INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Mother2Hens]

Well, I made two homemade "crow less" collars for my lav Orp roos, 8" long × 1" wide. LaRue is actively crowing. I can get a full finger, and I have big hands, between the collar and his skin, and it reduced the loudness by about half. Roo Two's is loose, 2 fingers, just so he'll be used to it when he decides to provide harmony.

I am reading about some deaths due to collars catching on objects, and I also think the original instructions about only being to slip in the tip of a pinky finger is too tight. If you are a woman who wears a size 6 or 6.5 glove, I think you will need to allow a full finger. A man wearing a size 7.5 to 8.5 glove might only need a pinky, but down to the first joint. Be happy with quiet, not silence.

Check your coop, runs, yard for items the collar can get caught on, and remove them. I also told hubby no more feeding whole cherry/grape tomatoes or grapes to these roos. If they swallow one whole, it could put enough pressure on the trachea to cause suffocation.

Don't know if you recall, but Greenies dental sticks had to be reformulated for dogs several years ago for causing suffocation if some dogs swallowed them whole. Same issue. Too much volume of stuff in the esophagus can put enough pressure on the trachea to cause choking or suffocation.
@kittydoc
Hooked! When I brought Adeline home with her new foot bandage and brought her outside for a supervised break, she immediately caught the bandage on a piece of hardware cloth wire covering a grazing frame. It pulled out a large piece of gauze! What were the odds of that happening? It was one of those freak accidents that do happen. It didn't hurt her foot, luckily, but it just shows how easy it is to get hooked on something. I gave up on putting collars on my cats a long time ago. I'd leave plenty of head room in case they got stuck, but I think they purposely yanked them off and lost them. They'd always return bare-necked.

About choking hazards~ I've posted on the thread before about both my RIR and my BJG (RIP) choking on whole blueberries! Luckily, they both got the berries through, but it's a terrible feeling not knowing what to do!! They both had kinda cough/whistle noises and had their heads down and forward. I always cut up blueberries and grapes (their favorites). I have to serve a mixture since my EE likes grapes, but not blueberries.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

I found eggs in milltown Indiana, she sells her fertile eggs 10$ a dozen. Should I be concerned about buying eggs could the eggs pass on a illness to my hens?

Its all in what you want in a flock, really! There are some pretty scary diseases out there. Starting out, I was gifted 6 chickens. No idea what I had.. so I learned. Mine were gold laced wyandotte. Love them so much! I raise my birds like my grandmother did. Hatch em, love them and care for them.
Seriously, a wild bird that enters your coop can offer disease. Its your comfort level that matters. If you build a fort knox coop then you can enure its unlikely to have any problem. But that wild bird can perch and poop into the coop too.
I free range all my birds and take that risk. They are exposed either way in a realistic situation.

 

[kittydoc]

@Mskayladog There are at least two really serious diseases that can be transmitted from hen to egg (then of course to the chick): pullorum and typhoid. If you buy from an NPIP certified breeder, you have reasonable assurance that those eggs are clear of those two diseases, since people have to have their flock (all birds if less than 30, otherwise 10% but at least 30) tested annually for it. These diseases are not common in commercial hatcheries, but the most likely place to find them is in backyard flocks because so few people test. @jchny2000 was referring to Marek's disease, for which there is a vaccine given on Day 1 for chicks at commercial hatcheries and some breeders (of various sizes). Marek's isn't in the eggs, but it's everywhere in the environment. If chicks are vaccinated on Day 1 (or close to it), they are much less likely to get it. All three diseases I have mentioned are killers.

That said, I have bought hatching eggs from both NPIP and non-NPIP certified breeders. I will be testing the non-NPIP chicks before they go into my flock, even though all 7 that hatched (out of 7) are very vigorous and healthy. Some diseases take time to show up, but most will affect at least some of the chicks in a hatch, which is why isolation is so important whenever adding new birds or chicks. Even something as common and simple as coccidiosis is a nuisance to deal with, and can make some individual birds quite ill.

As a veterinarian, I saw some kittens and puppies near death from blood loss and wasting due to nothing more than unchecked coccidiosis.

