Aug. 4, 2025

Beat the Heat: Proven Ways to Prevent Heat Stress in Your Birds-Part 2

Beat the Heat: Proven Ways to Prevent Heat Stress in Your Birds-Part 2

In Part 2 of this Poultry Keepers Podcast, Jeff Mattocks and Carey Blackmon return to tackle more proven, real-world strategies for preventing heat stress in your birds. From ventilation hacks and nutrition adjustments to water system improvements and coop cooling tricks, this episode is packed with practical insights every poultry keeper can use.

We dive into:

  • Airflow and coop design for better temperature regulation
  • Why chickens prefer apple cider vinegar in summer water
  •  Frozen treats: fun or flawed? What it does to your eggs
  •  High-protein treats—helpful or harmful in summer?
  •  Smart watering systems: misting, recirculating lines, and temperature targets
  •  Cleaning tips for nipple lines and drinkers
  •  Emergency cooling strategies (frozen blocks, standing water, fans)
  • Water pH, alkalinity, and why it matters more than you think
  •  Winter water heating tips (yes, summer prep helps with winter, too!)

Whether you raise birds for show, production, or pets, this is a must-watch episode that brings clarity to common summer challenges. Learn how to listen to your birds, balance their diet, and keep them cool, hydrated, and healthy through the hottest months.

Learn more at: www.thepoultrykeeperspodcast.com

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WEBVTT

00:00:00.040 --> 00:00:09.779
Hey, and welcome back to The Poultry Keepers Podcast, where we help good folks like you raise better birds and build better flocks—one practical episode at a time.

00:00:10.826 --> 00:00:19.036
Today we’re diving into Part Two of our summer survival series: Beat the Heat Proven Ways to Prevent Heat Stress in Your Birds.

00:00:19.635 --> 00:00:29.955
Now, if you caught Part One, you already know we’re not just talking about the weather—we’re talking about protecting your birds when the mercury starts climbing and the breeze stops blowin’.

00:00:31.515 --> 00:00:40.735
In this episode, we’re picking up where we left off with Jeff Mattocks and Carey Blackmon—two men who know their way around both feed buckets and hot barns.

00:00:41.276 --> 00:00:53.006
We’ll be talking about how to manage airflow inside the coop, what happens when your birds eat too many summer treats, and how little things like water temperature and pH can make a big difference.

00:00:54.119 --> 00:01:04.209
You’ll also hear some strong opinions about apple cider vinegar, honest talk about feed quality, and creative ways to keep your birds cool without breaking the bank.

00:01:04.968 --> 00:01:15.587
So whether you’ve got show birds, backyard layers, or a full-on breeding program, this episode is full of ideas you can put to work right now to help your flock beat the heat.

00:01:25.995 --> 00:01:34.034
I've got thousands and thousands of chickens, and a lot of'em are getting it year round, not just during the summer, right?

00:01:34.135 --> 00:01:38.185
We've seen increased feed efficiency, five to 7%.

00:01:38.515 --> 00:01:42.864
The demeanor of the bird becomes calmer, more relaxed.

00:01:43.644 --> 00:01:53.215
It the commercial industry knows that you want the gut, the pH of a chicken's gut to be slightly acidic, right?

00:01:53.314 --> 00:01:56.295
They're trying to it depends on which article you read.

00:01:56.295 --> 00:02:00.584
Some are driving it down all the way to four pH, which is really low.

00:02:01.484 --> 00:02:04.415
Between five and a half, six, is where they're happy.

00:02:05.135 --> 00:02:11.164
So the commercial industry's pumping citric acid right into their chicken water all the time.

00:02:11.974 --> 00:02:12.245
Yep.

00:02:12.544 --> 00:02:16.745
And so I don't, I have no idea where that's coming from.

00:02:16.905 --> 00:02:20.525
I can, I don't know where that thought or, anyway.

00:02:20.895 --> 00:02:27.324
I've entertained it a couple times and I've asked him, I'm like, okay, you stake that claim and it contradicts what I said.

00:02:27.324 --> 00:02:34.025
Can you please show me like your, the research, what, what is that based off of?

00:02:34.925 --> 00:02:37.900
And lady said I've had chickens for 30 years and dah.

00:02:37.949 --> 00:02:38.699
That's great.

00:02:38.759 --> 00:02:43.680
Have you ever actually taken notes and checked it out and measured the stuff?

00:02:44.580 --> 00:02:46.104
Anyway I was just curious.

00:02:46.449 --> 00:02:46.840
Yeah.

00:02:46.949 --> 00:02:53.280
And adding vinegar to livestock and poultry water been done longer than I've been alive.

00:02:53.400 --> 00:02:53.699
Okay?

00:02:53.909 --> 00:03:00.560
So this is not here, and when I get this question from by individuals, I'm like, okay, do this.

00:03:00.659 --> 00:03:05.819
Put a water out with just plain water or whatever you wanna put in it, okay?

00:03:05.909 --> 00:03:08.889
And put a water out, with the vinegar in it.

00:03:09.685 --> 00:03:10.764
Let the chickens tell you.

00:03:10.854 --> 00:03:12.474
See which one gets empty first.

00:03:12.895 --> 00:03:14.034
Let the chickens choose.

00:03:14.425 --> 00:03:16.615
You didn't force'em into drinking it, right?

