Poultry

Pertaining to Chickens.

And we’re off

Jason Brothers M., Chicken, Poultry , ,

It’s gearing up to be the coldest week/weekend of the month, so you know that that means. The chicks have arrived. But don’t worry, they’ll be safe and warm in the brooders. BTW, if you’re interested in brooders, this year’s Brothers M. Monday’s in May will be a series on the evolution of our brooders.

Looking forward to seeing everyone when we deliver chicken this year. Huge THANK YOU to everyone who ordered. I wasn’t sure if going to a CSA only model would be feasible, but we completely sold out this year. Thanks again.

Portable Chicken Coop / Tractor – Lighting (revisited)

Jason Chicken, Equipment, Infrastructure, Poultry ,

old lightI touched on the light for the Portable Chicken Coop in the Electronics post, which really was just putting my previous Supplemental Light setup in the new coop.  Given how quickly the battery can be drained in the short overcast days of winter, I wanted to revisit the lighting to see if I could improve the lighting, while reducing the wattage to extend the battery life.

The main goal of this redesign is to do away with the single 5w E26 LED Bulb (I bought a 2 pack, but only used 1) and reduce the wattage required for lighting.  To do this, I looked at these 1w G4 LED bulbs.  These have a clear glass, where the 5w bulb had a diffused plastic cover.  They are also a daylight bulb, where the 5w was warm light.  I expected both these factors to mean I could use less and get more or the same light.

PVC attemptI purchased a pack of G4 bases and started my build. I decided on doing a strip with 3 lights.  Hopefully I could pull one bulb out and get away with just 2 lights.  Either way, that would reduce my wattage from 5w to either 3w or 2w based on the number of bulbs.

My initial thought was to use PVC and run the wire inside the pipe and have the bulbs exposed on the outside.  It was tough getting the wires soldered and back through the small opening needed for the base of the bulb, but I did it.  However, after I drilled the holes for the screws and started attaching the base, I realized how fragile the porcelain bases were.

I broke the edges of the first base, but managed to get it secured.  When the 2nd base broke, I decided to rethink my design.  Obviously the flanged wood screws I was using would put pressure on the base promoting breaking, but I was being careful not to put too much pressure.  And all but one of the base breaks happened before I got the head down to the base.

For my redesign, I decided to use a strip of wood.  It’s more forgiving and would allow me to have open Installed led stripaccess to the wires on the back side for easy soldering and such.  One of the main issues with breaking the bases was that I struggled getting the right angle drilled for the screws on the round pipe.  A flat piece of wood should allow me better control on the angle.

Looking around my basement, I found a scrap strip of OSB, apparently just waiting for me to make a light strip out of it.   I drilled the holes for the wires and was pleased that the bases went on much easier.  Still using wood screws, I had to be careful on how tight I tightened the screws, basically just lightly touching the base.

Light housingOriginally, I wasn’t planning on any protection for the lights, thinking the light was high enough on the ceiling that it wouldn’t get hit.  However, when I did a fit on the lights, the clearance really wasn’t’ that high, so I decided to make some protectors.   I had sections of 1/2 x 1inch chicken floor that I replaced with 1×1 wire.  I cut 3 pieces of this, curled the wire ends so I could attach it with screws and voilà protected lights.

Yes, you may notice the receptacle in the photo with the light strip.  I used an old electrical cord for the wiring, so I decided to add a household receptacle to plug it into so it’s easier to remove if I need to fix anything.  Also, I ended up using all 3 lights; the chickens seem to lay better that way.

I used this strip all winter and it was only in the late winter that I had any issues with having to swap batteries a couple of times to recharge them, which was a huge improvement.  I only have a 20w solar panel, so that upgrade is next on my list.

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Brothers M. Mondays in May 2021 – Week 5 – One of These Things

Jason Brothers M., Chicken, Fun, Layers, Pastured, Poultry

Brothers M. Mondays is our way of showing you how excited we are for the first Seymour Farmers Market.

It was awesome to see all the smiling faces Saturday at the marker.   A bit cold, but awesome.

One of these thingsSince the last Monday in May is a bit of a sneak and just snuck in on the last day, I thought a I’d post this picture.  One of these chickens is a sneak, it’s not like the others.  Due to a shipping issue we received a few layers this year with our regular Brothers order. Can you find the layer in this picture?

