INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Craigslist finds:
British tailed Araucana roosters

Oh, goodness, I was so excited to see this listing until I got in there and the picture loaded! These are most assuredly NOT British Araucanas. They look like Polish x Easter-egger mixes to me.

Ooo.... pins and needles. Just put the babies outside in their brooder under heatlamps and with a heatpad still, but they are officially in the coop now. Hoping they're fine overnight. 

This is a late reply, so I'll just ask, how'd they do?

Chickens are loving this warmer weather, even with all the rain. I got a few eggs today! Also noticed my geese and the pekin have decided its spring. Busy fellas, lots of breeding in all the puddles and our pond. Have a few roosters that will be leaving for freezer camp or new homes.
My goats will be kidding by May, and am hopeful for calves by September. Ready for spring and so tired of all the mud!

UGH, I'm glad I'm not the only one! The dirt floor section of my coop is saturated with water and forming small puddles in low spots, the ground is squishy everywhere, and the entire path from the driveway to the door of the chickens' deck, the path I take every morning to take care of the chickens, is boot-sucking MUD. Seriously, Mother Nature, point taken! I won't complain about the snow anymore--the mud is DEFINITELY worse!!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

School's keeping me busy, but here are some pictures of the babies yesterday. 2 weeks old already, and I can't believe how much they've grown! This weekend, I plan to get them moved to a bigger brooder. They are definitely too big for the one they're in now!

They get so excited when I come in, it's hilarious!

Trying to fly out--but luckily, Cochins have no talent for flying.

Serious faces

We got them a bigger feeder, but they still prefer to eat out of the little dish I made for them out of the bottom of a coffee creamer bottle.

Huggies! I've decided to name this one Abra (pronounced ABE-rah, as in the feminine of Abraham ). She seems girly so far, so fingers crossed!

And the little guy who started crowing at 4 days old is getting his little wattles in already.

 

[Leahs Mom]

@pipdzipdnreadytogo
In your coop where the mud is....put down wood chips and/or wood shavings and build it up deep. It will be much healthier for your birds in the long-run. It will take some building...you'll have to keep adding them.

Pretty soon there will be beautiful healthy ground there and it will draw in worms that they will love digging through to eat. I know a person that has the deep inside like that and her girls are finding worms even during the winter.

And you won't have water pooling at all. The deep litter will take care of that.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

@pipdzipdnreadytogo

In your coop where the mud is....put down wood chips and/or wood shavings and build it up deep.  It will be much healthier for your birds in the long-run.  It will take some building...you'll have to keep adding them. 

Pretty soon there will be beautiful healthy ground there and it will draw in worms that they will love digging through to eat.  I know a person that has the deep inside like that and her girls are finding worms even during the winter.

And you won't have water pooling at all.  The deep litter will take care of that.

I might have to. This is only the second time this has happened, but it's miserable enough to deal with that it's got to change. Last time it did this, we then had a temp drop, and there was so much frostbite in my coop from all that moisture. Gotta keep my eye out for that again...

Recommendations for where to get a nice big pile of wood chips?

 

[Finnie]

What an awesome picture!

 

[Indyshent]

Babies have been doing wellately in the coop. The older turkeys are really curious about them, but mostly, I think they want out into the yard (read:my neighbor's yard). I put them into a brooder tote at night and release them into that smaller area of the coop once it's warmer. Been well and still cuddly. Wishing I felt well enough to go out there for longer periods but everyone's sick here and my symptoms were worse yesterday.

 

[Finnie]

Babies have been doing wellately in the coop. The older turkeys are really curious about them, but mostly, I think they want out into the yard (read:my neighbor's yard). I put them into a brooder tote at night and release them into that smaller area of the coop once it's warmer. Been well and still cuddly. Wishing I felt well enough to go out there for longer periods but everyone's sick here and my symptoms were worse yesterday.

I hope you feel better. I was sick for the first week of January, and then my husband was sick for the second week.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Quote: @pipdzipdnreadytogo
Call tree services in your area. Some of them are happy to have a place to drop off a pile of their chips so that they don't have to take them somewhere farther away if they are working in your area. THESE SHOULD BE FREE. Call around until you find someone that will do it for free.

The only issue I have with that is that I want to know it is coming from a yard (not from along a road that may have been sprayed with poison). Some of the guys will look out for the best for you if you let them know you're using them for animals.

I usually let my pile sit for a couple months to be sure they're "cured" but I don't know that it is necessary. I like to see worms in the pile before I put them in the animal area. But that likely won't happen if you try to do it in winter, of course.

 

[Finnie]

 

@pipdzipdnreadytogo



In your coop where the mud is....put down wood chips and/or wood shavings and build it up deep.  It will be much healthier for your birds in the long-run.  It will take some building...you'll have to keep adding them. 


Pretty soon there will be beautiful healthy ground there and it will draw in worms that they will love digging through to eat.  I know a person that has the deep inside like that and her girls are finding worms even during the winter.


And you won't have water pooling at all.  The deep litter will take care of that.

I might have to. This is only the second time this has happened, but it's miserable enough to deal with that it's got to change. Last time it did this, we then had a temp drop, and there was so much frostbite in my coop from all that moisture. Gotta keep my eye out for that again...


Recommendations for where to get a nice big pile of wood chips?

@pipdzipdnreadytogo

Call tree services in your area.  Some of them are happy to have a place to drop off a pile of their chips so that they don't have to take them somewhere farther away if they are working in your area.  THESE SHOULD BE FREE.  Call around until you find someone that will do it for free.

The only issue I have with that is that I want to know it is coming from a yard (not from along a road that may have been sprayed with poison).  Some of the guys will look out for the best for you if you let them know you're using them for animals.

I usually let my pile sit for a couple months to be sure they're "cured" but I don't know that it is necessary.  I like to see worms in the pile before I put them in the animal area.  But that likely won't happen if you try to do it in winter, of course.

I would say it's pretty important to let the wood chips cure at least somewhat before using them around the animals. Maybe in an open air setting with larger animals it might not be too crucial, but here is a thread started by a friend here on BYC who had tragic consequences from using too many fresh chips in his covered run:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1129854/dying-chickens

He would want his story to help others avoid the same problems.

 

[Mommahiggy]

Here's the latest update of my little city coop. I felt like a farmer today, scooping wet mucky straw, shavings and poops. lol
We are dealing with all this wet too. I made use of the water to clean the floor of the coop area!