Today was the day for some cleaning. A bit of raking and cleanup in the run, and removal of all the pine shavings from the coop. Afterwards, fresh straw for the run floor and a new bed of shavings in the coop, and everyone was happy! Here's a few pics...
Another example of chickens and their love of sweets! Debbie had some cake and let them have it this eve.
Our chickens are kinda spoiled. Here's a few, eating a cheesecake treat...
While doing a little work on the coop, I found an old inner door that is no longer used. I was about to toss it, and thought "I'll rip it in half for shutters and let Deb have at it. She white washed them, and laid down a little vinyl :-)
This is Molly on 5/12/26. She is a Speckled Sussex, born in June of 2025. A beautiful girl, calm temperament, people friendly.
In the morning, I try to give them something tasty, and use a diverse variety of things they love, including most all table scraps. They also eat about 6 Oz of 16% layer crumbles each, every day (around 50lbs in 10 days). Finally, they forage about 2 hours a day while free ranging. These birds EAT!
Today, I finished cutting and installing the 8" x 1-1/2 band around the base of the run and coop. All of the wire is dug in, and will be secured to the band. I plan to install "rip-rap" rock around the perimeter, against the band and out about 1 foot or so.
A short vid from the CoopCam, on 5/11/26, about 8:25pm. Everyone returned to the roost, and settled in for a nice night's sleep :-)
A quick shot from the run cam on the morning of 5-11-26. All is well, everyone is happy :-) Overcast outside, light breeze, and temp is 61°f. Another awesome North Carolina day!
Over the winter, I was patching at the run... a few bricks here, boards stacked there. Whew... getting sick of the look.
Last year, we had a big popular tree fall on the property. A neighbor cut it into boards for me, I stacked and dried it, and decided to use it for this. The first couple of pics shows the mess. The rest show what I'm doing. I'm pulling out the bricks, cutting the boards, and putting a 8" band around the bottom. I dig the wire in and also staple it to the band. Not perfect, but much better!
After.....
While working with increasing water capacity and redundancy, Debbie bought a bag of 12 of these automatic watering valves. They use a pretty slick concept, where the water bowl lifts as it's emptied, opening a simple rubber valve and refilling the bowl. I grabbed a bucket and installed them, to test the functionality.
They work great, and the chickens immediately began using them. I think I'll get a couple more buckets, remove and plug a few of these, and build more. Simple and cheap!
Water is an issue with chickens. They need an ample source, and lots of it. During the summer, they drink almost continuously.
We've had to increase our watering equipment, this flock of 19 will drink 6 gallons in about 2 days or less. We've increased the run capacity from a 3 gallon tank and 3ea 1 gallons tanks, to 2ea 5 gallon tanks, a 3 gallon tank, and 3ea 1 gallon tanks. 16 gallons keeps them good if we're gone for 3 or 4 days...
These 19 birds are eating a tremendous amount of food. 50lbs of 16% crumbles abt every 9-10 days, all of our table scraps, free range forage for 2 hrs a day, etc :-) . Happy birds eat a lot!
Anyway, if we go to the lake for 2 or 3 days, my neighbor would have to refill the hanging feeders. In an effort to make them self-sustaining for 3 days or more, I built this additional hanging feeder. Enough spouts for 3 feeders were about $12 on Amazon, an old bucket was all else needed.
They immediately learned how to use it, and they love it! Here's a few pics...
Wow, with 18 layers, we get a lot of eggs! Debbie bought a little egg stamp. Sometimes we put our logo on them for fun, before we give them away :-)