00:03:16.645 --> 00:03:17.185
You didn't.

00:03:17.275 --> 00:03:20.485
You didn't, you didn't deprive'em of fresh, clean water.

00:03:21.145 --> 00:03:22.615
The chickens will tell you what they want.

00:03:23.275 --> 00:03:27.805
It's not gonna take long till you figure out that they prefer the one with vinegar.

00:03:28.194 --> 00:03:31.495
Now, is it stimulating them at another level that.

00:03:31.764 --> 00:03:32.664
We're not aware of.

00:03:32.784 --> 00:03:35.608
I don't know, but I been That's right.

00:03:35.612 --> 00:03:40.585
I've been doing it for years and I've been recommending it and doing it for years.

00:03:41.305 --> 00:03:48.490
Anyway, it's, you know what, you look around the internet long enough you can find something that'll tell you exactly what you want to hear.

00:03:49.300 --> 00:03:51.159
Or something that'll scare you to death.

00:03:51.270 --> 00:03:52.259
So either way.

00:03:52.439 --> 00:03:52.979
Either way.

00:03:53.580 --> 00:03:58.590
So let's talk more about the importance of air movement especially in coops.

00:03:59.139 --> 00:04:03.189
I've seen people talk about how they can't get their birds in their coop at night.

00:04:03.949 --> 00:04:05.360
What's the temperature inside there?

00:04:05.360 --> 00:04:06.680
It's been baking all day.

00:04:07.379 --> 00:04:08.669
Do you have air movement?

00:04:08.699 --> 00:04:10.860
What's the importance of air movement?

00:04:10.919 --> 00:04:13.139
Especially this time of year in the coops,

00:04:13.830 --> 00:04:15.659
there's a lot of coops that really.

00:04:16.139 --> 00:04:17.790
Deprive air movement.

00:04:17.910 --> 00:04:19.110
Not enough windows.

00:04:19.569 --> 00:04:21.040
Just, yeah.

00:04:21.350 --> 00:04:22.819
So I don't blame'em either, right?

00:04:22.819 --> 00:04:26.060
I, they're, when I was a kid, we didn't have air conditioning.

00:04:26.540 --> 00:04:30.139
I'd rather sleep outside in a tent than I would just sleep in my bedroom, right?

00:04:30.250 --> 00:04:31.144
Sit, it is no d.

00:04:32.045 --> 00:04:40.475
And so if your coop is not well ventilated and good air transfer, you got other issues anyway because now you got bad air in the coop.

00:04:40.524 --> 00:04:42.625
Those coops need to be ventilated, right?

00:04:42.685 --> 00:04:44.605
And they need to be well ventilated.

00:04:45.084 --> 00:04:45.415
Yeah.

00:04:45.625 --> 00:04:47.774
What about frozen?

00:04:47.834 --> 00:04:49.935
I see people talk about cantaloupe.

00:04:49.935 --> 00:04:56.264
I see'em talk about watermelon, whether it be frozen or cold, and putting it out in the runs.

00:04:56.685 --> 00:04:57.915
What about that kind of stuff?

00:04:58.665 --> 00:05:00.685
Yeah, I, I did the same thing with mine.

00:05:00.714 --> 00:05:15.264
Here's the thing is if you overdo like vegetables, fruit those types of scraps or treats or whatever you want to call'em your eggs, your egg whites and your eggs in general will become very runny.

00:05:15.884 --> 00:05:19.995
'Cause you've increased the amount of moisture intake, but you've diluted the.

00:05:20.894 --> 00:05:24.074
The amount of feed that they ate and the amount of protein that they ate.

00:05:24.134 --> 00:05:26.685
So I had chickens in the backyard, man.

00:05:26.735 --> 00:05:27.725
I'm like everybody else.

00:05:27.725 --> 00:05:34.814
I give'em a half a watermelon, a day or so later, you crack one of those eggs and they ran all the way across the pan.

00:05:34.925 --> 00:05:42.394
Before I did the watermelon, it stood there in a nice circle and stood up tall and had really firm whites and really good yolk.

00:05:42.495 --> 00:05:43.904
It, it's gonna happen, right?

00:05:43.935 --> 00:05:54.485
So yeah, I'm not telling you not to do it and you're not really gonna hurt your chicken, but the eggs are going to change, the quality of the egg will change.

00:05:55.040 --> 00:05:57.750
So just know that, don't freak out.

00:05:58.649 --> 00:06:01.589
Don't give'em corid, don't give'em medications.

00:06:01.699 --> 00:06:02.870
You did it right?

00:06:02.879 --> 00:06:03.269
Yeah.

00:06:03.810 --> 00:06:12.629
I tell everybody, don't exceed more than 10% supplementation with vegetable waste or like watermelon and cantaloupe.

00:06:12.810 --> 00:06:14.819
So that's really a small amount, right?

00:06:14.819 --> 00:06:19.920
If you think about, okay, your chicken should be eating about three to four ounces of feed a day.

00:06:20.504 --> 00:06:22.875
Yeah, 10% of that is about a half an ounce.

00:06:23.384 --> 00:06:23.714
Yeah.

00:06:24.014 --> 00:06:25.574
So it's not much.

