INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Chaneys Ranch]

We have 3 Copper Maran, 12 White Leghorn and one Olive Egger chicks now. Chicks in winter are a messy challenge but by June we will have more eggs. 1 more hatch of unknown eggs appear to be Welsummer or Maran.. no idea who sent me those eggs there was no return address, but thank you!
I have goslings - Brown Chinese coming late May. My current flock is old Gee is 7 now. Big boy is 6 and all my hens are 5 or older. Its time we add new geese. The geese stop Arial predator attacks, are vocal alarms if somethings wrong. They can't stop dogs or large predators but sure let you know there's an issue.

 

[JanetMarie]

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 no, so sad. How many do you have left?

 

[JanetMarie]

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

No. I didn't go over to try to get her because the snow is too deep to walk in, and I wouldn't be able to just pick her up. If she was nestled in somewhere I didn't want to disturb her, and her fly away more, which is what would have happened, besides getting snow inside my boots, and possible frostbite.

Today the neighbor said she left yesterday and thought she flew back home. The creek is still open so she may be there. Hopefully she comes home soon.

 

[Faraday40]

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 No! I'm so sorry that you lost your dream birds right after finally getting them. This weather's simply awful!

Today's high was -15'F but it felt much colder. Tonight we're going down to -27'F (with the real feel around -50'F). I do not have heat but made sure that all the chickens are sleeping inside the coop. All the body mass seems to make it feel a little better. My roos look like they're getting frozen comb tips. Likewise with my Leghorn hen & one orp hen. The rest look cold & miserable, but hopefully no others have frostbite.

Tomorrow we'll get up to -1'F with some snow & by Saturday it will be a balmy 40'F & actually rain.

I didn't bother trying to keep the bantams warm. They were having problems when we dipped to the single digits. First it was the rooster with his giant comb, then the silkie with her serama chicks, then I felt bad leaving 2 out there alone, so we just brought all of them inside. They're not happy about being crammed in a rabbit cage in DD's bedroom, but the kids are loving having house chickens. We also have Cupcake inside because she had a scratch down her side. Although she's well enough to return to the flock, I decided to give her another week b/c of extreme temps.

And here's a funny ad I just saw on BYC..... and it's so true!
I have way too many house chickens right now!

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Negative 12 today. My birds are ok doing well I've just went out. The cows don't care my goats are ok. I'm amazed how well cows handle the cold and just ignore it. Goats are bedded down. Really just be sure they have a warm place to sleep.
Birds I've got tarps covering open air coops. I feel if they have ventilation those birds will do well. So far we have no losses. My geese and ducks bon't care either 100% free ranged.

 

[Leahs Mom]

-20 outside. 3F in the barn.

The ones that I'm the most concerned with are the ones that will be 7 yo this year and the little Charlies (hatchery Ameraucana) since they're small and have tighter feathers. The Dom girls are pretty small too compared to other large f.

I did place one heat lamp where they can get beside it to warm but it definitely doesn't do anything for raising temperature in there.

Oddly enough, it was forecasted to be in the 50's toward Monday.

So much for acclimation.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Oh...forgot to say that our furnace quit working.

Oddly enough, we were scheduled for yearly maintenance this afternoon. Anyhow, they should come sometime. Hubby is setting up a kerosine heater in the basement to keep things from freezing. It's 60F in here right now which isn't a big deal. But with -20 outside it could decline pretty quickly. Since we don't know when they'll show up, it made sense to set up the heater.

Hope it works. We got it as an emergency item about 6 years ago and have never taken it out of the box. Guess we'll find out

 

[pginsber]

Oh...forgot to say that our furnace quit working.

Oddly enough, we were scheduled for yearly maintenance this afternoon. Anyhow, they should come sometime. Hubby is setting up a kerosine heater in the basement to keep things from freezing. It's 60F in here right now which isn't a big deal. But with -20 outside it could decline pretty quickly. Since we don't know when they'll show up, it made sense to set up the heater.

Hope it works. We got it as an emergency item about 6 years ago and have never taken it out of the box. Guess we'll find out

YIKES! thinking of you!

 

[pginsber]

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...

SOOOoo sorry for your loss!

 

[weezerfish]

Sorry for your loss, Nyla. That's tough.

This weather just stinks. We came out of it okay with just a couple of small frostbit dots on a few of the girls. Tonight will still be cold but should be a lot easier on them than the past two nights. Will be really glad to not have to worry so much about chickens and water pipes.

I did get my second egg out of this flock yesterday. Of course it was frozen and broke. Eagerly awaiting when I'm getting the half dozen a day that we typically eat!