INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[leslea]

Hello BYC'ers.....hope everyone's enjoying their weekend!!! Well we finally got our outdoor runs and watering system completed and can relax for a bit...maybe. I was looking on CList and found some great security panels a fella was selling @ a very reasonable price so I bought them, they're 5' wide x 8" tall and there were 15 of them as well as a hinged door and other pieces to help w/ assembly. we also already had a heavy duty 10 x 10 kennel from TSC so in the end we have a 10'x10' run saddled to a 10'x20' run and both have their own entry doors so we can access both areas easily as our flock is currently separated by age.... (2) from racinchickens @ 10 weeks old now and 7 others from McMurray who are now 5-6 weeks old. So we have the coup temporarily subdivided but are letting them view one another until they are roughly same size before combining the two. And our new outdoor watering system is working flawlessly and I put it together pretty affordably as I had most everything I needed already, it is a fifty five gallon drum system that with it's column of water pressurizes the 3/4" PVC lines (approx 25' ) that have 10 chicken nipples (7) in main run and (3) in smaller run. I situated it @ the corner of our barn so it collects some rainwater but floated in two 20lb bags of ice to cool it down, I then wrapped the barrel with a water heater blanket I had here to keep direct sun off of it and also used a trash can lid inverted with a small 1" hole drilled ( and screen to keep crap out ) to allow water in but keep leaves and skeeters OUT. Flock has all figured it out and use it regularly and we're not hauling water all the time now!! Also got my nesting boxes built and have one installed but am waiting on installing the double set I made until we need them. The real beauty of the panels we picked up is we still have (8) panels left in the event our flock grows and we need more run space!!!!
Oh and I almost forgot our neighbors gave us their Bonus chick from our McMurray purchase /split and it turns out she's a little Cuckoo Maran who's doing very well also, so it seems our flock is even more diverse than before with 2 BO's...2 SLW's....2 BR's....1 Bresse.....1 White Leghorn ( I think ) and the Cuckoo Maran. I have been trying to keep up on our page here but WOW....it's NOT EASY.

Aw, I bet the little flock is precious!

I can't keep up with the page, either. It moves fast! I just pop in every once in awhile. Welcome, though.

 

[tmctlt]

Aw, I bet the little flock is precious!

I can't keep up with the page, either. It moves fast! I just pop in every once in awhile. Welcome, though.

It was hilarious yesterday when I went in their run (small ones ) to attach the new door / ladder ( to close off the coop from the run @ night) I stopped and knelt down to talk to the chicks when the next thing you know one flew up and landed on my extended arm, then another and another and before I knew it I had five of the seven roosting somewhere on me. My wife was LHAO and snapping pics and we enjoyed a good laugh together.....why they all of the sudden did that though is beyond me. And thanks for the welcome

 

[leslea]

It was hilarious yesterday when I went in their run (small ones ) to attach the new door / ladder ( to close off the coop from the run @ night) I stopped and knelt down to talk to the chicks when the next thing you know one flew up and landed on my extended arm, then another and another and before I knew it I had five of the seven roosting somewhere on me. My wife was LHAO and snapping pics and we enjoyed a good laugh together.....why they all of the sudden did that though is beyond me. And thanks for the welcome

Oh, that is sweet! My birds have never acted like that. I must have the look of a chicken killer.

 

[ChickCrazed]

great info. Did they tell you what to use for the run? I talked to Dr. Wakenile she said if you know someone that has a winery to ask them for the grape left overs. It's ok for the chickens to eat. Has amino acid. It smell good and it helps keeps flys away. Thing is i don't know any one. I've called around found a place but it's quite a drive. Right now i have rocks and sand.

She said pine chips, which is what I have heard recommended on here. I really like the concept of sand for drainage, but probably what my lazy butt should do is pull all the clay out, put down 12 inches of gravel and then top it with mulch or pine chips.

 

[tmctlt]

She said pine chips, which is what I have heard recommended on here. I really like the concept of sand for drainage, but probably what my lazy butt should do is pull all the clay out, put down 12 inches of gravel and then top it with mulch or pine chips.

After doing much reading here and elsewhere ( some by Vets ) I went with river sand as my floor covering in my coup, but the runs are just dirt / grass etc. And thus far I have zero reasons to stop using it. I have applied 3-4" down over dirt floor in the coup w/ a rubber membrane piece under their roost that also has approximately 1/2 - 1" of sand on it as well. Since that seems to be where they do most of their " pooing " it is So Easy to keep clean. Using a small shovel I bring it together in a pile and then using a pitch fork with " lathe metal " over it I sift all the POO from the sand....re spread the sand back out ( add extra if needed ) and I'm done. Little to no waste and we add a product that horse people use to keep their stalls smelling fresh (er) and it helps clump their poo and urine to make clean up easier. YMMV but we're loving the sand.