00:06:26.475 --> 00:06:27.314
And see what we

00:06:27.314 --> 00:06:47.680
do is, my wife, she'll take a watermelon and cut the part that we eat out and leave the Rhine and with a little bit of meat on it, and she'll cut it into strips or chunks or whatever, and they're, I have a huge bowl of that, and I'll throw a couple of them in each of the pens just for that reason.

00:06:48.579 --> 00:06:56.620
Also, a lot of times people wanting to give their birds extra treats that are high in protein this time of year.

00:06:57.220 --> 00:06:58.420
What are your thoughts on that?

00:06:59.319 --> 00:06:59.350
I.

00:07:00.250 --> 00:07:01.980
I don't, I don't, yeah.

00:07:02.670 --> 00:07:06.240
Treats are treats and people tend to get carried away, right?

00:07:06.329 --> 00:07:06.420
Yeah.

00:07:06.420 --> 00:07:07.350
Look, I got pets.

00:07:07.350 --> 00:07:16.699
I got pets as well, and I am guilty, or I have in the past been guilty of giving my pets too many treats.

00:07:17.269 --> 00:07:32.959
And one they become they become dependent on'em and they expect them, like they won't even eat their feed or, until you show up with the mealworms or whatever your treat's gonna be or so treat is supposed to be something occasional.

00:07:33.439 --> 00:07:35.720
So just be careful how much you're treating them.

00:07:36.110 --> 00:07:38.000
Mealworms are really not that much higher in protein.

00:07:38.000 --> 00:07:42.050
Neither are black soldier fly larvae and some of these other treats.

00:07:42.589 --> 00:07:45.134
So you are throwing things off a little bit.

00:07:45.764 --> 00:07:50.654
Look you have to def you have to you have to be honest with yourself, okay?

00:07:50.714 --> 00:07:52.125
Why are you keeping chickens?

00:07:52.935 --> 00:07:56.334
If your chickens are a pet, give'em all the treats you want.

00:07:56.394 --> 00:07:58.285
I, you're not gonna hurt'em.

00:07:58.764 --> 00:07:59.665
Do what you gotta do.

00:08:00.235 --> 00:08:01.285
If you're keeping.

00:08:01.644 --> 00:08:09.685
Chickens to be a professional breeder or exhibition bird, you're gonna throw things off.

00:08:09.735 --> 00:08:16.483
They they, if you have a truly properly balanced diet, all you're doing is messing that up.

00:08:17.202 --> 00:08:17.413
Yep.

00:08:17.463 --> 00:08:20.822
If you want to give'em a treat, why don't you give them some alfalfa?

00:08:20.822 --> 00:08:20.913
Hey.

00:08:21.523 --> 00:08:23.833
Hang it in the bag, let'em chase it around.

00:08:24.533 --> 00:08:27.012
You want to have some fun with'em and you want to give'em a treat.

00:08:27.163 --> 00:08:30.283
Put a few live minnows in their drinker, and let'em chase those around.

00:08:30.283 --> 00:08:37.732
And they'll love them, but don't just, there's no need to, we start treating them like our kids or our family.

00:08:38.258 --> 00:08:49.437
And they, and for some people they are, i'm not stepping on toes, but you have to make that conscious decision of what is the purpose of your chickens, in your system, right?

00:08:49.738 --> 00:08:54.268
So if they're pets, then treat'em like pets.

00:08:54.807 --> 00:08:57.268
If they're breeders or show, right?

00:08:57.418 --> 00:08:58.288
Don't be doing that.

00:08:59.003 --> 00:08:59.663
People throw things

00:08:59.663 --> 00:08:59.783
off.

00:09:00.202 --> 00:09:03.253
People say to me, they're like, but I, I want this.

00:09:03.342 --> 00:09:05.932
But is it, is the bird for show?

00:09:06.168 --> 00:09:07.248
Do you want the bird?

00:09:07.488 --> 00:09:12.467
Is this something that you put on display or is it a pet?

00:09:13.368 --> 00:09:14.268
What are you talking about?

00:09:14.727 --> 00:09:15.837
Let's look at this.

00:09:16.408 --> 00:09:20.187
Do you think an Olympic athlete varies from their diet?

00:09:20.187 --> 00:09:22.498
Far, probably not.

00:09:23.398 --> 00:09:27.748
Just like supermodels, people that do go on the runway.

00:09:28.077 --> 00:09:29.908
Do you think they vary from their diet?

00:09:30.597 --> 00:09:31.408
Probably not.

00:09:31.498 --> 00:09:34.197
They probably follow a very strict regimen.

00:09:34.857 --> 00:09:36.597
Keep that in mind when you're giving those.

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We're gonna take a quick break and when we come back we're gonna talk about some emergency heat stress response ideas.

00:09:45.548 --> 00:09:53.918
We would like to take a short break to express our appreciation to the Fertrell Company for their sponsorship of the Poultry Keepers 360 Live programming.

00:09:54.817 --> 00:10:07.388
Fertrell has been a trusted name and sustainable farming and poultry nutrition for decades, and their commitment to providing high quality natural product aligned perfectly with the values we hold there in our poultry community.

00:10:08.077 --> 00:10:12.067
Thank you Fertrell for partnering with us to empower poultry keepers everywhere.

00:10:12.682 --> 00:10:15.413
We're truly grateful for your dedication and support.

00:10:16.312 --> 00:10:18.293
Those birds didn't look miserable at all.

00:10:19.192 --> 00:10:19.462
No.

