NY chicken lover!!!!

[Cass]

Okay, so no sweating or babying of the chickens.

The snowdrifts here are BRUTAL, I may consider bring them into the barn.

Put them someplace that you can easily get to daily or more often. While chickens do not need pampering them DO need unfrozen fresh water. You probably noticed people meantioning heated dog bowls....so they didn't have to deliver water more than once a day. And not all predator sleep all winter, so make sure they have a secure place to live.

 

[vmdanielsen]

Okay, so no sweating or babying of the chickens.

The snowdrifts here are BRUTAL, I may consider bring them into the barn.

Bringing them into the barn is probably a good idea. My chickens don't like snow that is more than an inch deep. While being to airtight( the plastic), being to confined in a too small place, should be avoided also. With the snowy winters we have here it is good to be able to have the chickens where they aren't on top of one another. They can get really cannabilistic when bored. I remove part of the lattice work from under my porch, shovel them a path to the porch, where they delightfully run around under the porch, even on the coldest days. Wish my barn was big enough, but it isn't. Just make sure you can secure them at night.

Stoney, do your sumatras go inside during the winter?

 

[stonykill]

Bringing them into the barn is probably a good idea. My chickens don't like snow that is more than an inch deep. While being to airtight( the plastic), being to confined in a too small place, should be avoided also. With the snowy winters we have here it is good to be able to have the chickens where they aren't on top of one another. They can get really cannabilistic when bored. I remove part of the lattice work from under my porch, shovel them a path to the porch, where they delightfully run around under the porch, even on the coldest days. Wish my barn was big enough, but it isn't. Just make sure you can secure them at night.

Stoney, do your sumatras go inside during the winter?

no. Not the free range ones. I couldn't catch them if I tried to lock them up. This is why I say chickens need nothing done to their predator proof coop to make it ready for winter. Many of my Sumatra's live in tree's all year long. Just like a wild turkey does. They are birds and are naturally hardy. It is our babying of them that gets them killed off

 

[kamir]

Good morning group,

Thank you for the warm welcome...I've been lurking here for about 2 weeks and have found this group to be very sociable, as well as knowledgeable - kudos!
I expect to learn quite a bit from everyone, so thank you in advance.

The green-headed chicks are the Dellies. I have never seen pics of chicks (Dellies) that were also so-marked, so I began to wonder if the hatchery (Cackle) dyed them to distinguish them from the NH. There was no such indication from the hatchery other than a note which had the word "green" next to the Dellies on the shipping invoice.

It's hard to find info on Dellies on the web because in spite of the filters I use, I still get hits referring to the Delaware Blue Hens ball team, lol. However, I did finally find a drawing at efowl.com which shows the green on Dellie chicks' heads. There is also some green around the wings area. This would indicate to me that it's not dye, but a natural color which goes away as they age...but what do I know?

Interestingly, I found that some of the NH chicks also had some green here and there, but only like a few "hairs".

Try to stay cool lassies and laddies...it's going to be a wee bit warm today!

Regards,
kamir

 

[pharmchickrnmom]

Morning all.

I am an epic fail at hatching. Of the 13 in the bator, I only got one chick and I had to help it out as it was shrinkwrapped. I dont understand why that happened as I had two sponges in there full of water. I opened the other eggs and they were all shrink wrapped as well. I am done hatching. From now on, I will let my silkies hatch if they want to. This killed me. I took a loss on the eggs and on the chicks. At least I have one chick and I am hoping its a pullet. I will have to see if my witchy girl Sassy will take it tonight. This kills me.

Lots of running around taking care of coops this am since I spent yesterday afternoon in the er with a gallbladder attack. I dont wish that on anyone! I have one more test to do before they tell me if it has to come out or not. Not a good time for this. Now I know how my daughter felt last year when she had her attacks. She had hers taken out. Since I have eaten breakfast with no problems, I guess I will go to work today. Hopefully it will stay quiet and leave me alone.

