INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Mskayladog]

I saw a post here about using hand warmers in socks hung above roost to help warm the roosting area. Any input on that. I use a open on one side coop I threw thick plastic up on that side, the girls do not have any wind that would blow on them at night. As you fellow Hoosiers know we are seeing some supper cold weather.

 

[Leahs Mom]

A WATTLE FROSTBITE PREVENTION NOTE

Quick note on WATTLE frostbite and waterers (even thought I've said it before...hope I don't sound like a broken record.)

In cold weather I try to only offer "restricted opening" waterers. Meaning - the openings are small enough that they don't have wattles hanging in the water. The goal being to keep wattles from touching anything wet as much as possible. It also helps prevent accidental stepping into open water bowls which can result in the loss of toes and sometimes the whole foot.

Ideally (in my world) when they are drinking from their waterer only the beak goes in and the wattles remain totally outside the waterer.

For restricted opening...think in terms of a very small trough like the chick waterers. (There are other kinds too, but that's a good visual.) Even though the canning jar chick waterers are designed for the chicks, the full size birds can, and do, drink from them easily. Those water bases only cost about $1.99 and they are one widely available, inexpensive way to create a little prevention. (Some of the larger waterers also provide a restricted access, but for those that can't afford them, these chick bases are a cheap way to get the job done.)

This one is set in a 1 qt. heated dog bowl which is filled with grit to create a solid base for the waterer to set on. Then I put water into the grit also which conducts the heat to the waterer. The water jar is a 5 lb. honey jar which holds more than a quart (closer to half gal.)




Also my home-made all-glass waterer has restricted opening as well. Keeps the wattles on the outside.

 

[minmin1258]

If

...

Due to the exceptional cold tonight, I caved and put a heat lamp (red brooder light) out with the birds. My plan is to do this only when the temperatures are to get below zero which is tonight and forthcoming Monday night. Is there a reason why I shouldn't give them a heat lamp? Will doing so spoil them? Either way, they will be cozy tonight.
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If you have LF adult bird heat is not necessary and can actually be more dangerous for them. They get used t the heat and if th power goes out and you aren't able to maintain the warmer air they get cold faster and may not tolerate it at all. Then there's the danger of coop fires due to falling lamps or them being knocked around/down by fluttering birds. The advice I've received on the subject is "NO HEAT". If you decide t use heat lamp please check them often and use them sparingly!!!! So your birds don't get used to the heat.

 

[CRSelvey]

Good Morning Everyone! So, how are your chickens? Mine look cold although everything I read says that they don't get cold like we do. Its hard to wrap my brain around that when its negative degrees outside. We are busy hauling water out to them multiple times a day, so I am heading to Rural King in Terre Haute today to get a heated waterer for them and the dogs.

I know we have talked a lot about heat lamps in the coop and I have chosen not to because I don't want them to depend on the heat in case of power outages, but I've been wondering about two other options and would love your opinion. One is using a flat panel radiant heater like this when it gets to negative temperatures: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0..._m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1Z6JEEWJJYHDJ3RTP0AA

Note to the moderators: I'm really not trying to sell this, but I don't know how else to explain what I'm asking about. It doesn't look like it would put off a lot of heat, but enough to take some of the chill out of the coop. I use sand only in the coop and shavings in the nesting boxes. All drafts have been blocked with vents only at the roof level. This Cozy Legs flat panel heater is only 37.99 and will mount to the wall and I got the idea from one of the other BYC coops I love.

The other is to use a small electric heater and put it outside under the coop (its 2.5 feet off the ground) and turn the fan on low just to warm the floor and sand in the coop. As the coop is wrapped in plastic sheeting and straw bales on the outside, it seems like it would keep the heat mostly in that area. Again, this is only for the few extreme cold days and assumes we don't lose power.

I wish you all a Happy New Year!

 

[CRSelvey]

Well my too made it through the night but his wattles are badly swolen. Is there anything I can do to help them? I know it has to hurt. He is eating well and drinking well. Any advice would help. FYI he was under the porch all day and I wasn't able to get him out until last night.

Here is a link to a tread about a rooster with frostbite and all their suggestions for treatment; https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/741901/rooster-with-swollen-comb-and-wattles

 

[minmin1258]

I have a very large & prominent quail rooster I have to dispose of, I set him with my 4 largest hens, and he is terrible to them! 2 of my hens have wounds on the heads! Shame, he is very tame and social with people. This guy is nearly 14 oz, disappointing. My oldest hen Speckles was in there too (7 months old!) he is soooo lucky he didn't hurt her Going to give him time out and see how he does in 2 weeks.. but am sure it will be the same outcome. Have been working towards raising true jumbos, having a hard time getting birds over 10 oz without letting them go past 8 weeks. I did finally boil the eggs to try them, WOW are they yummy! Going to save up a bunch and try pickling the eggs next

I have yet to try a quail egg! Maybe I'll do that tomorrow for breakfast.

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.

They are all dried out now and seem to be fine. Even found an egg in their overcrowded temporary pen in the garage. Plan to get them back outside tomorrow but their pen is drifted BAD! They have a roughly 24'x24' pen. It is completely filled with 2-3ft of snow! Gonna take forever to shovel!

