5 Minutes per Week Chicken Keeping
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- čas přidán 5. 09. 2024
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These are my five best tips on how to be a lazy chicken owner but still have really happy and healthy chickens. I only maintenance my chicken once every two weeks at the most.
I'm trying to pick out an automatic door. What brand did you get, how long have you had it, and are you happy with it?
The short answer: Here is my affiliate link for my recommendation: amzn.to/3LPIJYZ
The long answer is that I bought an off brand version of the Run Chicken Door. It is called the UxoLife Chicken Door. The batteries would only last about a month until it finally died completely after about three months. I contacted the company through Amazon and they sent me a replacement. The new one has been working great! It has been going strong for well over six months through every kind of weather, including freezing rain. Once I break the ice free it works fine. The problem is the Amazon seller does not sell it anymore. I found an orange one from a different seller. It is half the cost of the Run Chicken Door, but I would be concerned about the integrity of the seller. Here is a link to brand that I purchased. It is not available in black right now.
amzn.to/3nnAM2W
If money is not an issue go with the Run Chicken Door. They have been around for a while and their customer service is going to be much better. If you are on a tight budget go with the UxoLife Door and hope for the best.
@@thehomesteadengineer-1 Thanks!
One of the best videos I have seen. Quick, to the point, no background "noise". I love it.
We don't have chickens but we are considering getting some.
Wow, that’s high praise. I’ve been wondering what it was about this video that people have liked so much. Thank you for the feedback.
Only thing I would add to this would be hardware cloth instead of chicken wire to the run. A ton of predators will barely be slowed down by chicken wire. If you get small enough holes in hardware cloth you can keep all mice and rats out of the run. With a similar setup we are able to leave our chickens "home alone" for two weeks during vacations with minimal supervision, as long as someone comes and collects eggs. We also have heat tape on the water bucket and dripper line to keep it from freezing. With a couple wifi cameras we can check in on our girls from the beach in mexico.
Those are some good suggestions. Our predator pressure is pretty minimal during the day. Hawks are the biggest issue and the rooster and bushes handle that. If we move out further into the county, hopefully soon, we will definitely have to do that.
Great quick video. Straight to the point! Good stuff
Thank you!
Automatic door, multiple 40 gal waterers and feeders (having one of it fails you come home to dead birds) I use coffee bedding for my litter I use a thick layer like when I did deep litter. It dries out all their poop on contact there is no smell and I can quickly clean all the poop out with a poop scoop keeping everything nice and tidy and if we go in vacation it's fine when we get back just more to scoop but no bad smell or fumes from the birds so I only need a neighbor to collect eggs for me during that time not do chores.
That sounds like a nice system!
That water would definately not work. Here in MN even garden hoses are put away for winter. In fact we have to turn off and drain our outdoor spigot. We have to have our water heated just to stay thawed.
Yikes! The mountains of Southern California are pretty mild.
It can still work, just with a slight adjustment.
1. Put a 500 watt rain barrel heater in the tank. They sell them on amazon. They have more powerful heaters as well, but many people in the reviews section said it works great for 55 gallon barrels down to 4F! I'm also going to build an insulated box for mine, so 500 watts should be perfect. Have it on a temperature switch to turn on when it's less than 34F outside and turn off when it's hotter than 37F.
2. Attach a washing machine hose to the outlet of the barrel
3. Attach a small pump to the hose
4. Connect the hose to the water feeder pipe
5. On the other end of the water feeder pipe, connect another washing machine line and have that dump back into the barrel
6. Put the pump on a temperature switch to start circulating the water, again, when it's lower than 34F (you can play with the numbers) and stop circulating when it's above 37F.
By doing this, warm water will always be in the feeder pipe and when you combine that with the circulation of the water all by itself, it shouldn't freeze. This is what I plan on doing (my hens arrive in the summer).
@@dontbanmebrodontbanme5403 Great advice, excellent detailing, notes taken 🤓
Automatic door, feeders & water systems have been a game changer for us. We're only lacking a camera.
It’s a must have! If your door gets frozen shut or it closes on a chicken and resets it may stay open at night. I check my door every night from the comfort of my bed. It’s not expensive and it’s worth the peace of mind.
