INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[hoosiercheetah]

I'll be honest, I'm posting this post so I'll have 20, and I can participate in the buy-sell-trade forum. :-D

Oh wait, I thought of a legit question!

I've been reading up on fermented feed, and I still have some reading to go, but this occurred to me last night - since I'm buying half-grown chickens from other people's flocks, will I need to do a gradual transition from the food that they're used to, like you do with a cat or a dog? Or will chickens go directly from one feed to another with no problems? From what I've read about chickens' eat-anything-that-holds-still-long-enough tendencies, I suspect that a transition would not be necessary. What do you think?

 

[PeacefulWalls]

My second broody girl has finished her hatch -- 7 of the 9 eggs. The 8th chick had the top half of the shell off, but must have gotten stuck trying to get out. The 9th egg had no signs of hatching -- of course it was the blue egg from my EE. The 7 other hatched chicks will be 6 weeks old tomorrow already! Late Tuesday afternoon I picked up the chicks I ordered (isa browns, australorps, barred rocks, easter eggers and assorted bantams (my daughter's)). The light brahmas I ordered were unavailable this month, but that's OK since I have a bunch of chicks now. Before my daughter & I left the feed mill she looked in the box and one of the bantams looked dead, so they gave her money back for that one. We took it with us and on the way home she realized it still had a bit of life to it, so we were trying to decide what to do. After we got home I ran to TSC for the second time that day and got some savachick electrolytes. Got back, went to the barn for an empty water jug to mix it up in and peeked at my new babies. The broody had hatched them in a rabbit nest box and one of the chicks had fallen out of the box, couldn't get back in and was lying next to it (of course this was the 36 degree day so super cold.) I thought this one was dead too, but there was a bit of life in it. So we did what we do with our "lazarus" baby bunnies that have almost chilled to death -- put them down our shirts so they're next to our skin, lay a towel over to help hold in the warmth and bring them back to life!! I'm not sure how many baby bunnies and now chicks I have saved over the years doing this, but it usually works! I knew that the hatched chick was suffering from the cold and apparently the little bantam had gotten too cold, too. It gradually got energy and is now bouncing around with the rest of the chicks like it never had a problem

. And I've also taken the broody and her chicks out of the nest box so they can run around and get under momma whenever they need to.

 

[racinchickins]

I'll be honest, I'm posting this post so I'll have 20, and I can participate in the buy-sell-trade forum. :-D

Oh wait, I thought of a legit question!

I've been reading up on fermented feed, and I still have some reading to go, but this occurred to me last night - since I'm buying half-grown chickens from other people's flocks, will I need to do a gradual transition from the food that they're used to, like you do with a cat or a dog? Or will chickens go directly from one feed to another with no problems? From what I've read about chickens' eat-anything-that-holds-still-long-enough tendencies, I suspect that a transition would not be necessary. What do you think?

I've not heard of any problems transitioning. I've tried a couple of different kinds of feed, and never seen any issues either. I'm getting ready to go back to fermenting food now that it is warming up. For that, I will be doing a transition. I'll still make pellets available, and gradually take them away.

 

[racinchickins]

I candled the 3 BR turkey eggs from Jchny2000 this morning to put them in lockdown. 1 was a definite quitter sometime in the last week. 1 was a maybe - it hadn't quite filled up the egg to the air cell, but I could still see veins and possibly movement. The third was a go - definite movement as soon as I candled it.

So 2/3 are now in lockdown. Hatch is hoped for Easter Sunday!

 

[Schroeder]

This temperature plunge pointed out to me the value of NOT heating my coops. I have 15 three month olds in a coop with an attached run and a pop door on a photocell. The chicks have just gotten brave enough to go outside into the run. When they first start, they're not always good about getting back inside before dark, when the door shuts them out. Three nights ago I remembered to go out and carry the stragglers inside. The next night I forgot and 5 of them spent the night huddled together next to the outside wall when it got below 30 degrees.

I carried them inside the next morning before sunrise and hung a heat lamp a few feet off the floor to warm them up. All of them are back to normal, but had they not been acclimated to the cold, I think I may have lost them. I have since removed the heat lamp.

 

[hoosiercheetah]

This temperature plunge pointed out to me the value of NOT heating my coops... I have since removed the heat lamp.

Is your coop double-walled and insulated, like a house? I'm trying to decide on the final setup for mine. The shed I've converted is a stud-and-sheath construction, but right now there's nothing covering the studs on the inside. I'm going to panel the inside before winter, for sure, (probably with 1/4 inch osb) but I haven't decided on whether or not the expense of insulation will be worth it.

 

[bradselig]

Is your coop double-walled and insulated, like a house?  I'm trying to decide on the final setup for mine.  The shed I've converted is a stud-and-sheath construction, but right now there's nothing covering the studs on the inside.  I'm going to panel the inside before winter, for sure, (probably with 1/4 inch osb) but I haven't decided on whether or not the expense of insulation will be worth it.

My coop is built like yours. I have not added any insulation or any other type of barrier on the inside. My chickens did fine this past winter with no additional heat

 

[Schroeder]

Is your coop double-walled and insulated, like a house? I'm trying to decide on the final setup for mine. The shed I've converted is a stud-and-sheath construction, but right now there's nothing covering the studs on the inside. I'm going to panel the inside before winter, for sure, (probably with 1/4 inch osb) but I haven't decided on whether or not the expense of insulation will be worth it.

Yes. I had invested so much in the coop that I decided not to worry about the extra cost for the insulation. I like using that slick, white 4x8 sheets of "shower board" on the inside because its slick surface cleans up easily. Is this overkill...probably. Most agree that as long as you keep any drafts off the birds, they will survive just fine. It just seems it would be a lot harder to keep the coop as clean as I like, without the shower board. With the shower board, I just decided, "Why not fill the space with insulation?".

 

[CVAN732000]

Following...

 

[browncow15]

Is your coop double-walled and insulated, like a house?  I'm trying to decide on the final setup for mine.  The shed I've converted is a stud-and-sheath construction, but right now there's nothing covering the studs on the inside.  I'm going to panel the inside before winter, for sure, (probably with 1/4 inch osb) but I haven't decided on whether or not the expense of insulation will be worth it.

We covered the inside of ours with 1/4 in osb and painted it with kilz, but didn't add insulation. I wish we hadn't done the ceiling that way, it's made it a little harder to add ventilation. This winter the coop stayed about 5 to 10 degrees warmer than outside and we had some minor frost bite.