INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[AATH]

Ok so I'm behind 6 pages so if anyone has asked me a question just pm me... Also am I considered a real chicken farmer if I'm laying my entire body in chicken crap just to fix a waterer.... And not feel gross about it?

 

[MrTattoohead]

Today's additions to Coopocalypse 2013:

Cut and attached the nesting box.

Tomorrow will be figuring out the hatch to get into it and mounting the two roosts.

We're in town, so we have a 5 hen limit. Hopefully, 4x4x3.66 feet is enough space in the coop so that they won't start roosting in a box.

We're going to have a black jersey giant, a salmon faverolle, a barred rock, a buff orpinton, and a silkie! (First timers so we're inordinately excited )

 

[MrTattoohead]

Double posting removed. Sry. :/

 

[Crafty chick]

Mr. Tattoohead~ I've heard silkies don't roost... idk, mine hasn't yet and he's over 2 months old. All the rest of mine abandoned him and go up on the roost it's ok for the summer, but Iwonder how winter will go. May have to get him some girls

 

[CluckAcres]

Mr. Tattoohead~ I've heard silkies don't roost... idk, mine hasn't yet and he's over 2 months old. All the rest of mine abandoned him and go up on the roost

it's ok for the summer, but Iwonder how winter will go. May have to get him some girls

My silkies dont roost very often. They will either lay on coop floor or get into nest box. My nest boxes do have a 4 inch board that goes in front of boxes so they cant kick out bedding and the silkies will roost on that but like i said its only 4 inches off the coop floor.

 

[ShawnaScott]

Sooo, funny chicken stories!!

I went down to my brooder today, my hens are getting quite big! It was dark, the heat lamp had become unplugged (they are fully feathered, so they don't really need it. But they're in such a big pen I use it as a light.). As I approach the brooder I see a huge, two pronged looking claw. I thought it might be some sort of shovel or gardening tool, but as I look closer, IT MOVES. I promptly freak out, and then realize my two friendliest hens are perched on top of the brooding box. I need to get the coop finished! Or at least get some perches in the brooder until the coop is done! Darn my lazy husband!

Does anyone else's roosters do a funny rooster dance? I thought mine was having convulsions. He puffed up, arched his back and started twitching his head. Then the other one did it. I will have to take my camera down to capture it, it is literally the funniest thing I have ever seen a chicken do.

 

[CluckAcres]

Sooo, funny chicken stories!!

I went down to my brooder today, my hens are getting quite big! It was dark, the heat lamp had become unplugged (they are fully feathered, so they don't really need it. But they're in such a big pen I use it as a light.). As I approach the brooder I see a huge, two pronged looking claw. I thought it might be some sort of shovel or gardening tool, but as I look closer, IT MOVES. I promptly freak out, and then realize my two friendliest hens are perched on top of the brooding box. I need to get the coop finished! Or at least get some perches in the brooder until the coop is done! Darn my lazy husband!

Does anyone else's roosters do a funny rooster dance? I thought mine was having convulsions. He puffed up, arched his back and started twitching his head. Then the other one did it. I will have to take my camera down to capture it, it is literally the funniest thing I have ever seen a chicken do.

that is a funny story. Maybe your roos are getting ready to crow. Thats the signs.

 

[SkinNFluff]

out of all the silkies i have none of them roost at night. i will never figure out how 8+ silkies can fit into a single nest box and sleep comfortably though. silkies will sleep in a pile in the corner of a coop. i have 2 lf hens that sleep in the silkie piles but that's 2 hens who were raised as chicks with the silkies. i acquired a silkie last winter from a similar situation. the family had 8 lf chickens and a single silkie. and sure enough they went out to their coop and found her half frozen alone on the floor of the coop while the other hens were snuggle roosted on the perch. she lived and i have her in with my flock of pet quality silkie and she is doing great now.

i would never advise anyone not to get a silkie but unless it will be a house pet i feel that 2 or 3 silkies should be kept together for outside living. on a side note. silkies don't do ramps well. the highest coop i have for my silkies is 12 inches from ground to floor with a 3 foot long ramp 14 inches wide. i have a few friends who raise silkies and they all have coops high off the ground. they have to be put them up each night and helped out each day.

now beyond that i have had people tell me that their silkies fly up in the 12 foot high rafters in the barn to sleep. this seems like quite a flight for a flightless chicken and for some odd reason they have yet to be able to provide me with pics. ohh well.

if you have any questions about silkies feel free to ask. i am always ready to help someone out with their chickens. i have not read all of your build thread but have you already got chicks or are you getting things ready first?

 

[SkinNFluff]

sorry my post above was for MrTattoohead

 

[ShawnaScott]

that is a funny story. Maybe your roos are getting ready to crow. Thats the signs.

They do! I only hear it when the sun is shining though, and that makes me happy! No early morning wake ups for me! I still can't get over the dance. Especially since they are banties, and about half the size of my hens. They tried to throw their weight around on Henrietta. She's just standing there, and Roo ran right up to her and looked like he was going to peck her....and then she gave him a LOOK. He backed off real quick. It seems since I gave away my dominant rooster, Roo has found out that he is a boy. He was so sweet, and now he's one cocky SOB.