Tile cooling station

[IamRainey]

I use a 7-gallon waterer. That puppy can get heavy but I just haul a hose and a brush into the run when I need to clean and fill it. I just do it at night when the chickens are up in the roost. And any water that slops over is drained into the ground by morning.

I fill the sucker to the top so it lasts. When the trough gets dirty between filings I just run the brush around, pour that water out and let the gravity feed take care of refilling the trough.

 

[Ponte]

Have heard multiple post mentioning ACV. Would it be apple cider vinegar ?
If so is the one at trader joe ok

 

[aart]

Have heard multiple post mentioning ACV. Would it be apple cider vinegar ?
If so is the one at trader joe ok

Yes, 'ACV with the mother' is cited with many miracles, it will deter algae growth but it can interfere with calcium uptake, best to keep waterer in the full shade and clean it frequently if needed.

 

[jlwquilter]

Yes, 'ACV with the mother' is cited with many miracles, it will deter algae growth but it can interfere with calcium uptake, best to keep waterer in the full shade and clean it frequently if needed.

I didn’t know about the possible interference with calcium uptake. My husband got a little too happy with adding ACV for several days before I realized what he was doing.

I have some new hens that came from a kinda distressed situation and their shells are so thin. I’ve changed to an all flock feed due to the mixed ages (some non-layers for several more months) and have crushed egg shells available at all times but only ever see ‘my’ hens eating it and their shells are super strong. Since the weakest shells come from the leghorns, and they are small birds, I wonder if the extra ACV made a bad situation worse.

The ACV amount is now fixed but still struggling with how to get the new hens to eat more calcium. They were - and still are but improving- going thru a hard moult. Sigh. It’s always something! Lol!

 

[RedDol]

This sounds like a good idea and I'd like to employ it.

I have this style watering fount sitting on concrete cinderblocks.


View attachment 1799848

I'm trying to figure out how to freeze a large mass of ice that would last for a while and still be narrow enough to fit through the relatively narrow neck. The container I use for freezing will have to have straight sides that will release the ice and be large enough to make a difference in 5 gallons of water.

What about a quart size milk carton?

 

[RedDol]

Tile sounds like a great idea! My dog always lays on my shower tile inside to keep cool. I’m going to add tile to my coop design for my two week old girls when they are ready to go outside.

 

[IamRainey]

I think milk cartons with their square corners would be too large but I just got tall bottles of Voss water. It comes in slim straight bottles. I've given up the idea of getting the ice out. I'll just freeze the bottles intact, put them in the waterer and fish them out to freeze again. Might tie some string between the bottles and the tops for easy retrieval.

I think my chickies will be more comfortable this summer and I hope they all make it through this time!

 

[igorsMistress]

You can wash the buckets with plain white vinegar when you clean them and not use any bleach. Regardless, clean water every day keeps algae away for the most part.

 

[aart]

The ACV amount is now fixed but still struggling with how to get the new hens to eat more calcium. They were - and still are but improving- going thru a hard moult. Sigh. It’s always something! Lol!

No reason for continuous ACV in water, IMO, or even occasional.
Hens in molt don't need to eat extra calcium because they are not producing eggs.
It's why I use an all flock type feed and offer calcium(OS) on the side for those in lay.

 

[chkva]

This sounds like a good idea and I'd like to employ it.

I have this style watering fount sitting on concrete cinderblocks.


View attachment 1799848

I'm trying to figure out how to freeze a large mass of ice that would last for a while and still be narrow enough to fit through the relatively narrow neck. The container I use for freezing will have to have straight sides that will release the ice and be large enough to make a difference in 5 gallons of water.

Freeze water in 16 oz bottles for a day then cut the plastic away from the ice. We have a similar waterer and thats what we will be doing. We also use them in our dog bowls when they're outside.