Month: August 2019

Don’t eat that!

On By CarynIn Coop
The chickens have been eating styrofoam

My DIY AC unit in the coop is attracting unwanted attention. The chickens have decided that styrofoam is yummy. Even though I have the cooler in a plastic bin, they can still reach in and pick out styrofoam. I put a piece of scrap board across the styrofoam cooler, but the long necked things just reached in further. They are even so bold as to sneak a pellet when I am changing out the ice. So a redesign was in order.

New air output using a plastic bottle

I discarded the old styrofoam lid, and cut a new output hole in the side of the cooler. Instead of a vacuum extension, I cut the top and bottom off a plastic bottle to make a tube, and fit that in the cooler. I cut an access port through the plastic tote as well. (It worked best to drill holes all along my cut line on the plastic bin, then cut.)

I cut a fan hole in a new styrofoam lid and fit the whole thing in the plastic tote. The back of the fan still prevented the lid from closing, so I cut out some of the lid to fit around it.

Reworked DIY AC coop unit

I hope this will keep the chickens from eating styrofoam!!! We are starting to cool down, but the highs will still be in the 90s for awhile.

Happy Friday!

On By CarynIn chickens, meme
I made it to Friday!

Here is a little something for all of us that made it through the week. ‘Cause chickens are funny looking straight on, especially with a beard and muffs.

In progress

On By CarynIn Craft, Uncategorized
Nålbinding rag rug

I have a new car rider line activity. We had a king sized sheet wear out, and I decided that I wanted to try my new nålbinding techniques to make a rag rug. There are many different ways to construct a rag rug, such as sewing braided lengths together, crocheting, or using half hitches.

For this one I’m using a Finnish 1+1 stitch. I tore the sheet into 1” strips, and made each strip into a small bundle so they wouldn’t get tangled in the bag. To join strips, I sew the ends together with a few straight stitches. I am doing something a little different than traditional increases on the curves; Instead of making two stitches into one previous stitch, I’m making the increase stitch stand alone (like a chain stitch in crochet). I like the texture of the fabric better with this method.

I’m about half-way through my bag of torn strips. This one is going to take awhile, but it will be interesting to see how it comes out!

Another scare

On By CarynIn chickens
What have you been eating?!?

I went to check on the chickens and was quite alarmed to see that many of them had red in their beard feathers. What the heck? Was someone bleeding and they all had a peck? Chickens will peck at anything red, especially blood. I started to look at each of them for injuries.

Don’t you hate it when the watermelon juice drips into your beard?

No. I had given them a watermelon end, and the bowl was a little deeper than usual. They had watermelon beards. Ha.

Health check results

On By CarynIn chickens

I put the weight numbers in my chart from our chicken health check the other day. Everyone is still putting on weight (especially Magic, who has nearly removed all the mud from her feathers at this point). Feet and bands look good, no creepy crawlies under the wings, and everyone’s vents are clear. Yay! They are also adjusting to the heat. When I checked on them, the temperature was 93 degrees F, and no one was panting. It was 7pm, there was a slight breeze,and the sun was going down, but I’ll take it.