Alaska Chicken Lover's Soup for the Cold!!

[Mrs MIA]

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Depends on the breed... I use the baby fuzz on the head as my guide. When they are fully feathered, and have lost all the fuzz on their head, then I start thinking about moving them outside. When your babies hatch, you will want to keep them at the lowest temperature that they're comfortable at. Try to wean them to cooler temps as soon as possible. In other words, don't coddle them... they're going to have to go outside sooner or later, and like Deb said, you don't want to have them at 70°F when they're old enough to go out. Ideally you're going to want them used to something around 50°F or lower. I have 10-12 week olds outside with no heat right now, but they've been at 50-60°F since they were 4-5 weeks old. When we hit 35°F the other morning, they just huddled a little closer, but I didn't lose any to the cold.

If it's any consolation, I just hatched out 4 BCMs, and I have one more hatch of turkeys and ducks to go. I've been spoiled being able to put the ducks outside at 4-5 weeks, but now they're going to have to stay inside just a tad longer. I suffer from an affliction that compels me to set every egg that is laid.

I'm kicking myself now...

 

[Wolfwoman]

*snicker* I'll probably be trying to hatch more as time goes on here too.... probably right after I get the dang Orloffs out. I mean heck, my house is usually 60 degrees and can be 40ish come morning....

Guess I'll have to teach Yukon and Lokie to huddle with chicks instead of us!!

Hmm baby fuzz... I've put some out this summer when they still had fuzz, did ok... but that's a good indication! I'll use that.

I don't coddle much, I want those lamps OFF as soon as possible. The meat chickens were out at THREE weeks in a covered PVC tractor 7 weeks ago... BUT they just huddled together and were fine. Guess I'll just play it be ear and see what the weather does!


Another question: I kept my ONE meaty hen... named her TWEETY

Put her in the coop last night and all seemed pretty ok... went out this morning and they had been after her somewhat bare butt. They pulled a few feathers, so now she has a red butt.... Carmen, I tried the coco powder, didn't work. Is there anything else household I can use to keep them off her til she heals and feathers out more? Or until I can get in to get some Blu Kote?

I hate to keep her isolated because she just went from having 20 companions to NONE (if you get my drift).

 

[BirdBrain]

Well, DH and I did not finish our coops yesterday and this rain today is not helping our progress. I guess it is just as well though. I feel like I have been beaten!! DH feels the same way. With all this duck weather I just want to crawl in bed and sleep.

 

[MrsDeb]

We should start up a volunteer hutch/coop building team. We all get together and build a coop for someone in our group, in return that person joins the group and helps build the next coop and so on........Heck it would take less than a day if we had a team of folks putting all our coops together!

 

[Ban seabhag]

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Hey there

It's always nice to hear from our neighbor chicken raisers!

 

[Ban seabhag]

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You are right about that! Like the old time barn raising!

I lost a duck last night - to owls or a fox, don't know which. I have now put a camoflage (sp?) cover over and beefed up the lower fence edge. We'll see what happens tonight. Bummer..... Everybody was fine when we closed up for the night, but I don't shut the ducks in. May have to...

 

[MrsDeb]

Oh Donna, I'm so sorry! -I know how much you guys were looking forward to those ducks to!


This time of year everyone might want to really keep an eye on their birds, everyone is trying to fatten up for winter.
It's almost as bad as when the ravens have their babies in the spring....they start searching out easy prey. I have mine all locked
up at night now until next spring...I looked up the other day when everyone was roaming around and I had three eagles over
the top of me circling around. Nothing like watching a short old fat lady running around trying to get all her birds into the coop when they
don't wanna go! LOL....That told me it was time...

Eagles aren't anything to worry about at night, but owls and furry critters are......

 

[Mrs MIA]

True dat! I'm sorry Donna... that sucks...

Well, I spent the better part of the day working on quail cages. I was blessed with 4 rows of 6 pens, and have so far been able to mangle off the J-clips to split them into 3's (yes, that's right... "mangle" - my hand is sore!!). I then used large zip ties and 1/2" staples to attach them to 2x2's and create a wall of 12 pens, 4 rows of three 18x24" cages. I'm working on the dropping pans now. I need to move my coturnix into the unused 4x8' room in the breeder coop that was supposed to be my brooder room...(

Like THAT was going to be enough room for babies!) I'm hoping to put 4 hens and one roo coturnix in each pen so I can a) keep the eggs from freezing in the winter, and b) monitor who is laying and who is not. I've had these cages for over a month now, and need to get them DONE! Hubby took Colt out duck hunting, and Cody is cleaning his room... so this was a good time to work on it.

The rain has stopped for now...

 

[HaikuHeritageFarm]

While watching the rabbit table at the Fair the other day I was reading some back issues of some Homesteading magazine. There was an interesting how-to article for a "warming" hut for things like lambs or goats, but it looks like it would be good for other animals too. It uses half of a plastic barrel, (which I have, thanks to Ms. AKBB!) and a hi-powered heat lamp. Maybe I can find more direct instructions, but I thought it would be good for these younger birds that will be going out soon. Turn the door of the hutch away from the main door so there are no drafts, as a warm place to go if they need it....I just wonder if they would ALL try to cram in there and suffocate?

 

[Wolfwoman]

Aww Donna!

Sure Tori, mite have stopped raining there, but it's drenching HERE now...

Sam did a few things up at the other cabin today, cleanup and brush cutting before it started. This would be so much more pleasant even in the COLD if were not raining!

And these dang geese.... they just won't stay penned. Period. At all. Ever.

Glad I found someone to take them.