INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Mother2Hens]

I was 15 during that blizzard, lived in South Bend. The snow was so deep in some areas that my snowmobile would not be able to move. The snow would frame out and the belt under it would evacuate the snow and I would be stuck. First time it happened I did not know what the problem was until I stepped off into 3 feet deep snow!

That's all true. I was a paperboy at the time, we didn't even get the South Bend Tribune at my house to deliver to my customers for 5 days!

I was a senior at IU. My roommates and I had cabin fever so we pulled a sled down to "the liquor store." Of course it was open! Haha I think the owner lived above it. We loaded up the sled and pulled it back to our house. We felt like pioneers! Ha! I also remember talking on the phone to my parents in Evansville who said that the snow had come down so fast that people had to abandon their cars in the road and have rescue vehicles pick them up.

 

[minmin1258]

M2H - Thinking about you..hope you find that it isn't what we think it is. 

Brad... Spray the lock into th keyhole with WD40. Wait a minute or two then stick th key in.

 

[minmin1258]

If you pour water on it you're likely to get it even more frozen. They do have the lock thaw stuff that you spray on frozen locks but you'd have to go to the store anyway. I vote to buy more feed if you're going and wait for the lock to thaw. Or use the hair dryer. Here's an idea if you have any hand sanitizer. Disclaimer...I've never tried it!

[quote url=""]

1. • 1Carefully remove any ice that may be on the outside of the lock and handle. Don't pick at it with anything sharp, as you can ruin the paint on the car.
   • 2Using a lighter, hold your key in the flame for a few seconds and then insert the key into the lock as far as it will go. Once it reaches its limit, withdraw the key. Reheat with the lighter, and insert into the lock once again. Repeat this process as often as it takes.
   • [IMG]http://img.ehowcdn.com/article...04/fb/pv/thaw-out-lock-1.3-800x800.jpg[/IMG] If you don't have a lighter available, grab some hand sanitizer. Put some around the lock and some in the palm of your hand. Take your key and smother it with the sanitizer that is in your hand. Insert your key into the lock. The sanitizer contains alcohol, which will melt the ice when it comes into contact with it. As the key is injected into the lock, it should break up the ice on the inside also. If the lock does not thaw on the first try, continue the process until it does.

Read more: [COLOR=003399]http://www.ehow.com/how_4697919_thaw-out-lock.html#ixzz2pfTPN56w[/COLOR]​

[/quote]Spray WD40 in the lock and on th key.

 

[Mother2Hens]

We use nipples on 3/4" PVC and thermostatically controlled heat tape. It works great!

I'm going to have to do something like that. After reading about E. coli infections in chickens, I went out in the coop to find that the heated dog bowl full of water had dirt and mulch kicked in it! I change the water a few times a day when they are stuck in the coop because of bad weather, but it's tough to keep it clean. On the other hand, they dig around in the same dirt and find microscopic snacks, so who knows.
EE Wet Beards
I know that many of you have mentioned combs and wattles getting wet/frozen from drinking out of bowls. I've been meaning to mention that my EE's beard is often wet, and it's not always from drinking out of a bowl. Most of the time it's from free ranging in damp foliage, etc. I assume others have this problem? Maybe it doesn't matter since that area is not likely to get frostbite?
hogster ~ Good to hear from you! I had just been wondering about you.
Whew, that was a close call about snow coming in your coop!
In case you didn't see these posts, here's where you can find info posted about Frostbite:
Frostbite info from "Chicken Health" can be found on page 1901 and 1934.
Link to Frostbite info that CRSelvey recently posted: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/741901/rooster-with-swollen-comb-and-wattles
Leahs Mom posted info on page 1911.
Originally Posted by goatluver20
Finger froze to latch on chicken coop. Be careful everybody!
goatluver ~ I had that happen this morning when I was changing their water-- reminded me of using Super Glue!
Too Fast ~ I love sound of the current weather pattern: "Polar Vortex" It sounds kind of futuristic, but in actuality is no fun. Your photo is fantastic! I'm wondering if you "beamed up" Old Salt. Is that him in the glowing orb?

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Well...went out this am and it feels like a "heat wave" compared to what I thought it would be. 30 degrees F.

Supposed to be in the negatives by tonight, but I thought it was going to be here this morning. I even opened the door on the hen shed and left it full open since there is no wind. Snow is HEAVY and coming STRAIGHT DOWN. I have to keep the sun canopy cleared or it will come down (it's just an old swimming pool cover). Was out almost 2 hours shoveling snow from the kennel run as we're expecting more and I'm trying to keep ground visible so the kiddos will go out.

If I hadn't kept up with shoveling it out there would be about 3 ft of snow in it already.. More coming.

