After a couple weeks of schizophrenic weather patterns,
things finally settled down by Sunday...
giving us a breezy and partly sunny day here on the farm.
We are finally almost completely thawed out.
Sunday was a perfect day for....
taking mini horses
for a walk.
(We tried to take the donkeys, but they said "no thank-you"...
and as you know....when donkeys say something, they mean it.
Y.e.s. T.h.e.y. D.o. !)
Amanda danced with turkeys...
walking them back to their enclosure for evening's arrival.
(It keeps them moving if you flap your "wings"!)
We visited with Ginger and MaryAnn...
who are always happy to entertain guests.
(That's MaryAnn saying "hello" in Pig)
Ginger came right out to see us...
We brought the refreshments!
MaryAnn likes her drinks straight from the sprinkling can.
They brought the smiles!
They especially love visits from the dogs.
The temperate weather gave us a chance to clean out chicken coops
and install new watering systems.
I am so excited about these new waterers.
They are from a company called "Cheery Chicks".
The water tank is completely sealed...keeping the water clean and fresh.
When the chickens peck at the little red valves
(which I am happy to say they did)
fresh drops of water are delivered right into their mouths.
I can't tell you how time saving these waterers will be.
They have lids with and without heating elements,
so they will be perfect for the entire year.
Prior to this, I have had to change the chicken waterers several times daily,
because invariably one of the girls would leave her calling card in the waterer.
Foul fowl!
Comments
Those waterers sound fabulous! Enjoy!
Aww..the mini walk must have been so much fun. Not for us sad to say..we are still to icy. The turkeys are always so much fun to watch. Amanda looks like she had more fun than they did..lol. Looks like hubs can go back to work relaxed and you can feel better with some barn chores done that you wanted to get finished. Winter makes our chores so difficult at times. Enjoy the warm weather...I am sure we will get hit with winter again. Love your ictures as usual.
It is A LOT cheaper to make these yourself. The exact same see thru blue bucket can be bought at any True Value hardware store for 6 dollars. They are nice because you can see how full the buckets are. The lid is another 2 dollars. The red nipples can be purchased at Premier1supplies.com for $2.50 each. These are quality nipples and will not leak.
I am using a similiar plastic safe bucket warmer that works well in most weather. They cost around 43 dollars. Be aware that once the temps get below 20 degrees these nipples can freeze. The water will remain liquid in the bucket, but the nipples will freeze solid and your chickens will be without water. In extremely cold weather, check the nipples often or have a back up plan like a heated dog dish or heated small bucket as a back up.
I live in south central PA and during the cold snap last week, all my nipple waters with the same style heater had the nipples freeze solid. I hope someone invents a waterer where the nipples themselves are heated someday! Otherwise they are terrific!!!
Heather in PA
Heather in PA