New Watering Method

Rather than filling glass jars for the chickens which just get nasty and filled with bedding chips, we are trying something a little different.

We picked up a few of these:

And affixed them in the bottom of a bucket. The bucket is filled with water and suspended over the chickens. Using this method, we don't have to fill their water as often, we estimate about once a week or so. The nozzles are made for use with no water-pressure, just gravity and they pass through a surprising amount of water. They just wander up and start drinking; no fuss, no muss, and clean water for all!

I'll let the pictures and videos speak for themselves:

Coop Nearing Completion...

Here is the coop, with a spanking-new coat of paint in proper farm-red.



The ramp leading into the coop sits in a channel attached to the outer wall, just under the coop door.

It can be easily taken off for when I need to remove it to perform maintenance.


The roosting area has been shown before, but I wanted to point out the screened area under the branches. The screen is raised off a droppings board that can be removed from the outside of the coop to be cleaned. It keeps the predominance of droppings away from the birds (to keep them healthy) and makes the coop easier to maintain.

Chickensaurus(es) Walk Among Us...

This resemblance just a coincidence? I THINK NOT!


Jurassic Park be damned, these things are running around with my children!


Did Dinosaurs Become Chickens?

T. Rex Kinship With Chickens Confirmed

Chickenosaurus: Canadian scientist says he can create dinosaurs from chickens

....note the "O" slipped in the middle, extra vowels in a name always make scientific claims more legitimate. Check out Aluminosilicates. SEVEN vowels and very impressive for the effort.

Finally, if you are tired of waiting for a real chicken'o'saurus to be cooked up in a lab somewhere, you can build your own:
T-Rex To Go book from Amazon. Link.

The Hens Have Moved to the Permenant Coop

Well, the chickens have finally moved out to the coop. They seem to like it, but that said, they have brains the size of a peanut (shelled) so who's really to know? :)

Coop Almost Complete

Even though the hens have been moved out to the coop, there is still much work to be done. Here is short tour of how it looks so far:


From the outside, still needing paint. The chair will be stored under the overhang and brought out for chicken-inspired reflection...



This shows the eve on the West side of the coop. The flap-windows are held up by a simple chain and hook. The electrical feed is evident and the yellow hook on the left is where the chicken-reflection-chair will hang.



This is just inside the coop on the right. Some cleaning supplies hang there and the winter windows are stored against the wall.


This is just inside the coop on the left, and has shelving for miscellaneous supplies and of course, a thermometer for keeping an eye on the inside temperature. incidentally, it was close to 100 degrees today and the coop never got above 85-90. Ventilation FTW!


The hens digging on their new roost.

New Brooder Needed, Again!

The hens have fully outgrown the original brooder that was a plastic tub and wooden wall extensions. Their new pad is a 4' x 4' frame wrapped in (oddly enough) chicken wire. They are still in the garage, as the need to be just a little older to be outside to ensure that they can handle the colder evenings.

We have also upgraded their feeder to a longer trough-style model to hold more feed (they are a hungry bunch).

Their water pans are still the type that use canning jars to hold the water, but we have two now. Once out in the coop, I think I am going to upgrade them and build a hanging waterer connected to PVC pipe with four of these little guys ever 8" or so. They should keep the litter dry and provide clean water to the hens since there will be nothing at ground-level to contaminate with wood chips and such.