00:10:19.462 --> 00:10:20.452
But they were in the shade

00:10:21.352 --> 00:10:22.077
that, that they were.

00:10:22.347 --> 00:10:22.638
Yeah.

00:10:23.538 --> 00:10:27.587
Like John says, too much of a good thing can be a bad thing.

00:10:28.248 --> 00:10:28.467
Yep.

00:10:29.368 --> 00:10:30.238
Let's see here.

00:10:31.138 --> 00:10:36.837
Tell people with pet chickens that if they eat those chickens, they can love them twice.

00:10:37.738 --> 00:10:38.217
Oh, geez.

00:10:38.607 --> 00:10:39.597
That is a good one.

00:10:39.687 --> 00:10:40.857
That's, that is a good one.

00:10:41.758 --> 00:10:41.998
Yep.

00:10:42.538 --> 00:10:42.658
Yep.

00:10:42.748 --> 00:10:45.388
Let's see here, we got another one.

00:10:46.197 --> 00:10:48.293
What can be used to clean the water cup?

00:10:49.192 --> 00:10:52.913
I have well water that builds up in the cups.

00:10:53.812 --> 00:10:57.533
Yeah, that's not, I'm guessing he is got harder water.

00:10:57.863 --> 00:11:02.123
I don't know if he's got iron, higher iron or if he's got calcium.

00:11:02.572 --> 00:11:04.582
Depends on what color the residue is.

00:11:05.222 --> 00:11:11.222
Of course iron will be rusty red and calcium will be white and manganese will be black.

00:11:11.513 --> 00:11:12.923
So it just depends on what's in there.

00:11:13.822 --> 00:11:14.993
There's no good answer, Dan.

00:11:15.182 --> 00:11:20.503
Other than pulling the cups and just scrubbing them like crazy.

00:11:21.133 --> 00:11:33.648
So one of the things that I've done that has made a huge difference for me is, everybody knows that I was using a filter on my hose pipes for my wattles.

00:11:34.548 --> 00:11:36.437
That was just a regular water filter.

00:11:36.467 --> 00:11:39.738
They also make'em that are for mineral filters.

00:11:40.488 --> 00:11:42.888
Specifically for people that are on wells.

00:11:43.548 --> 00:11:49.097
And since doing that, I have had even less problems in my water lines.

00:11:49.998 --> 00:11:59.768
I'm not getting any of that anymore because even though I'm on CD water, I was still having a lot of the white ba buildup in some of my wattles.

00:12:00.668 --> 00:12:03.607
Yeah, unless you can figure out a way to soften the water somehow.

00:12:04.288 --> 00:12:08.388
It's gonna be, it just depends on the hardness, for you and Dan.

00:12:08.538 --> 00:12:11.648
It's depends on that total hardness of the water.

00:12:12.548 --> 00:12:13.388
Let's see.

00:12:13.717 --> 00:12:21.217
What about, could you do like maybe use some bowls or something like that?

00:12:21.368 --> 00:12:23.493
Put some cool water in that for them to get in?

00:12:24.393 --> 00:12:26.552
Will chickens walk around in water like that?

00:12:26.763 --> 00:12:27.363
They will.

00:12:27.493 --> 00:12:38.653
There's some people that'll use something like a kitty pool, and I actually, I saw one lady was taking like this, the low height Rubbermaid containers.

00:12:39.243 --> 00:12:41.852
And freezing like inch and a half, two inches of.

00:12:42.347 --> 00:12:48.398
Ice she would even put the cantaloupe and the watermelon in there as a frozen treat, and they could work their way to it.

00:12:48.827 --> 00:12:53.107
So by the time it melted, they also had something to eat.

00:12:53.288 --> 00:12:55.118
And, but that'd be cool.

00:12:55.168 --> 00:13:02.587
I saw pictures of the chickens just standing on top of that ice block as it was melting, and, they were cooling off their feet.

00:13:02.888 --> 00:13:03.158
Yeah.

00:13:03.158 --> 00:13:03.758
That's the thing.

00:13:04.057 --> 00:13:06.337
And they will walk in cool water, right?

00:13:06.398 --> 00:13:07.447
Once they figure it out.

00:13:07.927 --> 00:13:08.227
Okay.

00:13:08.227 --> 00:13:12.337
First time you ever do something for chickens, they're like, wait, this isn't normal.

00:13:12.847 --> 00:13:13.837
This isn't right.

00:13:13.908 --> 00:13:15.192
And yeah, they're like, what is this?

00:13:15.302 --> 00:13:15.873
This is different.

00:13:16.518 --> 00:13:16.817
Yeah.

00:13:16.878 --> 00:13:19.067
You gotta give'em time to figure it out and,

00:13:19.967 --> 00:13:21.707
all right, let's see.

00:13:22.217 --> 00:13:24.018
Avoiding cold shock.

00:13:24.918 --> 00:13:25.457
You

00:13:25.548 --> 00:13:27.378
mean serving'em too cold to water?

00:13:27.677 --> 00:13:28.217
Yeah.

00:13:28.548 --> 00:13:31.607
That was one of the things that was mentioned in the topic.

00:13:32.508 --> 00:13:33.798
I've never seen it happen.

00:13:33.927 --> 00:13:34.947
They just won't drink it.

00:13:35.067 --> 00:13:42.177
But again, you're leading to dehydration because if it's too cold, they won't drink it.