 

[browncow15]

Well it seems that everything that's going to hatch has hatched. 14 chicks out of 27 eggs set. I'm a little frustrated with my incubator. Despite tweaking things and paying much closer attention to humidity my hatch rate had not improved My broody hatched 6 of her 8.

 

[bradselig]

Well it seems that everything that's going to hatch has hatched. 14 chicks out of 27 eggs set. I'm a little frustrated with my incubator. Despite tweaking things and paying much closer attention to humidity my hatch rate had not improved My broody hatched 6 of her 8.

sorry to hear that? Many blrw hatch? Or do I need to send you more eggs

 

[Mother2Hens]

They [raccoons] are still severely overpopulated due to a lack of predators.. Wolves, Cougar and Bobcat are mostly extinct in Indiana. All the subdivisions going in so fast further impacted their natural habitat. Its pretty much the same in your state and all around the great lakes area. Just terribly sad but its natures way of population control.

Apparently @iamfivewire sent a predator down from Michigan that's new to Indiana! lol First black bear confirmed in Indiana in more than a century
At first I only wanted LF chickens since I tend to like big animals, and I didn't think bantam eggs would be very useful (in reference about recipes that call for large eggs). When I had to find a sudden replacement buddy for my Jubilee Orp, Adeline, the only Orp available was a Bantam Chocolate — Bonbon! She's been our favorite ever since. I love my two Silkies and my tiny lovey-girl bantam Cochin, Screech. Bantam eggs are great for scrambled or boiled egg snacks. The best feature of bantams is that their poop is smaller!! Unfortunately, I've found that bantam hens and roos are just as loud as LF. And I love my LF chickens, too. It's nice to have a mix of sizes and breeds. All of us who have spunky bantams know that they can certainly hold their own against bossy LF chickens!

Background info re bantam chickens: I sent an email a minute ago and noticed that my spellcheck capitalized Bantam. I just looked at a Wikipedia article that explains the word bantam (not necessary to capitalize) was derived from an area of Indonesia named "Baten Province." European sailors liked the small native chicken breeds, and the name evolved to "bantam."
The article also noted: Most large chicken breeds have a bantam counterpart, sometimes referred to as a miniature. Miniatures are usually one-fifth to one-quarter the size of the standard breed, but they are expected to exhibit all of the standard breed's characteristics. That makes me wonder if that's why my Cochin, Screech, is so tiny (special hatching egg from @ellymayRans ). Is anyone familiar with miniatures? I don't remember anyone mentioning that size other than me when referring to Screech, and I didn't know that it was a real size designation. Maybe @pbirdhaven who is on hiatus from poultry shows will know.

 

[iamfivewire]

we dont have any bantams in our "chicken collection" , bur occasionally have had a few eggs that would prob be bantam sized . i like them for the perfect size to make an egg/sausage sandwich on an english muffin .

 

[Mother2Hens]

[answering @tmctlt 's question about using sand in runs] She said pine chips, which is what I have heard recommended on here. I really like the concept of sand for drainage, but probably what my lazy butt should do is pull all the clay out, put down 12 inches of gravel and then top it with mulch or pine chips.
Originally Posted by tmctlt
After doing much reading here and elsewhere ( some by Vets ) I went with river sand as my floor covering in my coup, but the runs are just dirt / grass etc. And thus far I have zero reasons to stop using it. I have applied 3-4" down over dirt floor in the coup w/ a rubber membrane piece under their roost that also has approximately 1/2 - 1" of sand on it as well. Since that seems to be where they do most of their " pooing " it is So Easy to keep clean. Using a small shovel I bring it together in a pile and then using a pitch fork with " lathe metal " over it I sift all the POO from the sand....re spread the sand back out ( add extra if needed ) and I'm done. Little to no waste and we add a product that horse people use to keep their stalls smelling fresh (er) and it helps clump their poo and urine to make clean up easier. YMMV but we're loving the sand.

This just goes to show that no one method is the perfect one that everyone should follow. We are so fortunate to have input from professionals and from our members in order to help us make informed decisions. Each person's set-up and flock is unique to their situation, so IMO "if it's not broken, don't fix it!" Or as I often tell myself, "Don't reinvent the wheel!"

ChickCrazed~That's interesting about putting AstroTurf on the perches. Did she mention how to attach it? I have been using black foam pipe insulation on my chickens' perches (I like to think I invented that idea, but I forgot to apply for a patent! lol). The foam easily wraps around each perch and even comes with adhesive to connect each side. I also run foam tape along the inside of the insulation to secure it to the wooden perch. I change it twice a year when it gets worn out from claw marks, and the tape isn't difficult to remove from the perch. Since I figured out that method myself, I wonder if she mentioned how to adhere AstroTurf. And is any artificial grass product acceptable, or is AstroTurf the only one with beneficial ingredients?

Also, did she approve of using a no-crow collar? I think I remember that @kittydoc had concerns (and various opinions are beneficial!), so I wonder how it has been working on your roo(s).

Thank you for sharing all of your information!!