Sun canopy (old swimming pool cover...imagine that thing w/ 3 ft. of snow! I'm impressed it hasn't already totally caved in. We have to keep knocking the snow down from it.

you aren't kidding. today was miserable! One more day of these horrible temps.
my muscovy and chinese are not taking the cold well at all. the 6 chinese and 4 scovies are in the porch tonight.
My scovy hen Huey may have frostbite on one foot

it looked swollen and she would not move.
She is my sweetie, and is in the garage for the night since she is the dominant duck, and will go after the other 2.
She will fly and perch on my shoulder, the barn, and any tree she chooses! For a scovy she is unusually friendly.
I had to laugh when I read your post, we had a pool liner from one of the framed cheap swimming pools.
I used it for the egg coop this time to cover the roof and its working great!

 

[Leahs Mom]

I'm going to have to do something like that. After reading about E. coli infections in chickens, I went out in the coop to find that the heated dog bowl full of water had dirt and mulch kicked in it! I change the water a few times a day when they are stuck in the coop because of bad weather, but it's tough to keep it clean. On the other hand, they dig around in the same dirt and find microscopic snacks, so who knows.

If your deep litter is working correctly, it should be keeping bad microbs in balance by having a good bacteria (healthy bacteria) balance to counteract the bad. There are ways to encourage that as well.

Restricted opening waterers. Keeps wattles out and depending on how you do them, keeps them cleaner. When I used nipples they dropped too much water and I think they could be a frostbite hazard as there was always water under them and running on the bird's wattles. THEY DIDN'T LEAK. They just released a lot of water that doesn't get ingested by the birds thus wet under them and dripping down the bird's faces.

You could try something like this with your dog bowl..then you just take out the waterer and clean it...much easier than keeping a dog bowl clean.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/730582/indiana-bycers-here/19100#post_12579805

Sorry if I sound like a "broken record".

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Hey guys, can we use our salamander heater in our barn with the chickens in there? We used it last year for the alpacas and they were fine. We crack the big garage door for ventilation. We only run it for a half hour at a time. It doesn't put off fumes that we can smell, but I wasn't sure about the chickens. It plugs into the wall and runs on kerosene k-1.

We have a few too, use them in the barn. I rarely notice odor. We run diesel fuel in them usually since its a lil bit cheaper.
In a large area like a barn i bet you are ok, hoe big is the building?

 

[Mother2Hens]

M2H you get the BYC mother of the year award I think! I hope everything goes okay tomorrow and your daughter gets feeling better. I heard yesterday my cousin in Indy is in the hospital in an induced coma with H1N1. Scary stuff!
kabhyper ~ Not sure about the award, but thanks for your support.
That is terrible news-- I hope your cousin pulls through. Things like that put troubles in perspective.

Originally Posted by Kiniska
Kiniska ~ Aww-- Conjoined Twins! You have that "sleepy" black cat, too. Just teasing you! That photo is adorable-- and so was your b-day kitten photo.

 

[Mother2Hens]

If your deep litter is working correctly, it should be keeping bad microbs in balance by having a good bacteria (healthy bacteria) balance to counteract the bad. There are ways to encourage that as well.

Restricted opening waterers. Keeps wattles out and depending on how you do them, keeps them cleaner. When I used nipples they dropped too much water and I think they could be a frostbite hazard as there was always water under them and running on the bird's wattles. THEY DIDN'T LEAK. They just released a lot of water that doesn't get ingested by the birds thus wet under them and dripping down the bird's faces.

You could try something like this with your dog bowl..then you just take out the waterer and clean it...much easier than keeping a dog bowl clean.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/730582/indiana-bycers-here/19100#post_12579805

Sorry if I sound like a "broken record".

Leahs Mom ~ No, I often feel like a "broken record" but not everyone sees every post. I remember yours, but at the time, I wasn't worried about my dog bowl since I used it last year. However, I have a chick waterer like yours, so I am going to try that! Thanks for positing it again! I'm also glad to know about the microbe theory because I started worrying about the deep litter method being a problem since they dig around in it especially when shut in due to weather.
Pipd ~ I been catching up on posts and noticed that you've been ill. Thank you even more for taking the time to write a long post about Jersey's health!
(As I mentioned earlier, I appreciate everyone's concern. I've mentioned many times that she's my favorite chicken although I do love them all very much. Never thought I'd have chickens, much less be so crazy about them!)

 

[kabhyper1]

We have a few too, use them in the barn. I rarely notice odor. We run diesel fuel in them usually since its a lil bit cheaper.
In a large area like a barn i bet you are ok, hoe big is the building?

It is a 33x50, but we have it divided by tarps to keep it warmer, so 33x25 right now. We haven't used the salamander though. The barn is staying 14 degrees as of an hour ago. It has been with-in 3 or so degrees of that all day and they are all doing really well, so I hopefully won't need it.