INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[CCCCCCCCHICKENS]

Good to know my girl is normal. lol. Sometimes I want to chop her danged head off for all the noise! I wonder if she would be more quiet with a male around? We definitely want to get her one soon. Poor lonely girl, though she seems to enjoy the chickens she lives with, a great watchdog too.

According to Indiana University weather we are expecting a blizzard anytime after Saturday I believe. Over a foot of snow to go along with the negative temps. LOVELY.

Not sure how much, but we have a ton of snow on the ground right now and it isn't stopping.

cccccccchickens thank you very much!!you are all over this lol. Not quite ready I'm my end yet unfortunately. But I believe I've found a breeder in Indiana that has the Golda Miller birds. Which to my understanding is very desirable lol. Just trying to feed my family and help a species at the same time .

lol, No problem. I had extra time last night and was looking around.

 

[Kiniska]

Sooooo.... I have my broody hen out in the barn. She is by herself and it is supposed to drop down wicked cold over the next few days. Her chicks are due to hatch next weekend. Should I bring her in the house? My chickens have done fine thus far with the cold weather.Any of you had a broody in this kind of weather before?

 

[Ardizzone7]

I have an out cast rooster under my back deck. He was the lead rooster but things changed last week and now the younger rooster took over. During the day we leave the small door of the coop open so the ducks and turkeys can get out if needed. Well the rooster got kicked out and they wouldn't let him in. As I was getting a cage together for him in the house, he went under the deck and I can't get him out. It is blowing like the artic tundra out here and I know he is going to freeze to death. I offered him food but that didn't work. I blocked the wind for him the best I could but it is still 16 degrees out. Any ideas on how to get him to come out? Even though he has been a jerk of a rooster I hate for him to die.

Also he is a polish LB

 

[bradselig]

Went out to a bunch of snow covered silkies! The snow blew right into the coop. I had to rush around to set up a pen in my garage and bring them in there to warm up and dry out. I hope they all pull through ok! Gotta build an entry way to the coop to block the east winds now! Im stocking up on fridge boxes from work so I can put the chickens in there until the very cold weather passes next week.

 

[kabhyper1]

Next week is definitely going to be interesting. The silkies will be in the house. As for the big ones, we have a stall we keep the alpacas hay in, so we are going to throw the hay up above, and build a roost and put the large fowl chicken in there next week. I am hoping they stay warmer with the alpacas in 6 inces of straw in the barn, than in their coop. It was 32 degrees in the coop today with all of them in there all day. I don't have high hopes for those kind of temps next week. I haven't heard the blizzard thing yet, but at this rate it wouldn't shock me. Do any of you know if using a kerosene salamander heater, supervised, for a half hour at a time, would hurt the big chickens? We use it for the alpacas in the barn in extreme temps and they have done fine, but I'm not sure about birds. This feels like one of the winters we had in the 80's.

Brad, sorry about your snowy silkies. I'm sure they are fine. They are pretty tough. Mine haven't come out of the coop today because apparently snow will steal their souls if they step in it. It is not to be touched.

 

[FarkerFarms]

I'm not sure what to do with my 14 next week. With a high of -6 and three days with lows in the double digit negatives, I worry that I don't have enough ventilation in my coop. This is my first winter with the chickens. A couple of them had some discoloration (not terribly bad, but noticeable) after the last cold spell and this is going to be about 20 degrees colder than that was. I could put them in the barn with the horses but the barn will only be closed up at night. Plus I worry that I might have a raccoon or some critter living in the barn that I'm not aware of that could get them at night (unlikely maybe, but who knows). I don't have a heater, I guess I could get one for a few days. It obviously worries me as a fire hazard. I am thinking I am going to need to move their water inside too since they won't leave the coop in the cold, which will add to the moisture level and i will worry about the extension cord for that. I can't believe how cold it is going to get!

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Went out to a bunch of snow covered silkies! The snow blew right into the coop. I had to rush around to set up a pen in my garage and bring them in there to warm up and dry out. I hope they all pull through ok! Gotta build an entry way to the coop to block the east winds now! Im stocking up on fridge boxes from work so I can put the chickens in there until the very cold weather passes next week.

my lowes won't share their boxes. DH is in the process of building a taller wooden wall around our wooden chick brooder. the current wooden chick brooder was so easy to line with plastic and clean out but with it being winter, I'm thinking chicks this time of year will be in the brooder for up to 6-8 weeks. I wanted taller walls for more head space. now I just need to find a cheap protective barrier for the tall walls. I guess I could paint and wash it each time.

 

[Mother2Hens]

I have an out cast rooster under my back deck. He was the lead rooster but things changed last week and now the younger rooster took over. During the day we leave the small door of the coop open so the ducks and turkeys can get out if needed. Well the rooster got kicked out and they wouldn't let him in. As I was getting a cage together for him in the house, he went under the deck and I can't get him out. It is blowing like the artic tundra out here and I know he is going to freeze to death. I offered him food but that didn't work. I blocked the wind for him the best I could but it is still 16 degrees out. Any ideas on how to get him to come out? Even though he has been a jerk of a rooster I hate for him to die.

Also he is a polish LB

Our chickens go under our deck a lot, so I can relate to that scenario. Is there anyone to help you if you used a broomstick or something to direct him out and then someone could grab him? Not sure how far your deck goes back. Is there anything like warm scrambled eggs that could lure him out? If there's no way, I'd just make sure there's straw or bedding and food. If you don't have a heated bowl that will work there, you'll have to put a bucket of water out and check it from time to time as it freezes.

We had a little snow last night, but the wind is blowing here, too. I noticed my orps by the sliding glass door and I figured they were out since they have such thick feathers. Then I noticed my chocolate bantam burying her face into my Jubilee's chest. It then occurred to me that they were probably kicked out of the coop by my EE who wants to protect herself from falling to the bottom of the pecking order as she had been before I got the orps. So I scooped them up and put them in the coop with the others and put several plates of chopped up spinach/lettuces, grapes, hard-boiled eggs, and sunflower kernels. I normally keep the door propped open with a large geode, but considering the howling wind, I shut the coop door. I'll check on them occasionally to see if anyone has cabin fever and needs to get out.

 

[FarkerFarms]

I also got some pictures of the Cochins!!! They are so pretty in the sun with the green sheen! One of the pictures is of them "helping" me tack up my horse for a ride They are so sweet and friendly - mostly I think because they are sure I am a human treat dispenser. For birds that weren't overly socialized they sure warmed up fast and I am always tripping over them because they are under foot! They also are hilarious when they run - they actually gallop because of their huge feathery legs. They are not super coordinated!

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Quote: my yard has over 5 inches covering it right now.