INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Chaneys Ranch]

I'm going to give an "opinion" so I want to be sure I say that right up front.

I would NOT use sand as a base in any chicken house. It is very hard to keep clean and it also harbors bacteria and fungus. When it gets wet it freezes and I'm thinking can even contribute to frostbite in the winter as it is not able to get dried out under those conditions.

I definitely recommend wood chips or wood shavings. And you could possibly even use some dried leaves, etc, built up to a deep bedding. If you use leaves indoors I recommend "shredded" leaves (just run them over w/the lawn mower before bagging them up as the whole leaves take a bit longer to break down).

Okay. Opinion over.


ETA:
I found out that tree services often like to drop off wood chips if they're working in your area as they prefer not to have to dispose of them.

You might try calling local tree services and see if they'll bring you some when they're working in the neighborhood. Many will do it for free. I would keep calling around until you find one that gives them free

After it "cures" (let it set a couple of months...you'll begin to see those piles get full of worms) you can use it in your chicken coop. And it makes a great substrate for your outdoor pens so that the ground doesn't get all compacted. And you get some worms too for feed. Free bedding and free food all at once.


You can see the wood chips down in this outside pen/run.

I do the same for my outside pens. They love it!

I just wanted to warn any of you that have cichlids, we went to walmart to get fish food, because it was close during the bad weather. We got the red small pellets and gave them to our fish. We had 20ish cichlids (adults and babies) plus our two giant algae eaters. My husband cleaned the tank yesterday when we noticed that foo had turned everything red, and we noticed the fish had been hiding more than usual. They were dead! All but our big algea eaters and 1 cichlid. Thats all we have left. Do not buy walmart cichlid pellets! We had those fish and their descendants for 3 years.
Here are the 3 we have left. The smaller algea eater we have had for 10 years and the larger one is over 20 years old. I'm glad we didn't lose them.

oh, noo, I would be furious! I am soo sorry

I have andy and opie, both are oscars. They are over 2 years old now, that would upset me to.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Quote: WOW! Was it the display? That's incredible. One good sheet of plywood is almost that much!

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Everyone be careful with the flu this year. I heard today my cousin who is only a year older than me, 37, died today from it in Indy. He was in an induced coma and on heart and lung machines. He was healthy before he got it. It's really bad this season!!!

Oh no, I am so sorry to hear it. How young!

 

[bradselig]

WOW! Was it the display? That's incredible. One good sheet of plywood is almost that much!

Nope, still palletized never been opened.

So I ordered those latex bands to use as a leg band on chicks 6 days ago. They have just now shipped them and failed to reply to the multiple messages I sent them! Hopefully they come quick.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Mornin...cark-crrrrr-ooooodle-ooooo. Lol
(I have a north easter roo, hehehe)

Hehehehe! love it

The big snow and bigger freeze was tough on us. The girls were fine, but DW fell at work and now requires surgery. We're going this afternoon, so I'll catch up reading the posts while I'm in the waiting room. Wish us luck!

I am so sorry, hope she mends quickly!

Well, I got my eggs set tonight. I didn't get them in last night as I didn't have everything to install a fan into my other LG bator. I'm trying to limit myself to incubating by not using my cabinet incubator, but now I just have 2 little giant incubators going with 3 dozen eggs in each. I have no self control.

I set bantam eggs with sally.. and now my quail are laying well, so yep, I caved~

 

[leslea]

Evening. Totally new to chickens, but have been reading up on them for years. Pretty excited...we are "expecting" six bantam babies in May!

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Quote:
I was trying to hand milk but ran into problems, 1. Arthritis 2. Sugar had very low milk supply, and Sophie really drained her!
I am purchasing one of these 2 by spring...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/161076844221?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649
or
http://www.ebay.com/itm/200949480777?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649
Hoping Sugar will produce better his year, it was her first freshening.

 

[BackyardBitten]

Everyone be careful with the flu this year. I heard today my cousin who is only a year older than me, 37, died today from it in Indy. He was in an induced coma and on heart and lung machines. He was healthy before he got it. It's really bad this season!!!

so sorry to hear about your cousin. : ( I work in the medical field and have seen how bad it is this year!

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Quote: If you need bigger ones, the dollar places sell some for young girls hair. They are larger than the tiny ebay ones and they stretch a bit more. They are not as sturdy as the ebay ones though. Still I had issues with the ebay ones. If you like them (ebay ones) and want more, I'll mail you mine. They are tiny though maybe good for quail but the large fowl chicks grow out of them too fast for me.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

HEY ALL I GOT A BRAIN TEASER FOR YA

I have a Buff Op hen I got last spring she was 1 of 17 or 18 that was said to come from a chicken factory. She had NO feathers and was really skinny. I got her fat and her feathers all came in perfect, but she is VERY MEAN. She is broody and has been for 3 mths. now she cant or wont stand up. I have looked her all over and can find no injuries. she is very thin AGAIN and I brought her in the house and put food right next to her. She eat it up but then she vomitted it up.4 times!!! didnt know chickens could even do that. Whats up anyone know?

I saw you had a lot of good answers, hope she improves.

So I learned a hard lesson this morning. Some one suggested I place a heat lamp on my broody and her babies. I did not for many reasons. Chief among them my fear of fire in the barn. As a result I lost two of my four chicks. The other two are now in the house and appear to be doing just fine. The problem seems to be it was too cold for the chicks to move away from their momma and get food and water.

I feel horrible. In the future, if I let a broody hatch in this sort of weather, I will make sure to bring the babies inside after they have all hatched and dried. Please learn from my mistake friends.

Oh no, am so sorry to hear

I have one of the RIR pipping in the bater now the other 2 RIR eggs in there are slowly just calling for me to candle but it is lockdown. I need to find an incubator that can candle the eggs while in lockdown. Someone has to have one. If not maybe I can get Brad to repurpose me a wine cooler as an incubator hatcher with its own candler. After all he is getting some deep discounts at his lowes.

hatching vibes!

More pictures

Nosey boys!

The babies are getting close to laying!!
And I discovered someone has decided the hay in the barn is a good place to lay! I should probably add some more nest boxes soon!!

I think one of my EEs is egg bound

she hasn't layed for a while but she's been in the nest boxes quite frequently. This morning I found a yolk with no shell in the box she was in when I closed up the coop last night. Today she's standing around all fluffed up and hasn't hardly left the coop. Anything I can do for her?

For those of you that hatch: is it worth it to try to build a bator or would I be better off just buying one when they go on sale this spring? Also what do you do with all your chicks? I'd like to try my hand at hatching but I'm not sure I have room to house a bunch!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The baby moo's are looking great! I am soo hooked on mine

How old are your pullets, about 12-14 weeks? It wont be long.
If you are any good with electricity you can make a great one, cheap.
I used an igloo cooler, hot water heater thermostat and a ceramic light fixture.
PC fan and AC phone adapter.
Very much like this one..
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/8510/chic-chick-bator-updated
I did line the bottom with 1 " patio brick pieces for a heat sync and a water dish.
Put 1/4 inch hardware cloth over it and used shelf liner to protect their feet.
I have also used paper towel.
I plan to add a window this year so I can peek!
I had no problems hatching geese in there last spring.
We do eat many of the roosters. The pullets are very easy to sell usually.
I also offer chicks for sale, but it gets hard to compete with the feed stores in may!