INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Old Salt 1945]

My chickens hatched an escape plan. Little did they know, today I decided that they should meet Scooby, my JRT, mainly because they needed fed and I didn't want him alone with the new dog. Well, he runs down to their brooder/pen area and I hear an abnormal amount of squacking. I go down to see Scooby joyfully chasing the chickens around the basement. They had all escaped and were roosting in the rafters. I really need my DH to get off his lazy butt and build me a coop! Either that or I'm going to go buy one, this is getting downright silly. Where can I buy a decent sized coop that's not outrageously expensive?

For the amount of chickens you have, about a kilobuck or more.

You might use an outdoor storage shed, but the wind where you live would be hard on the metal ones. I had one years ago and the Lebanon country winds rattled it until metal fatigue took hold and it started coming apart piece by piece. It was the second to meet it's demise out here. I failed to secure the first one to the ground. The wind picked it up, leaving all the contents setting, and blew it a couple hundred yards. It was all bent to h*ll.

For a quick, temporary shelter, you could simply make a box out of 1/2" plywood, using 2x4's at the joints and screws to attach, similar to the way you attached the 2 pieces of plywood in your basement pen. Even working by yourself, with a screw gun and some drywall screws, it shouldn't even take all day. With grass as the floor, make a 4 sided box 8x8 x 4 high. Cut out a section for a door big enough for you to get in when necessary and for the chickens to come and go. With your coyote situation, you need to close and lock the door each night before dark.

Go to Rural King and get some 2x4x48" welded wire ($70 for 100 feet) and 10 or so "T" style metal fence posts and however much length 2x4x48 wire you want/need and a very small roll of electric fence wire to wire the fence wire to the posts. Ask if they have a post driver for loan. If not, you can borrow mine.

Aw, heck. Call me 765-894-1674. Then come down to Lebanon and I'll show you how to do it. It ain't that hard. Do it yourself. Girl power. 6 sheets 1/2" plywood, 100 ft wire, 10 fence posts, some wire (I'll give you enough for the project) and some work. If the other girl that was there when I was there is available to hold stuff while you screw it or pound it, you can be done with the whole blasted thing in 6 hours. Of course, it will be ugly, but cheap and functional.

I forget stuff, so remind me about rebar tiedowns. Don't want the wind to grab it and send it to the next county.

John

 

[bradselig]

Oh, they will hatch alright!

If you are hatching in a cabinet incubator I suggest you use a covered hatching tray. Otherwise it is like taking the lid off the popcorn popper while the popcorn is popping! There will be quail popping everywhere and they are small enough to fit through the ventilation holes in the back. Good luck and have fun.

Quail was the first bird I tried hatching. I used an old little giant bator I had from hatching reptiles. Since then I have upgraded to a cabinet bator but still hatching in the little giant. But I may try to place the eggs in a wire container in the little giant. I hate opening the lid and all the chicks take a run for it!

 

[herebynightfall]

I feed quite a lot of "treats" but I make sure it's varied. I probably split a handful of mealworms between 15 chickens a day. or every other day. I give mine a mix of corn on the cob, tomatoes, various seeds, etc. I try not to give too much cracked corn, but they love it so much I probably feed slightly more than I should. I love it because I can throw it down and they will stir up the litter for me

I also go outside and dig up a plot of grass/dandelions for them. I keep forgetting to put the dirt back when they are done foraging off of it, so I'm going to need to fill in a few holes soon! Actually, I just need DH to get off his lazy butt and help me finish the coop! I swear my hens will be LAYING before he does it!

Okay . We found out they love the strawberries from our garden, and lettuce was a pretty big hit too. Planning on feeding them treats from the garden as they come in to see what they like best. Just trying not to give them only treats! Even though it's funny to watch them try and play keep away.

We have some rather large earthworms in the garden too. I thought about grabbing a couple when they're up on the surface at night and putting them in the chicks' run to watch them try and play keep away with them too. They're big enough to be a feast for at least 2-3 birds.

We still have to finish our coop too, converted from a shed we had in the backyard. We have to put some grips on the ramp to go up to their roost area, then put in some nesting boxes. Trying to make everything instead of buying it, so it's taking time. Hate it when work gets in the way of fun time!

 

[Old Salt 1945]

Mosquito Bites suck!

Mosquitoes find me delicious. I get big white welts. They itch like crazy!

I put ammonia straight from the bottle on the affected areas.

Itch gone! Works for me, not so much for my wife.

Try it. Works for bee stings and assorted other bug bites.

John

 

[Chic-n-farmer]

For the amount of chickens you have, about a kilobuck or more.

You might use an outdoor storage shed, but the wind where you live would be hard on the metal ones. I had one years ago and the Lebanon country winds rattled it until metal fatigue took hold and it started coming apart piece by piece. It was the second to meet it's demise out here. I failed to secure the first one to the ground. The wind picked it up, leaving all the contents setting, and blew it a couple hundred yards. It was all bent to h*ll.

For a quick, temporary shelter, you could simply make a box out of 1/2" plywood, using 2x4's at the joints and screws to attach, similar to the way you attached the 2 pieces of plywood in your basement pen. Even working by yourself, with a screw gun and some drywall screws, it shouldn't even take all day. With grass as the floor, make a 4 sided box 8x8 x 4 high. Cut out a section for a door big enough for you to get in when necessary and for the chickens to come and go. With your coyote situation, you need to close and lock the door each night before dark.

Go to Rural King and get some 2x4x48" welded wire ($70 for 100 feet) and 10 or so "T" style metal fence posts and however much length 2x4x48 wire you want/need and a very small roll of electric fence wire to wire the fence wire to the posts. Ask if they have a post driver for loan. If not, you can borrow mine.