The boys started crowing at 5 this morning and have deepened their voices a bit. When I let everyone out of the big coop, one of the boys jumped one of the girls and tried to mate with her. She wasnt having it and screamed rape the whole time. Ahhh puberty...let the games begin!

Stay cool everyone!

 

[featherz]

Morning all.

I am an epic fail at hatching. Of the 13 in the bator, I only got one chick and I had to help it out as it was shrinkwrapped. I dont understand why that happened as I had two sponges in there full of water. I opened the other eggs and they were all shrink wrapped as well. I am done hatching. From now on, I will let my silkies hatch if they want to. This killed me. I took a loss on the eggs and on the chicks. At least I have one chick and I am hoping its a pullet. I will have to see if my witchy girl Sassy will take it tonight. This kills me.

Lots of running around taking care of coops this am since I spent yesterday afternoon in the er with a gallbladder attack. I dont wish that on anyone! I have one more test to do before they tell me if it has to come out or not. Not a good time for this. Now I know how my daughter felt last year when she had her attacks. She had hers taken out. Since I have eaten breakfast with no problems, I guess I will go to work today. Hopefully it will stay quiet and leave me alone.

Aww I am sorry to hear about your hatch!! I used to have sticky shrinkwraps also until I tried dry hatching. I keep humidity at around 35% until lockdown where I raise it to 60. My last hatch the chicks were a bit sticky because the humidity was so high in the house.. =(

I too have gallbladder 'issues' due to a long term relatively low fat vegetarian diet - I probably should have it out too but as long as I avoid anything too greasy I am OK. So I just do that. Hopefully you won't have to have the surgery! (although if you do at least that problem will go away).

 

[featherz]

Put them someplace that you can easily get to daily or more often. While chickens do not need pampering them DO need unfrozen fresh water. You probably noticed people meantioning heated dog bowls....so they didn't have to deliver water more than once a day. And not all predator sleep all winter, so make sure they have a secure place to live.

X2. The heated dog bowls rock. I'm even using a few old ones that I don't use 'powered' due to cracking as supplemental water bowls (on extra hot days) as they are hard for birds to tip.

My chickens were weird last year in the limited snow. One coop of older chickens would not touch the stuff but my big coop would go out no matter what.. except my rooster. He'd stay behind crowing for his ladies while they slogged through chicken butt high snow to get to where they wanted to go.

 

[rancher hicks]

I simply use what is considered clear plastic sold at the home stores. For the runs I staple it with staples and small pieces of cardboard so the staples don't pull through. The back of the runs are covered with tarps and nothing is completely closed up. A little snow is not bother.

The run has a solid sheet and is stapled to the front. I'll take some pics.

 

[rancher hicks]

I was just going to ask how you guys felt about a heat lamp, but you have a point about weak birds. I am a little worried because I have invested in some silkies with show quality lines and they are gorgeous little chicks, I would hate to lose them because it's FREEZING. Ugh...

I have read from the "experts" that adding heat is bad. Chickens can endure the cold much better. One thing about my covered runs is that I don't keep water in the coops. Humidity is bad for chickens and the key is to keep the coop dry. Ventilation kept at the right ratio , will keep things dry. Chickens exhale a lot of water. Adding heat contributes to a humidity problem. Each Large fowl bird generates 10 watts.

I put Humidity gauges in the Hoop Coop and the Wooden Coop and was not happy with either. I'd say it got to 70% some days. I would like to get it to about 40- 50%. It's the humidity that causes the frost bite. Or so I've read. Humidity also contributes to respiratory problems as well, as does over crowding. Covered runs extend coop space, since chickens are more likely to spend time outside in the winter. I stack bales of hay so they have a place to climb and get away from each other if they chose. Right now I have a broody hen who keeps her chicks in one of the cubby holes on the floor of the run during the day. I'll replace it and use the old as mulch in the garden or break open a bale at a time andd let the chickens "work" it.

 

[JayLyn07]

Hi everyone! I am new to BYC and have become a crazy chicken lady! Thought it would be nice to meet some other NY chicken lovers!