The Broody Bunch

We’re going away again.  This time for 4 and a half days!  I feel better with the feeder that the chickens have now.  And our last absence went well.

On Monday all four of us are going to camp.  Young Master and Little Maiden are campers and GH and I are staff.  We’ll come home from the campground Friday afternoon.

I want to put some windows in the coop for extra ventilation and maybe I can work out an automatic waterer.

I just switched the chickens over to grower pellets instead of crumble.  I was told there’s less waste with pellets.  Well, as of yet, I haven’t seen any of the chickens eat them.  I mixed the pellets with left over crumble in hopes that they would adjust quickly.  It looks like they’re scratching the pellets out onto the floor and just eating the mash.  By the time we leave for camp the chickens will be on just pellets.  Will they eat them if they get hungry enough or will they starve with food all around them?  I wish I knew.

We installed the new feeder for the chickens today.  It’s simple and cheap but it works great!

I can’t take credit for the idea.  I saw it on another chicken website.  But I immediately liked it because it’s just what I’ve been needing.  An inexpensive, gravity fed feeder than can hold a lot of food.

The feeder is made of 4 inch PVC pipe.  It starts with a 2 ft straight pipe.  Then a 90 degree elbow followed with a 45 degree elbow.  It’s hung with galvanized hanger tape.  In all, the feeder cost about $23.00.

Because the piping isn’t holding liquid, just feed, there was no need to seal the pieces.  They fit snuggly together.

We hung the feeder so the lower opening is about the same height as the chickens’ chin.  That way they can reach it easily but can’t really bill out the food.

The chickens love it!  Two of them can eat at it comfortably at the same time.  But they seem to take turns and share pretty well.  And if someone gets impatient she just jumps up on the elbow and claims her turn!

We made it home!  Albeit a mite later than planned.  We pulled in just before midnight last night. 

I went to check on the chickens right away.  They were all roosting on the shelf.  I counted them and all seven were there.  I didn’t see any immediate signs of distress or pecking, which can occur if food isn’t readily available.

The waterer was knocked over and one of the feeders had been kicked over and half buried.  There was still some feed in the large feeder that GH helped me make.

I righted everything and filled all the feeders.  The chickens all came down off the roost and ate greedily.

I closed up the coop like usual.  I’m thankful that everything turned out okay and everyone came through the weekend safe and sound!

P.S.  We had a great time on Sheffield Island with the family!  The sun was shining and the whole weekend was full of fun!

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We’re leaving later today for a long weekend in Connecticut!  We’re planning on being back home in time for Sunday evening service at church.  I’m leaving the chickens home alone…

The weather report says that it’s supposed to rain here all weekend.  That’s actually good because I won’t have to worry about the chickens getting too hot.

I didn’t have time to make the new feeder and waterer that I wanted so I had to improvise.  GH cut three holes around the top of a large plastic container.  I filled it with chicken food and put the cover on it.  Then I turned it upside down on an inverted burner cover.  The food spilled out nicely!  I figure that even if they bill out all the food, they can just scratch for it.

The current waterer is big enough to hold enough water for three days but it often gets knocked over or filled with shavings.  So as a precaution, I’ve filled a large tub with water and put it in the run.  It’s too heavy to get knocked over and with all the rain, it shouldn’t ever be empty!

That brings me to my biggest concern.  I’m going to have to leave their run open.  We’ve never had any signs of predators but there’s a first for everything.  I did tighten the fencing on the front door with the staple gun so that it’s not just tacked up with nails.

There’s not much more I can do for them now.  But I’m a believer in faith and prayer.  I’m not ashamed to say that I’ve prayed for their safety here at home as well as our safety on the road!

Today I bought some Grower crumble to mix with the chick starter mash.  I think I’m a bit late in changing their feed but they seem to be healthy.

I’m going to start gathering materials to make my chickens a new feeder and waterer.  They’ve really outgrown the feeders that I bought when they were chicks.  Plus, I’m going away for a week in August and I need to find a way to keep them fed.  I haven’t found a baby sitter yet.

Other modifications need to be made to the coop soon.  That includes removing the shelf, moving up the roost, making windows, and adding nesting boxes.  My girls are growing up, and I can’t believe how quickly!