INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Mother2Hens]

@Mother2Hens I love your EE hen. Someday I hope to get a few.

@JanetMarie Thank you ~ I'll always have one or two because I love their eggs. As @Faraday40 said, they are "quirky," but interesting. My Roadrunner has always had issues. We traded one of our original surprise cockerels for her from some nice, but ignorant people who mentioned that they let their little boys chase the chickens. Needless to say, Roadrunner has always been very skittish and hasn't been a good layer. I had to make a special place for her to roost at night because she was never happy on the other perches and nosily complained. She's been great about bedtime ever since.We've cheered her on as she went from the lowest in the pecking order to a co-leader (of a total of 3 - lol). She's gone back to being less assertive since I've added to my flock, but seems happy. She showed her strength by being a survivor of the undetermined illness that killed six precious flock members in a row this time last year.
Originally Posted by twoacrefarm Originally Posted by Leahs Mom

@Mother2Hens
Thank you! I did take a look. Trying to decide if I have a place for it since it looks like it's pretty large.

PS: I bet it would look good on the deck with a plant..... do you know what it is made from? Would it rust?

@Leahs Mom The chicken basket is only 14" wide from end of tail to comb, 4" tall basket, 7" width basket
I'm not sure what type of metal—it's typical mid-century black metal.
I've put Christmas ornament balls in it and small gourds in the fall.
Mine usually sits on the kitchen table or next to the stove.
I'm not trying to urge you to buy it, though— just giving info since you expressed interest.

Welcome to the Indiana Thread! @twoacrefarm It's great having someone on the thread from my neck of the woods for a change!
(I tried putting your Welcome at the top of this post, but sometimes this site doesn't cooperate!)

HEAT & LIGHT
I use heat for comfort, and I was pleased to read in a newsletter from the Indiana State Poultry Association that they advise keeping coops slightly above freezing. I wasn't going to use light this year because I've read it can cause health problems. However, the newsletter also gave information about using light to encourage laying. We hadn't had any eggs for several months because of various issues, so we were ready for results. We attached a small fixture with a 75 watt bulb and set a timer for it to turn on at 6:30 am and off at 7:30 am (Central Time, as you know). After a couple of weeks, my older hens started laying and then my pullets.

For anyone interested, I scanned the ISPA info:

 

[twoacrefarm]

Thanks for the welcome! We have electricity in the coop, and i've used an electric water heater on the days when it would freeze, however we haven't had any heat in the coop, just because I am concerned about fires. I was not concerned with the chickens laying thru the winter, mostly because I expected them to stop, so i'd keep enough eggs in the fridge to supply us. My biggest concern was making sure they didn't die. I don't want to heat the coop if they can go without it, but there have been a couple days here when I did consider moving them (12 only) into the garage that is heated for the night. They seem fine running around and goofing off during the day.

My rooster did get frostbite on his comb When I first noticed it getting a little white, I was putting vaseline on all of them. The girls seemed to do ok with it, but the rooster actively rubbed his head on everything he could to get the vaseline off. I think there is plenty of ventilation in the coop, so i'm not sure what happened. I've read several threads on what to do about frostbite, but I have a concern, will his comb fall off? Will he die from it? It is mostly the tips. He is eating and doing everything normal.

 

[Faraday40]

Thanks for the welcome! We have electricity in the coop, and I've used an electric water heater on the days when it would freeze, however we haven't had any heat in the coop, just because I am concerned about fires. I was not concerned with the chickens laying thru the winter, mostly because I expected them to stop, so I'd keep enough eggs in the fridge to supply us. My biggest concern was making sure they didn't die. I don't want to heat the coop if they can go without it, but there have been a couple days here when I did consider moving them (12 only) into the garage that is heated for the night. They seem fine running around and goofing off during the day.

My rooster did get frostbite on his comb When I first noticed it getting a little white, I was putting Vaseline on all of them. The girls seemed to do OK with it, but the rooster actively rubbed his head on everything he could to get the Vaseline off. I think there is plenty of ventilation in the coop, so I'm not sure what happened. I've read several threads on what to do about frostbite, but I have a concern, will his comb fall off? Will he die from it? It is mostly the tips. He is eating and doing everything normal.