Brothers M. Mondays in May 2021 – Week 4 New Kid

Jason Brothers M., Chicken, Equipment, Fun, Pastured, Poultry , ,

Brothers M. Mondays is our way of showing you how excited we are for the first Seymour Farmers Market

And once again, a montage of the kids caring for the chickens.  This year features the newest addition.  Enjoy.

Music provided by Wintergatan – https://wintergatan.net/collections/download

Brothers M. Mondays in May 2021 – Week 3 Davy Jones’ Locker / Winter Chicken Tractor Rooting

Jason Brothers M., Chicken, Equipment, Fun, Pastured, Poultry ,

Brothers M. Mondays is our way of showing you how excited we are for the first Seymour Farmers Market

Having an apron of wire mesh around the chicken tractor is a must to keep the chickens safe.  However, when not in use, the chicken tractors can get rooted to the ground with grass grows through the apron.

Part of the Mother Earth ShipWe stored them in the fall on top of concrete blocks.  It keeps the wood from sitting on the wet ground all winter long and helps keep the grass from growing through the apron.  But this spring the grass got away from us before we got the tractors moved and it was rooted. Being on concrete blocks, it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.  Using the weed eater, I cleared the grass from the top of the apron, and it pulled free pretty easy.

Seeing the chicken tractors like this made me think of the crew on Davy Jones’ ship in my favorite Pirates of the Caribbean movie and how they became part of the ship.  With pirates on my mind, the chicken tractor looked like a ship busting through waves as I pulled it across the field.

Check out the video and see for yourself.

Music provided by Wintergatan – https://wintergatan.net/collections/download

Brothers M. Mondays in May 2021 – Week 2 Back to Snow

Jason Brothers M., Chicken, Fun, Orchard, Pastured, Poultry , ,

Brothers M. Mondays is our way of showing you how excited we are for the first Seymour Farmers Market

Cold is always a risk raising chickens on pasture especially freezing temperature, such as what happened on 4/21.  We start our birds as late in the season as we can while still having chicken available for the first Seymour Farmers Market.  Fortunately when this cold and snow came this year, the chickens were still snug in their brooders with the heat lamps.

However, the cherry trees didn’t have that luxury and they are one of Olivia’s favorite trees.  I’m not sure if it was the right thing do to, but I sent her out to get the snow off the trees to help protect the blossoms.  Not only was it fun to watch, but we have plenty of cherries growing, so I think it helped.

Enjoy the video.  Music provided by Wintergatan – https://wintergatan.net/collections/download

Brothers M. Mondays in May 2021 – Week 1 The Peeps

Jason Brothers M., Chicken, Pastured, Poultry , , ,

Peeps1Brothers M. Mondays is our way of showing you how excited we are for the first Seymour Farmers Market

Since it’s still the Easter season, I thought we’d start out with this post.

I went out to the brooder to check on our new chickens, who had arrived the prior day.  When I looked in, their resemblance to marshmallow Peeps was striking.  They were all lined up with one eye on me.  The pictures don’t do the initial pose justice as they moved around a bit when I lifted the lid to grab a pic, but you can still see what I’m talking abouth.

While these youngsters may look like they have a marshmallow center, I assure you they’ll grow into high quality protein. Peeps2

Winter egg laying – 2020

Jason Chicken, Layers, Pastured, Poultry

Winter Night LightI’ve been very pleased with ISA Browns.  They are gentile, except we don’t seem to have good luck with Roosters; I’ve been told meanness is common in the light colored roosters.  The egg production has been great.  Longevity seems to be on par with what I’d read, 2 years being the peak for egg laying.

But what about winter laying of ISA Brown chickens, especially supplemental light?

In my review of the Buff Orpingtons and the Rainbow breeds as Dual purpose birds, one of the things I mentioned was that artificial light was needed to keep these breeds laying in the winter.  From what I’ve read, breeds that are bread for egg laying will lay through the winter without additional lighting.  I’ve even heard first hand of Rhode Island Reds laying through the winter without additional light.

I’ve not had that luck with my chickens, including the ISA Browns.  Last year I did not provide extra light and they stopped laying.  I could not pin down for sure if it was the light, stress, cold, or water conditions, detailed in my solar tire saga.

