INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Leahs Mom]

And update photos of my 4 Swedish Flower Hen chicks that are with the broody. They're now 7 weeks old, hen house raised, no added heat.

7 Weeks old and still trying to get under mom. At night it's quite hilarious. Little black peeking.




Checking out the nests. Little black is peeking again!




Little Black (still the smallest).


Little Blue




Little White (formerly yellow - he/she has taken on a new identity

)



Little white checking out the nest box. Hopefully it's a sign of things to come but....this is the most likely to be a rooster

Little Orange

 

[danand]

Leah's mom- great info on the waterers. I bought some nipples but haven't tried them yet. Now I want the cups!! And great pics of the flower hens. Boy they sure are pretty. Will put those on my "want " list!!

 

[cwaf]

thanks for the detailed information! I may try the cup A style if I have issues with my nipples that I already purchased. I am sure your information is extremely valuable to most of the mebers here! Experience is always better than reading the manufacturer's claims! I noticed in your personal video the contact switch alongside your coop door. I assume your door is automated? Is the switch to control the door operation or to indicate if the door is closed or open? I would be very interested in learning how yours is constructed and wired. I have mine operating on an automated, too, but it involves a low pressure water pump on a timer and a counterweight/pulley system. It works very well except for if the coop experiences very cold temperatures. For a week earlier I had to disconnect it because the water in the bucket was freezing and I did not want the pump to burn out. Last year I had a larger water resevoir and had 2 pumps running. One went to the door and one went to a hydroponics grow box located in the chicken run area. It was an experiment I wanted to try. I can say it was succesful in principle, but my grow box leaked a lot and made a mess in the run area, and my cucumber production was not as I wanted it to be. I guess the results were pretty much based on my willingness to spend money on the experiment!

The chickens did enjoy jumping up to the 3 foot high grow box, tho, and making a mess of the cukes!

 

[Leahs Mom]

Well...that video wasn't my personal video - just found it on youtube - so it's not my auto door.

I do have an automatic door but just run on electricity. Bought it here in Indiana from these folks:

http://www.automaticchickencoopdoor.com/

I've been pretty impressed with some of the creative doors folks have made - like yours with the water system!

 

[cwaf]

ahhh...ok.

I see people with certain features I would like to incorprate into my own system so I am always trying to pick up some tidbits.

I started, but never coimpleted (hmm....sounds like most of my projects) wiring in a couple of LEDs to indicate if the door was open or closed so I could see them at night from the house. I guess I am being cheap by not buying the little switches I need to complete that project, but I like recycling and creating new things from what I have!

 

[Leahs Mom]

I hear you. Everything in the interior of our little hen house was done w/stuff my husband had on hand. I quickly bought the door because I thought it may end up being one of those projects that never gets finished

...so I definitely understand your dilemma.

Here's our Habitat for Humanity find:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/730582/indiana-bycers-here/570#post_10300222

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/730582/indiana-bycers-here/560#post_10300012

 

[Leahs Mom]

Leah's mom- great info on the waterers. I bought some nipples but haven't tried them yet. Now I want the cups!! And great pics of the flower hens. Boy they sure are pretty. Will put those on my "want " list!!

They have great camoflage! Sometimes when I take a photo they just kind-of blend into the wood chips. Should be good for hiding out while foraging.

I was originally interested in that breed because they are as close to original, "in the wild" chickens. They survived in Sweden for years without breeding programs, etc. They were just brought to the US in 2010 so they're very new here. I like that they are a "naturally selected" rather than "man-hybridized" breed.

And...on the waterers....at least the nipples AND the cups are very inexpensive. I went through 2 different kinds of nipples before dumping them and going for the cups. I wasn't aware of the cups until after getting nipples either, but I'm glad I experimented with them.

Interestingly...I have the babies right now and I had one of the canning jar waterers for them. I was thinking I'd teach them about the cups when they're older. I hate the canning jar waterers because they get pooped in and nasty, but they work great for the chicks. One day I went out there and saw this:

5 weeks old




I had not taught them there was water to be found in there. Either mom showed them or they learned by observing the other chickens!

