INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[kabhyper1]

I think we are going to put our big ones in the barn with the alpacas. They can nuzzle down in the hay or roost on the gates but it should be warmer in there. We will run the salamander here and there to warm it up for all of them. There are only 4 silkies outside still since the 12 week olds are still in the house and Ashes and Snow are too brooding eggs. So I may just bring the the other four inside for the extreme cold. My large girls except for 3 have aprons on, and they seem okay in the coop, but I'm worried about frost bite in -14 weather. Its our first year with chickens so I wasn't sure how low of temps they could take. We have a heat lamp, but it worries me to use it in the coop.

 

[bradselig]

Thanks I'll look into that.

Just went back to find it and not having luck. I'll keep looking though.
Edit: Ahh sorry I thought it was in the ft Wayne Craigslist, but I think they are in far SE Indiana. http://indianapolis.craigslist.org/grd/4258040875.html

 

[CCCCCCCCHICKENS]

Took a few photos on the last warm day (Saturday)

These are the 16 wk old kiddos (hatched Labor Day wkend by "mama red".)
Gray is full SFH; Blacks are 1/2 SFH and BA. There are 2 blacks and one SFH gray.

This is the smaller black kiddo.


This is the larger black kiddo. This one has larger wattles than the other black but I still think a female.



This could be a bad hair day.





Peek-a-boo






And the 1 yr old sfh.

They are beautiful!

My seven can fit on one perch (when it's cold and they want to huddle), and I have a perch the same length/height parallel to the other perch. I also have a perch in the run area of the coop. Since my hens just use the coop for night, I'm not worried about crowding. I'm wondering, though, if I got two bantam cochins and two silkies, should I have them in a smaller separate coop for nighttime? I have the homemade rabbit hutch that I had converted to a coop (it's seen in the piano youtube video), which could be used for bantams. After they were past the brooder stage, I would start them out in there anyway as a quarantine.

Of course I have a bantam, Bonbon, in with six LF hens and she thinks she's a LF. She would be insulted if I tried to integrate her with the other bantams. It would be like having to sit at the children's table at holidays!

As far as personalities, maybe the Cochins and Silkies would be better off in their own coop? I'm just thinking ahead! lol

Sounds like you heard of chicken math before you built your coop and planned ahead lol. As far as putting bantam cochins with LF birds- I have 2 bantam cochins in with 2 lF white rocks and a LF polish. Putting my pullet at 1.5 lbs (they usually weigh around 26 ounces, so I am guessing this is what she weighs) and putting my LF white rock rooster on the low end of 10 (I am sure he weighs more than that). That makes him roughly 7 times her size. Never seen him even go aroun here. Everyone gets along fine. The cochins stick together, and the rocks stick together, you can usually find Alfie (polish) hanging with the cochins. In Spring they will seperated for breeding purposes. Your call, but as far the cochins go, I think they will be fine. I can' speak for the silkies, I don't have any.

 

[Ardizzone7]

What are all of you planning for the super cold monday and tuesday next week? We are thinking of putting our chickens in the barn. High of 1 Tuesday low -14 tuesday night. I think it's a bit cold for an unheated coop.

We are adding heat lamps to our coops. Our biggest issues is frost bite on my roosters. Especially the waddles on my polish. Any lathing I can put on him that will help?

 

[jen214]

So sorry about the confusion M2H I haven't gotten used to posting with quotes in them. I guess I really made a mess of that one! Hope everyone has a great 2014 and stay warm on Tuesday!

 

[bradselig]

Leah's Mom- beautiful chickens! Love the SFH

 

[Bruce1]

Oh no big deal but thank you. I have time lol. I still need to build my coop and get set up. I'll track down a good source by then. But if you find anyone with good genetics in their birds by all means pass it along my friend .

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Quote: I have read of people using vasoline, lanolin, even spraying down with pam. I have also read that frost bite won't happen if venting is good enough. I'm not too sure of that. sometimes chickens do stupid things like bite combs causing them to bleed or dipping wattles into water. Well in extreme cold weather it can mean instant frostbite great venting or not.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Hello to you all!!!
My name is Bruce. I'm brand new to all of this. I'm going to try my hand at Jersey Giants for eggs and meat. I live in Auburn just north of Fort Wayne. I'm looking for any help and advice on the care of the breed. So anyone near me with experience I'd love to possibly look at your setup and pick your brain. Oh and any good tips on who any good breeders near here might be?

and glad you found our thread

At the bottom of this post in my signature, there is a link to our member list.
And someone near to you will probably chime in!
Don't hesitate to ask any questions, we are all a chatty group!

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Quote: Precious!

Happy New Year! I have just found this thread after being on BYC for a while. I have chickens, turkeys and ducks. My self blue jenny is actually laying fertile eggs right now so if you are interested PM me. I am excited about this year. We are getting Sweetgrass and Tiger Bronze turkeys from Porters this year. I already have a pair of Self Blues. We are building a new barn this year to house our ever growing flock!

welcome, glad you found us!

Happy new year everyone!

Mine started off just right! Got my first modern egg this morning! It is from the blue pen which also has my brown red hen in there to try and get lemon blues!

Woohoo! Start the new year off right