INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[SallyinIndiana]

I will try the zip ties next. It will be a while since I should be able to tell my HRIR from my production RIR.
I'm not much on the toe punching, I don't see anything wrong with it, just that I could not do it.

i have a mean chicken :/ i crouching down to pet my chickens and dominque(bared rock) comes up and bits my lip how do i make her stop cuz shes brat and bits everyone ... i have a few that do that :/ how do i make them stop i dont wanna cut there heads off cuz there good egg layers and there my babys

Not too sure this will work for a hen, but if it was a roo, I would say make sure the roo knows who is boss. If you are worried about the other chickens being scared of you, take the mean one out of their sight before dealing with it. Being held upside down for a while tends to clam their temperment down quite a bit but it only lasts a short time. Also holding the bird to the ground in a position kind of like a roo would squash the chicken to the ground in front of the other hens tends to make my hens less mean.
To be honest if a hen or a roo went after my face for no reason, I think a broken neck would be in order. My legs or arms I can deal with but not my face or head.

 

[CluckAcres]

Has anyone used the bands successfully? If so which one did you use? We tried and after a while they started falling off or sliding down over a toe so we took those off. I was trying to color code my hens by age. I had my first batch as red and now there are red bands all over our run. Since we are converting to heritage RIR I'm not too concerned about the current bands. However I would like a nice easy way to identify my new birds.

I used small colored zip ties. Just make sure they are tight enough no to slip of toe and loosed enough for the chick to grow into. Just make sure you have room to cut it off before its get to tight on them. I mainly use zip ties for the birds i want to take to swap meet. I just went through some of my chicks and put some on them that way when it comes time for swap meet i can just go grab the ones with the zip ties and know im not grabbing one im wanting to keep. Then sometimes I categorize them by color for prices.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Cluck~ mine is home health, so I pick the hours Iwant to work and they match me with someone. Hoping to get the majority of my afternoons to work. I only want them off if abby has a softball game. I told them not after 11pm either, so I can get sleep before caring for the kiddos during the day. They already have someone for me to be with saturdays 4:30-7:30pm... so atleast that's a start

I'm way behind... Too bad you don't live in my area! I'm looking for a caregiver right now!

 

[Leahs Mom]

I have a bunch of coop questions but ill only ask a few tonight ...ok me and my dad figured out a design but ran into a few problems 1 can we use chicken wire for a wall and put plastic up during the winter?? 2 how big does the nesting boxes have to be?? 3 how big does the breeding pen have to be?? More questions tomorrow

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As you can see, I'm way behind.... I agree with jc... except instead of chicken wire I would use 1/2" hardware cloth as it's much more secure than just plain chicken wire. Chicken wire will not protect them from predators as well as the hardware cloth!!

Lots of folks use what is called a "Woods Style" house that keeps one side totally open all the time. The main thing is to have that wall aimed the right direction "weather-wise" and make it predator proof.

The bagged leaves are a good idea! Also just some straw bales stacked if you feel like you need to have a wind break.

When you build that wall, make the "expanses" small..not the whole wall just a frame with wire on it. Have some cross bars in there for support just in case a predator tries to get in - it makes it much stronger with cross bars.

This photo is an example of a wall with the cross pieces. You can see there it is a whole big wall, but the frame is divided into smaller sections. It really DOES make it more predator proof that way. If no cross bars, they just can push into it and take it down much easier.

You can see that principle on the door too.


Here is a link to one of our BYC members that has a Woods Style "Open Style" coop - the whole front is always open. I really enjoy JackE and his Woods style coop:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/445004/woods-style-house-in-the-winter

He recommended reading this book which I did because I thought the concept was something I wanted to learn about:

http://www.amazon.com/Fresh-Air-Pou...r=8-1-fkmr1&keywords=woods+open+style+poultry

Most of the time the front doors are open on my hen house and that wall is inside the big doors. It's even open in the winter unless the wind is going the wrong way. I do shut it at night, however, but I wouldn't HAVE to.

Here you can see how the doors are and ONE of the interior walls.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Hi everybody! I thought I'd introduce myself as a fellow IN resident. I live up in Lebanon and I am just getting started raising chickens. I was wondering if you had any suggestions on where to get some egg layers. I have a bunch of questions and I'd love it if anyone could start pointing me in the right directions.

First off, I have a small to medium sized, privacy fenced backyard. I saw this 'Precision Pet Urban Modular Chicken Coop' (http://www.precisionpet.com/detail.aspx?ID=198) on sale on Groupon. Is this a reasonable size for two hens? The Groupon deal is $150 for the coop and $80 for the add-on. Are there better options?
As far as building something myself, I majored in Furniture Design, so that's not an issue. However, I am extremely limited on time and tools right now.

Secondly, I live in Indiana where we have fairly mild winters and hot, humid, awful summers. Any suggestions for breeds that thrive in that type of weather? I have a heated garage, so it is possible to move them inside as well.
There is a farm store down the street from my house that sells chicks. Is it safe to assume the birds they have there would be good? I live in a neighborhood, so I would prefer not to have a rooster. Is it easy to tell males and females apart as chicks?

Any other suggestions on where to start researching some more would be great! Also, if there is anything that a novice wouldn't think of looking into ahead of time would be fantastic!

Thanks everyone!

-Ben

and our thread

Go to your local farm stores and price shop. Even lowes and menards may have a few coops to look at! You may see a sale at one, and that way you can see the coop yourself. If you go to the breed section here on BYC you can sort by climate and it will give you breed choices.

 

[Leahs Mom]

And here's one of those re-purposed nest boxes...for my broody:


(I do have regular boxes but you can use lots of things for a nest box as you can see!

 

[CluckAcres]

This post is not going to be about chickens but will be about the Boston bombing, The small town in Texas near Waco where the fertilizer plant blew up, the residents in Chicago, and all over the world. My heart has be very heavy for all the people who was injured or have passed away also for all family and friends. When you see this post will you just take a moment for silence and pray for everyone. What has our world coming to? I am afraid to even go off my property anymore.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Had to share a picture of my favorite tom, his name is "Arnold" He is 4 weeks and already displays, too funny

I brought him in to show my parents, my dad just roared he laughed so hard!My DH gobbles at him and he puffs up, just too cute.

 

[AATH]

Ok everyone I need help...again lol. Since we are on the topic of coops I'm having an issue. I built a ladder type ramp that goes through the bottom of coop. Well my girls are terrified to be on it. So I took plywood and covered it up to make a simple ramp. I've left the bottom if the coop open while keeping an eye on them for a week now... My question is will they get more brave when they get older. They walk halfway down the ramp but then run back to the coop.

 

[CluckAcres]

Ok everyone I need help...again lol. Since we are on the topic of coops I'm having an issue. I built a ladder type ramp that goes through the bottom of coop. Well my girls are terrified to be on it. So I took plywood and covered it up to make a simple ramp. I've left the bottom if the coop open while keeping an eye on them for a week now... My question is will they get more brave when they get older. They walk halfway down the ramp but then run back to the coop.

Yes they will get more brave.