pet silkie chicken – Page 3

Gifts for Guys Who Like Chickens

December 5, 2017May 17, 2020 by vjppoultry, posted in New Silkies

We all know that guys like to be around chickens, but what do you give as a gift to men who prefer to spend their time around poultry? I did a little research and I have a few ideas that I think would make interesting gifts for the man in your life.

Lets start with a T-shirt. How could you narrow the choices down? There are so many to choose from. Here is one that is the Chicken Dad. Another choice is the Cocky shirt and what about Backyard Chicken Farmer.

We have high top sneakers with chickens and chicken feet slippers (make sure you get the large). Socks that make a male chicken statement and socks that are just fun.

Surprisingly, there was a selection of chicken themed men’s underwear. Boxers are available too. We have men’s jogger pants and lounge pants.

Hoodies with attitude when it comes to chickens are great lounging wear. Ugly Christmas sweaters have chicken attitude as well.

There seems to be many chicken hats available for men. There are baseball caps, and bucket caps. There are knit caps and santa hats. Lots of hats to choose from.

If your chicken loving guy likes to cook or grill, I found a grilling apron.

Drinking coffee in just the right coffee cup is important. Here are a few your guy might like. Only my chickens understand me, or Chickens, because humans are annoying. So many to choose from. If you aren’t interested in coffee, I did find some rooster shot glasses that looked like fun.

I have a couple of signs for outside. A chicken farmer parking sign and a chicken street sign.

I also liked this rustic chicken coop sign. You could put thischicken weather vane on top of your chicken coop.

Maybe all your man needs is the Famous drinking bird, that could be mistaken for a chicken. Last , but not least, how about a doctorate degree from the chicken university to show how intelligent he is.

If you want to see other chicken gifts we also have Gifts For Silkie Chicken Lovers, Chicken Lovers gifts for the Home,, Gifts for Kids who love Chickens, Gifts for the Chicken Lady and Gifts for Chickens.

For tips and tricks for raising outstanding silkies check out our Chicken Learning Center at VJPPoultry.com . VJP Poultry is an NPIP and state inspected hatchery located 30 miles north of St. Paul. We hatch out silkies all year long so we always have stock available. Like us on Facebook to get weekly updates on what we currently have for sale.

Victoria J. Peterson

Chicken Lover’s Gifts for the Home

November 28, 2017May 18, 2020 by vjppoultry, posted in New Silkies

There is no end to the amount of chicken themed items you can find for your home. The amount of people who keep backyard flocks is increasing every year and I have gathered a few things a true chicken lover might want to have in their home or as a gift to give to others.

How about a chicken bedroom set? Chicken Family bedspread and Blue Rooster and Hen . How about throwing a rooster runner down the floor?

Now we move on to the bathroom. A chicken themed shower curtain is just the thing to liven up that bathroom and show your chicken spirit. Here is a great toilet roll holder that looks like chicken wire. There is also a matching towel rack made from the a similar chicken wire look. We also have a vintage chicken toilet roll holder.

The kitchen has many chicken gift ideas. There are many rugs with the chicken theme. These can also be used as bath mats. How about some kitchen dish towel sets? There are many to choose from. I found four different sets of chicken themed dishes. If you are in the mood for making cookies, here is a rooster cookie cutter. You will need an oven mitt to get those cookies out and not burn yourself. Decorative tiles to use as trivets abound in chicken designs. Cute art glass chickens to put on your window sill can let the sun shine through. Get up in the morning with a Love Chickens coffee cup to start your day in the coop.

If your chicken math is like mine, you may want to add a life sized chicken statue in the backyard. A way to increase your flock in case you don’t have the space for more chickens. If you are interested in gifts for kids that love chickens or in gifts for chickens themselves, or maybe Gifts for the Chicken Lady check out these blog posts. We also have Gifts for Guys Who Like Chickens. and Gifts For Silkie Chicken Lovers.

Victoria J. Peterson

Silkies For Sale – 11/21/17

November 21, 2017November 21, 2017 by vjppoultry, posted in New Silkies

How to Fix a Heated Water Base Which is Too Hot

November 17, 2017December 1, 2018 by vjppoultry, posted in New Silkies

Last fall I purchased eight new heated water bases to be used under galvanized waterers in order to keep my water from freezing in the chicken coop. I began to notice that the water was alway spilling over and making a wet mess of the pine shaving bedding. This seemed strange because the water never overflowed in the summer. I ended up buying pizza trays to place under the metal waterers. This was successful but the pizza trays had to be drained off every day which was extra work.

Then I began to notice that the water was beginning to become very warm – hot even. I could see the steam cloud raising up from the waterer when ever I changed out the water. I put my finger in the water and it was like very hot bath water. I figured that the water was around 100 degrees F. The water should have been between 32 F and and 45 F.

Chickens do not like to drink hot water. They wouldn’t wait until I changed out the water and then they would descend on the cooler water. There wasn’t an empty spot all the way around the waterer when the cool water was added to it.