Wow, hopefully I haven't scared you off totally!!!!! I just think a little knowledge goes a long way. You can get lucky for a while, but if you don't educate yourself, sooner or later something bad is almost bound to happen.

We have been VERY lucky. When we bought chicks from TSC or two different commercial hatcheries by mail, we only lost one that I put down because it broke its femur (thigh bone) in shipment. It was an 'extra' chick. My attempt to treat it failed and it was starting to suffer, so I felt that had to be stopped. We have had no other chick losses ever, either from purchased chicks or ones we hatched ourselves. Do I expect to stay that lucky forever? Probably not, but I'm sure going to try! I feel terrible every time I read about folks who lose babies, since it only takes about two seconds to get attached.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Well, it looks like our central AC is shot. If we can't repair it and have to replace it we'll have to delay getting chickens, as it will eat up the money we were saving for the coop, run and other stuff we need. Very depressed....

that stinks!

Quote: X2!

If anyone is needing patio furniture, there are several sets that are 75% off at Lowes right now. I believe they have them listed on the website. On the lowes.com homepage, scroll to the bottom and it says something about outdoor furniture 25-75% off. Then put in your zipcode and see what's available in your stores.

I need to go look! I want the high breakfast table with the replaceable tiles.. too cool! and hard to find!,Us short people like tall stuff LMAO! Seriously, they are a metal framed table with ceramic tile in the table. I like how you can change the tiles if they are broken or get boring.I haven't been to our lowes lately so will check it out.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Strange feeling today. I'm sitting in my house with the urge and feeling that I needed to do something outside. The wierd thing is I don't have anything to do??? Yes there will always be little things that should (but can wait) be done, but no major projects to do! No coops to build no pasture fence to be put up. Yesterday I finished my last big project and that was a hog pen for our Duroc boar. Now I'm at a loss. It has been such a busy spring and summer that it doesn't seem right to just be sitting down watching tv! I need to find something to do, I've already drank the usual amount if coffee!

LOL I always have something! Thats awesome you got it all done

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Almost caught up but keep doxing. nite everyone.

 

[Minminme]

Well I had a bad day! Fell this morning while refilling waterers and bn achy for hours! Then decided to mow my yard and didn't change my shoes. I only had flip flops on. Yep you guessed it- while mowing a small hill in my front yard (and I mean. SMALL hill...) my foot slipped off the padded foot placement and my toes went into the belt pully (which should have bn covered but my son had just worked on tightening the belt) any way a trip t the hospital later and I still have my toes but the way they are hurting I'm not sure I want them! Lol those of you who are squeamish stop now! This is after getting the bleeding stopped and going through X-rays:

Two stitches in my baby toe, two in my fourth toe, two inside my big toe and five on the outside. It had a chip in the bone but seriously could have been LOTS worse!
Moral of the story- DONT wear flip flops while mowing not even on a riding mower!

 

[HugHess]

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-TCH!
Those photos are making every hair on my body stand straight to attention and certain sphincter muscles to go 'air tight'....
I still can't wipe the look of empathetic horror off my face...
I hope to heck you are a quick healer!
Thanks for shutting me up about MY bad day (pahhh)!
Well here's to good antibiotics, hopefully some well tolerated pain meds, and a speeeeeedy recovery.
Jza-eeeesh!

Feel better, please.

(I HATE FLIP-FLOPS)

That picture super-glued an already cement solid notion for me...

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Why is Pipd up at 5 am? (And why is she referring to herself in the third person? ) I woke up at 3 am on the couch. I remember snuggling up under the couch pillows and willfully falling asleep there, though I have no idea why. Normally, I'd doze for an hour at most, but not tonight! At 3 am, I had to get up, take my allergy med, and trundle my way up to bed. But OOOOOOH, NO, my brain has put its foot down, so to speak. 3 hours of sleep is more than enough for me, so says my brain! I say please, Brain, I have math homework to do on Friday and really should sleep more than this! But nope, Brain will have none of it! Brain: "You fell asleep on the couch and now you must suffer! BWAHAHAHA!!!" Me: "Why..? Oh, why..?" (Insert dramatic tear rolling down cheek.) And that's why I am still up at 5 am.

