Michigan

[NovaAman]

Carl has a sick hen. He lost one a few days ago. I think he his finally convinced he needs more ventilation in the top of the coop. I gave him my left over albon, and hope she pulls thru. The coop smells bad... Its funny, cuz it used to b his son that I would always ask for advice... Smart kid. Well he went off to college in California and I found byc.

So, I want to thank everyone here for all the advice and help and the great wealth of knowledge that you have to share. I was able to pass that knowledge on to the neighbor. They lose way to many chickens in the winter to respiratory problems. I just know it is the lack of ventilation and the poisonous air.

Well anyway, I got the garage coop all cleaned tonight. I even rearranged the garage, I know... Well anyway, the coop is now at the back of the garage, and they now have a 5x5 area that is filled with straw and pine to pick thru. The planks I used to build it are 6 inches wide, so hopefully the straw will stay in... Hey, I can hope. Anyway, Carl saw it today and cracked up laughing cuz of the chickens in there that are refugees of the roo-ly trio...

Speaking of roosters... My roo, What, finally had a roo moment today. And the poor guy is gonna be Christmas dinner... Lol. Oh well.

 

[Stacykins]

It felt SO awesome being able to give a half dozen fresh from the chicken eggs to my neighbor today. I knew he was interested in eggs, and now that they're laying, I was finally able to share! Not many, since only three are old enough to lay, but still, yay eggies!

 

[RaZ]

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Isn't sharing great? Especially with those that appreciate it?

 

[RBahmer]

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That was a really nice thing to do. You are a good person.

 

[ChicwannaB]

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That was a really nice thing to do. You are a good person.

DITTO.

 

[BobBry]

RaZ,

I use a waterer adapted from one i found in the feed & water forum. Mine is less fancy/complex. A 1.5" PVC pipe with Cutouts about half the thickness and 1.5" long separated by 8=10 ", 5 gal bucket, (now a heated one) aquarium pump, Plastic tube . I now run the tube from the pump through the PVC to the upper end. u r a Smart guy so I know u will know to slope the pipe a bit. I stoppered the top tnd with a plastic bottle And made a dam for the bottom by cutting the same kind of bottle. (prescripton) Had to file a bit. If u want more info lemme no.

bob

 

[Mom 2em All]

Hello all- I havent read the past hundred or so pages to catch up since my last post yet but....

my second dumb broody got off her eggs at some point today. They are due in a few days. I checked them when I got home- and she was off. I watched her and she wasnt acting like she normally does. She was joined with the other hen and her babies. Being a surrogate mom. Head count= five babies. Nope, none of hers. So, I found the eggs ice cold.
So what the heck. I threw them in the incubator. I have nothing to lose with them, right?
They will either still be savable, or they wont. Either way, they wouldnt have hatched now that she is done, so if I manage to save one or two then YAY. May have been too late.

My incubator wasnt plugged in, so i am doing this completely wrong- bringing it and eggs to temp, but its the best I can do.

Chickens are dumb. Next time this hen goes broody, i am going to give her a calendar and show her when her due date is. Its not my fault that she and the other broody didnt go broody at the same time.

That said- I have a question for you.
It seems I have made my coop into a refrigerator. I have haybales all around it- no light or heat source in the coop. When I open the big door (pophole closed) it is COLDER inside it than outside of it. How the heck does that happen and what can I do? I seem to have insulated it to keep the cold IN.

Aside from adding a heatlamp, is there some way i can reverse this? I have plastic around the outside (aside from their vents) then haybales stacked halfway up all the way around. I feel so bad for them.

 

[9chickens]

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I built my own coop, you can build them yourself for about 1/3 the cost of buying one. Mine is 7 x8 insulated, vinyl sided, and covered inside. I put in 6 layer boxes, and vinyl flooring and roost. Two of the three windows were built by me. It is mounted on 4- treated 4x4 so I can skid it around the property if I want.
I used 13 sheets of 1/2 inch OSB , 50 2x4, 4 4x4 treated one piece of 6x9 vinyl flooring. 2 square vinyl siding 3 corner pieces, 2 rolls of insulation,3 strips of starter 1 square shingles. Some of the stuff I found in the clearance section of Menards, the shingles were left over from my house.
It took a couple days but I have around $500.00 into mine

 

[Olive Hill]

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Raz -- You're right that humidity plays a big role in frostbite, but I'm not convinced that's what you're seeing. That's for a few reasons. Yes, wet days during our cold months are the riskiest for developing frost bite, but that doesn't necessarily extend to "humid" days. The really risky days are actually those january thaw days or those late Feb/early March days when everything is frozen, the temp barely rises above freezing and it drizzles all day long. Unless your weather was very different than the weather here, today was just not a day with much of any frostbite risk. Another reason I'm unconvinced is that frostbite doesn't usually show up at black right off the bat. If they had been frostbitten today the tips would probably be swollen, pale and/or grey-ish. Maybe with a purplish undertone, but not usually black right off. The comb coming in contact with the outside of the plastic waterer, unless it is left wet which then would transfer to the comb, is not a risk. Did your chickens stand outside in the cold rain and wind yesterday? I might be more inclined to think frost bite if they did... but even then... I wouldn't expect the comb tips to be black already. It's a slow onset and I would expect it to be especially slow in our current weather conditions.

The other thing is that purpling of the comb tips can be a sign of septicemic infectious tenosynovitis.

Can you post a picture?

 

[chicken grandma]

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Nova, do you think the ammonia level is too high in Carl's coop? Or too much dust? Or maybe the sudden change in temperatures caused the respiratory illness?
Do his chickens sneeze? Does he use heat of any kind. Just thinking on this.......