@@thehomesteadengineer-1 It doesn't get cold enough where we live to freeze, but the door has malfunctioned - only opening halfway-a couple of times.
@@SeabeeWife04 How about a small enclosed mini ramp, in case the door doesn't work? Would that be, too breezy?
@@mariatorres9789 Ohh..that's actually a great idea!
We live out state for years and I use 4 of your recommendations because we came here to our chickens only every other weekend. Now we live in our farm but I didn’t know about the rooster 🐓….I will think about it.
They are loud so if you don’t love their sound then don’t get one. But my wife really likes their crow so it works for us. Without the rooster the hens lay less consistently and fight more. Plus he protects from a lot of predators.
Thank you, very good information, I actually like the noise they make, I am just worry to get a mean rooster.
@luzhelenahook1715 get a bantum rooster. Their small stature tends to make them less aggressive. It’s not a guarantee but it tilts the odds in your favor. Plus spend a lot of time with them when they are young. Especially have the kids be around him a lot.
@@thehomesteadengineer-1 thanks 👌🙌🏼
Making the Rooster sound like a pimp keeping the ladies in check
Lol, that was not my intention, but it’s what he does.
Good video! Any chance you'd share plans for your coop? Really like the look of it.
I will work on getting something together. I didn’t build it from plans, so I’d have to make them first. I’ll make a build video for it soon. Thanks for your interest.
@@thehomesteadengineer-1 thanks! It is one of the best looking coops I've seen... great job!
Thumbs up for the Rooster KING!
He is so helpful.
Right to point short simple sweet right on 👍 enjoy 😉
Thank you. I hope to have more like it coming out soon.
Really great chicken coop. I like it and subscribed you
Thank you. I will be releasing more content soon.
How do you stop the water line from freezing and won’t the eggs freeze for two weeks without attending to them ?
Good question. I’m actually in the mountains of Southern California so it doesn’t stay below freezing for very long. If your in the north, this wouldn’t work for you. I just have to insulate my pipes and that’s enough to keep it from freezing overnight. If we go away for a couple of weeks we just have a friend collect the eggs every few days. So I don’t totally neglect them for two weeks, but collecting eggs is hardly work.
You can stop the water lines from freezing by putting a 500 watt heater inside. That's what I plan on doing for my hens when they arrive. Then, if you use a water feeder pipe like he does, just attach a small pump in between the water barrel and the feeder pipe, and another line from the other end of the water feeder pipe back to the barrel and put the pump on a temp timer that goes off at 34F and stops pumping when it's 37F or warmer. Longer story short, you'll be constantly pumping warm water into the pipe and between that and the movement, it won't be able to freeze.
Well chickens tend to not lay as much in the winter. Naturally they lay at times that they can raise babies
@@reneebrown2968 my chickens never slowed or stopped in the winter (Iowa).i was expecting them to based off of hours of youtube and blogs. not complaining.
FarmLite is the best overall door and service
I prefer the simplicity of run chicken but there are several good doors out there. Just don’t buy the knockoff brands.
I Love your chicken coop.
Did you build it or buy it?
Like your ideas. Can't have a rooster.
I designed and built it from scratch. I’m working on a video that will show a little bit about how I did that. It won’t be a how to video, but just give some ideas.
Great tips, thank you
Thank you
Great info, thanks!!
You’re very welcome!
Excellent video thank you for sharing, subbed! 👍
Thank you! I’m working on a similar video for brooders. Hope to have it done soon.
Lol ! Water will freeze eggs will freeze and be no good. Snow will fill in underneath from wind . Have to work on daily this will not work in real winter!!
Oh there is a simple solution to that…move to California…jk, fight the snow. It’s worth it.
1. For the water, put a heater in the barrel
2. Collecting eggs isn't a big deal. Two minutes and you're in and out. You can also have someone collect your eggs for you if you're going to be away when it's cold. Finally, if you want to get fancy, you can put a heating pad under where the eggs collect, insulate it and then the eggs wont freeze
3. Thank goodness we don't get snow like we used to, but if that's an issue for you where you're getting tons of snow, I guess you can always put clear plexiglass walls to cover the chicken run, so snow never gets in. That, of course, is more expensive.
