Violet's only companion died today - and it's freezing

[yogamebird]

Wow! Well, at most we would probably have 4 chickens...we are thinking of pullets in the spring. Our girls can EAT but I don't think ever that much!!!!

 

[KayTee]

Hey Yogamebird, I hope you had a good vacation

How are things going? Are Violet and Tilly back in the coop yet, and are they getting along? Just curious to know how things are turning out.

(because every experience we post on BYC helps someone else who is going through the same thing, and although it may sometimes feel like it, we are never alone, and our problems are never unique!)

 

[yogamebird]

As of a few days ago, the girls are back in the coop! They seem to be quite happy. We had decided to leave them in the crate while we went on vacation, as the watering situation is so difficult for our pet sitter. We are hoping to remedy that as well. We just received our nipple feeder from Amazon and will probably set it up tomorrow. I would appreciate any feedback on getting them acclimated. I read that one guy taught his chickens with a laser pointer!

 

[deacons]

As of a few days ago, the girls are back in the coop! They seem to be quite happy. We had decided to leave them in the crate while we went on vacation, as the watering situation is so difficult for our pet sitter. We are hoping to remedy that as well. We just received our nipple feeder from Amazon and will probably set it up tomorrow. I would appreciate any feedback on getting them acclimated. I read that one guy taught his chickens with a laser pointer!

This is really good news! Happy for you. I don't have any experience with the nipple waterers but I believe there are some good threads on here if you search.

 

[yogamebird]

Of course! I'll look for info on this website.

We'll wait till the last of the deep freeze before we put it up anyway!

 

[LipsChicks]

I use the nipple waterers a lot! I taught my new babies about the second day by putting a little honey on the tip and touched their beaks to it. They learned right away. I kept their traditional drinker in for a couple more days then pulled it completely. For my older girls, basically the same thing. Once they got the idea - no problem at all. In the winter, it doesn't work here but they easily switch back and forth. Almost no training is needed. I'd bet with your two that if you took away their old waterer and left them to their own devices, they'd just figure it out. Of course, you'd watch to make sure.

 

[yogamebird]

Ha! I can't imagine touching their beaks to anything! I guess if I raised them from chick-hood as you did, they would feel comfortable with your holding their heads in your hand. But Violet is an old girl who runs the other way when I move towards her - although she comes out in the run to greet me in the morning. Tilly is still getting over her intimidation about being housed with Violet. They are getting along better - Tils is standing up for herself!

Somebody recommended that we shine a laser light on the nipples. We hope top put it up today and we'll let you know what happens when we do!

 

[LipsChicks]

I' d leave their old waterer in also for a day then pull it. They'll soon figure it out. Good luck,!

 

[yogamebird]

Well, now that we have the nipple waterer, we realize that it can work only if we put it in the run, not in the coop....not enough space inside. We think it's best if they have water in the coop so we are moving to plan B, That is, we are going to try to cobble together a waterer where the bucket is outside and the nipples are inside. If anybody has any ideas about this, I'd appreciated that, I think there is a thread on this in this community about this which I may check out.

 

[deacons]

I don't know all the specs of your set-up, but I'll just say I've never had water in my coop, only in the (attached) run. Particularly in the winter, water in the coop is too much of a humidity/frostbite risk for me, so it stays outside. They don't need it overnight, and they get let out every morning around sunup.