I believe Vaseline helps prevent frostbite (up to a point), but it doesn't help it heal. Those tips are tender & painful, so the less touching the better. (If he doesn't like goop on his comb, then probably better to leave it than to rub on ointments & cause him to bleed..) I like to use Veterycin spray while the roo is healing b/c it's quick & less fuss. Triple Antibiotic ointment (w/o the added toxic pain relief) is another easy to find option. I say Vaseline helps prevent & use it on my roos when the temps go down into the single digits. However, when the temps go below -20'F, or the daytime high is only -5'F, there's a good chance your roos will get some minor frostbite no matter if Vaseline was used or not.

You'll see the white tips turn grayish black as the tissue under that is healing. Eventually, the black tips fall off and a new, rounded, pink-skinned tip is exposed. The new comb will be shorter & more round, but also better to handle the future cold winters. It reminds me of a scab. You don't want to pick at it or it will bleed (& that adds the possibility of infection.) If you leave it alone, it will fall off on its own & no bleeding ever occurs. My roos are good about not picking, but my hens get curious & sometimes peck at the poor boys' combs & wattles. Ouch!

Your roo should not die or lose his entire comb. He should act like normal, because chickens are excellent at masking pain & injuries. If you do nothing, he'll heal on his own. The harder part is that we still have more winter, so keep an eye on the nightly lows. There are more opportunities to get new frostbite.

edited for spelling error

 

[racinchickins]

Welcome to the Indiana Thread! @twoacrefarm It's great having someone on the thread from my neck of the woods for a change!
(I tried putting your Welcome at the top of this post, but sometimes this site doesn't cooperate!)

HEAT & LIGHT
I use heat for comfort, and I was pleased to read in a newsletter from the Indiana State Poultry Association that they advise keeping coops slightly above freezing. I wasn't going to use light this year because I've read it can cause health problems. However, the newsletter also gave information about using light to encourage laying. We hadn't had any eggs for several months because of various issues, so we were ready for results. We attached a small fixture with a 75 watt bulb and set a timer for it to turn on at 6:30 am and off at 7:30 am (Central Time, as you know). After a couple of weeks, my older hens started laying and then my pullets.

For anyone interested, I scanned the ISPA info:


Good advice for the most part. I like the part where "when your poultry go through their annual molt in early fall". Mine must not get the memo, most wait till early winter frigid temps start and I've got two half naked girls even now.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Please do not heat your coop now that your flock has acclimated, or move them back and forth between a heated environment and a non-heated environment. 'Comfort' to the ISPA is most likely not comfort by our standards. You have to keep in mind that they are catering mostly to the factory farms of Indiana. 'Comfort' by their standard probably is equal to production. After all, they feel the need to mention with pride all over their site how Indiana is the third highest commercial egg producing state, and you don't get that kind of mass egg production by concerning yourself with the actual comfort of the birds. I have to roll my eyes doubly at the 'no higher or you'll interfere with their ability to tolerate cold' part. You already have at that level.

Heating to that level now that your flock has acclimated will not make them comfortable. They have already grown extra down to cope with the winter cold, encouraged by the change in temperature through the fall. Heating now would be like forcing someone wearing a heavy winter coat to come inside out of the cold, but not take off their coat. How comfortable does that sound? The same applies to bringing them to a heated environment for the night and then putting them back outside for the day. They will be miserable!

Through the time I was studying the use of supplemental winter heat, I came across many stories of chickens being healthier, and even happier, without the use of heat--and by the way, the person who said her flock was happier without heat was in Alberta, Canada, with several other people in similar areas agreeing with that sentiment. I only came across 'I heat because I think they need it' stories on the other side, never 'my birds are happier because I heat' stories.

Heating to the level the ISPA is suggesting from the start will make your birds miserable as well. The problem with heating that much is that your birds will not want to come outside. They will be cooped up all winter, whether given snow-free space outside or not, huddling under the heat because they were not afforded the opportunity to acclimate properly. This can lead to a buildup in the coop of excess moisture, and manure as well if you don't adjust your cleaning habits to make up for their increased amount of time inside, both of which are very unhealthy conditions for chickens. I'm not sure how that sounds more comfortable than birds moving around freely, scratching and pecking in the snow, flying around like maniacs, dust bathing where they are able, just generally being chickens. But, there again, they are looking at the bottom line--light and heat keeps the birds more productive so that as many eggs as possible can be squeezed out of them.