Yeah I'm just trying to figure out how to have a rooster when I'm not allowed to have rooster. I really want one. They have an important role and I don't want to have him missing from my flock, but the neighbors are rule followers so...
You can have the rooster surgically decrowed. I imagine it is expensive, but that might be an option. I don’t know much about it, but I’ve heard of it being done.
@@thehomesteadengineer-1 oh no, I'm not interested in de-crowing the rooster or Crow collars or anything like that. I'll find a way, I always do.
Great insights. How do you keep the water from freezing with all that piping in the winter?
Three things. I use pipe insulation and gorilla tape. It keeps the chickens from pecking at the foam. 2. The pipe is under the coop which keeps the frost off and keeps it a little warmer, but not much. 3. It doesn’t get very cold where I live. Lowest is about 20F and that only at night.
Chicken wire is a no no for a secure run.
Also, what do you do when that water pipe freezes in the winter?
My run is not meant to keep predators out but the chickens in. My chickens free range during the day. It’s mostly in case I need to co rain the chickens for a short time. I’ve only closed the run a handful of times. Fortunately I have a fairly low predator neighborhood.
I insulate the pipe during the winter. It hasn’t frozen yet, but it hasn’t gotten below 20F yet. I’m planning on adding a heating coil to it this winter in case it gets colder. We live in a fairly mild climate.
Nice video 😊😊
That’s very kind of you to say. Thank you
For the health of my chickens I could not go more than 2-3 days without making sure everything is okay. Problems arise and need to be dealt with.
We go out there every day to collect eggs and check on them. But it gives us freedom to go on vacation and the person collecting eggs doesn’t have to do any work. We rarely go more than a day without going out saying hi.
Could you please share a link for the video camera? Very nice set up!! Do you ever have rodents with that open feeders?
amzn.to/3Lz41Kc
@@thehomesteadengineer-1 thank you 🙏.. Good grief needs to be wired to work! 😵💫no electricity at my coop
How far is it from electricity? It also needs to be within wifi signal. I just ran a 100' outdoor extension cord to it. I haven’t had mice or rat problems yet. Last summer I had the run closed during the night. We will see how it goes when it warms up this summer.
How do you keep mice & predators from going in through the open door during the day?
I’ve since added an electric fence. I have a cat for the mice. She is a ruthless killer. Lol. Check out this video on why I upgraded.
Installing Electric Netting to Keep Out Dogs | Premier 1 SolarStop80 Energizer Review
czcams.com/video/8CpTKmfDyKg/video.html
How do you keep the water from freezing in the winter
Great question. It never gets below 20F during the night here, and it usually is above freezing during the day. So I’m basically only dealing with less than 24hrs of freezing. The pipes have insulation on them and the tank is too big to freeze. I’ll do a video on it soon.
I'm trying to train my young chickens. But every time the automatic door starts making the machine sound to close, they all run out. If I'm not right there wrangling them to stay in the coop, they always run out. Becoming a real problem.
What kind of door do you have? Is it loud?
How old are they? It might be that you’re putting them to bed too early. It usually takes 3-4days to get them used to the routine. If it’s taking more than a week there is something wrong.
What about water freezing in winter?
I live in a mild climate. It rarely gets below 30F and at worst hits 20f but only over night. I insulate the pipe and that has worked so far. One year a mouse chewed up my insulation and my pipe burst. That was annoying but usually it’s fine. Sorry if you live in a very cold climate.
maybe this is a dumb question, but how do you keep the eggs from being fertilized if there’s a rooster?
I don’t. Why are fertilized eggs a problem?
@@thehomesteadengineer-1 i thought that if they’re fertilized it starts making a chick and doesn’t look like a regular egg anymore
If a chicken sits on it, it will after a couple of weeks. But if it gets below 95F or so it won’t start developing. The only thing you’ll notice is a dark dot in the yoke.
Not entirely true. Sometimes but rarely an egg will start enough development to grow some veins and blood. My mother refused to keep a rooster with her laying hens when I was growing up. She went through a ton of eggs cooking and baking and she would freak if she broke open a bloody egg. lol Bless her heart, she wasn't having it! lol
A web link to where you get the parts. Thanks
Parts for which thing?
