INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[ChickenLady2014]

just a little bit of a size difference!

Wow I guess, does he try to mate her?

 

[bradselig]

Wow I guess, does he try to mate her?

Not yet. With all the rain we had most of the breeding pens got very muddy. So I decided to just open up most of them and let them free range together. The brahmas are pretty slow maturing breed, he is around 8 months and hasnt started to crow yet.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Quote: "WHISTLING GIRLS AND CROWING HENS
BOTH WILL COME TO NO GOOD ENDS."

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Setting up the various cardboard boxes for chicks. Counting chick waters and feeders. Somehow it is the brooder light fixtures that are missing. I have a couple but I thought I had so many more.
I've been looking at the premier one heating plates still they cost so much more than the brooder light fixtures.

 

[Leahs Mom]

@SallyinIndiana
The plates are wonderful. If I were doing as many as you, I'd consider getting several or maybe a sweeter heater but I can't vouch for it as I haven't used it .


Question for you:
I have the opportunity to get some SFH kiddos that are 6 weeks old in the next day or 2 within driving distance. I'm hesitating because I think I'd have to keep them in the house for the quarantine period. Then it is so cold outside that the stress of going into the separation pen, etc. concerns me.

Where do you brood your chicks that are hatched in winter?
How long before you put them into outdoor pens?

 

[ChickCrazed]

@SallyinIndiana

The plates are wonderful.  If I were doing as many as you, I'd consider getting several or maybe a sweeter heater but I can't vouch for it as I haven't used it . 


Question for you:
I have the opportunity to get some SFH kiddos that are 6 weeks old in the next day or 2 within driving distance.  I'm  hesitating because I think I'd have to keep them in the house for the quarantine period.  Then it is so cold outside that the stress of going into the separation pen, etc. concerns me.

Where do you brood your chicks that are hatched in winter?
How long before you put them into outdoor pens?

Mine spent a lot of time in the garage until we had a warm spell. It wasn't too bad, kept the smell and mess out of the house and stayed warmer than the coop.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Where we are at the moment doesn't have an attached garage, although there is an unattached one. I'm looking at the predicted temperatures for the next week and thinking it would be too cold even in the garage. I think these kiddos have been brooded indoors but I guess I need to ask to see.

If I had an attached garage I'd probably figure out a way to keep an are in there warm enough then gradually acclimate.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

@SallyinIndiana
The plates are wonderful. If I were doing as many as you, I'd consider getting several or maybe a sweeter heater but I can't vouch for it as I haven't used it .


Question for you:
I have the opportunity to get some SFH kiddos that are 6 weeks old in the next day or 2 within driving distance. I'm hesitating because I think I'd have to keep them in the house for the quarantine period. Then it is so cold outside that the stress of going into the separation pen, etc. concerns me.

Where do you brood your chicks that are hatched in winter?
How long before you put them into outdoor pens?

I have heard so many great things about the heater plates. My biggest delay is money. While I brood quite a few chicks, I keep them in many smaller groups when using heat. Smaller groups lower the risk of a pile loss. Smaller groups require more feeders and waters but also naturally prevents bullying to some extent as well.

I don't have any 6 week olds right now, but I had some 10 week olds this time last year. It made me say never again because I had moved them out but that was a poor choice. Too much work outside in the freezing cold. I had sectioned off the coop and such but going out to check on the chicks and trying to integrate flocks it was not the best plan. Since the winter was looking like a mild one, I did start setting eggs for the NYD hatchalong.

You are north of me so colder on most days. I would keep the 6 week olds in a basement for a week or two and use a new box twice a week. You could put two fridge boxes together and coat the inside with plastic painter drops. Then a small broom can be used to sweep the shavings out in a similar manner to changing a litter box. Another option is to build a chicken wire fence around a child pool.
From the basement move the chicks to a garage or their own coop to finish the bio isolation. New boxes and new plastic after two weeks, but the netting can be reused. All brooder boxes need netting long before chicks are 6 weeks old.
If you isolate for 4 weeks then it is almost Feb. Maybe let the chicks out into a sunny area during the day for a few days then the coop. So by week 5 the birds are 11 weeks old, and you will be more than ready for them to be outside. They will be ready too and hopefully the weather will not be snow piled high.

I fully recommend not forcing 10 week old chicks to integrate with layer aged chickens until you no longer need a heated water dish. It can be hard in the cold weather to tell when a chick is being pushed around. Also the less heat a chick has the slower it can grow. It is using energy to stay warm. So while heat cost money, so does chick food.



For what I do, DH and I start day old in the basement. Some chicks are sold some are kept. Chicks are moved gradually off of the heat and gradually given more space. Chicks get moved from the basement to the attached garage. From there it will depend on weather but possibly the pole barn next then various growout areas with a visit to the duck pen to learn to find bugs at some point in the first 18 weeks of the chicks life.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

@Leahs Mom You can brood these chicks, it will just mean more of a daily clean up and less of a deep litter method if you need to keep them inside.

 

[number9]

Sometimes hens crow.

I have had hens that crowed before but not when I had a rooster or did they hide to do it.