The Old Folks Home

[tntchix]

Bama is on vacation until Jan. 15th. Because of the vacation, He cannot communicate via the site so the reason for the vacation will not be revealed to him until after communication is restored.

Enjoy the vaca dude.

 

[Peep_Show]

Bama is on vacation until Jan. 15th. Because of the vacation, He cannot communicate via the site so the reason for the vacation will not be revealed to him until after communication is restored.

Wow... that's like an eternity in dog years.

 

[Peep_Show]

...or dawg years.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

it's a bulk feeder but it's not an auto feeder it's a homemade rig... I haven't quite perfected it but it does work fairly well, and if I had splurged on heated bases I could be using them full-time in the coop.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/931194/fermented-feed-feeder
Anyway there's a link if you want to see pictures and an explanation of what I've been doing... I love them I just make my feed right in my feeder and I put it out it ferments while they eat it...yeah I love it. But I do keep dry food out for them at all times this time of year. I think I said to Linda it doesn't work well in -10 C only works for maybe a day three days tops at -10. When it gets colder than that I just bring them pans of FF 2 to 3 times a day. Or I rotate 2 feeders in ( to thaw) and 2 feeders out, The 5 gallon bulk of it doesn't freeze too fast, they managed to eat quite a bit before it stiffens up. Despite the round-the-clock access to the dry feed they still act like they're starving when I walk in with the FF...
Me to
Ha!

Thanks for the link. I was thinking of trying something like that.

I loved my bulk dry feeders, I only had to fill once a week for all coops but they did waste a lot.
Last year was a killer with the severe winter and running 7 flocks of chickens.

 

[hennible]

Yikes! Seven flocks through the winter would be a lot of work... Technically I have three, and I combined them for the winter they're doing well... 4 flocks with the ducks five with the up-and-coming babies...

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I hoped to get down to 3 flocks for the worst of the winter but plans went awry. Right now there are 3 buildings going 2 have 2 groups. If I get some much needed work done, I'll have 2 flocks, each with a rooster and then a backup flock of cockerels by themselves.

 

[hennible]

My goal for this years is to build a large single coop with multiple pens for each of my flocks and my old original coop will be my bachelor coop. The big group of chickens is doing just fine together and there's no disorder the dominant roo is dominant and the other guys seem to respect that, but you can tell that the ducks are sick of living with that many chickens. I'm just meeting space requirements but the ducks still don't care for that many chickens...

 

[ronott1]

Yikes! Seven flocks through the winter would be a lot of work... Technically I have three, and I combined them for the winter they're doing well... 4 flocks with the ducks five with the up-and-coming babies...

I have 4 outside and then the Garage chickens. It is harder on rainy days but it takes about 30 min. in the morning to do the chores. I clean the garage cages and hutch twice a week or more. The outside flocks get cleaned on weekends.

A routine helps.

 

[hennible]

Routine sure does help, my weather sure doesn't... It's cold enough I can't empty the poop trays under the roosts... Just freezes solid. On the plus side as long as it frozen solid it's not producing any ammonia.

 

[ronott1]

Routine sure does help, my weather sure doesn't... It's cold enough I can't empty the poop trays under the roosts... Just freezes solid. On the plus side as long as it frozen solid it's not producing any ammonia.

Winter is mild here but Summer is brutal. I have more work in the summer keeping them alive.