00:13:42.538 --> 00:13:53.528
Even, even here in our winters if that water wasn't above 45 or 50 degrees, there was a significant reduction in water intake, yeah.

00:13:53.528 --> 00:13:59.947
And of course then that reduces feed intake and that reduces the number of eggs laid and, it's the trickle down effect.

00:13:59.972 --> 00:14:00.192
So

00:14:00.192 --> 00:14:00.393
Yeah.

00:14:00.398 --> 00:14:01.807
So snowball effect from there.

00:14:01.898 --> 00:14:02.107
Yeah.

00:14:02.317 --> 00:14:03.577
They'll drink it at 50.

00:14:04.477 --> 00:14:05.168
45, 50.

00:14:05.227 --> 00:14:15.207
They don't like it as much, like I said, 65, 65 to 80, somewhere in there is really good water temperature for'em.

00:14:16.018 --> 00:14:16.962
That's where they're gonna be happier.

00:14:17.863 --> 00:14:18.153
Yeah.

00:14:19.052 --> 00:14:19.393
All right.

00:14:20.293 --> 00:14:20.474
Let's see here.

00:14:21.374 --> 00:14:24.828
Found out the pH and alkalinity is high in my water.

00:14:25.548 --> 00:14:35.599
Recessed the water after adding apple cider vinegar to drop it to seven in the alkalinity between zero and 40.

00:14:36.499 --> 00:14:36.979
That's good.

00:14:37.879 --> 00:14:38.479
Say that.

00:14:38.624 --> 00:14:40.714
That sounds really good.

00:14:41.144 --> 00:14:43.208
And those those pH test strips are not.

00:14:44.109 --> 00:14:45.219
They're not that expensive.

00:14:45.219 --> 00:14:50.869
You can buy'em, I don't know, 20 or 50 or whatever in a little tube, right?

00:14:50.928 --> 00:14:54.859
And as long as you keep'em in a good storage place, they're good for years.

00:14:55.369 --> 00:14:57.349
So you can check your own pH.

00:14:58.249 --> 00:15:02.089
So I actually buy'em personally about a hundred at a time.

00:15:02.208 --> 00:15:05.149
That's what's in the little black, it's a little black container.

00:15:05.658 --> 00:15:06.078
It's about.

00:15:06.408 --> 00:15:07.548
Three inches long.

00:15:08.119 --> 00:15:14.389
It's got the chemical reaction strip, and on the outside's, the sticker, you match the color to know your pH.

00:15:14.719 --> 00:15:14.869
Yep.

00:15:14.958 --> 00:15:17.928
But I wanna say it's like 12, 13 bucks on Amazon for a hundred of'em.

00:15:17.958 --> 00:15:18.139
Yeah,

00:15:18.839 --> 00:15:19.438
They're not expensive.

00:15:19.739 --> 00:15:22.798
Because every once in a while I do check the pH of mine as well.

00:15:23.538 --> 00:15:25.734
Rob says that you can use the nipples.

00:15:26.509 --> 00:15:28.698
And then you won't have to clean anything.

00:15:29.028 --> 00:15:32.028
I'm really glad you put that up'cause I'm gonna challenge you, Rob.

00:15:32.599 --> 00:15:32.958
Okay.

00:15:33.288 --> 00:15:39.288
Do a flush and a clean out of that nipple line where the water's being held before it comes out of the nipple.

00:15:39.889 --> 00:15:48.139
And'cause I've seen nipple lines cleaned in commercial houses and they are grungy, dirty, nasty.

00:15:49.038 --> 00:15:50.178
Not good at all.

00:15:50.629 --> 00:15:55.499
So the line going to the nipples, the PVC that holds the nipples.

00:15:56.328 --> 00:16:09.094
Definitely if yours are nipples in a line, yeah, you gotta, you need to flush that line probably quarterly, I would say every 90 days or more minimum every 90 days.

00:16:09.244 --> 00:16:11.043
There's some really nasty stuff.

00:16:11.193 --> 00:16:19.224
And in the commercial houses, they use some really strong, like chlorhexidine combinations to flush those.

00:16:19.614 --> 00:16:19.974
Yeah.

00:16:20.214 --> 00:16:20.754
Dang.

00:16:21.083 --> 00:16:23.094
And they'll do it, they'll do it more than once.

00:16:23.094 --> 00:16:24.984
They'll do it, like they'll do it.

00:16:25.134 --> 00:16:28.293
They wait, they'll fill the line with that solution.

00:16:28.624 --> 00:16:30.394
They'll let it sit for 24 hours.

00:16:30.724 --> 00:16:31.774
They'll flush that out.

00:16:31.803 --> 00:16:34.563
They'll redo it, and they'll.

00:16:35.464 --> 00:16:35.969
So they just

00:16:35.969 --> 00:16:38.038
put in some temporary wattles when they do it?

00:16:38.678 --> 00:16:38.918
No.

00:16:38.918 --> 00:16:40.688
They do this when there's no birds in the house.

00:16:40.739 --> 00:16:41.698
But between birds.

00:16:41.698 --> 00:16:41.818
Okay.

00:16:41.818 --> 00:16:42.089
So

00:16:42.139 --> 00:16:43.369
When they're flipping the house?

00:16:43.578 --> 00:16:43.879
Yeah.

