INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[HappyHappyHappy]

We'll it hasn't hit here...YET. The temp is 40* outside. Most of the snow from last wk has melted today. The storm is supposed to hit late tonight. Now on another note... I found these tracks in my yard by the coop this evening. Anyone have any idea what they could be???? There's a pad and four toes with long claws. The picture doesn't do them justice. But posting picture anyway. . The print is about the size of my hand.

I would bet that is from a Coyote. Large ones would be from a male. They look similar to the ones I see while hunting.

 

[Mother2Hens]

goat luver and chick rookie ~

Welcome to the Indiana Thread! Please look on page 1895 post 18943 about Indiana Thread information.
Originally Posted by minmin1258
I read that you use peat moss and wood ash in your dust bath containers. Somewhere else I read the dust baths should have equal parts of wood ash, DE, children's play sand and dirt (like what's in your back yard). What is the best thing to use???? I ran out of sand and my wood ash was still too hot t mix in so my girls got DE and dirt. Is that a problem?

minmin ~ As far as sand, don't use "Play Sand" because some experts say it is too fine and can cause respiratory problems. Here's a link we've posted about sand:
The Chicken Chick: Chicken Coop Bedding: Sand, the Litter ...

 

[chick rookie]

 

[Leahs Mom]

Pipd ~ Yes, I think you're correct. I just read about it in my health book. I'm pretty sure I can get her to the vet tomorrow since it hardly snowed, unless the ice and bitter cold is a problem.
She is waddling, and has a wider stance.

The problem is that when they get peritonitis it is an infection that is incredibly painful and they usually don't recover from it though they can live in pain for quite a long time unless culled.

When hens have too many large ovarian follicles, a problem described as erratic oviposition and defective egg syndrome (EODES) is seen in broiler breeders. This condition is accompanied by a high incidence of double-yolked eggs, prolapses of the oviduct, internal ovulation, and/or internal laying that often results in egg peritonitis and mortality. EODES is prevented by avoiding light stimulation of underweight pullets too early and by following guidelines for body weight and uniformity, and lighting recommendations for each breeder strain. Overweight hens may also have a higher incidence of erratic ovulations and mortality associated with egg peritonitis.

Quote:
Quote: Merk Veterinary Manual
http://www.merckmanuals.com/vet/pou...cts_in_poultry.html?qt=egg peritonitis&alt=sh

 

[minmin1258]

 
you wouldn't see the claw marks if it was a Bobcat cause they would be retracted while walking. do you have wolves or coy dogs in your area? maybe it is a stray dog. the print looks like one of my LGD's prints. 

Agreed on the claw marks.  Cats won't leave claw marks. Other than that, difficult to tell, because it is hard to make out details.  If it is as big as your open hand, then my only guess would be bear.  If it is more the size of your fist, then I'd agree with Chick Rookie, canine of some sort.

Was size of open hand from 2nd joint to bottom of Palm. Wasn't a dog...had four toes I compared it to my dogs print not even close was much bigger !!!!! I'm thinking black bear. We hav lots of them in WV. But also have coyotes and bobcats. Not wolves that...I know of.

 

[hogster160]

Good morning everyone. Just checking in. Its a -13* outside atm (-34* with wind chill) and 0 in my coop. 71 humidity outside and 81 humidity inside, so I'm guessing that makes it about 10 humidity. I have 3 chickens in molt atm, mostly neck feathers half gone. But everyone survived the night just fine.

It may have been a different out come. When my son got home last night around 11 he said "go check on the chickens Mom, its blowing so hard, its nasty out there" I told him when I locked them up at 6 they were fine. He said it again so I caved and went outside. Good thing I did. The wind and snow was blowing so much that I had snow in my coop from the eves openings. I also had chickens who were sleeping alone and snow covered. I had to cut cardboard to close off the north and west opening completely, south and east still open. Then I was worried about humidity. So I stayed up until 2 am checking every half hour to see if the temp and humidity changed. It did. Temp went up and humidity went down. I did also use vaseline on 4 combs last night, I will reapply for today. All look good, no frostbite from what I could tell this morning.

I lined all the chickens up next to each other for warmth. Had one or two that refused to sleep by anyone, boy did they cause an up roar while trying to find them somewhere to sleep warm. They did end up sleeping by themselves or at least until we left. I don't really know where they slept, but they were inside and out of the wind and snow.

So this morning, I warmed their FF and gave them warm water. They were very happy to see me! The turkeys did fine last night too. All are staying inside today. Way to windy for them. They will also get more food than normal. I want them to be able to keep warm.

Our snow blower broke last night once we were about 1/3 of the way done with the drive way. DH finished it by hand last night. So today we get to clear the snow in the yards by hand. Waiting to see if it warms up a bit or not. Probably around lunch time.

I hope everyone is keeping safe and warm today, and no one has any problems with their animals.

Deb

 

[SallyinIndiana]

so all the chickens and cats are fine here.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Glad you went out Hogster!

At home working as travel restrictions and work closed but I have deadline stuff Of course we live close enough to each other that the conditions are about the same here for us.

Went out just now as I was going to take water and was pleasantly surprised that it is 8 F inside the hen shed with -6 temps outside and -30s wind chill. I've never had my hen shed be warmer inside than out. I did unplug the automatic door last night so it didn't open, but even in the past when I've gone out early in the morning the temps inside matched the temps outside.

I think it may be the show piled up against the sides of the raised hen shed keeping things insulated. Whatever it is, I hope it continues.

 

[Leahs Mom]

I also brought in the wild bird feeder (a hanging pan-type feeder) which was caked with ice and snow and little birds were trying to get the feed. I have it in the oven on the lowest temp thawing out.

 

[bradselig]

Everything looks good here chicken wise, atleast. Called off work today. So might get some brooders cleaned, if I have enough bedding. Used a lot setting up the temp pens in the garage. So far I still had a Marans, silkie, showgirl, and modern egg laid this morning and I got to them before they froze! Woohoo!