As the water was heated, the water expanded and was forced over the rim. This created the situation with the wet bedding which had to be replaced. This would happen every time new water was added.

I did a little research and read some reviews of the product. I noticed that quite a few people were having the exact same problem that I was having – overheated water and water expanding and spilling out.

Dennis troubleshooted the situation and found that the snap disc thermostat was defective which was causing the base to operate at too high of temperature. He purchased new snap disc thermostats that turn on at 32 F and off at 45 F. You actually can buy the thermostats at different temperatures but these are the correct ones for the water bases.

Here are the steps for replacing the thermostats:

Flip the Heated base over.
Us a cordless drill to drill out the pop rivets holding the back plate on. Be sure to mark the placement because we found the holes to be an uneven distance from each other.
Pry off the back cover with something like a screw driver.
. Unplug the connections to the thermostat.
Remove the rivets to the thermostat with a cordless drill.
Take out the old thermostat and replace it with the new one. Ours had a red casing.
Fasten the new thermostat with new pop rivets using a pop rivet gun.
Connect the wires back up to the new thermostat.
Using aluminum pop rivets, fasten the protective back cover on the pan. Use the pop rivet gun to do this.
The little pop rivets go in each hole on the back side.
End of repair. I originally purchased two different brands of heated bases. The Farm Innovators we purchased worked great and we did not have to repair them. The other brand had to have all of its thermostats replaced. All appliances wear out sooner or later. It’s nice to be able to repair instead of having to replace. .For tips and tricks for raising outstanding silkies check out our Chicken Learning Center at VJPPoultry.com . VJP Poultry is an NPIP and state inspected hatchery located 30 miles north of St. Paul. We hatch out silkies all year long so we always have stock available. Like us on Facebook to get weekly updates on what we currently have for sale.
Victoria J. Peterson

Does a Silkie Need a Christmas Gift? 12/05/16

December 5, 2016June 27, 2020 by vjppoultry, posted in New Silkies

I have always loved this video – VJP Poultry’s- Ballet of the Unhatched Chick- because it shows chicken’s somewhat playful side. Some people refer to this as “Chicken Football” because they are all chasing after the one meal worm that someone has in its beak. Do chickens play? Do they get bored? Do they require a gift at Christmas? These are all questions people have asked about their birds.

Well, Cyber Monday is over, but there is still time to order your chickens a few treats online before December 25th. Most of the customers at VJP Poultry consider their chickens to be family pets. They lavish love and attention on their silkies and I would bet that some of them are planning a few Christmas surprises in their chicken’s stockings.

Most gifts are the kind that silkies can eat or the kind that silkies can play with. Let’s start with the chicken toys. Most of the chicken playthings are balls that can be filled with treats. The chicken pushes the ball around and treats fall out. Some of the balls are more complicated and the chicken needs to work at it to get the treats out. An example would be Lixit Chicken Toy or Peck and Play Ball .

The toy that I liked the best was the Chicken Veggie Ball .It is described as “an entertaining way to provide nutritious treats to a backyard flock”. You can put a head of lettuce or cabbage inside it and watch your flock kick it around like a soccer ball. This idea has been around for a long time. Oldsters used to tie a rope around a head of cabbage and hang it on a hook inside of the coop for the same effect. All of these toys are good boredom busters for your birds in the wintertime.

The most unusual toy was the Chicken Swing. The chicken hops on and is able to pump the swing back and forth. Probably not the best gift for a silkie as they may have a hard time jumping on , but other breeds seem to swing just fine on it.

Silkies always like special food treats. There is the Flock Block which lets them peck away and find treats of corn and seed. They are manufactured by many different companies and you should find it at your local feed store.

The treat my flock loves the best are meal worms. Real or freeze dried, they go crazy for them. I have, in the past, kept a meal worm farm going in my house. The live worms are a great source of protein and a wonderful way for you to bond with your bird. They will come running every time they see you if they think that you have worms for them in your apron pockets. You can also purchase freeze dried worms from Happy Hen Treats .

There has been a craze of late for putting chickens in sweaters and other kinds of outfits. You are not doing your chickens any favors by doing this. It will compromise their ability to self – regulate their body temperature. Best to leave the clothes off the birds unless it is Chicken Diapers for inside of the house. You can give them a little jewelry by giving them leg bands that have charms on them. If you are looking for a gift for a guy, check out Gifts For Guys Who Like Chickens. We also have Gifts For Silkie Chicken Lovers for anyone who likes silkies.

If you are interested in gifts for the Chicken Lady or for chicken loving kids or gifts for the home for chicken lovers check out our weekly silkie blog at VJPPoultry.com. We also have silkie basics at Silkie Supplies.

So, do chickens play? I think so. All animals play. I know that the chest bumping I see among juvenile silkies seems to have a very playful nature to it. Do Chickens get bored? Yes, often this will result in pecking to the extreme. Do they need Christmas gifts? That’s up to you. I know that my little silkies will be getting some nice meal worms come Christmas Eve.

Victoria J. Peterson