INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Leahs Mom]

Quote:
I agree. And if there is a power outage, you're in trouble unless you bring them inside your house....and that would assume that you have heat working in the house during a power outage. If you don't, then where do they go to avoid an extreme temperature drop?

Then...you have to re-acclimate for them to go back out again.

 

[kittydoc]

My impacted Australorp hen is completely back to normal now! This was Day 3 of treatment. I want to thank@Leahs Mom and @hoosiercheetah for their suggestions.

What I did was isolate her and only offered water. I did not have coconut oil, but I crop tubed her twice with 5 cc olive oil plus 10 or 20 cc water. I massaged her crop firmly several times per day. I appreciated the cautions about possible aspiration, but my hen did not have much fluid in her crop, and I massaged her crop very low on her body. It went down significantly every day, and there was more and more poop. She also received 1/2 cc of short-acting penicillin daily, which I will continue for 2 more days to help avoid the development of drug resistant bacteria. She felt feverish for 2 days. Today her crop was totally empty, she did not feel hot, her tail carriage was normal, and there was more normal poop. I let her rejoin the flock this morning.

I read somewhere that a dose of docusate (Colace) could be given, and I did...but wouldn't again. The diarrhea was massive. Olive oil worked better, giving her a little extra nutrition while softening the fibers. Her poop was normal consistency with olive oil.

I also tried to get her to regurgitate some at the very beginning by holding her at a 60 degree downward angle over my knee, but the material in her crop was apparently too dry or thick. There is a description of this written by a poultry vet on The Chicken Chick's blog. Whatever you do, NEVER hold your bird directly upside down. They will likely aspirate and die a few days later. There is a YouTube video of this WRONG way, so beware. His bird died.

I am going to pull all the corn stalks today. We had pathetic corn, but I think that may have been the cause.

Call me happy all went well!

 

[kittydoc]

I believe in providing heat in bitter conditions like last winter. We use heat lamps, but I'd love to have a Sweeter Heater. They only heat the birds, not the coop. But they're expensive. If you have a Brinsea brooder heater, it's the same idea, only larger.

Even with the heat lamp (which we turned off when it was above 15 or 20 degrees), we nearly lost two low-ranking hens to hypothermia. They lived in the garage for 2 months because the others forced them out of the henhouse.

The other girls did great with heat as needed. During the worst of winter, heat was on 24/7 for a week, but during "warm" spells, we turned it off.

We also added insulation around the henhouse, and we put up transparent heavy plastic about 3 feet high to reduce wind and blowing snow for the bottom of the coop.

Just my 2 cents!

 

[Leahs Mom]

I had the same issue last year with some of the older girls barring the doors so the younger ones couldn't come inside. I had no incidents because I was aware it was going on and was able to respond. This year, if any bird behaves that way, it will be removed from my flock permanently.

 

[chick rookie]

These are my 6 month old girls.

Welcome to your new home away from home

I am in Lexington IN, right between Scottsburg and Madison,

BTW, look what I got in my email today..... http://i.imgur.com/FOu1xNP.png ( I wasn't able to upload the image )

​

Congrats!!! Thats exciting cant wait to see pic's

You know you MUST post pic's right??? It's a unwritten rule...

Hello everyone! Going to try to catch up some tonight. A big WELCOME to any new members to our thread I have missed! Also would like to thank atrueb00 who has graciously offered to be a contributor. Please forward any new events, ideas, or good links of value for our member page to atrueb00 to share.
Things are slowing down and settling in finally. Dads feeling GREAT and is out in the yard a bit taking short walks. He was amazed to see our "little Wilbur" at about 400 pounds! I was able to finally add piglets Sunday evening. 2 gilts, 1 boar and a feeder. Trying again for a good set of breeders.
It looks like all the "seasonal birds" are done for the season. Haven't got a turkey egg in a week. So once the incubator is empty, its off till spring

really gonna do it!!!!
Hope all of you, and families / flocks are doing well.

So happy for you and your dad and family every time I hear good news about him. Thats great and before ya know it he will be compleatly back to his ol' self.

I am so nervous! Just got 2 ayam cemani eggs. Picking them up tomorrow. I not sure how I'm going to handle the stress over these next 21 days!

I had NO IDEAL what those were so ... goggle to the rescue ... and what it showed me ... well shocked me at first, then the more I looked at I noticed such beautiful feathering and a nice streamline body and it all MATCHED!! Very cool. Congrats

cant wait to see pic's of them when they hatch.

Yikes! I just saw on Greenfire Farms website that a pair goes for $2K!

Wish I had some extras to get rid of...

2K, I'm sorry but I DON'T THINK SO!!!!!