@@thehomesteadengineer-1 the door you got
@Gelo202
15% off Run-Chicken Automatic Door:
run-chickencom.refr.cc/thehomesteadengineer
@@thehomesteadengineer-1 Thank you so much.
I really appreciate your help God bless you 🙏
@Gelo202 happy to help. I’ve really liked the run chicken door. Lots of options out there but for the money I think it’s the best quality and most reliable.
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I assume you have an electric extension cord for power to your camera?
Yes, I’m running 150 ft of extension cord from my garage to the coop. It’s super low power so I’m not worried about overloading the extension cord.
You ran electrical to your coop? Just an extension cord? That might short circuit once the snow melts, not?
It is on a gfci outlet just in case, but no it has not had any trouble with the water. I have a 50ft and 100ft extension cord plugged together to get there. If you’re worried about it they make covers for the plug, but it hasn’t been a problem.
its always hard to leave animals, we dont have a foor on ether one of our coops as they are both in runs, i do think my ducks dont have any ambitions to go inside ever
We rarely leave, but I also don’t like to do maintenance. I just want to sit back and enjoy them. Not work for them.
@@thehomesteadengineer-1 No they LOVE it, like spreading multch, its something they love doing the work lol
How do you keep the water from freezing?
We have a relatively mild climate. It stays above 20F most of the time. I just insulate the pipe with foam plumbing insulation and the water reservoir is big enough that it doesn’t freeze. Sorry if you live in a colder climate.
I’m laying odds it doesn’t get 40 below there.
Lol! Yeah, it doesn't get below 20F. There is a reason so many people live in California, and it ain't for the politics.
Muy bueno te felicito👌💪👍🇦🇷🇦🇷
Thanks
Your missing out on the best part of having chickens is joy
Correction! I’m getting the most out of having chickens. Rather then spend all of my time filling water and food and cleaning up poop, I get to enjoy my chickens. I can go out and watch them be chickens and not worry about anything.
Do you have a link to the Feeder design?
I don’t have a video for that yet, or plans. I just sort of made it up on the spot. It’s just 4” pvc pipe with 45 and 90 degree elbow.
@@thehomesteadengineer-1 Thanks for the reply. I was mostly just curious how you attached them to the bottom of the bin?
Sorry for the slow response. I didn’t see your reply. I just put some screws threw the pipe so it is just resting on the screws and just sort of hanging there. It’s hard to describe in words.
@@thehomesteadengineer-1 No worries. Thanks for the reply!
How u keep the water from freezing?
It doesn’t get below 20F here and usually gets above freezing during the day. The pipe insulation is enough to keep it from freezing. If it got really cold I would just wrap it in electric pipe heater but I haven’t had to do that yet.
Unfortunately we can't have a rooster.
That’s too bad. I’m sorry.
Ok so its low maintenance but you still have to go out to collect eggs unless you have a automatic egg sucker upper also. So why not walk out to inspect your flock ?
My kids go out every day and I go out every few days to check on them, but I want to be able to leave on a vacation or whatever and not have to worry about maintenance. I rarely have to do maintenance stuff and instead just enjoy their crazy antics.
Water freezes and rats and mice eat the food and have a mega birth increase. Other than that, yeah it works.
Get cats!
How do you stop the chickens from laying eggs for 2 weeks?😂
Lol, I just have the chickens bring the eggs inside and put them on the counter. You don’t train your chickens to do that?
gj
Thank you
you might as well get rid of ur chicken dude. WORST FOOD, WORST WATERER, let them go out & play & close the door later, yourself.
Thank you for the feedback. Lol!
😅 I was wondering about the pellet food, with whatever it is they're putting in it, so chickens won't lay. A guy that drops 50lbs in a bucket though, probably doesn't want to mix his own feed. Js. 😂 I think it's a great idea, for easy care. I was just laid up for 6 wks, with a torn up ankle. You never know, when you'll need a couple easy weeks, to get over an illness or injury. This is a good plan.
That’s exactly my point. If you get sick, want to go on vacation, or something happens to you. You don’t want to have to worry about your chickens every single day. I go out there everyday just to check things out but I don’t have to.
At least you admit this is lazy behavior and only for those whom really don't care about their birds...Good job!
thank you