INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Chaneys Ranch]

Hi all
Sorry to read of all the bird losses recently. We had something take a few of ours about 3 weeks ago - prob a dog or fox. Only was able to locate 3 of the 6 bodies.
Hope all are fine with the storms that went thru yesterday - all we got here was a bit of rain.
Still working on some coop/run projects (seems like I'm always modding/upgrading or relocating or adding to something)
;-)
I've moved the new duck coop 3 times already, & may do again for 4th time - or maybe not, being that it's soooo heavy.
Starting to get just a little anxious to get some more projects completed before fall/winter - whish the heat/humidity & rain would be more cooperative.
That's about all for now from up in the Mitten

LOL yes, remodeling is ongoing, isn't it! I am thinking about fall too.
We did fine on the storms,no trees down etc. here. Kokomo was hit pretty hard.

 

[Faraday40]

Just curious, what were her results from this experiment? I mean, I know what they should be, but I'm wondering what the evidence shows.

Can you tell the gender of an egg?
Short answer = No... but the title certainly had everyone stopping by to read her poster!

Procedure & Results:
She measured the latitude & longitude of each egg to make a ratio so she could compare them numerically. She also examined each egg closely for any signs of an extra pointy egg. Because we can distinguish each hen's eggs, she compared only Hen A's eggs to other Hen A's eggs. Since we do not have any hens with A names, the eggs were actually labeled with P, D, T, etc. + date laid. Using that data she made her predictions & set eggs.

On day 18, she separated eggs into containers so the chicks would not get mixed up when hatching. After hatching, she color coded their leg bands with her data table, so she could tell exactly which chick came from which egg. About 5 weeks later, she was finally able to determine which predictions were correct.
Trial 1: Had a few fertility issues & our roo was in need of a trim. Only 70% of eggs hatched
Trial 2: I set the bread machine on the table where she was holding the eggs. Due to a science camp, we had to go ahead & set the scrambled eggs, so I would have chicks to use for the lessons during camp. Less than 50% hatched, but she did get some results. My sci camp kids were happy to see the chicks, so it was OK
Trial 3: Because she only had 5 weeks until the deadline (not 8) this trial had to be sexable at hatch. We only had 2 hens capable of making a sexlink mix & their eggs were the least fertile for trials 1 & 2 . Thanks to BYC, we asked around & obtained some local sexlinked eggs from other flocks to use with our own eggs.

As usual we hatched more females than males, but that wasn't the project. Out of 39 gender predictions, only 15 were correct. (Not counting all the eggs that didn't hatch.) So with only 38% of the predictions being correct, she would have had better luck flipping a coin. I figured it would be 50% but I was secretly hoping there would be a little truth to the egg shape theory.


We've been keeping a record of every egg laid by each hen for the past 4 years. She never did anything with it other than record keeping. She's thinking about doing something with egg productivity - like playing music in the coop or adding artificial lights. Of course she really wants to hatch silkies, so I'm guessing she'll come up with a reason why I'll need to buy some silkie eggs next spring.

Meanwhile, DS talked his Cloverbud friends into doing Embyrology. Here is their group project:

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Sorry wrote a book, been adding to this all evening between house work, parent care and critters.
Working on coops and starting to plan for winter. Instead of trying to heat water for the coops, I am just sticking with the black rubberized type bowls. Heated waterers work for some folks. I just have too many groups for it until I find a better design. I go out and check coops several times a day anyways. Those rubber bowls hold up to ice and wont crack and break. I had 2 heated water bowls freeze and crack last year during the bad cold snap! That gets expensive. Starting to research different ideas for winter proofing the coops. My coops are open air with a roof, roosts, nest boxes and wire covered sides only. I close them up considerably once cold weather sets in, but still allow ventilation at the roof line. We bought construction grade clear plastic last year, and it shredded in February from the harsh temps and wind, ugh. Tarps are too dark for them, I want for them to be able to see out and have natural light.Am considering a fiber reinforced clear plastic used for masonary work.

