I thought those were just in scarey stories you tell children didn't know there was an actual bug. Guess I'll have to google that.
MY OH MY!!!!!!!! How did I miss those all these years???????????? That looks like the result of a mating of a roach and a scorpion, after the Borg got finished w/ it!!!!!!!! The article said they were all over the America's so we must have them, but I've never seen one.
We had earwigs in Ca. They didn't really bother me. BUT it is a myth about them laying eggs in your ear
I've never let sitting water stay on top. Mainly because I hate draining it. I find it ferments just fine. It has maybe a mm of moisture on top, but nothing that will make it not able to serve right away. When you stir, you get liquid coming up from the bottom, but that's how I thought it was supposed to be.
I am only using one bucket right now. I didn't have a drill at the time I bought the buckets and couldn't wait. I will be doing it like that once I have a big amount to feed - because I find it so much better, but it's working for now. Smells good
I think I'm one week in on this one at least. Last one was making me nervous with how much yoghurt I put in it, so I finished it up and started fresh again.
I don't let much liquid sit in mine either. Last year I did, and used a strainer to drain it, but this year I'm just mixing it until thick. All my buckets smell like they should- pleasantly sour. The layer buckets are especially dry, and I like it. And it smells awesome, like fresh sourdough. I love not having to strain it.
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Broody is the only way I hatch. I have a broody now that will be getting Blue Marans eggs next week so I can start a project color of Blue Wheaten Marans. My broody got done raising 2 chicks for 10 weeks, laid for 2 weeks then went broody again, and she is not a Silkie. She is a hatchery BO.
OMG me too, but yeah, I wish we could just turn a broody on when we're ready to hatch. I was starting to think I wasn't going to have any hens go broody this year- I had one Fav try to sit on eggs, then move nests after 5 days (grrr....). So I made her wait for my eggs to be fertilzed by the new rooster then was going to move her to a pen by herself. Only when I moved her she wouldn't sit. For 24 hours. So i put her back into the coop and she went straight back to the nest boxes.
I happen to have a front that fits over a single nest box (it was on one of the pigeon nests in the barn when we bought the place) so I shut her in. She has food and water in the box, and I let her out to poop. I know, I'm a meanie
Then two days later one of the chicks my broody hatched last summer decided to go broody, but switched nests like 5 times. She's been on the same nest for the past 36 hours, so here's hoping she stays... Broodies! But hopefully between the two I'll get 10 or so chicks. And I'm still hoping last year's broody hen decides to sit, at least I know she's a good mom!
Oh, quick broody Q: I'm leaving both mama's in the nest boxes. They're low, I'll just let them jump down when the chicks are hatched. They should hatch about five days apart (more or less...). Between now and then I plan to move pretty much all of the other chickens to the summer pen, so they'll have the coop and run more or less to themselves (plus the silkie, she nests and sleeps on the ground and the summer pen isn't really set up for that). Will they be okay together? They won't try to like steal each others' chicks or anything will they?
I use 2 gallon buckets with lids for chicken water with poultry nipples in the bottom. No leaking, no messy water, doesn't affect humidity level, easy to fill.
Not sure why anyone wouldn't offer water in their coop.
Ditto to what the others say- it's messy and makes the coop smelly. And nipples aren't always leak free. I water outside in the summer (in multiple places when they free range) and in the past I've moved the water into the coop for the winter, but next winter I'm going to figure something else out. I just use a metal 5 gallon waterer on a warmer, but it leaks or gets spilled and makes a holy mess in the shavings that then freezes. Right outside the coop is a 10x10 covered A frame I built to extend the amount of space my chickens have in the winter (we have snow for like a solid 5+ months in the winter) and to give them shade in the summer, I would like to move the water out there. Don't know how I'll do it yet, though. BUT I don't always shut my chickens in the coop, and when I do I have an automatic door, so they're never without water when they're awake.