This year, winter 2020/2021, when egg production started dropping off, and basically stopped, I was again having  predators stressing the birds, including even losing some birds.  However, cold and water were not an issue, see best solar water.   So I went ahead and introduced artificial lighting in the mornings and evening to ensure the birds were getting 12+ hours of light.  To my satisfaction, egg production not only increased, but our egg production returned to normal.  Of course, the predator situation was also taken care of; however, after a couple more months of good production, I really think it was the light.

The down side to this is that I didn’t size the solar panel and battery to accommodate running the light this much.  The solar panel does help, and for now I’ve ended up adding an additional deep cycle battery and swap batteries every 5-7 days if it’s been overcast, not as hands off as I wanted.  I haven’t done any calculations, but I’m considering a larger solar panel, but in the summer it would be extreme overkill just to run the automatic door.   In the meantime, it’s still better than how frequently I had to change batteries without a solar panel.

Another note about the cold.  Our chickens don’t seem to be bothered by the cold.  The research I’ve done indicates that if you’ve chosen a cold hearty breed, which I have, then as long as you provide a dry area that’s out of the wind, the chickens will be fine.  The worst thing for them is to be wet in the cold.  Our coop has an open floor, but 4 solid walls and windows to let the sun in.  The lowest roost is a foot off the floor, which allows for wind blockage.

Best non-freezing Solar chicken waterer – Update

Jason Chicken, Equipment, Poultry , , ,

I’ve tried frequent waterer swapping, the lightbulb waterer, and a solar tire, but this solar waterer is the best design yet for my needs.  In part 1 I talked about the concept and design, this post actually included my 2nd update about using plastic to shield the insulation from pecking.  So this is my 3rd and possibly the last, update on this water.

When I put the waterer out this year, I was pleased to see the older chickens remembered what it was and taught the new ones; thus, bypassing needing to do any training.

 

Forgot before picture so I laid the pieces I cut back into place.

However, I underestimated the destructive power of chickens and they had pecked all the insulation off of the lid directly over where they stick their head in.  This suprised me.  Basically the chickens are sticking their head in a hole roughly the size of an elongated baseball.   Then looking up and pecking the top in the small cavity I left open.

 

So to fix it, I cut a new piece of insulation, then cut the lid to match it as best I could.  Of course duct tape was used to cover the seams for additional measure.

 

Then I cut a new piece of corrugated plastic from my ‘For Sale’ sign I’ve been using and placed it on top of the cavity where the chicken put their head into.   I had to trim some of the side insulation pieces to recess the plastic so the lid would sit properly.

 

The chickens have also been pecking the top of the insulation every time we lift the lid to add water and big sections in the corner are now gone.  Amazing what a few pecks a day over a couple months adds up to.  So I fixed the corners.  Then for good measure, I covered the top of all the insulation with duct tape to help prevent further pecking.

Head hole before applying new tape

Also, the duct tape around the entry hole keeps coming loose on the outside.  I’ve fixed it multiple times, but it just doesn’t stick for long.  The main purpose of this tape is to prevent the chickens from pecking the insulation on the inside of the tub, so I removed the inside insulation, as one big conglomeration, since it’s all taped together but not taped to the sides or bottom.  Then I put the tape on just the insulation, where it seems to stick the best.

Finally, when I pulled the inside insulation “cluster/conglomeration” out, it was a perfect opportunity to use come caulking to seal in the Twinwall Polycarbonat.  I previously used tape, but it was coming lose and given how well the waterer is working, I figured it was time to do something a little more permanent by adding a bead of calking to the inside perimeter of the window.

 

As mentioned in the first post, the water inside will still freeze, especially at night, that’s not the goal.  The goal is to keep the water from freezing in order to give the chickens an extended period of drinking time.  If it’s sunny, the temperature can drop in the mid 20’s at night and 32 during the day and the sun will melt the water that froze overnight in a couple hours in the morning.

We’re looking at weather in the teens and below zero in the coming weeks.  That means we’ll need to go out and dump the frozen water, which is why I use a rubber bowl.  When we replace it with warm water, if it’s sunny I don’t expect it to freeze for the rest of the daylight hours, even at those temperatures.  If it’s cloudy, we’ll check it and maybe need to refresh with warm water later in the day.