Getting a larger cattle shelter constructed pretty soon, DH picked up a carport/awning like apartment complexes use. It will be huge, plenty of room for our herd of steers and Moose the bull. Will put sides on the awning. It will make an awesome shelter. Got a second 100 gallon stock tank with having so much more livestock now. There will need to be a separate pasture for "the boys" off season so we needed a separate water supply for them. Fortunately the heaters are really inexpensive for those tanks. My girls.. goat does, heifer calves and donkey jenny will stay on the main pasture. Hogs will need a different plan for water. My biggest sow can dump a 100 gallon trough in a second because she thinks she needs more mud!

DH and his buddy went to an auction tonight and brought me back more Pekin ducks! So it looks like I now will have a flock of them again, there's a total of 10. He really misses the duck eggs. His buddy also picked up another calf! I just shook my head lol. At least this lil bull is nearly old enough to be weaned. Now will be bottle feeding 10 calves, 2x a day. 4 are nearly weaned at least ugh.

 

[iamfivewire]

@jchny2000 - you had mentioned that tarps are too dark to put on your coop walls & restrict light - what about white tarps? They might be a little more translucent than the color ones. Menards store has them (you might have to order them tho - they aren't always in stock in the store like the typical blue ones. We ziptie tarps around our kennel runs for winter - I like to use tan ones - they are are less "tacky" color to look at, although the chickens prob could care less if they are tan, blue, green, or ??)

 

[Leahs Mom]

Tarps are too dark for them, I want for them to be able to see out and have natural light.Am considering a fiber reinforced clear plastic used for masonary work.

Got a second 100 gallon stock tank with having so much more livestock now.

@jchny2000
I was also looking at the (is it Lexan?) clear panels like they use for greenhouse roofing, etc. to make a rigid wall at the sliding door of the barn so that it would stay open all winter rather than being slid shut and cutting a door and pop doors in it. Not sure if it will get done - or if I can find what I want. Otherwise the birds are stuck in the barn pretty much all winter.


On the stock tanks...
How do you change the water? Do you have to dump that whole tank?
And how do you fill it in the winter...are you hauling buckets out there or do you have a frost-free hydrant?

 

[Faraday40]

@jchny2000
I bought some clear vinyl sheeting (feels like a heavy duty shower curtain). Then we made wooden frames of the sizes we needed. We stretched & stapled the vinyl to the frames & now have crystal clear storm windows to use every year. (Just use screws to put them up.)
You can see how the run's top lattice does not have storm windows


I bought the vinyl sheeting at Walmart in the sewing section. They had some folded in packages for about $8-10. Mine looked like this but the blue was a gold color (thickest variety) We may have bought much stronger than needed, though. The windows have been reused for 3 winters with a 4th on the way. Anyway, it's much cheaper than plexiglass but just as clear. The biggest problem is where to store the frames over the summer.

 

[Leahs Mom]

@Faraday40

Those are really nice! I used clear on my kennel pens a couple years and they did pretty good. But no frames of course.


On my barn I need to build a clear or somewhat clear WALL that is predator-proof that can fit into the sliding door frame interior for winter. This would be complete with a person door and a door for the chickens to go outdoors if they choose to do so. I'm thinking we could build it into a frame like you are showing and then just remove the whole thing for winter. It will likely have to be made in about 3 frames and each frame screwed together since the sliding frame is pretty wide...probably at least 30 feet or so.

You can see in the photo below...I'd like to leave that whole thing open all winter but have a stable pred-proof "temporary wall" screwed to the door frame interior. The slider could still slide right shut as it would be recessed back onto the inner frame.

 

[Leahs Mom]

PS: When I originally moved the chickens in there it was supposed to be a winter home only. We've never moved the main flock back to the chicken shed, however.

Once it snows, that slider is stuck so I can't open it for them if there is snow or ice in the pathway. And it would be nice to have that clear wall to let more light in!

 

[tmarsh83]

PS:  When I originally moved the chickens in there it was supposed to be a winter home only.  We've never moved the main flock back to the chicken shed, however.

Once it snows, that slider is stuck so I can't open it for them if there is snow or ice in the pathway.  And it would be nice to have that clear wall to let more light in!

Why not just remove a panel of the steel barn siding an replace with a panel of the clear skylight material they make. It's like $30 for a sheet. Same stuff I used for the lower portion of my gambrel roof.

 

[Leahs Mom]

I don't want to make any alterations on the barn itself. Just a temporary inner panel for winters.