INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[SallyinIndiana]

Quote:

Just talked to a friend that had a close call last night. He had taken his dog outside & heard his hens squawking. When he opened the door to the coop smoke poured out. He had been worried about the cold temps and turned on the heat lamp he uses for chicks. Apparently it had fallen & had started smoldering. Good thing he went out when he did or he would have lost it all!

I took our heat light out of the coop. We now use rope lighting for the most part. I have a spiral 16W bulb in one of the brooder fixtures and heater water dishes but that is it. I could use another heated water dish.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Sally - do those ropes put out heat or just light?

 

[leslea]

That's the best way to do it. Draw something up. I like your rainbarrel, my wife wants to do a rainbarrel, but I'm not sure it's a good idea with our cedar shake roof. Guess I'll keep taking their water out by hand. We buried our 2x4 welded wire/hardware cloth combination 2 feet out all along the perimeter, and have had no attacks and we sleep well at night. I like how you say you can 'budget' now. I had a 'budget' in mind of $4-500, ended up almost $1100. Kept all our reciepts, not sure if it was a smart thing to do! Our 7 girls have given us 35 eggs/week since mid July, now down to about 30, and we are now closing in on 1,000 eggs.

So, almost down to $1 per egg! You go, girls!






I was going to bury the wire down 2 feet vertically, but quickly gave up on that. Hard concrete clay soil!!!!!

Your coop is too lovely. Great colors.

I salute you for that digging prowess. Maybe if I put all the boys to work at it...what time of year did you dig?

I definitely am not even trying to convince hubs this is a money-saving mission. Spreading out the cost of materials breaks it to him more gently, though!

This morning he said "You know those chickens will probably grow on me, too, because the chicks will be cute and I love animals." I foresee a man with a silkie on his lap! The more chicken dudes he sees on YouTube the friendlier he seems to be to the project. I guess he just thought of BYC as a bunch of crunchy housewives (like me).

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Just talked to a friend that had a close call last night.  He had taken his dog outside & heard his hens squawking.  When he opened the door to the coop smoke poured out.  He had been worried about the cold temps and turned on the heat lamp he uses for chicks.  Apparently it had fallen & had started smoldering.  Good thing he went out when he did or he would have lost it all!

Phew, lucky he checked! This is really scary to me, how easy it happens. I get that some people have no choice when it comes to their babies and cold-sensitive species, but I do wonder when people are going to learn that adult chickens need no help in the cold.


A couple things worth noting that I picked up on recently:

I had always wondered about this, but I finally came across someone with the same thoughts as me. Adding heat to your coop in cold weather can actually make frostbite worse by allowing moisture to stay in the air. Cold air is dry air, and dry air is optimal for the health of the birds.

Another thing that requires a bit of a story to explain--I have a rooster that lives on his own in a pen with a house for him to huddle in. He almost never goes inside, instead sleeping on top of said house behind the wind barrier tarp I put up on his pen. Only one and a half sides of his pen are covered, enough for a wind block at the back corner where his house is. He has never had frostbite and he slept on top of his house in the subzero temps we had a little less than two weeks ago. Meanwhile, two of my hens living in my coop had frostbitten wattles on those same days. This seems to me like proof of what others have said before me, that it isn't just the cold that causes frostbite, but the combination of cold and moisture. (And it also tells me that I need to work on the winter ventilation in my coop. )

From this, I've concluded that adequate ventilation will help to prevent frostbite more than adding heat to your coop will. Plus, you don't have the risk of fire hazard or losing power suddenly!

A very good, very detailed, very BIG page about ventilation and why you probably don't have enough: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/...-go-out-there-and-cut-more-holes-in-your-coop

And here's an awesome open air coop used year round without being closed up for the winter, as further proof that cold isn't the enemy--moisture is!: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/445004/woods-style-house-in-the-winter


ETA: Correction about that rooster. His name is Toes, and he's called Toes because he lost his toes to frostbite many, many years ago in the time known as 'before I knew better'. I believe he got frostbite when he was in a small pen because we didn't have anywhere else for him to go. Still, not a result of cold, but a result of inadequate air exchange, and he hasn't had frostbite since he's moved to his current pen. This guy is going to be 9 years old in April and he's still kicking in spite of all he's been through.