Oh My, that is a lot of snow. We had lots for us last winter but lots was 4" of snow. Our problem here is the yoyo ups and downs. One day we were at 5 degrees last year and the next day we were back in the 40's.

You bet it was! If you're wondering, that fence panel at the left of the picture I left above is about 4 feet tall, so that should tell you how much snow we had! The biggest issue for me, though, was when it all melted and seeped (read: gushed) into my coop addition. It was the spring for dredging water out of the coop with a bucket. I still need to implement my fix for that... Can't let that go too much longer!

I'm going to just give up and put the chickens in the upstairs bedroom over the winter so I don't have to go outside to feed and water and shovel and feed and water and shovel and feed and water and shovel ........

Oh, mother would kill me if I even suggested it! I can just picture it, though! Replace the carpeting in my room with linoleum, seal off the door to prevent heat escaping, build one very, very long, very tall ramp from my window to the chicken yard... It could work. I can just see myself snuggling in to bed with 41 hens perched on and around me. Sure, it'd be messy by morning, but what fun it would be before then! I certainly wouldn't be cold with that many feathered heat generators on me! Just picture walking into a room with a pile of chickens in the corner, and then me emerging from its depths. Okay, I have long since known I get a bit... shall we say, imaginative? When I don't have enough sleep. I think this post takes the cake, though.

Hi neighbors (We're from IL) Just wanted to know if anyone could help sex my 7 week old Coronation Sussex. It was part of my daughter's 4H project & the only CS egg to hatch. Because of the comb color I've been thinking male, but it's supposed to be bigger, right? Is our "Hope" a male or female?

Take my guess with a grain of salt, considering I am running on 3 hours of sleep at this point, but I would lean toward boy on your bird with that amount of redness and those wattles coming in already at 7 weeks. Either way, I would definitely give it more time before saying absolutely one way or another!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

[COLOR=8B4513]My Personal Experiences[/COLOR]
[COLOR=A52A2A]Bumblefoot ~ Thoughts on Heat during Winter ~ What amount of Temperature Change might harm a chicken?[/COLOR]

[COLOR=8B4513]I took my Jubilee Adeline back to the vet to have her bumblefoot re-checked. Dr. Gormley was pleased with the progress. He unwrapped the bandages, cleaned the area, applied antibacterial, made pad out of gauze, and re-wrapped her foot/partial leg. No charge. I'll take her back on Saturday to have it removed for good hopefully. I still have her in a hospital kennel inside, but let her outside in the afternoon when I can supervise. [/COLOR]

[COLOR=8B4513]Dr. Gormley is the veterinarian who also runs a wild bird rehabilitation clinic. For years, he and his family have enjoyed raising heritage livestock breeds including chickens and other animals including Dexter Irish Cattle. [/COLOR]

[COLOR=8B4513]While I was at his office, I asked if he provided heat for his chickens in the winter-- like the one we had last year. He replied, "Oh, definitely!" I told him that I belonged to an online Indiana chicken group and that I am one of the few who provides heat. I mentioned that last winter some members had chickens that suffered frostbite and/or died from the cold. I said that I could obviously tell when my chickens were miserably cold and I didn't believe in survival of the fittest. He agreed that he could tell when his some of his chickens, depending on breed, needed heat. Dr. Gormley said that they have a heat source in a portion of a large coop, and the chickens who need warmth will seek it --much like chicks do with brooder heat. He doesn't believe that heat "spoils" them or conditions them to need warmth. I explained to him that I add heat just enough to make them more comfortable-- for example, I posted last winter that when it was 0 degrees, my coop thermometer read 20 degrees in the coop box section, which is well ventilated.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=8B4513]Then I remembered to ask the mystery question! I said that many chicken resources advise against temperature changes-- like having a chicken to go from a warm house to the cold outdoors or from air-conditioning to a hot summer day, but I haven't been able to find out what is the recommended temperature range. Dr. Gormley said, "Around 20 degrees" (which turns out is the range of my coop heat). He said that it was fine to switch Adeline from indoors to outside for breaks because our air is set on 75 and it's been in the 90s outside. He mentioned that of course it's especially bad to have a chicken inside a toasty house in the winter and then put them out in the snow![/COLOR]

[COLOR=8B4513]Many posts/sources who are against heat cite coop fires as the reason not to heat a coop. IMO, that's like saying that I shouldn't use my fireplace because my house might catch of fire or I shouldn't use my gas stove because it might start a fire. When I've described my practice of using heat in my coop, I've emphasized my use of safety precautions just as I would when using any appliance, etc. I've also said that my coop design and location are suitable for heating, but not all environments (like a hay filled dusty barn) are safe.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=8B4513]Anyway, as we all know, there are many opinions about raising chickens. I'm not urging anyone to do as I do-- I'm just sharing this conversation and information.[/COLOR]

Ah, the great heating debate again!