00:16:44.298 --> 00:16:44.568
Okay.

00:16:44.578 --> 00:16:45.884
They can't do it with birds in the house.

00:16:46.043 --> 00:16:48.658
I was gonna say, how the crap do they do that with'em in there?

00:16:48.958 --> 00:16:58.349
If they do it with the birds in the house, if they feel the need to do that while the birds are in the house, they'll raise the, they'll raise the lines up so the birds can't access the nipples.

00:16:58.528 --> 00:16:59.969
Like they'll do one line at a time.

00:17:00.869 --> 00:17:01.678
And Got it.

00:17:02.129 --> 00:17:10.249
They can do a flush, but the bird can't actually drink that water, until they've flushed it, multiple times to get fresh water back into it.

00:17:11.038 --> 00:17:11.308
Yeah.

00:17:11.308 --> 00:17:12.388
'cause this stuff will kill him.

00:17:12.868 --> 00:17:14.548
So it's nasty.

00:17:15.298 --> 00:17:15.659
Let's see.

00:17:15.659 --> 00:17:24.298
He says he uses cups and he has a drain plug at the end of the line to clean it out once a week or even when it's hot.

00:17:24.719 --> 00:17:25.979
Cleans it out every other day.

00:17:26.878 --> 00:17:26.909
Ah.

00:17:27.628 --> 00:17:28.259
That's John.

00:17:28.259 --> 00:17:28.588
Yeah.

00:17:29.009 --> 00:17:29.939
Yeah, that's a good idea.

00:17:30.298 --> 00:17:30.509
Yeah.

00:17:31.078 --> 00:17:33.419
Open that valve up and just let it all out.

00:17:33.598 --> 00:17:34.288
Do that.

00:17:34.709 --> 00:17:36.929
I wonder, is Rob on city water?

00:17:37.439 --> 00:17:41.689
It may already be chlorinated and that may be, that may be the difference for him.

00:17:41.689 --> 00:17:43.219
That may be the difference for him.

00:17:43.219 --> 00:17:43.308
But,

00:17:44.209 --> 00:17:50.298
and I can say that since I started running mine through filters, I've seen a lot less problems.

00:17:50.348 --> 00:17:52.933
Yeah, so it, he said it's city water.

00:17:52.933 --> 00:17:53.804
His is city water.

00:17:53.804 --> 00:17:54.074
Okay.

00:17:54.703 --> 00:17:54.854
Yeah.

00:17:54.854 --> 00:17:57.344
So it's already being treated to some degree.

00:17:57.854 --> 00:18:04.638
And he may have good city water compared to a lot of people you know, aren't you on city water care?

00:18:05.409 --> 00:18:05.739
Yeah.

00:18:06.009 --> 00:18:06.308
Yeah.

00:18:06.638 --> 00:18:08.888
And I wouldn't call yours good city water.

00:18:09.364 --> 00:18:13.144
My city water straight out of the kitchen sink.

00:18:13.354 --> 00:18:15.213
If you smell it, you won't drink it.

00:18:16.114 --> 00:18:16.443
Yeah.

00:18:17.344 --> 00:18:17.584
Yep.

00:18:17.673 --> 00:18:19.923
And I've seen other people, same situation.

00:18:20.463 --> 00:18:20.763
Yeah.

00:18:20.824 --> 00:18:27.554
It's, I don't know even how the municipality can consider it safe to drink, they put enough chlorine in it.

00:18:27.753 --> 00:18:29.013
And it's bacteria free.

00:18:29.913 --> 00:18:30.064
And

00:18:30.064 --> 00:18:30.453
they send

00:18:30.453 --> 00:18:33.124
you out that good old test report every quarter to

00:18:33.753 --> 00:18:33.814
Yeah.

00:18:33.844 --> 00:18:36.784
Disclose everything that's in it, if you can read it right?

00:18:37.354 --> 00:18:39.243
Yeah, I don't drink it.

00:18:39.753 --> 00:18:44.973
If we have no bottled water, we'll use water that's filtered through the refrigerator.

00:18:45.403 --> 00:18:50.594
There's a filter on the line behind the refrigerator, and there's a filter inside the refrigerator.

00:18:51.493 --> 00:18:51.554
Yeah.

00:18:51.983 --> 00:18:57.564
Sue says she was on the fence about apple cider vinegar.

00:18:58.463 --> 00:18:59.784
She used it last week.

00:18:59.874 --> 00:19:01.493
Huge positive change.

00:19:02.394 --> 00:19:07.824
If I can get more water into'em because there's apple cider vinegar in that water, that's a win.

00:19:08.124 --> 00:19:08.574
Okay.

00:19:08.663 --> 00:19:10.673
The more water I can get into'em this time of year.

00:19:11.574 --> 00:19:12.324
I'm happy.

00:19:12.804 --> 00:19:15.173
So like I said, try it, see what you think.

00:19:16.074 --> 00:19:20.933
I ain't trying to sell you a used car here, and I ain't making a nickel off of telling you to use it, so

00:19:21.834 --> 00:19:22.884
it is what it is,

00:19:23.213 --> 00:19:23.423
yeah.

00:19:23.943 --> 00:19:25.534
Does anybody have any questions?

00:19:25.534 --> 00:19:26.854
We've got a few minutes left.