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.

that stinks! I wonder why? They just put them in a compactor and a company picks up to recycle.

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!

Beautiful! Got any hatching eggs? Lol

[COLOR=333333] No offense taken. I only said that because you posted almost my exact statements about extension cords from a couple months ago. [/COLOR] [COLOR=000080]pipd ~[/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]Since we've debated the pros and cons of heat several times in the past, I made sure to mention all of your cons to cover my bases. [/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]P.S. Rangi needs some snow boots.[/COLOR] [rule]

I have found from the two batches of bantam Cochins I've hatched, typically by the 4th week or so you can get a general idea of sex. Males feather out much slower than females. I'm excited to test this out with my next batches.

[COLOR=008000]pipd[/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]~ Yes, that's the thread's new year resolution! We all want to own at least one of brad's birds. Otherwise we feel left out. [/COLOR] [COLOR=000080]bradselig[/COLOR][COLOR=8B4513]~ I hope you made notes about the frizzle gene so you can produce one for me. A female of course.[/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]When I introduced my orps to the five mean hens, I did what you're referring to. At night I sectioned off the small run part of the coop, which has a perch. They could see each other. During the day they were all out together free-ranging. After a couple of weeks, I left the partition open a little so they could come out if they wanted. I just took it slowly and now they roost in the box part with the others. It's just hard to picture Silkies in there with the others. I guess it's one of those things where you just have to take into consideration their personalities and figure it out as you go along. [/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]I have got to get to work! It's so temping when you do your work on the computer to keep checking in with the thread. [/COLOR]:/

Yup, I got the frizzle gene. None of mine are frizzled but looking for frizzled eggs.

If your chickens end up being like ours you won't need to build a roost. Ours ignore the roost and perch on the top of all the stall walls instead!

I'm jeoulous of your barn!

Brad...do you still have my order down for a pair of Silkies (1cockerel and 1 pullet)? I've thinned out my flock this week. So I will have room for the babies. I plan in enlarging my coop in the spring also. The birds don't need to b show quality I plan on just having them as pets and for eggs. Thank you Cindy

Yup, got you down! Have over 2 doz eggs getting ready to hatch in the next couple days. Just got to figure out shipping. Any color preferences?

Good evening from the snowie and drifty laporte Indiana I have 11 hens and a rooster for now until 4 h comes around

Welcome!

I do notice the adult hen with the tom is much quieter. My 2 jennies, snoodles and snickers still make some of the trills and baby chatter sounds. I will introduce the 2 younger hens this spring, probably very soon. No worries... I was hoping to see more! She is a beautiful little lady now I have chosen Exchequer Leghorn for my first white layers, now looking for a good breeder. After seeing yours, I just love their looks! Hehe~ Jess is having a slowdown on their laying, like most of us. She was hatching them last we spoke but very few and far between. Whats other member's experience, are the LF cochin's eggs bigger than bantams? I have not raised either myself yet, just going off what others have told me.

i got an egg from my pair when I bought them, the egg was definitely a large possibly extra large in size. The bantam eggs I've received to hatch were silkie sized eggs.

Brad- FYI I have no real color preference. I love the whites but am quite partial to the blacks also. I know the Blues and Partridge are "rare" so I'm not going to request those. You decide what you're willing to part with...and Thanx!

 

[Ardizzone7]

Here is a link to a tread about a rooster with frostbite and all their suggestions for treatment; https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/741901/rooster-with-swollen-comb-and-wattles

Thanks

 

[FarkerFarms]

Beautiful! Got any hatching eggs? Lol

Ha ha that was the plan...we thought we purchased a pullet and a cockerel, but jury is still out on genders. They are the same size, have large combs/wattles but don't seem to have saddle feathers. Their neck feathers are super long too. I haven't seen either crow or lay an egg so darned if I know what they are other than beautiful and sweet! If they do end up being one of each I could hook someone up with some hatching eggs I'm hoping in the next couple of months I should be able to tell.

 

[Leahs Mom]

CRS - I'm hesitant to use anything that is not specifically designed to be used outdoors. I looked at the heated pet mats which are similar in concept but it seems like they are saying that they are triggered by the weight of the animal and if that is true, it wouldn't work. Maybe I'm reading that wrong. Those mats ARE designed to be used outdoors.

Examples:

http://www.amazon.com/Lectro-Soft-H...qid=1388760226&sr=8-4&keywords=heated+pet+mat
http://www.amazon.com/Self-Warming-...qid=1388760226&sr=8-9&keywords=heated+pet+mat

I had also thought of these but, again, not designed for outdoors although some people do use them in the barn:

http://www.garageplansetc.com/oil-filled-heaters.html
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/429058/oil-filled-radiator-for-the-coop

I think if I were going to heat a coop these are what I'd use - but only if I had good wiring which I don't. They run a lot of wattage.

EDITED BECAUSE THE THIRD LINK WAS WRONG!

 

[vickichicki]

Greetings all.... Just a quick hello before I have to head out.

Really miss the group and look forward to being a daily contributor again... Well that and I have so much pent up online chat that if I do not use it somewhere I may just explode.

to all

I promise to be on sometime this weekend

Victoria