Aw, heck. Call me 765-xxx-xxx. Then come down to Lebanon and I'll show you how to do it. It ain't that hard. Do it yourself. Girl power. 6 sheets 1/2" plywood, 100 ft wire, 10 fence posts, some wire (I'll give you enough for the project) and some work. If the other girl that was there when I was there is available to hold stuff while you screw it or pound it, you can be done with the whole blasted thing in 6 hours. Of course, it will be ugly, but cheap and functional.

I forget stuff, so remind me about rebar tiedowns. Don't want the wind to grab it and send it to the next county.

John

Young Man! Have you not heard it is unsafe to post personal info on the wicked web?!?

 

[Chic-n-farmer]

Quail was the first bird I tried hatching. I used an old little giant bator I had from hatching reptiles. Since then I have upgraded to a cabinet bator but still hatching in the little giant. But I may try to place the eggs in a wire container in the little giant. I hate opening the lid and all the chicks take a run for it!

I forgot and left the last batch on the turner... I opened the door and it was like a getting hit with a wave of tiny quail babies!

 

[pbirdhaven]

What kind of collapsible coop did you get????

It's one of those display coops that they use for shows, that can be either 2 sections or a double. I use them for breeding pairs--easy to clean. I can set the coop out in the yard and let them enjoy the grass while I clean the wood bottom, then just set it back on.

 

[CRSelvey]

So in the last week I have been busy with company and working on the chicken coop. I come back to the world of Indiana chickens and find that you all have not taken a break for the holidays and I'm more than 30 pages behind. WOW. Its so much fun catching up but I still have many pages to go. I really enjoy reading all of your posts.

Yesterday, I had my original 6 chickens and my wonderful husband was about chickened out. He's been building me the coop with the hopes that we can quit talking about them all the time, lol. So, today I was talking to my friend and she said that she and her husband have contained all of their bantam roos and they are finding new homes for them or her husband is going to shoot them and put them in the freezer. Well, I'm on the pet end of chicken keeping right now, so this makes me just a little queasy. I live on 10 wooded acres and I have too many bugs, so I was thinking rather than let them go to "freezer camp" I'd put them to work at my house eating my bugs. Apparently, they roost in trees, won't need a shelter until winter (which seems to be the schedule we are on for the other 6...our coop is taking forever) and they don't eat much. I am now the proud owner of 6 bantam roos and 2 year old Easter Egger hens. It turns out that one of the bantys and one of the Easter Eggers are in love with each other and can't be separated. Since these particular Easter Eggers won't stay in their coop area and fly a lot, they came home too. Am I crazy? Probably, but I still think that they can be useful and none of my neighbors seem to have a problem with crowing. I hope they won't end up food for something, but maybe when the coop is done, I can talk them inside. Either way, its got to be somewhat better than the freezer they were headed for.

Here are the new additions:
I have no idea what kind they are but I think the reds and the black are really pretty.
I think they are going to take over the woodshed. Not sure if its safe from predators, but I hope so.

The hens have had too much attention from the other roos where they used to live, but I am hoping they will get their feathers back here. It would be really nice if they can learn to be friends with my chicks someday.

Progress is messy and slow, but we have screened in windows, steps, siding, nesting box, and half of the roof. We still need to do the attached covered run, add the actual windows, add vents, and finish the inside.The covered run will have a layer of gravel and then about 3 inches or more of sand to keep them dry. I hope we are getting close to the halfway point because two of my chicks are roos and have started crowing in the basement. Its really unfortunate because my husbands office is also down there and he works from home. Its getting awkward trying to explain on conference calls.

I hope you all had a great holiday weekend and thank you for sharing all of your information. I really appreciate all the knowledge.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Today has been a horribly sad day for me. I am going to be spending tomorrow with my rifle in hand watching my goose pen. Late this morning, I went out to check my geese & ducks, discovered grey feathers everywhere and some very frightened birds. All was fine around 6 am when I checked them. My oldest DD checked at 10am before she went to work, since we had merged the birds we wanted to make sure no one was being picked on. So between 10am and 1145am, something entered the pen, and took my little wry neck goose. Hope is gone

my poor baby girl. I am just heartbroke over it. She was still pretty small, maybe 5 pounds at the most. My geese stayed in the pen this week, I combined them with the babies Monday evening and all was going very well. So tonight, I go back out and feed them, check again... Now my pekin drake isn't out there either!?!?!

I AM JUST LIVID! I am just sick over it, and he was a fairly large duck! This may be a large fox, or possibly coyote? If I have to sit in the middle of the pen all day, this animal will be dispatched! Only evidence is feathers. Last week, my muscovy drake was attacked and had puncture wounds on his neck. Its happening in the late morning hours. I assumed it was because he and the girls were out with the chickens like they usually are. So, I penned all of them up. Every bird here is locked up and not free ranging! I am strongly suspecting a fox, our neighbor on the corner lost his entire duck flock a month or so ago, and saw the creature with the last one dangling from its mouth. By time he got his rifle it was gone. Until I can secure their pen and cover it, they will move back to the main chicken coop, with the enclosed top. Not risking any more of my babies safety. We had purchased wire for electric fencing Tuesday & already bought the charger unit a few weeks ago. Its going to be put up this weekend!
I have always let all my birds free range and my original flock is just pacing at the fence, they don't understand why they cant be out. This last 2 weeks has been terribly dangerous for them, and it will change immediately. they will remain penned until this problem is resolved.

 

[Mother2Hens]

Oh my gosh, Janet! That is horrible. I'm glad you're putting the electric fence up. I posted this recently, but here it is again in case it helps.