I still keep the canning jar waterer, however, especially since it's winter and a greater possibility for freezing in the cups. Once the extremely cold weather stops and I'm sure they all know understand the cups, I'll take out the caning jar waterer.

 

[cwaf]

I hear you. Everything in the interior of our little hen house was done w/stuff my husband had on hand. I quickly bought the door because I thought it may end up being one of those projects that never gets finished

...so I definitely understand your dilemma.

Here's our Habitat for Humanity find:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/730582/indiana-bycers-here/570#post_10300222

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/730582/indiana-bycers-here/560#post_10300012

very nice deal! Your husband is very talented with his woodworking! My chickens normally free range my fenced backyard. I am in the city with an average size lot but have a large open lot (the power company's) next to me and a small creek (normally dry) and brush behind me. We also have two small dogs that can come and go from the house at will so there is no sneaking up on the yard. I have not had any issues with predators other than the occasional hawk flying over. There are areas with cover if they are too far from the coop and the rooster does a great job alerting his ladies. I have five 4x8 garden boxes and the chickens love scratching through the dirt. I am also preparing a larger area (10 x 40) for some kind of planting (not sure what, just yet) and last fall I tilled the top couple of inches of the area to try to kill the grass and then hauled all my maple leaves back and piled them there. Of course, the chickens love that area, too! I also empty my used coop wood shavings into the garden boxes and the large area and they go to town on them. They can level a pile of chips in no time, as you are aware! They are going to be disappointed soon when they cannot access that area of the yard so I can plant it. I am going to make something for them in their new, restricted area because I know how much they love to scratch around.

 

[cwaf]

They have great camoflage! Sometimes when I take a photo they just kind-of blend into the wood chips. Should be good for hiding out while foraging.

I was originally interested in that breed because they are as close to original, "in the wild" chickens. They survived in Sweden for years without breeding programs, etc. They were just brought to the US in 2010 so they're very new here. I like that they are a "naturally selected" rather than "man-hybridized" breed.

And...on the waterers....at least the nipples AND the cups are very inexpensive. I went through 2 different kinds of nipples before dumping them and going for the cups. I wasn't aware of the cups until after getting nipples either, but I'm glad I experimented with them.

Interestingly...I have the babies right now and I had one of the canning jar waterers for them. I was thinking I'd teach them about the cups when they're older. I hate the canning jar waterers because they get pooped in and nasty, but they work great for the chicks. One day I went out there and saw this:

5 weeks old




I had not taught them there was water to be found in there. Either mom showed them or they learned by observing the other chickens!

I still keep the canning jar waterer, however, especially since it's winter and a greater possibility for freezing in the cups. Once the extremely cold weather stops and I'm sure they all know understand the cups, I'll take out the caning jar waterer.

I started my new hatchlings on the plastic quart jar with the nipple in the bottom on day 2. I also gave them a tray of water, but they quickly discovered the nipple and used it exclusively.
The coloring is definitely camouflage for the wild!

 

[Leahs Mom]

On top of his great work - a lot of that lumber was warped! He had an old contractor friend that showed him how to use warped wood in such a way that it would be straight and useable in construction. It wasn't very nice to look at but after it was all painted it was amazing!

We have 12 acres available here but without a guard animal I've been hesitant to let them just totally free-range. In the beginning I only had 6 chickens so if you lose 1 or 2 it's a huge percentage of the flock! With the babies that makes 10 and at least one (maybe 2) is a rooster so that will be interesting to see how he does.

The more chickens I have the more likely I'll be to just let them go free. After I figure out sexes on the babies, I plan on getting about 5 more chickens... some cream legbars and a couple of australorps.

Love the look of the CLs and you can tell sex of babies at birth - another plus. Add that to the blue eggs and I was sold!

Check out this CL rooster from Greenfire:

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

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