INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[JanetMarie]

@Leahs Mom They're ceramic heating components so there's no red hot element. One is hanging in the larger shed. I take that one down every fall and blow it out with the air compressor. There's always a large amount of dust that comes out. Also, I keep the intake vents cleaned off by just wiping the dust off with my hand every day while it's hanging and operating. I'll take a pic to post when I'm in there next (tonight).

The small one pictured in my previous post was knocked off it's shelf when I went checked on them this afternoon. It has a safety that shut it off. I think someone was looking for a place to lay an egg.

Your set up should be okay as long as there's thick shavings down. Does any of the building get sun?

This afternoon the unheated barn was warmer than I thought it would be. It does get full sun, and the sun has been trying to peek through the snow and wind.

 

[JanetMarie]

My msucovies haven't done this before, but yesterday after it warmed up, some of them flew off of the property. Most came back, some I had to encourage, one was in the barn later. One was still missing. The neighbor called this morning and said she is perched on her fence. NOT good timing!! She is not tame.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

My msucovies haven't done this before, but yesterday after it warmed up, some of them flew off of the property. Most came back, some I had to encourage, one was in the barn later. One was still missing. The neighbor called this morning and said she is perched on her fence. NOT good timing!! She is not tame.

The hens tend to do that once they reach maturity. If they continue you may need to trim a wing to keep them somewhat grounded. I started trimming the ones that do that, I had one poor girl fly into the side of a semi truck going by.

 

[Leahs Mom]

There are only a couple of north facing windows on the barn. But with the leaves off the trees, it does get sun overhead. There's a small wooded area to the west that probably helps some with wind break. That allows "filtered" sun in the later afternoons.

So far I'm still getting a temp in their roost area of between 18 & 20 F. so no heat for now.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

@JanetMarie
So are you hanging those up from the top or how are you placing them? I imagine you'll have to keep the vents vacuumed out from dust. Do you think they're safer than using a heat bulb?

I'm just pretty leery of having something catch fire.

*****

I have the dog kennel pens in the barn...and the barn ceilings are high above that. There is a 6x6 box with a top where the main roosts are that we had hoped would keep the body heat from totally escaping to the ceiling. Currently, a good number of the birds are roosting outside of that box on some additional roosts.

Last night We placed some lexan sheets above the other roost area and along the walls there which, altogether with the original 6x6 box, makes about 6x12 that has something overhead. The hope is that having something overhead will trap some of the warmth down lower to the birds rather than having it all go up to the high ceiling.

I was going to go out and rig some kind of heat source within that box so it will be a little warmer overnight but both my thermometers are still registering about 18F in there (currently 5F outside) so I'm going to wait a bit longer. (18 is quite tolerable to me) I'm surprised it's that warm in there as I never see much of a difference from inside to out.

Here is a photo from when we originally put the pens in the barn showing the "roost box" so hopefully what I wrote makes better sense. The other 6 ft section is in front of it.

View attachment 1657116

Here is from today. You can see the original roost box back there. A good number of the birds roost on the saw horse-type roosts toward the foreground. You can see the piece of lexan we slid in behind there.
View attachment 1657158

Here is looking up at the top now. You can kind-of see the lexan up there.View attachment 1657157

Then looking toward the side opposite the saw horses.View attachment 1657160

And here is Brother Green supervising the photo shoot. View attachment 1657161

What a handsome fella! I like your setup, I bet they will do fine in there. Maintenance wise on the ceramic heaters, I take our outside and use an air hose on it to clean it out.

 

[Nyla]

Today is a very horrible day.... I found my Pair of Mandarin Ducks from Mallard Lane Farms frozen dead inside one of the houses they have...

 

[Leahs Mom]

Oh @Nyla ... I'm so sorry to hear that. Do you know what killed them?

 

[Leahs Mom]

@JanetMarie
Were you able to get your bird to come back from the neighbor's place?

 

[Nyla]

Nothing killed them. Last night we had a drop of temperature to -22F. They were literally frozen on the ground. I checked their leg bands and to find out it was my $325 pair from Mallard Lane Farms. The male was my only for sure Split to White Drake. I found my others mandarins huddled in the corner of the coop almost frozen too. I brought them inside. They are slowly starting to move.
I'm missing 1 white female as well. I couldn't find her in their Aviary anywhere. I think she may have gotten out when I brought the others inside. I left the door open thinking I had caught them all.. Or she could be berried under all the snow we have. I hate winter.

Oh @Nyla ... I'm so sorry to hear that. Do you know what killed them?

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Today is a very horrible day.... I found my Pair of Mandarin Ducks from Mallard Lane Farms frozen dead inside one of the houses they have...

Oh no, I am so sorry.