What's One Accessory That's Made Chicken Life Better?

[Mrs. K]

black rubber bowls in the winter for frozen water.

I like wind breaks, shelters and roosts in the run.

 

[TooCheep]

black rubber bowls in the winter for frozen water.

I'm curious about this. I understand that black bowls would be somewhat helpful in gathering heat from the sun. What benefits do you see from them, particularly in your location? I use an electric-heated waterer.

 

[Mrs. K]

@TooCheap - I don't have electricity in the coop/run so no heated bowls for me. I have two black bowls in freezing temperatures:

• fill one black bowl - 1st day
• 2nd day flip bowl with ice upside down in the sun, fill the second bowl
• 3rd day, ice has fallen out of 1st bowl, fill with water, flip the 2nd bowl upside down in sun
• If there is no sun, flip and stomp out the ice. Crazy chickens like this best - eat the ice slivers.

Mrs K

 

[TooCheep]

@Mrs. K - Hmmm... Just thinking about this as a contingency.
When temps get cold enough here (I'm sure not as bad as yours), my limited experience with smallish non-heated, non-black waterers is that they freeze in a couple of hours and I had to change them multiple times/day. How long is your drinkable water good for with your setup?

 

[Demonwolf37]

I have a fully enclosed run and wasn't planning on closing their doors. Should I be closing at night? Is it just for predators, or is it to keep heat in the winter mayber?

I also had a fully enclosed run, and I definitely recommend the automatic door. I was positive the run was secure, but raccoons got in anyway and killed most of my flock before I could do much about it.

I really wish I had spent my time and money on the automatic door instead of the run in the first place. It would have been so much easier and caused me so much less heartbreak.

 

[3KillerBs]

I have a cheap dishpan from the Dollar General that has turned out to be exceedingly useful for general purposes in the chicken coop.

Today it's holding electrolyte mash.

 

[Chickassan]

USB light bulbs, especially when they're just getting used to being in the coop.
I bought Flyhooms brand on Amazon because they have a remote with a timer function so I could give them light for a set amount of time so nobody ends up sleeping in the floor.
My younger ones always tend to play around way too long and end up roosting in the dark.
I leave an old power bank out there and charge them.
Also USB powered fans for circulation during the hottest days.
My coop doesn't have power so the USB powered stuff has been a lifesaver.

 

[Mrs. K]

@TooCheap -My birds get a good drink in the morning, and they are fine. In very cold weather, they don't seem to drink as much, the day is short, and they go to roost and sleep pretty early.

If the day is above 0 degrees F, it will stay open enough to drink, for several hours. A bigger volume stays open longer, mine hold half a gallon.

If the high is -15 degrees it does freeze up much faster. In the winter, I will soak my grains, they will absorb a lot of water, and even if they freeze, the chicks will peck at those and eat it, whereas wet chicken layer feed freezes in a large lump and they won't touch it.

We generally only have spells of extreme cold, a couple of days, and then it warms back up.

I know people fret about having thawed water 24/7. But I have not found it to be life threatening. Usually this is in December/January, occasionally in Febrary and mine are in their molt and not laying much at that time.

Works for me.

Mrs K

 

[Skwalleys]

I wonder if a solar powered lil spotlight coming from the coop would be good to scare them away as a replacement

We use a solar motion detector.

 

[jeepone]

Hey Everyone!

I got a few accessories for my chicks. The xylophone (which they just knock over and sit on), unbreakable mirror, some bird balls, and a small roost with little unbreakable mirrors on the side.

I got some laying mats for the brood boxes, larger, easy-clean/no-mess feeders/waterers for the run outside. I'm trying to think what else could make life a little better for the chicks when they're older. (I have some toys & vegetable ropes ready).

Is there anything that you didn't know you needed, that you're happy you had for your chickens? The closest farm store is 30+ minutes away which isn't too far, but I'd like to be ready for storms or anything else I might not anticipate in the future. I'd rather be prepared!

Also, I was not planning on putting any solar powered lights in the coop or run. I figured I wouldn't want a light shining while i'm trying to sleep- although the chicks sleep with a light on... What is the consensus on lights?

Thanks!

We have two lights in our coop (its large, 10x16). One is on a pull chain to use when we need/want light to do something in the coop. The second is on a timer. It comes on around dusk and off after the coop door closes. We adjust the time as the sun adjusts throughout the year. We have Guineas who do not like to enter a dark buildimg so this gets them in (most of the time) before the door closes.