Backyard broiler update -- Week 8

A whole lot of stuff has happened in the last week.

I went out to check on the broilers Saturday morning and found that the water bucket on chicken tractor v2.0 was empty!  That has never happened before.  So I filled it up.  Then I saw why it is empty.  One of the poultry nipples was leaking.  It looked like the silicone didn't hold.  I don't know if the birds pecked at it or what.  Anyway, when it started dripping again the birds attacked it.  And I mean attacked!  All 5 of them went nuts on the thing and eventually got it out of the pipe.

I took it out of the tractor so I could repair it.

A little silicone and a few hours later everything was well again.

The birds finished their last bag of feed on July 3, and had to get by on the layer feed until July 5.  I normally get 18% feed at Agri Supply but they were out last time.  I was able to pick up some 20% feed at Hudson's on July 5.  The 50 lb. bag was $18.59.

Sunday was my biggest adventure yet.  One of the roosters was making a lot of noise and fighting.  So he passed his advanced placement classes and graduated early.

Then last night, Tuesday, the water bucket was empty again!  So I took the waterer out and reapplied silicone again!   I put it back in this morning and it looked like all was well.  When I got home tonight the bucket was low and the nipple was leaking.  Argh!

I don't like to fix things more than once.  I took the pipe out and found a more permanent solution.

Duct Tape.

You're supposed to have one poultry nipple for every 3 birds.  I have 5 birds in the tractor and only until Saturday.  They should be fine with two nipples.

So far the fix is working.

Here they are at 8 weeks.  I see them laying down a lot.  They haven't been living up to their Freedom Ranger name by being very ranger-y.  Then again, I haven't given them a ton of freedom by keeping them in tractors.