Hanging it up

On May 13, 2019May 11, 2019 By CarynIn chickens

Not in the quitting way, but hanging things up in the coop.

I add chick grit to their feed, but I still have one chick (I think just one) that has runny droppings, so I cut off the bottom of a solo cup, punched two holes, and hung it up on the divider to provide more access to grit. The cup is red and the grit is reddish, so I hope the chicks that need it will start getting more grit.

I drilled two holes and hung up the treat dispenser that is supposed to roll. We’ll see if they can pick out the meal worms because rolling was not working.

The chicks are getting so big. I found a real feather on the ground today, and while they can still crawl under the brooders, not many fit under there any more.

Getting so big! And fluffy because it is cold

Mother’s day

On May 12, 2019May 11, 2019 By CarynIn Wildlife

Happy Mother’s day to my mom, my mother-in-law, and all those who mother, whether they birthed or adopted, whether their charges have skin, fur, feathers, or scales!

Female cardinal on her nest in our honeysuckle

Update on the nest in our honeysuckle: it is a cardinal! We can actually peek through the window curtains and see her on her nest. Very exciting!

Here is a video of lap chickens. Just because.

Easy adjustable hanging

On May 11, 2019May 10, 2019 By CarynIn Life Hack

My metal chick water bases rusted, so I bought a plastic hanging waterer. No fancy macrame this time, like busy moms everywhere, I did what was fast and easy.

Simple adjustable hangers using rope and carabiners.

I doubled some poly twine over the hanging loop on the waterer, then tied overhand knots about an inch apart all along the doubled rope. This makes a simple row of loops that you can slip the carabiner through and easily change the height of the waterer.

It was pretty amusing watching the chicks try to figure out what the new big red thing was all about.

It didn’t take them long. I expected the chickens to be, well, feather brained, but they really seem quite clever. For chickens.

Updates

On May 10, 2019 By CarynIn Coop, mealworms

I worked on burying the bottom of the wire on the runs and creating new paths for the water to run away from the walking areas.

There is still much to do on water management, but at least I am making progress.

Carrots consumed by meal worms (with corn meal dust)

On the meal worm front, they eat holes in slices of carrot! Very interesting. I replaced the carrot with slices of potato. We’ll see how that goes.