She didn't open her eyes at first. She couldn't; she wasn't present enough to make those kinds of decisions. She was merely aware, and that only dimly, but brightening by slow degrees. Her first awareness was the coolness around her. The coolness was not unpleasant, but it was punctuated here and there with little icy pricks, like walking in tall thistle. The pricks of icy cold she did not care for, not one bit.

Her next awareness was that the cold prickles were wet. On the heals of this revelation was that the cool was also wet, not it a sopping way, but in a damp way, like walking in tall thistle in the early morning. This picture, this sense of walking in tall prickly thistle in the cool and damp, filled her awareness for a few moments. Then, as awareness began to solidify in to consciousness, the image began to harden into a memory. She remembered the walk, the thistles, the prickles, the cool and the damp, and she knew that they had happened. But what, she wondered, had happened next, and where was she now, that she still felt the same sensations as she had on that walk?

She decided that the only way to be sure was to open her eyes. She did so slowly. Anyone who has ever had to preform this task amid uncertain circumstances will understand why. There before her, sure as anything, was tall thistle. And it was damp and cool, and there were prickles on the leaves, and there were icy little dew drops dripping down from the leaves into her damp, but not sopping shirt.

Only, there was no shirt.

As she began to consider this new revelation, this absence of expected clothing, another awareness came sharply into focus. A small black eye was very, very close to her eye. It blinked in its feathered head. It belonged to a chicken.

Startled, she jerked back an inch, and the chicken did likewise. It regarded her coolly, first with one eye, and then with a quick twist of its long neck, it stared at her with the other. This went on for a few moments, the chicken staring, she not moving at all.
Then the chicken said, "You're stark naked, you are."

She could not at first, or even after a few moments of careful consideration, decide which was more shocking - that the chicken has spoken to her, or that it was absolutely correct. She was laying among grass and thistle in the morning dew without a stitch of cloth upon her person.

"This," Alice said, "is going to be one of those days."


eta I didn't proof it, so excuse my typos.

lol I would hate it if that happen to me... now the talking chicken... wish I had some of them then taking care of them wouldnt be such guessing game when they were sick. Great story

Silkies do just fine in the winter, just don't let them get wet. Mine don't have any heat, and I've never had a problem. Even in extremely low temps.Thing about adding heat is if it goes off it is hard on them to adjust to the cold when they aren't use to it That is when you'll have problems.. None of my birds have heat, and do just fine. It is the draft/wind that get them. so make sure coop is draft free. I wouldn't ad heat.

I know your probably right but I am just too big of a worry wort, I feel like if I get to stay warm why cant the critters, I have always used heat, not warm warm, cause I don't want to sudden drop if we lose electric I normally keep it around 34-36 and it kicks off anything above that. My goats are kept the same way and my horses get blankets. Not that I'm saying you or anyone else are wrong by not giving heat, it just lets me sleep at night knowing my critters aren't shivering in there beds so to speak. Even with that I still had frostbite last year. but I found that problem and fixed it. And I have double checked all my coops for it this year, learned form that mistake.

How in the world did you get your hands on these eggs? Please keep us updated, this is really really exciting!!

I had my original 7 silkies outside all winter this past winter with a 250 watt heating light. I did bring them inside when the polar vortex brought the temps down below negative 10. I didn't lose any to the cold and none of them got frostbite. Would be interested to hear what others think would be a good replacement for traditional heat lamp.

I used to use heat lamps, always have but this spring I had problems with the brooder lamps falling apart where the bulb screws in. Guse its like everything else, made cheaper cost more. I don't want that happening with me not in the coop to check on them every 30 min... like I did the chicks in the house... lol

would one of the premier one brooder heater stands work? They are similar to the eco glows but cost less and offer a cover to prevent roosting on the heater.

I am going to goggle that don't know what they are. couldn't find anything other than lamps and a plate. Could you send me a link?

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

I am in Lexington IN, right between Scottsburg and Madison,

BTW, look what I got in my email today..... http://i.imgur.com/FOu1xNP.png ( I wasn't able to upload the image )

​

We're practically neighbors

- TSC in town (Madison) is okay, the Orscheln's in Scottsburg is SO much nicer than the one here in Madison - but I have to say I was spoiled growing up where I did as there were awesome farm stores, and I worked for a fabulous chain of them, so I always find myself a little disappointed out here. RK is the closest I've found to what I'm looking for in a store - and the added bonus of making the run to Jeff or Columbus is I can also pick up some pizza from Papa Murphy's for dinner, lol.

 

[chick rookie]

Disclaimer: I have never used one of these and I don't heat my chicken house.

Here is something you can look into. You'd have to contact them and see what kind of heat output you might expect in a "whole chicken house" situation. They come in wall mount or hanging. They would at least "take the chill off" but don't know if they would heat as warm as you're wanting.

http://sweeterheater.com/bizweb.asp

thank you for the link that looks interesting.

