get their little crops working on all that fiber to digest and help to generate a little more heat.

Now in the morning, if someone is dead, I will be sad. But I am trying to raise hardy homestead birds and I'd rather continue to perpetuate the strongest ones that can survive the extremes in temps that we get.

I sure hope none die though because I do not relish having to process a bird in the freezing cold tomorrow. And I don't want to scald and pluck in the house cuz it is messy.

 

[mi2bugz]

Now in the morning, if someone is dead, I will be sad.  But I am trying to raise hardy homestead birds and I'd rather continue to perpetuate the strongest ones that can survive the extremes in temps that we get. 

Good way to think of it. Just got to get them through the first winter AND the first summer. Poor things were noisy and all huddled in a corner so I became concerned only after I saw them. Otherwise trying to stand firm.

 

[mi2bugz]

My 8 week olds are outside in my grow out coop. No heat, just hay on the floor to snuggle in. So 4x8 sheets of plywood with 10-12 inch windows that I've got wire over. Right now the windows are covered with feed bags 3/4th of way to block wind.

From all I am reading I guess I should have gone more open air for the summer. Going to be cutting a lot of the sides open with window "doors" to help with the summer heat. One extreme to the other lol. Doesn't help that I am not from Texas and not too familiar with the seasons where we are .

 

[bnjrob]

From all I am reading I guess I should have gone more open air for the summer. Going to be cutting a lot of the sides open with window "doors" to help with the summer heat. One extreme to the other lol. Doesn't help that I am not from Texas and not too familiar with the seasons where we are

.

I think it is more difficult here because we do have such a difference in weather and temps from day to day and even hour to hour during the winter. Living "up north", when it gets cold for winter, it pretty much stays cold until Spring/Summer. But our winters here go from pretty chilly to warm and back again and it makes it more difficult to do things when you are making sure the birds and animals are comfortable at 60 or 70 (and sometimes even 80 degrees) but then right before sunset you have to get things ready for a freeze and get the flaps on your coop windows shut so the cold air doesn't blow on them. It makes a lot of extra work having to go back and forth with temps so much.

 

[bnjrob]

Good way to think of it. Just got to get them through the first winter AND the first summer. Poor things were noisy and all huddled in a corner so I became concerned only after I saw them. Otherwise trying to stand firm.

Yes, I know the feeling of trying to be firm. It's hard sometimes but they need to be able to survive without all the amenities because there is no guarantee that there will be power all the time to run heating and air cooling equipment. But I do check them frequently when it is hot or cold to make sure that they are doing ok.

 

[jajeanpierre]

What are you doing by the cabana????? You are suppose to be resting, not fretting!

If you had an aerobic system (I do have one) you would have at least 3 poles with sprinklers on top of them in your yard. Once every day these sprinklers will spray. Is there a phone number anywhere on or around the 'red light' for you to call. Is there a switch that you can hit to reset? I can't believe your septic tank is full if you had it cleaned out 18 months ago. Has your family been using the pool lately? Maybe something got clogged up in there.

My DH is out at the moment, or I would have him help.

Lisa

Thanks Lisa. What rest? I've been making sure the chickens are going to be warm tonight and tomorrow when it goes to the low teens, which I think is near record breaking lows for here.

No sprinklers in the yard. The light is for the sump pump below the septic tank, 50 feet away from the septic tank. No phone numbers. I hit all the reset buttons I could. I guess it can all wait.