INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Chaneys Ranch]

Not much new today, egg production slowing a bit. Am sure its the heat and humidity. A big welcome to new folks joining our thread and glad to see old friends posting again. Off to bed, g'nite all.

 

[Leahs Mom]

These were the process in the making

@LocosHuevos
Thanks for the photos! Now...did you line the whole thing with EPDM to keep the water in?

 

[Leahs Mom]

Quote: I was exactly the same way...it was hard to eat that first egg. Felt like we should preserve it somehow.

 

[tjbuckshotbarn]

Howdy, I'm a NC chicken guy, but I have an ARMY buddy that just moved back to the Fort Wayne area and was asking me about chicken coop ideas. After I got done telling him about how I would build the coop & run it dawned on me that Fort Wayne gets more snow, longer winters, ect. Than I do here in southern NC and wanted to ask some local chicken folks if you cover your runs, build bigger coops to accommodate the winter, or make other adjustments for the birds. Here in NC I keep a big run to keep my birds safe and give them plenty of room, and thier coop is not huge but good size. 12' long 10 wide 12 high. 14 birds

 

[Leahs Mom]

Howdy, I'm a NC chicken guy, but I have an ARMY buddy that just moved back to the Fort Wayne area and was asking me about chicken coop ideas. After I got done telling him about how I would build the coop & run it dawned on me that Fort Wayne gets more snow, longer winters, ect. Than I do here in southern NC and wanted to ask some local chicken folks if you cover your runs, build bigger coops to accommodate the winter, or make other adjustments for the birds. Here in NC I keep a big run to keep my birds safe and give them plenty of room, and thier coop is not huge but good size. 12' long 10 wide 12 high. 14 birds

Hi @tjbuckshotbarn

I know there are variations is what folks can afford so this may not work for everyone. But I started out with a shed as a coop that was 8x12. I had 6 birds and an attached 20x20 dog kennel that remained open for free-range whenever the weather allowed. They wouldn't go out of the attached kennel on the snow and I made an effort to sweep out snow from the run. I kept netting over the top of the kennel pen for hawk deterrent but it wasn't night predator proof. (They spent the night in the tight shed.)

In the summer that was fine as they only sleep and lay eggs in the coop. In winter, the lower birds on the pecking order would often be bullied out into the run when it was way too cold. If I kept the doors shut, the area was just too small to be stuck in all day long.


I have since moved them to a pole barn in which the indoor pens are 12 x 18. This gives them plenty of room to have somewhere to live in peace if they're lower on the pecking order during the winter. And I usually keep anywhere from 8 - 15 in that setting. Could probably have up to 20.


If they have to have a smaller shed, I'd suggest having a way to tarp or have the outdoor run made in such a way that it can be protected from snow if possible so they have more room for winter.

 

[Finnie]

These were the process in the making

Oh man! My back hurts just looking at those holes!!

Very nice pond.

 

[Leahs Mom]

WARNING REGARDING "CONTINUOUS CURRENT" ENERGIZERS FOR ELECTRIC FENCING


Wanted to post a quote from an email I received from Premier1 Fencing regarding continuous current vs. intermittent pulse fence energizers.

Before I received this, I didn't realize that they even made continuous current energizers anymore. Forget about electric netting, using a continuous current is extremely dangerous anyhow. The pulse is "on and off" pulsing that allows you to get free of the net or fence current.

The "draw" on buying these is the lower cost of the continuous current. This is a time when cost should NOT be the driving factor in making a purchase.

Anyhow... a "word to the wise.

, Stafix, Speedrite or Gallagher. All are electric fence specialists who actually know the subject. And don’t rely on sales people or farmstores or general mail order firms for advice. They’re well-intentioned, but…

• Buy one large enough, in joules of output, to be effective. That varies according to the situation, animal to be fenced, etc. Too many Amazon “suggestions” are for energizers that are too weak.

• Don’t rely solely upon website reviews. They can be dangerously wrong as proven by the reviews for continuous current fence chargers.

• If you’re unsure, contact a fence specialist. Premier’s experts have years of experience and can help. Call us toll-free: 800-282-6631.