I think, first off, that it’s misleading that you said you were one of few that heated your coop and that others had birds with frostbite or lost them to the cold. This would imply, from an outsider’s stance, that those that do not heat their coop have more issues related to the cold, which was not the case for me, nor was it the case for many people in discussions on the debate. The other thing that bugs me is your statement about being able to tell that chickens are ‘obviously’ miserably cold, again implying that a heat source was better. Now, most of the folks that heat their coop that I have read about have told tales of their chickens staying cooped up inside all winter, staying near the heat source, generally standing around. My hens spent last winter, except for perhaps the very coldest days, running around outside in the paths I shoveled through the snow. I dunno, that doesn’t sound as miserable to me as them staying huddled inside all day.

I do not believe in survival of the fittest when it comes to my beloved pet hens. Let me just make that clear. If I did, I wouldn’t bother to create a hospital pen in the house for those very few (if any) birds that ail from the cold and make preparations for them to be there for the long run. I simply believe that chickens of all shapes and sizes survived the harshest of winters long before people were capable of providing them heat, long before people considered providing them heat, and that chickens of all shapes and sizes are still capable of surviving the harshest of winters today without any source of heat. Both history and my own experience and research have proven that to me. When you read about 5-8 week old chicks weaned off of heat that are able to survive super-cold temps without issues, it pretty well implies that adults of the same species (or at least of the same breed) are capable of the same.

As far as fire concerns, there is a pretty big difference between a fireplace or gas stove that have been engineered with fire safety in mind, and the many chosen ways of heating a coop. The main reason I cite fire safety in my rantings about heating the coop is because most folks that heat their coop, at least most that post about it where I lurk, just slap a bulb, usually a 250 watt, in a clamp lamp and hang it in their coop. I have said it before, and I will say it again, there is absolutely nothing safe about either the clamp lamp or the 250 watt bulb in these conditions. Wire the thing together, bolt it to the ceiling, and you still run the risk of that big bulb shattering or igniting dust that lands on it. Not many consider just how dusty these birds can be when they decide their chickens ‘need’ heat, nor do they consider that these birds do fly around sometimes and can knock things around. And since those stinkin’ clamp lamps and big bulbs are still sold together with chicken things at feed stores, I’m sure the thought never crosses many peoples’ minds that they are not safe to just tack up out there with these birds!

I guess my point is that your conversation with your vet seemed very one-sided and didn’t take into consideration a lot of things. People rationalize heating their coops for a number of reasons, but when you look at the bare facts, it becomes pretty clear that it is unnecessary except under very specific conditions. Still, it is better heating one’s coop with safety precautions in mind than just slapping something up out there, and for that I do commend you (and your vet, although without knowing his setup, I don’t know if that’s proper in this case). Most of the coop and barn fires and near-fires I read about were in cases where people meant well (even though their animals, as many admit, most likely didn't need the help), but didn’t take proper steps to avoid the dangers of their heat source. My whole point in posting is to not only highlight to anyone unsure of if they should provide heat that these birds really don’t need the help, but to also point out the dangers for those determined to heat their coops anyway. I do not expect everyone in the habit of doing so to drop the idea of heating their coop altogether just because of my posts (and by now, I know that a few never will), but hope that I make them aware of the substantial dangers so that they can take safety precautions beforehand and be prepared for things like power outages.

I still roll my eyes, though, when I read about people in Florida or the surrounding states hooking up a heat source for their birds during the winter. That’s just asinine!




And just to be abundantly clear, though I tried my best to word this post in a non-offensive manner, I do not mean to insult, demean, or dictate anyone on this thread by posting this.