Bruce
Herd Master
Yep, eventually there will be eggs or crowing. If the latter, more likely sooner than if the former.
Rammy's Ramblings
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Baymule
Herd Master
Roos start growing hackles, those long silky, shiny feathers that hens don't have. They also will start showing little nubs where the spurs grow in.
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Rammy
Herd Master
Im not sure at this point if its a roo or not. Next time it bites my pants I will grab it and take a look at its legs.
One a sad note, I lost another young hen today. Found her in the big water bucket. That makes 2 Ive lost to drowning. Time to rethink how the chickens get water. My neighbor has chickens and he cut the metal inside casing from a water heater in half and made a trough for his chickens. Would love to have something like that.
One a sad note, I lost another young hen today. Found her in the big water bucket. That makes 2 Ive lost to drowning. Time to rethink how the chickens get water. My neighbor has chickens and he cut the metal inside casing from a water heater in half and made a trough for his chickens. Would love to have something like that.
Baymule
Herd Master
You could get a shallow rubber pan at Tractor Supply. I use them for chicken water and to feed my horses.
Here is the set up I used... basic 5 gallon bucket, 4 or 5 horizontal nipples about 2" off the bottom. Either set the bucket on some cinder blocks or hang it from the ceiling. The heater coil is an auto on/off rig that comes on if the water temp goes below 36° and shuts off above ~44° (or something like that). I used these down to -20°f and they did fine. Overnight during that real cold spell, the outer portion of the nipple would form an ice ball, but I'd melt it with just my fingers in the morning when feeding, to get the water flowing and it would stay thawed all day. 5 gallons watered ~8-10 birds for a week. Each week, I'd take the bucket out, clean it, re-fill it, and re hang it.
You can see a small ice ring around the water surface in this bucket. I had 4 of these plugged into one circuit and had popped the breaker and not realized it. Luckily it wasn't cold enough for the bucket to freeze through at that point of winter. The broken up bricks at the bottom were to act like a heat sink to absorb and hold heat better as well as keeping the heating element off direct contact with the plastic bottom of the bucket. Used these over 2 winters with zero issues.
You can see a small ice ring around the water surface in this bucket. I had 4 of these plugged into one circuit and had popped the breaker and not realized it. Luckily it wasn't cold enough for the bucket to freeze through at that point of winter. The broken up bricks at the bottom were to act like a heat sink to absorb and hold heat better as well as keeping the heating element off direct contact with the plastic bottom of the bucket. Used these over 2 winters with zero issues.
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Rammy
Herd Master
Thanks, LS! I have been considering getting one of those. A while back, I got this catalog that had these buckets, but they had cups on them instead of the nipples. I havent been able to find that stupid catalog again to order one. I did find one on etsy.com so I might get one there. I do have a small quart heated bucket I got from TSC, in fact, I have two, that I use in the winter for the chickens. Its not been cold enough to plug it in yet. The chickens that drowned were the young ones. One jumped into, or fell into, the cattle trough. This other one probably was getting water perched on the side of an old muck bucket I put under the eaves to collect rain water for the chickens, and one of the older chickens probably pecked at it, and instead of flying or jumping off, fell into the bucket and drowned. I took the bucket out and put 5 gallon ones out there so that doesnt happen again.
I am planning on stopping by TSC on the way home tonight so I might see if they have any available in stock and pick one up. Im sure they will have the heater available for it also.
Thank you again!!
I am planning on stopping by TSC on the way home tonight so I might see if they have any available in stock and pick one up. Im sure they will have the heater available for it also.
Thank you again!!
Bruce
Herd Master
I would think a chicken could drown as easily, if not MORE easily, in a 5 gallon bucket.
Sorry you lost those birds.
Sorry you lost those birds.
I had covers on them, as you can see above... More to keep the birds from roosting on them and pooping in them, but served the dual purpose of keeping most everything out of the water (including the birds themselves).
Since you live in an area where you do sometimes get sub freezing weather, I would recommend AGAINST the horizontal nipples with the drinking cups... Thos cups hols a bit of water, that will freeze and can break the nipple seal causing leaks and other issues.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0757GGBV...&pd_rd_r=68723d6e-d6d7-11e8-99b3-2f9a6e66f5fb
This heater looks better than the one I had and I believe is less expensive. The one I had, the "stand" that came with it wouldn't fit in a 5 gallon bucket. Looks like this one will.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002QXN1E...&pd_rd_r=b1a0ad20-d6d7-11e8-8dec-3bd1f8e05044
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Rammy
Herd Master
Ive never lost a chicken to drowning in a 5 gallon bucket. I had been using the big muck bucket to give them more water since they go thru the bucket pretty quick and once it gets down to a certain level, they cant get to the water easily. I will have to rethink my set up to make sure they have plenty of fresh water, and not a potential swimming pool of death.
Bruce
Herd Master
I haven't lost any to drowning in a large heated dog dish 
I bought some horizontal nipples, not the cups, in the spring but haven't yet put them in a pipe to connect to my 5 gallon heated drink cooler. It is currently attached to a pipe with 5 saddle nipples, a couple of which failed last fall and leaked out. Since I had the dog dish and no dog, I used it for the hens. So this winter, either I find time to redo their "en suite" water pipe or stick with the dog dish in the run. The dish gets dirtier of course and some of that water evaporates and I'm sure it costs more to keep an open bowl of water thawed than an insulated drink cooler in an insulated plywood box.
I bought some horizontal nipples, not the cups, in the spring but haven't yet put them in a pipe to connect to my 5 gallon heated drink cooler. It is currently attached to a pipe with 5 saddle nipples, a couple of which failed last fall and leaked out. Since I had the dog dish and no dog, I used it for the hens. So this winter, either I find time to redo their "en suite" water pipe or stick with the dog dish in the run. The dish gets dirtier of course and some of that water evaporates and I'm sure it costs more to keep an open bowl of water thawed than an insulated drink cooler in an insulated plywood box.
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