The user had killed the grass under the fence with a herbicide before installing the netting.

The fire was 30 ft from the barn and house when the fire dept. arrived. It could have been much worse.​

How, by comparison, do pulsed energizers work?
Most modern fence energizers send very brief (less than 3/10,000 of a second in duration), high voltage (usually 2000-6000 volts) pulses of electrons down the conductor every 1-2 seconds. Though powerful enough to deter animals and poultry, pulses this brief and this infrequent almost never pose a fire risk when the conductor is near combustible material. There simply isn’t enough “on” time for heat to build and allow ignition to occur.

Are continuous current energizers also available in farmstores and other mail order sources (not just Amazon)?
Yes they are—and have been for decades. And for 35 years Premier has told potential customers not to use these units with our electrified fences.

But a low price is hard to resist if the customer doesn’t know the difference.

As you can see from the reviews of this fence charger on Amazon, many customer views about them are not accurate. That the energizer is rated with 4 stars adds to the confusion.

The label calls this a “low impedance” energizer. Aren’t low impedance energizers the pulse type and thus safe?
Until now that was true. This is the first time that we’ve seen “low impedance” on the same energizer as “continuous current.” Unfortunately, this encourages folks to buy an energizer that will damage netting and is a potential fire risk.

So why does Amazon imply buying these units for use with Premier’s netting?
We suspect that Amazon’s software is automatically linking the two products based upon price and sales numbers without regard to risk or effectiveness. We also note that Amazon repeatedly suggests pulsed solar units for netting (not just Premier’s netting) whose output is too low to be effective in most situations.

Have there been other similar situations? Or, is this the only one?
In recent weeks we’ve had several Amazon customers call us to report melted spots in netting. In each case the cause was a continuous current charger—but in these situations combustible material was not present. For these folks the heat melted the plastic in the strands but did not start a fire.

 

[Faraday40]

Woo Hoo!! We just got our 1st egg ever!!

One of the Rhode Island Reds, Rusty, was the first to lay of the five, on their exact 19-week birthdays!
She had been going into the nest box and "practicing" LOL. Pulling on straw, and turning around. But this morning she was in there a long time....... She had stuffed straw up into the opening of the nest box, and all I could see was her little eye blinking back at me..... so I waited. When she finally came out, she cackled loudly at everyone! And I said, "Rusty girl.... today was the day, wasn't it?" So I peeked in, and there it was!!



I never thought I would be so excited over an egg! So now, it's sitting on my kitchen counter, and I don't want to eat it, I just want to look at it. What's up with that?

Yes, I'm still excited whenever a chicken lays her 1st egg, and 2nd, and ..... You can always blow out the egg & decorate it as a Christmas ornament or other craft. Write the hen's name & date for an adorable keepsake. This is what my family got for Christmas presents the 1st year we owned chickens. LOL




Of course right now I must admit I'm a bit jealous. My spring pullets will turn 20 wks on Monday. 2 have bright red combs & another is getting darker. Are they laying in the bushes or something? I'm not seeing them hanging around inside the coop. I can understand the orp taking her time, but the RIR was purchased to be a heavy layer to make up for all the orps in the flock. Then we sold 2 good layers, so now we're dropping way behind in production. (Limited space means we must sell current layers to make room for the new. I would have preferred to sell in Sept, but there was a good offer & a good home for our well-loved hens.

 

[MikeTodd]

I just have pine shavings in our nesting boxes. Would they be more inviting if I put straw in them instead?

 

[LocosHuevos]

@LocosHuevos

Thanks for the photos!  Now...did you line the whole thing with EPDM to keep the water in?

We were going to at first but decided not to. Incase we moved out and next homeowners didn't want a pond, they can just throw dirt back in the holes instead of messing with the liner. The water stays in pretty well actually

. I do put fresh water in it everyday tho. Helps flush out the old water, plus the ducks like playing in the holes stream.
@ Finnie, yes ma'am the backs were hurting for sure. I'm sure that's cause we knocked it out in on day. Thank you tho