00:19:27.493 --> 00:19:29.144
Laura had a question about Lyme.

00:19:29.203 --> 00:19:30.134
You skipped over.

00:19:31.034 --> 00:19:31.784
Let's see.

00:19:32.683 --> 00:19:33.314
Oh, okay.

00:19:33.314 --> 00:19:34.213
Yeah, I got it.

00:19:34.294 --> 00:19:39.663
What's the difference between non-slip barn line and plain barn line?

00:19:40.564 --> 00:19:49.983
The particle size, so what they do for the non-slip line is they run it across the screen and they keep everything that's similar to a sand.

00:19:50.808 --> 00:19:51.798
Like particle.

00:19:52.189 --> 00:19:59.959
So when the livestock walk on it, it actually access traction and even when it gets wet, it doesn't get slippery.

00:19:59.959 --> 00:20:05.989
Whereas the pulverized lime, when it gets wet, it gets really slippery.

00:20:06.538 --> 00:20:06.598
Yeah.

00:20:07.048 --> 00:20:09.328
So it's just especially on, on concrete.

00:20:09.868 --> 00:20:10.138
Yeah.

00:20:10.469 --> 00:20:14.648
It's just basically particle size, the grittiness and the texture.

00:20:15.189 --> 00:20:15.459
Yep.

00:20:15.548 --> 00:20:16.088
That's a good one.

00:20:16.989 --> 00:20:23.999
Yeah, heat stress is real, folks, so we just need to make sure we're doing the best we can to try and get is the high content

00:20:23.999 --> 00:20:26.163
of fluoride bad for the chickens?

00:20:27.064 --> 00:20:31.534
That's like pol talking politics and religion and I'm not gonna touch that one, John.

00:20:31.933 --> 00:20:33.614
You do your own research, but

00:20:34.273 --> 00:20:34.604
Yeah.

00:20:34.653 --> 00:20:37.173
Me personally, I don't have fluoridated water.

00:20:37.443 --> 00:20:37.743
Okay.

00:20:37.834 --> 00:20:40.054
There's no fluoride in my water.

00:20:40.653 --> 00:20:46.263
I've been on a well for, I don't know how long and still live.

00:20:46.564 --> 00:20:46.834
Yep.

00:20:47.733 --> 00:20:47.943
Yeah.

00:20:47.943 --> 00:20:49.743
You can use it under pound savings.

00:20:50.644 --> 00:20:50.854
Yeah.

00:20:51.753 --> 00:20:52.503
Let's see.

00:20:52.503 --> 00:20:58.144
Rob says that the 50 gallon barrel that he used came from the Coca-Cola bottling factory.

00:20:59.044 --> 00:21:00.273
Smelled like Dr.

00:21:00.273 --> 00:21:01.773
Pepper for the first man.

00:21:01.773 --> 00:21:03.124
That's an awesome smell,

00:21:03.243 --> 00:21:03.604
man.

00:21:03.604 --> 00:21:06.064
I wanna be a chicken at Rob's place, man.

00:21:06.064 --> 00:21:06.634
You gimme Dr.

00:21:06.634 --> 00:21:07.683
Pepper water, man.

00:21:07.683 --> 00:21:08.163
Come on.

00:21:08.163 --> 00:21:09.094
That's cool.

00:21:09.814 --> 00:21:10.233
Yeah.

00:21:11.134 --> 00:21:12.364
Let's see here.

00:21:12.453 --> 00:21:15.604
Two by four horse panel section attached to the side of the coup.

00:21:15.663 --> 00:21:18.903
55 gallon plastic barrel on the outside of the coup.

00:21:19.354 --> 00:21:21.394
Cut off 10 gallon mark.

00:21:21.394 --> 00:21:23.314
Garden hose notch.

00:21:24.213 --> 00:21:25.594
Freeze miser in the winter

00:21:26.493 --> 00:21:28.743
garden hose with a nozzle cracked.

00:21:29.403 --> 00:21:31.804
Yeah, keep it topped off.

00:21:32.433 --> 00:21:34.384
And they add a freeze monitor in the winter.

00:21:34.923 --> 00:21:40.173
And I use a lot of float valves in my buckets and they have a y adapter.

00:21:40.173 --> 00:21:45.493
So going into the float valve is a y adapter, and I use those freeze misers.

00:21:45.564 --> 00:21:50.653
I figured out why they can get away with charging what they do for'em, because they're worth it.

00:21:51.263 --> 00:21:57.493
You replace a water line in your chicken yard in the middle of the winter and you'll you'll wanna get'em too.

00:21:58.394 --> 00:21:59.114
You guys are awesome.

00:21:59.114 --> 00:22:01.183
Look forward to seeing you at APA.

00:22:01.604 --> 00:22:03.913
Mine helped me with Bud.

00:22:04.124 --> 00:22:11.263
He wanted to watch you guys while I'm killing myself in the heat in the kitchen from canning.

00:22:12.163 --> 00:22:13.453
We're, I'm so sorry.

00:22:14.354 --> 00:22:18.773
We try to help y'all with Bud, but we all love him.

00:22:19.673 --> 00:22:20.903
You can only do so much.

00:22:21.804 --> 00:22:22.644
Let's see here.

00:22:22.644 --> 00:22:29.243
Rob says, mine uses the pipe heater on the PVC pipe, off the barrel with nipples.