I should also mention that if you heat your coop to that crazy level, what happens if the power shuts off as often happens in the wintertime? Just yesterday, I saw a post on Facebook about such a sudden temperature change and almost every bird dying as a result. The person said they took a bird in for a necropsy and was told by their vet that it had surprisingly less down than expected for the season. That is pretty telling to me. This danger is on top of the death toll from fires every winter, including a few human lives as a result of fires spreading to nearby houses, all caused by the heat lamps that the ISPA is suggesting. Whether you decide to heat or not, I will ALWAYS suggest against using a heat lamp--there are better and SAFER ways to heat your coop if you insist on doing so!

I also want to add, in the case of frostbite, my first inclination is to look at whether the coop has enough ventilation or not. Most people are inclined to shut off some of their ventilation, but I have found that my birds little if any frostbite when I leave their ventilation as open as possible, only closing off the tiny amount of ventilation that might blow on them while they roost at night. I have 5 windows on the south side of their coop. I close the most windward one, and the other four are left open. I have seen no frostbite strictly as a result of cold since I started doing this, and the only frostbite I've seen has been as a result of other factors (such as the crazy Legbar that likes to dip her comb in the water during freezing weather ).

I have compiled a list of reasons for and against supplemental heat, along with other information on winter chicken keeping, in an article here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/...led-look-at-the-question-of-supplemental-heat It might be worth checking out if you really are concerned about whether to heat or not. You will see there that I do agree with taking action in 'severe' levels, though I imagine my perception of a 'severe' level (negative twenty and below) is much different than the one I'm sure the ISPA is implying.


Just for the fun of it, here is a video of my flock a few weeks ago. I believe the temp was just below zero (you can kind of see when I point the camera down that I'm wearing my coveralls--it takes a pretty low temp to convince me to get them out!).



[VIDEO]

My girls have also been known to take dust baths in the dirt floor of their unheated and uninsulated coop during really frigid temperatures. Can't imagine they would want to do that if they were uncomfortable as a result of the cold. (As a side note, since I've been accused of it before, I have nothing against insulating the coop as long as proper ventilation is maintained--I'm just pointing out that my coop happens to be uninsulated. )

They don't stay cooped up, especially now that we've built a large, fenced in area for them (which is where they are in the above video), but before that was built, they still came out to wander the snow as long as it wasn't too deep.

And then there's this. Yep, she was eating snow rather than walk a few feet to the waterer.

(P.S. yes, she had frostbite; this was before I figured out the optimal winter ventilation level in my coop.)


I can get fairly heated on the topic (no pun intended ), but I just genuinely want to make sure people go into heating their coops well informed. This is not something you can just change your mind on once you've committed to it without the potential for harming your chickens, so there's a lot of things that need to be considered beforehand.

 

[Seroma Sentinel]

Hi everyone, does anyone know any show quality chicken breeders in indiana.
Thanks

 

[twoacrefarm]

@Faraday40 @pipdzipdnreadytogo Thanks for the advice! I for sure won't be heating the coop. I need to check to make sure my ventilation is good. My husband says it's great and I need to stop worrying about it. I could worry about worrying though. Just how I am. I'm glad to hear roo won't be croaking. I'll be devastated when I have a loss. I've been super cautious and done all I can to keep them safe.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Anyone selling ducklings are have a wait list?

I won't be selling this year unless my Pekin and Muscovy surprise me.

Quote: Its been individual drakes that go after my hens. One messed up drake was trying to "catch" roosters. Strongly reccommend any showing the tendancy to cull.

I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for online ordering from hatcheries. I've not ordered chicks online before and am not sure which hatchery to go with. I am planning to buy a few different breeds, but am not especially concerned that that be breeder quality. My 3rd grader is wanting to show production poultry in 4-H this year. I will need them to be delivered around the last week of February so they will be close to 6 months for the fair. Thanks for any advice!

Meyer has been pretty awesome for me. For Turkey I prefer Porters.

Well, we officially have an OliveEgger in the mix. Three in three days (only two are shown)!

Wow lovely color!

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Hi guys, missed you all!