 

[leslea]

She doesn't sew them either, just cuts rectangles, staples them up and let's them look cute until the season changes or the mood strikes to update from what I've read.

Hrm...they were so pretty I just thought they must be fancy! I think I can manage cutting and stapling! I don't have the kind of built-in nest box area she has and I really think I'm going to use that trio of shelves now (after schlepping them around for ten years, I might as well), but I might be able to put a board on top and work this out. Hrm...

 

[leslea]

Solved the lonely chick problem. Took a rubber ducky, and draped a fuzzy piece of fleece over it.
She is the image of her mom as a chick, very happy to have her!
The baby can come and go under the "wings". Hoping at least 1 more hatch.
If not the next round of bantam chicks/quail is in a 2 days.

Aw...pics!

 

[leslea]

TF - those coop photos are wonderful! But the hawk thing is maddening. I'm hoping for some "creative" hawk-ridding" ideas to work before next spring comes around.

Chicken hawk web

I don't know if I will get hawks here, but I've heard owls and I hope this will work.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Sally - do those ropes put out heat or just light?

Not that I have noticed. And definitely not a significant amount to melt snow or warm a coop. Our coop is COLD on the cold days. The chickens have not huddled in a long time though. Should they huddle, I might lose some of the smaller ones. There are 3 that I am keeping a watch over, still not bringing them inside though. All three are not cold hardy breeds and are not fully grown. But they are too big for my house. There is a big minus to getting chicks hatched in Oct. Big plus too if they start laying by Easter.

 

[Mother2Hens]

As of 815am, I have soprano and baritone roosters. René, the Birchen Maran, has finally decided that he too is a singer.
Big Roo no longer has to take care of everything.

lilmizscareall ~ Haha You'll have to take a video if they perform a duet!

Re: Broody Bonbon
Leahs Mom posted: It is possible. I'd just keep watching her and see what happens. If you could get her to do her laying inside rather than outside, that would be better so that she doesn't have to retreat from the weather.

Leahs Mom ~If Bonbon really becomes broody, then I would relocate her to a safe place. My Four Mean Hens have been laying in this plastic box in the garage instead of the coop. All six chickens were having a ruckus this morning about the box. The orps seemed to contemplate using the box, but the others seemed to be protesting. DH noticed the Orps browsing other areas of the garage . . . I'll have to take a look around later. It would be nice if they followed directions from chicken books and laid in their nesting boxes! As I've said before, they like to use a favorite place for a while and then find a new favorite place, much like cats do.

Snowy Owls
I posted a link recently about Snowy Owl sightings in northern Indiana. Now we have one way down south. Wildlife officials just relocated a Snowy Owl from our airport (not far from me) to an area farther north. Airport people kept having to scare the owl away because they aren't afraid of airplanes. Apparently Snowy Owls that are experiencing their first winter can get lost and end up in unusual places. They're larger than Great Horned Owls.

 

[CRSelvey]

Middle girl is an ee - hatchery called her an Auracana but the hatchery type isn't authentic. Lays a blue egg that you see in my icon bucket. (This one is Charlie.)
The bottom girl is a Swedish Flower Hen. She is Emma. Or Queen Emma depending on which part of the flock she's with.

I should have recognized Her Highness right away, my mistake

Hrm...they were so pretty I just thought they must be fancy! I think I can manage cutting and stapling! I don't have the kind of built-in nest box area she has and I really think I'm going to use that trio of shelves now (after schlepping them around for ten years, I might as well), but I might be able to put a board on top and work this out. Hrm...

I think you can too, and I've love to see pics if you do!

Snowy Owls
I posted a link recently about Snowy Owl sightings in northern Indiana. Now we have one way down south. Wildlife officials just relocated a Snowy Owl from our airport (not far from me) to an area farther north. Airport people kept having to scare the owl away because they aren't afraid of airplanes. Apparently Snowy Owls that are experiencing their first winter can get lost and end up in unusual places. They're larger than Great Horned Owls.

The night before last, I was in my son's room getting him ready for bed when something GIANT flew into our mudroom and right back out again. The porch light was on and the door was open from letting the dogs out, but I still couldn't tell what it was. I know its wingspan was at least 4 ft but it was so quick leaving I couldn't get a good idea of what it was. Lucy was in a crate inside of the mudroom, so it really scared me.