00:22:29.243 --> 00:22:29.963
Works great.

00:22:30.713 --> 00:22:32.034
That does work great.

00:22:32.763 --> 00:22:43.163
I have also, what we were talking about earlier when Jeff was telling y'all about, what I'm gonna do with the flowing water is I'm gonna use an aquarium heater.

00:22:43.864 --> 00:22:47.973
I have a friend of mine that lives in Wisconsin and she has quail.

00:22:48.213 --> 00:22:56.703
She uses a four inch water pipe beside her on the end of her quail water cages, and has the nipples in'em.

00:22:57.604 --> 00:23:06.273
And in the wintertime with snow stacked up against that thing, that water hasn't frozen, and all she has in it is a aquarium pump.

00:23:06.523 --> 00:23:10.364
Aquarium heater that she puts all the way down at the bottom of it.

00:23:10.933 --> 00:23:11.894
Hot air rises.

00:23:12.284 --> 00:23:13.273
She doesn't have any problem.

00:23:14.173 --> 00:23:14.394
So

00:23:15.294 --> 00:23:18.209
look, I built a wooden box outta one by eight.

00:23:19.019 --> 00:23:24.308
That my and I used the old fashioned five gallon, white and red fountain drinker.

00:23:24.578 --> 00:23:25.898
'Cause I had one group of chickens.

00:23:25.898 --> 00:23:33.328
I didn't have multiple pens, so I put a, an electrical box, a light socket, and an incandescent bulb under there.

00:23:33.858 --> 00:23:36.858
And I drilled a hole, ran a cord, plugged it in.

00:23:37.578 --> 00:23:44.838
Here's the thing, at nine o'clock at night when I was going to bed, I could look out the window and if I saw this pink glow in the chicken yard,

00:23:45.169 --> 00:23:45.588
yep.

00:23:45.919 --> 00:23:49.878
I knew the next morning my chicken's water would not be frozen.

00:23:50.209 --> 00:23:50.749
Okay.

00:23:50.749 --> 00:23:50.808
Yeah.

00:23:51.439 --> 00:23:52.818
Look, it was simple.

00:23:53.159 --> 00:24:06.699
I lined the box with that foil sided insulation board, one inch thick insulation board foiled, and I, I just made the box so that drinker would sit on the edges and it worked great.

00:24:06.969 --> 00:24:07.628
I was happy.

00:24:08.509 --> 00:24:09.439
That makes sense.

00:24:09.439 --> 00:24:14.388
I've also seen another thing people would do with getting a.

00:24:15.273 --> 00:24:25.683
Light socket in a outdoor type housing, put in the incandescent bulb, put a concrete block on top of it and set the bucket on top of that.

00:24:26.584 --> 00:24:29.284
However you do it, there's a lot of different

00:24:29.284 --> 00:24:29.854
ways.

00:24:29.923 --> 00:24:35.064
The eight inch wooden box got it up to the right height, so they didn't waste as much water.

00:24:35.183 --> 00:24:40.584
And like I said, that nice pink glow at nine at night, right before I go to bed, I could look out my bedroom window.

00:24:41.483 --> 00:24:46.153
I could sleep with confidence that I wasn't gonna have frozen water in the morning.

00:24:46.483 --> 00:24:51.644
The only issue with using an incandescent bulb these days is they're getting harder and harder to find.

00:24:52.544 --> 00:24:52.844
Yeah.

00:24:52.844 --> 00:24:53.983
I hope they come back.

00:24:54.044 --> 00:24:55.243
I really hope they come back.

00:24:56.144 --> 00:24:57.824
But yeah, I hear you.

00:24:58.723 --> 00:24:59.263
Do we have

00:24:59.263 --> 00:25:00.973
any other questions?

00:25:01.874 --> 00:25:01.993
I.

00:25:02.894 --> 00:25:03.973
Let's see here.

00:25:04.874 --> 00:25:08.173
Bird bath heater in the bucket, and it works in Wisconsin.

00:25:09.044 --> 00:25:09.644
That's good.

00:25:10.034 --> 00:25:12.104
I have seen a couple people doing that as well.

00:25:12.284 --> 00:25:12.523
Yep.

00:25:13.094 --> 00:25:13.243
Yeah.

00:25:13.243 --> 00:25:14.384
Anything like, that'll work.

00:25:14.753 --> 00:25:15.624
Whatever works for you.

00:25:15.804 --> 00:25:18.953
It's not, there's not a one size fits all.

00:25:18.953 --> 00:25:20.243
Perfect situation.

00:25:20.834 --> 00:25:26.864
For you gotta, you need to adapt to your environment and make it work.

00:25:27.763 --> 00:25:27.973
Yep.

00:25:28.874 --> 00:25:31.034
Same in the summertime, same in the winter.

00:25:31.923 --> 00:25:37.263
We're from all over on this show and you just all over, you gotta figure out what works.

00:25:37.314 --> 00:25:46.003
We were actually looking at the dynamics a while back and literally all over the world all right, with that we will say goodnight.

00:25:46.364 --> 00:25:50.094
Thanks for joining us for another episode of The Poultry Keepers Podcast.

00:25:50.384 --> 00:25:53.213
Be sure to join us for a brand new topic next Tuesday.

00:25:53.644 --> 00:25:58.804
Until then, keep learning, keep improving and keep enjoying the birds you love.