INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

If you aren't going to close your birds in at night, I would suggest burying hardware cloth around your run, or even just fencing the bottom with it. You will also want to construct a sturdy roof if it doesn't have one. If it were me, I would just go ahead and put a door on the doghouse to close them in safely at night. Some years ago when I first got chickens, my hens had a run with a roof and fairly sturdy fence with T-posts, and we never closed the door on the coop. Then an opossum came across the coop, dug in in the same night, and long story short, it did not end well for two pullets and a Guinea hen.

My bantams do just fine pecking at whole apples. No cutting needed. They are okay with BOSS, but none of my hens (LF or bantam) have ever liked whole corn unless it's the tender kind like what we would buy to eat.

 

[ldymelissande]

Thanks Kristin. I am just trying to get the last minute hemming and hawing out of the way before I take a saw to the side. I would much rather shut them in at night, but wanted opinions. And thanks for the heads up on apples, I am planning to take a sledgehammer to a sock full of the corn and make some cracked corn for them later

 

[itsjustme]

I just discovered my broody hen has babies! 2 so far that I could see. She's still sitting though so I'm hoping for a couple more. My last broody hatched 2 then hoped out of the nest with them never to return to her 1 pipd egg and 2 others. I done what I could for the lil pip ( put him in the bator) he hatched but just died over night? The other 2 egglings done nothing have 1 broody still sitting due Monday I believe. So quick? Can I put my new momma in the tractor with the momma that has babys already? They are about 3 weeks old. The hens are use to living together I just seperated the other momma after she had hers bc I didn't want the babys free ranging yet.

 

[danand]

Idymelissa- it's my understanding that the smaller Bantys need extra protection in the winter. A neighbor who has had and shown chickens for years tolls me that I'd have to put mine in the barn or garage when it gets extra cold. And I did put my Millie's in the garage last winter, in a makeshift cage. Guess I better get ready to do more work for that. And I'm in the south- middle of the state. Also I'm going to do an A frame for my sebrights too!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

I've always left my Sebrights out with the others all winter long and I've never had any problems with them and the cold weather. They even perched in the rafters this last winter, with two vents at either end of the coop at the same height, and they were fine.

 

[SIMZ]

Hi everyone!

I have an extra lavender ameracauna cockerel if anyone is looking. He's 12 weeks old. PM if interested -- I'm in NWI.

 

[Old Salt 1945]

Jchny- I'm so sorry your having such a hard time! It is truly heartbreaking to go thru. I saw som e raccoon poo here yesterday and can just feel it coming! Going to start with live traps, but there's a rifle by the door! When you spend soo much time with, money on and love them it sure is hard to see things go this way!!

I really like live traps. It is much easier to shoot the offender when it's in a trap. Additionally, you don't have to stay up all night waiting for it.

John

 

[Old Salt 1945]

Thanks Kristin. I am just trying to get the last minute hemming and hawing out of the way before I take a saw to the side. I would much rather shut them in at night, but wanted opinions. And thanks for the heads up on apples, I am planning to take a sledgehammer to a sock full of the corn and make some cracked corn for them later

Throw them a fist full of whole corn and see if they eat it. If they can't, they won't. My 3-month old orpingtons and wyandottes scarf up whole corn as fast as I present it. They aren't bantams, but at 3-months, they are about the size of full grown bantams, I think.

They have 24/7 access to chick starter, but run over the top of one another to get to me when I hold out a handful of whole corn. I am using it to tame them down. I didn't spend much time with them while they were growing up (busy building the hen house), so they always ran away from me. Now they run toward me.

I now keep a covered bucket of corn in the chicken yard and another just outside of it.

John

 

[teach1rusl]

I see a lot of you guys are losing animals to wild life. Did I really build a fortress or am I just that lucky? Coyotes cross around my house all the time, some wolves too I seriously suspect. Not to mention the plethora of weasels minks raccoons and opossums. And hawks are plentiful. What is the deal?

Lots of factors involved....free range vs run vs secure run, especially at night, proximity to wooded areas, amount of rodents and such available to predators, amount of groundcover available to your bird, and even the breeds you keep - more docile birds seem to be easier targets. Like you (knock on wood), I've never lost a bird to a predator. We have woods, but fields surround our immediate property. We have ample field mice and rabbits, based on the "treats" my mostly outdoor cat brings us. We have dogs that'll mark our property. We shut our birds inside a very secure coop at night. And we cross our fingers a lot...lol. We do free range our birds during the day, but they are very good about laying low when hawks are out and about....

 

[teach1rusl]

John, my husband told me to tell you he appreciates your sense of humor, reminds him of his dad when he gets going.  thought you'd like to know...


Ok total Newb question here.  If I build a coop out of a dog house and have a small very heavy duty run attached do I need to shut them into the coop every evening?  

also those A-frame coops, are they okay for northern indiana winters?  I am thinking of building a bachelors quarters for my extra boys

thanks 

IMO, if the run was VERY secure, you could leave the pop door open fairly safely. That means something much sturdier than chicken wire, with openings small enough to prevent potential raccoon reach-ins, sturdy wire roof/ceiling, and skirt or some other method of preventing dig-unders...