I have to apologize. Life events and am pretty far behind on posts. Still here, but working on our house to make it more wheelchair accessible. Moms able to move around the house now in her wheelchair. The modular portion of our home has 28" doors. She was getting stuck in the tight corners! Still upgrading doorways.
I am still keeping my base breeds of chicken. Will not be hatching this year aside from our needs. I also hatch geese exclusively for my vet, ducks for our table. Will be catching up on posts next few days.

 

[kittydoc]

[COLOR=8B4513]jen214 ~[/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]It's that time of year to see these kinds of ads![/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]Last winter, I posted this:[/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]Hatchery Experiences[/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]For those of you who have ordered chicks before, if you could comment on good/bad hatchery experiences with business names and locations, it would be helpful for any of us thinking about ordering. My intention is not to bash businesses, but share experiences to help make informed decisions.[/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]I copy/pasted many responses[/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513](unfortunately I missed some). I had planned to add them to our Indiana BYC info page. I will check with @jchny2000 [/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]about that—I've was out of the loop off and on throughout 2016. For now, here is a very brief summary of opinions that I listed as Yay or Nay:[/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]BJs Poultry Yay[/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]Honeyville Feed Yay[/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]Ideal Poultry Nay[/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]Jordan Farm/Pampered Poultry Nay[/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]Matthy’s Farm Market Yay[/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]Meyer 3 Yays[/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]Mt. Healthy Nay[/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]Murray McMurray Yay[/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]My Pet Chicken Nay[/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]Porter’s Yay[/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]Rural King Nay[/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]Welp Yay[/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]Note: [/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]Customer opinions varied. Like any situation, there are always variables like employee personalities, inclement weather, shipping services, etc. Two different customers could have totally different experiences on the same day. It’s always good to do research, though, and ask questions![/COLOR]

We LOVE Ideal! We have ordered from them 3 times, I think. Once a bonus chick broke a leg in transit and I put it down. It and all the other chicks were otherwise healthy. We got 15 blk Australorps from them on Oct 15. They start laying at 4.5 months, so only 6-7 weeks to go! They are very uniform in size and appearance. We need to cull some nonlayers to make room for them in our layer coop. I will probably raise some Australorp-Orp hybrids with them and Cogburn and/or Roadrunner. I'd like to make lav Australorps!! They only come blk, blue, and maybe white??? I like black chickens, but will need to get some one-off chicks for color and fun. If anyone near Indy raises the following and/or has pullets, please PM me: ● Ameracaunas/EEs, any color but black, preferably blue-egg layers but green also okay ● Brahmas, any color ● Cochins, standard, any color (prefer not black) Sandhill gets a NO from me and I suspect from @ellymayRans, too. My SGD cockerel is from them. The hassle of ordering from them is unbelievable. I broke down and used My Pet Chicken for my SGD girls. From the address on the shipping box, I think I figured out they came from Meyer (or some big hatchery in Ohio). I paid out the backside to ship just 4. One was totally unable to walk upon arrival and I was unable to help her. MPC has a 24 hr notification policy and I followed it, got my money back for her. She also looked fine but for what had to be a travel injury. She was one of the bigger girls and alert. It was a shame. I hope they are not the same lines as my Sandhill cockerel. MPC uses a variety of breeders but can't/won't say in advance where your chicks will come from. I'm sure some breeders have issues, others not so much. I like my SGD pullets. The cockerel from Sandhill is mellow and handsome, but not much bigger than the younger pullets. If you need an uncommon breed or color, I would consider MPC if what you want is available and priced reasonably. In other news, first eggs are in the bator! I hate to set cold eggs, but we've had enough days in the 40s that I started saving Orp and a few SGD eggs periodically. Some were saved longer than usual in the wine fridge at 56 degrees, but we'll see what happens. My Brinsea 40 has at least 48 eggs, maybe 49 or 50 with the small SGD eggs. SGDs are autosexing (not other Dorking colors). I set mostly lav Orps (mixed American and English), plus a few English BBS, chocolates and chocolate cuckoos. My second and later hatches always go better, I think because of the egg temperatures being closer to ideal. I toyed with getting a Cochin to keep eggs warm since only a few of my Orps ever go broody, and only seasonally, but DH thinks they will just discourage the rest from laying. Can anyone with a few broodies among their nonbroody breeds let me know if that's true?