OHio ~ Come on Buckeyes, let me know your out there!

[autumnhearth]

Eleisha, thank you for the welcome and the offer! I'll private message you.

 

[DelcoChix]

I'm so sorry to hear that :-( you would have thought the horse barn would have provided enough extra protection to keep them warm!
This Spring my first chicks will arrive in mid April and with all this cold weather I keep wondering how chickens could survive! I was surprised to read the recently featured article suggesting that one of the most important ways to protect your chickens from the cold is to provide adequate ventilation. What was the air circulation like in your condo brooder?

Thanks for your kind thoughts! Yea, I thought the barn would be added protection--not heated but much more sheltered from wind/elements than their coop is. My big coop of LF has been fine--my cockeral has had frostbite issues depsite vaseline and bag balm applications...he had a beautiful comb and wattles, and still removing ice from their waterer despite having a cookie tin water heater--that just made icing up slower. As far as the bantams temp condo--I don't think lack of ventilation was an issue. The 'condo' is a 4'x4' wood box with a 2'x3' box making a big "L." It's not huge but pretty big for 4 bantams, 26sf of floorspace...and the top is open (2' high), a frame of hardware cloth makes the roof and where the two boxes meet there's a 1/2" gap allowing airflow into it. Still a puzzle--first time in six years of raising bantam and LF that I've lost one due to weather, assuming that's what it was. Of course, this weather is the worst we've had in ages, 18- without wind at the worst point (30-35- with windchill)...anyways, the rest are faring well and hopefully spring will arrive in a reasonable amount of time. 8-two days ago so the remaining three are back in their condo...
Best of luck with your chicks arriving--what kind did you order?

 

[Marengoite]

Eleisha,

I second Marengoite's vote for the cold-hardy Buckeye! I have Buckeyes from both Meyer Hatchery and from a breeder--they are all wonderful in temperament...and pretty to boot, plus their tiny combs really are perfect for this silly polar bear weather!

And hello Marengoite...neighbor! Just a little south and west in Delaware county here (northeast of the city, southwest of Ashley). Didn't know you bred Buckeyes! Will keep that in mind when I need some fresh blood

Quote:

I'm back to a building year for my flock. My son brought home a stray dog from Mt. Vernon that I'm guessing is part whippet. Wiped out my entire flock of chickens and turkeys down to a single Buckeye roo which I moved to a safe neighborhood until we figure out what to do with her. I'll be hatching out a new flock this spring. Starting over from scratch with both Buckeyes and turkeys.

 

[chicken farmer]

Got my new rooster

 

[chicken farmer]

I posted this bantam rooster a little while ago and was wandering what breed he was and told you that he had bad frostbite on his comb and this picture was at his old owners but finally today I got him and he finally has hens again and LOVES them cause I had 3 little black and white mix bantys and all the other roosters were real big and wouldnt mate them and now they have a rooster the same size as them and are in there own pen but i know for sure one of the white bantys are a hen but not sure about the other 2 but anyway he is lovin his new life outta a raised cage and on the ground in a pen with hens again!!!Here he is in the dog crate in the garage waiting while i put the bantam hens in the pen for him and i put a little handfull of food in the cage before i left to put the hens in the other pen and he grabbed a piece and tried to call a hen over even when he was in a closed garage in a crate on the table after he was scared from me holding hima nd everything so I knew he was gonna love the hensHere they are all together once he found something tasty for themThen of course it was there first night in the new pen and coop so they 3 white/black bantys were in the nestbox and rooster roosted on the nestbox but now there asleep and hapy can't wait for mornin to watch them again!

 

[clevetromba]

...hopefully spring will arrive in a reasonable amount of time. 8-two days ago so the remaining three are back in their condo...
Best of luck with your chicks arriving--what kind did you order?

Amen to that! I am really ready to be done with Winter. I ordered one each: BR, GLW, SS and one sex link "Golden Buff" from Meyer. I recently decided to drive down and pick them up instead of relying on the USPS to bring them to me. I'm close enough that it is slightly cheaper to pay for gas money than postage, and I can avoid the stress of being mailed on the poor chicks.

 

[clevetromba]

Quote: Thanks for the tip about Grace Brothers, I work near their West 65th St. store so I may try to make it over there for one of their classes. I'm in Cleveland Heights, so kind of NE Cuyahoga County, but used to spend a fair amount of time in Berea. You might also check out Harvey Ussery's "Small Scale Poultry Flock" it has lots of great info about growing your own feed, deep litter method, and using chickens in the garden.

Mark

 

[DelcoChix]

Amen to that! I am really ready to be done with Winter. I ordered one each: BR, GLW, SS and one sex link "Golden Buff" from Meyer. I recently decided to drive down and pick them up instead of relying on the USPS to bring them to me. I'm close enough that it is slightly cheaper to pay for gas money than postage, and I can avoid the stress of being mailed on the poor chicks.

Meyer is a great hatchery--I've gotten quite a few birds from them in the past five years--maybe not 'show quality' but that wasn't my goal--still have some of the original dozen I started with at the ripe old age of six (this May)...love Annie, our Speckled Sussex, she's quite a social girl who chatters a lot. And I've driven there to pick ours up also--more fun and you can check out the store while you're there and be tempted by the 'extra' chicks they have that want to go home with you... Plus, I've always had great customer service from them.

 

[DelcoChix]

I'm back to a building year for my flock. My son brought home a stray dog from Mt. Vernon that I'm guessing is part whippet. Wiped out my entire flock of chickens and turkeys down to a single Buckeye roo which I moved to a safe neighborhood until we figure out what to do with her. I'll be hatching out a new flock this spring. Starting over from scratch with both Buckeyes and turkeys.

Oh my gosh! I am so sorry to hear of your loss. How terrible! Glad to hear you're going to rebuild, but still, how heartbreaking to have to do it that way. Hope all goes well. I lost one of my Buckeye hens last summer when a dog ran 1/2 mile from the state park to our backyard and scooped her up and ran all the way back to his owner...ended up catching the dogs buddy and DH shut him in a stall till the guy came looking for him. Ended up being pricey, highly trained hunting dogs ( German Shorthaired Pointers) with costly GPS's on their collars...funny how the guy knew the dog had run over 800 yards but didn't attempt to call him back. And my poor girl was one of the four who always jumped the 5' fence to free range in the yard, she just happened to be the closest one. Anyways, guy was very apologetic, had chickens himself and knew dogs would go after them, just didn't know how good his dogs nose was...paid me for her loss but can't quite make up for losing a nice girl. Can't imagine losing almost all of them at once.
And best of luck finding a new home for the dog...instinct can be hard to overrule. Hope your son isn't feeling too bad--he was trying to help out a stray.

 

[autumnhearth]

Thanks for the tip about Grace Brothers, I work near their West 65th St. store so I may try to make it over there for one of their classes.  I'm in Cleveland Heights, so kind of NE Cuyahoga County, but used to spend a fair amount of time in Berea.  You might also check out Harvey Ussery's "Small Scale Poultry Flock"  it has lots of great info about growing your own feed, deep litter method, and using chickens in the garden.

Mark

Thanks for the book recommendation, will definitely check it out!