My impacted Australorp hen is completely back to normal now! This was Day 3 of treatment. I want to thank@Leahs Mom and @hoosiercheetah for their suggestions.

What I did was isolate her and only offered water. I did not have coconut oil, but I crop tubed her twice with 5 cc olive oil plus 10 or 20 cc water. I massaged her crop firmly several times per day. I appreciated the cautions about possible aspiration, but my hen did not have much fluid in her crop, and I massaged her crop very low on her body. It went down significantly every day, and there was more and more poop. She also received 1/2 cc of short-acting penicillin daily, which I will continue for 2 more days to help avoid the development of drug resistant bacteria. She felt feverish for 2 days. Today her crop was totally empty, she did not feel hot, her tail carriage was normal, and there was more normal poop. I let her rejoin the flock this morning.

I read somewhere that a dose of docusate (Colace) could be given, and I did...but wouldn't again. The diarrhea was massive. Olive oil worked better, giving her a little extra nutrition while softening the fibers. Her poop was normal consistency with olive oil.

I also tried to get her to regurgitate some at the very beginning by holding her at a 60 degree downward angle over my knee, but the material in her crop was apparently too dry or thick. There is a description of this written by a poultry vet on The Chicken Chick's blog. Whatever you do, NEVER hold your bird directly upside down. They will likely aspirate and die a few days later. There is a YouTube video of this WRONG way, so beware. His bird died.

I am going to pull all the corn stalks today. We had pathetic corn, but I think that may have been the cause.

Call me happy all went well!

good job.

I believe in providing heat in bitter conditions like last winter. We use heat lamps, but I'd love to have a Sweeter Heater. They only heat the birds, not the coop. But they're expensive. If you have a Brinsea brooder heater, it's the same idea, only larger.

Even with the heat lamp (which we turned off when it was above 15 or 20 degrees), we nearly lost two low-ranking hens to hypothermia. They lived in the garage for 2 months because the others forced them out of the henhouse.

The other girls did great with heat as needed. During the worst of winter, heat was on 24/7 for a week, but during "warm" spells, we turned it off.

We also added insulation around the henhouse, and we put up transparent heavy plastic about 3 feet high to reduce wind and blowing snow for the bottom of the coop.

Just my 2 cents!

I had some doing the block thing... but I started blocking myself and believe it or not it didn't take long before they got the picture.
How well did the plastic hold up. Maybe I can cover my coop with it just to make sure all my drafts are taken care of, pretty sure they are but just in case. last year after I found my problem causing the frostbite I wrapped my whole coop in a big tarp. It looked tacky but it worked till we could get a warm enough day to fix it. fyi= paint alone is NOT a good enough sealer for wood.

I had the same issue last year with some of the older girls barring the doors so the younger ones couldn't come inside. I had no incidents because I was aware it was going on and was able to respond. This year, if any bird behaves that way, it will be removed from my flock permanently.

It is a pain guarding the door to make sure everyone gets in.

I agree. And if there is a power outage, you're in trouble unless you bring them inside your house....and that would assume that you have heat working in the house during a power outage. If you don't, then where do they go to avoid an extreme temperature drop?

Then...you have to re-acclimate for them to go back out again.

I thought about that last winter with the extreme cold it worried me. What I came up with is I have 2 fireplaces but they don't do real well in the computer room, it stays above freezing but not by much, so
I figured I could bring who I needed to inside and put them in the computer room and when it was time to go back out ... no temp difference to worry about.

This year DH says he is going to put up solar panels to run heat and water bowels. That would be great but haven't seen those panels yet. We did get a small one for our electric fence and barn light cause the barn wiring is very old and we started having problems with it last year, so now we don't trust it.

 

[LadySteph00]

Been getting a lot of eggs from my girls lately. Any suggestions as to what I can do with extra eggs that we don't use? We have been giving some away to friends but still not enough to matter. I have 25 hens
and don't want to part with any of them. If I chose to sell eggs how much should I sell them per dozen?

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Been getting a lot of eggs from my girls lately. Any suggestions as to what I can do with extra eggs that we don't use? We have been giving some away to friends but still not enough to matter. I have 25 hens
and don't want to part with any of them. If I chose to sell eggs how much should I sell them per dozen?

You can scramble or boil the eggs and feed them back to your flock, look into donation opportunities (it can be tricky to find places that can take "home grown" foods vs. packaged/sealed/commercially produced foods, though) or sell -- price will depend on your local market. I would check around on your local CL listings, farmers market, etc to see the average price in your area as it can vary quite a bit just from one place to the next.

 

[Aronia]

Have you ever been to Marineland?