Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[Hinotori]

Yeah, I went out this morning to check waterers. The water in the bucket wasn't frozen, but some of the nipples were. I think I am going to set up my bucket warmers to see if it's going to work. If not I am going to set something up in the shed to bring them in and hang them for the night so they don't freeze. Gotta work out a new system.

I need to get my waterers inside as well. We have to make a new larger coop for the silkies, then I can get theirs inside.

If any of the chicks get cold, they just go warm up under the cockerel. That boy is so tollerant of everything. He doesn't care what they do as long as he can keep on watch.

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

I think my girls are sleeping in the nest boxes because it's warmer in them. Two slept in nest boxes last night, the third (Drama) slept on the other side, on the floor - not on her floor roost. The center part of my coop has vented flooring, covered by hardware cloth, with pine chips over the top. I'm beginning to wonder if they are getting too much of an updraft. The nest boxes, and the opposing side (that looks like a nest box from the outside) is the only solid floor in the coop.

Should I cover part or all of the ventilation system on the floor? It is the main part of the ventilation system, though, so I don't want to lose too much ventilation. Is ventilation that big of a deal since I scoop the coop every single morning, has next to no poop as soon as I scoop it and it never smells at all? They don't ever seem to go in there during the day, except to lay, so they go to bed each night with a clean floor.

The lower edge of each (of the four) roofline has a tiny vent like this.



The girls are sleeping in the nest boxes (left) and solid floor side (right) now. No one slept on the roost last night, which is centered above the slanted, vented floor.



You can't tell here, because there's hardware cloth, and pine chips over it - the entire center section (visible area left of Drama's floor roost) is slatted wood flooring. Should I cover that with wood to help hold heat in?



Or, are my roosts too narrow? Is that why they won't sleep on them?

I would guess it is the draft. If you are scooping poo daily you could cover most of it to prevent the draft. And I use 2x4's on the 4" side for roosts. Is Drahma not able to fly up to the other roost. M huge cockerel can't fly up so I had to add a middle height roost so he could get to the top roost(he weighs about 11lbs at 8 months)

 

[KMHunter]

Quote: I agree, could you cover some of the areas that may be a direct draft?

 

[KMHunter]

Quote: I agree, could you cover some of the areas that may be a direct draft?
I was looking again at tha pictures, I would put wood on the floor and make sure all other ventilation is open and see how that works.

 

[hallerlake]

Quote: I agree, could you cover some of the areas that may be a direct draft?
I was looking again at tha pictures, I would put wood on the floor and make sure all other ventilation is open and see how that works.
Maybe make the wood a little smaller than the floor so that there's a little space on the sides for ventilation.

 

[cheryl98117]

It's good to have you back even if all you can manage is once in awhile. We need some pictures of Miss Emily, and Miss Chole too. They must be growing like weeds.

Oh I know! Ive been slacking on the picture department this time around! lol Bad Momma! I still have yet to hang one picture of Emily on the wall! lol Chloe is getting BIG! She weighs 43lb exact and is 41" tall. Emily weighs 15lb 13oz and is 26 inches long. lol Long and skinny. She is already in 12 month clothing because of her length! lol

I will do my best to get some pictures posted today of both girls! Love my girls! They keep me on my toes.

Sorry this is the most recent pic uploaded of Chloe.

And I have no recent pics of Emily... So not good. lol Must fix that problem, cant give the baby a complex form not taking her picture! lol

 

[Shyla-C]

 

[itsren]

I would guess it is the draft. If you are scooping poo daily you could cover most of it to prevent the draft. And I use 2x4's on the 4" side for roosts. Is Drahma not able to fly up to the other roost. M huge cockerel can't fly up so I had to add a middle height roost so he could get to the top roost(he weighs about 11lbs at 8 months)

No, Drama can't fly. She *thinks* she can - runs around the yard flapping her wings. She'll get 6" or so off the ground. It's pretty funny. The only time I've seen her actually catch air has been when the neighbor's dog had Rhodie in it's mouth - somehow that chickie managed to fly up to the top of a garbage can.

My coop is too small to build a middle height roost. The second coop I'm building is being built sized for Brahmas. I'm hoping a couple of the girls I'm getting this next weekend will grow up to be docile birds (BCMs) because Drama is extremely docile. In the spring, I'd like to move Drama into the Brahma-friendly coop with them.

they'll get along.

I may look into switching out to 2x4 roosts.

 

[cheryl98117]

Would anyone be interested or willing to send out a couple of postcards?

My Cousin is a pre-school teacher, her class is 3-4 year olds. And she is teaching them about our mail system and a little about different places and people around the country/world... Its a year round class project. Each postcard is marked on iether the world map, or the US continent map, depending on where it was sent from...

I am also following the same lesson plan here at home, that my cousin is doing with her class. Much cheaper than $1200.00 a month for enrolement! lol

So if anyone would be interested in helping me and my cousin out by sending postcards with a little information on them to Chloe and my Cousin. That would be awsome! Please PM me for the addresses if your willing to help!

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

Quote:
Question, why switch out the 2x4's? I like them because they can get their toes covered with their warm bodies(less chance of frostbite, which is low where we all live)