Texas

[jb300zx]

Okay, so I did it. I moved them from the brooder in the garage to the coop.


When they first got in there they stayed huddled together like the boogey monster was going to jump out at any minute.



I took the advice of one of the members on here and purchased the 3 gallon metal hanging feeder from TSC. The top was open, so I also bought a large funnel to serve as a top and also keep the birds from sitting up there and pooping in the feed. I hung it with some barbless fence wire.



Here is a shot of the PVC\Chicken nipple auto-watering system. There is a black hose that goes out to the right that you can barely see. It connects to a 65 gallon rainwater barrel. I started filling the barrel with water and found a pin hole about halfway up. Not sure if I should try to fix it or return it and try another one. I'm thinking return, but danggit Sam's Club is like 28 miles away!
I concerned about the chickens figuring out how to use the chicken nipples. I put them in the coop around 5pm and still have not seen one bird try the waterer.



Yes....this is me checking on them every 30 minutes or so. First night without a night light and outside on their own!!! I'm kinda a nervous wreck, LOL!

I understand the nervous wreck part. Mine have been out a VERY long two weeks. Mine took right to the watering nipples. As a matter of fact, they love them. Kudos again on the coop. Mine are provided with two coops, boxes, and a pen. Surprisingly, they choose the boxes and the pen at night. All of them are still just fine. Nice to see some yard birds in there.

 

[magpiesing]

Clovisman...How old are your birds? They look really big.

 

[A1momof3]

Okay, so I did it. I moved them from the brooder in the garage to the coop.


When they first got in there they stayed huddled together like the boogey monster was going to jump out at any minute.



I took the advice of one of the members on here and purchased the 3 gallon metal hanging feeder from TSC. The top was open, so I also bought a large funnel to serve as a top and also keep the birds from sitting up there and pooping in the feed. I hung it with some barbless fence wire.



Here is a shot of the PVC\Chicken nipple auto-watering system. There is a black hose that goes out to the right that you can barely see. It connects to a 65 gallon rainwater barrel. I started filling the barrel with water and found a pin hole about halfway up. Not sure if I should try to fix it or return it and try another one. I'm thinking return, but danggit Sam's Club is like 28 miles away!
I concerned about the chickens figuring out how to use the chicken nipples. I put them in the coop around 5pm and still have not seen one bird try the waterer.



Yes....this is me checking on them every 30 minutes or so. First night without a night light and outside on their own!!! I'm kinda a nervous wreck, LOL!

Now I'm new to this but did you take each one of them over to the water thing and kind of put their beak up to it where they can see how to get the water to come out? Like we do when we first get the chicks. Now sure if that is possible.

 

[ClovisMan]

Clovisman...How old are your birds? They look really big.

7 weeks old. They had a pretty big brooder.

 

[ClovisMan]

Now I'm new to this but did you take each one of them over to the water thing and kind of put their beak up to it where they can see how to get the water to come out? Like we do when we first get the chicks. Now sure if that is possible.

I tried that with a couple but they just wanted me to turn them loose. I'm hoping one figures it out and teaches the rest.

 

[magpiesing]

I tried that with a couple but they just wanted me to turn them loose. I'm hoping one figures it out and teaches the rest.

I discovered that when I put the cups in they wanted todrink the drips instead but they figured it out. Maybe you can make one of them drip a little, so that a droplet hangs on the nipple tip. Just an idea.

 

[A1momof3]

I tried that with a couple but they just wanted me to turn them loose. I'm hoping one figures it out and teaches the rest.

Well keep us updated. Mine are almost 3 weeks old and I am already thinking about the day I have to put them out side. I know it's going to worry me crazy. The kids have joked with me about putting a cot out in the barn for me to sleep out there with them. LOL It's just like putting your babies in a real bed for the first time.

 

[magpiesing]

7 weeks old. They had a pretty big brooder.

Nice looking birds, what are they? Really nice coop too BTW. They will love it.

 

[jockeyeba]

Okay, so I did it. I moved them from the brooder in the garage to the coop. When they first got in there they stayed huddled together like the boogey monster was going to jump out at any minute. I took the advice of one of the members on here and purchased the 3 gallon metal hanging feeder from TSC. The top was open, so I also bought a large funnel to serve as a top and also keep the birds from sitting up there and pooping in the feed. I hung it with some barbless fence wire. Here is a shot of the PVC\Chicken nipple auto-watering system. There is a black hose that goes out to the right that you can barely see. It connects to a 65 gallon rainwater barrel. I started filling the barrel with water and found a pin hole about halfway up. Not sure if I should try to fix it or return it and try another one. I'm thinking return, but danggit Sam's Club is like 28 miles away! I concerned about the chickens figuring out how to use the chicken nipples. I put them in the coop around 5pm and still have not seen one bird try the waterer. Yes....this is me checking on them every 30 minutes or so. First night without a night light and outside on their own!!! I'm kinda a nervous wreck, LOL!

They're going to think their in heaven

 

[ClovisMan]

Quote: 14 of them are Silver Laced Wyandottes, 1 is what I can only imagine is a white leghorn that the Hatchery threw in as a packing peanut, and there are 3 French Guineas in there somewhere. Thank you for the compliments.