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chicken update

One of the things that was on my summer to do list was finish painting the chicken house that we expanded.  We had to expand the coop after a surprise gift of chicks from my mom and her husband this spring.

I’m happy to report that it’s done. It looks nice doesn’t it? The hens think it great!

Here are some chicks that a friend gave us a while back. One of his hens hatched them and they spent a week with her. I have to say these are the smartest chicks we’ve ever had.

We now have quite the assortment of hens, Rhode Island Red, Barred Rock, Buff Orpingtons, Australorps, and Americanas. oh, And one rooster, named Cogburn who keeps them all in line. Yes, he’s still around even if his did eat my pineapple.

I love the look of the Austrolorps, their iridescent feathers just shine in the sun. They do appear to be slower grower than our others were. They are just beginning to lay eggs and they’re 7 months old.

This is our new watering system. The pvc pipes are attached to 3 gallon bucket that we go for free from a local bakery. The little red things are called chicken nipples  (affiliate link) as the chickens peck at them they release water. We have found this to be so much better than the individual waters. We just could not keep them clean and there wasn’t a good way for us to hang them. We still have an individual waterer that we put on a short stool in the coop for night but this is so much better in the run.

Also, if you’ve never visited Fresh Eggs Daily, you should. Lisa has so much chicken information and some (non chicken) amazing recipes. I’ve been going through her Ultimate Chicken Care Guide, boy, is it jam packed with  reliable information. She also has a great facebook page. You know, anyone can throw up a page with cute chicken photos that they’ve taken from the internet and set themselves up as an expert – until someone start asking questions about those beautiful blue eggs in the photo and there’s no response or an incorrect response. Lisa’s not like that, she’s the real deal and if I have a chicken question she’s the one I’m going to. Go on over and say “hi”, you’ll be glad you did.

Do you have chickens? Feel free to leave a link to your chicken posts in the comments.

Thanks for sharing with your friends!

Summers Acres

Tuesday 15th of October 2013

I love the color of the hen house. You have a lot of chickens! We are on our first year of them and have 6 laying pullets and 1 rooster. I have found Fresh Eggs Daily and The Chicken Chick both extremely helpful. Our chicken posts can be found at http://summersacres.blogspot.com/search/label/Chickens .

Thanks for sharing with us at The HomeAcre Hop!

Please join us again Thursday at:http://summersacres.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-homeacre-hop-41-and-giveaway.html~Ann

Angi Schneider

Wednesday 16th of October 2013

Thanks, Ann. It's just the ready mixed barn paint from Lowe's. I agree, both of those sites have great chicken information. Thanks for hosting the hop.

Robynne

Thursday 10th of October 2013

*waterer*

Angi Schneider

Monday 14th of October 2013

lol

Robynne

Thursday 10th of October 2013

This is a great idea! Ours are free range and only in their coop at night, but we're always on the lookout for better ideas. How do you prevent the nipples from dripping after the chicken is finished drinking? We tried putting them on the bottom of a five-gallon bucket, but the floor of the coop was soaked in no time. We even put a boot tray on the floor underneath, but that was pretty gross by the next day. We're back to using a three-gallon plastic watered.

Angi Schneider

Monday 14th of October 2013

I haven't noticed the chicken nipples dripping much. Ours are kind of at an angle since we have them on the fence instead of at the bottom of the bucket, maybe that helps them not leak. Also, ours are outside and we refill the water buckets each day so it's fine if they drip just bit. We use a regular 3 gallon waterer in our coop at night. We put it on a little stool so it's up off the floor and that seems to help keep it cleaner.

Kathy Shea Mormino

Friday 27th of September 2013

Thanks for asking, Angi, I've got an extensive Chicken Care Resources Guide where you can find answers to a myriad of chicken-related issues. http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/p/chicken-resources-directory.htmlHave a great weekend!Kathy Shea MorminoThe Chicken Chickhttp://www.The-Chicken-Chick.comhttp://www.facebook.com/egg.carton.labels.by.adozengirlz

Angi Schneider

Tuesday 8th of October 2013

Thanks for sharing, Kathy. Your resource looks great.