***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[sjarvis00]

Quote:
Nope, wait till the other birds are on the roost, and go place them each next to one of the original birds in the pen, they scoot over and make room on the roost and come morning they are all good.

 

[sjarvis00]

Well I'm out for teh evening, Steph's b-day and all. have a good night and chat with some of you in the coming days.

 

[Ksane]

Quote:
Do not add new birds during the daytime, wait until they are on the roost and go place the new bird in the middle of all the others on the roost, come morning they are all fine no issues even works when adding males just place the new male next to the other male.

I wondered if that really worked, I've heard it several times. It'd be my luck they'd kill the new one at the break of dawn. When I get the pullets from you I'm going to do it different and add 1 of the current ones to them and wait 3 or 4 days and then add another then another and then add the cockerel. I think the ones that have been here a few wks are already feeling overly confidant and comfortable enough to defend their territory (or however chickens do it).
The little Dun hen is such a favorite of mine that I'd just as soon she stay where she's at, they're all so sweet in that pen. I hold her in my hand and she tilts her head sideways and stares at me, who couldn't love that?? lol
Robin, your Galahad is gorgeous! He almost looks like a silvery white. How on earth do you get all those boys to get along? I have mine all separated and they live with their hatchmates they grew up with. They don't play well with others outside of their group.

 

[poultryand bees]

Question:
What harmful effect, if any, does leaving a light on in the coop 24/7 have on the hens? I seem to recall that youngsters shouldn't have a light at all times, as it affects their speed of growth. I don't recall if there is a negative effect on full grown birds.

 

[GotGame]

It will stress them out. I have tried it, birds didn't do well on lights 24/7.

 

[Elwood Lightfoot]

I know last year I set a heat lamp in the big coop and didn't notice any real difference it was on 24/7 for a while, I got plenty of eggs I had just thought it was the warmth when it was cold out that had them laying well but it made it daylight in the coop though, they seem to like light durning the night cause they will move around and eat a ton of lamp beatles and moths LOL I heard of the older lady who lived not far from me had a small potbellied stove in her coop and made a fire in it morning and night she had more eggs than anyone around here, So I was told I could see doing that and then treating the feet for burns LOL

 

[artsyrobin]

i figure they need their rest, just like people do- so for their health, they need the light off to sleep- maybe thats just simple thinking, i know big commercial farms the birds never are without light, but they aren't really that interested in the birds stress level...

 

[Elwood Lightfoot]

Last summer I bought an arm load of these small LED/Solar lights I set them out for path lights and that’s working cool but the goats kicked and broke the lens from one and I removed the top I was able to make a small hole in the top of my coop in a couple key places and they charge all day they make just a dim soft light for most of the night I think it's pretty cool however, if that's going to be bad for the chickies I won't add any more, It seemed like the right thing to do and I will be doing it on my shop building and may extend a few of the LED's into the corners of my house and have a cheap emergency light and maybe, Just Maybe,, Save da lil' toe from stumbling around in the dark... Cause you know I know that I know that I'm never ever lost whether driving or plowing through the living room in darkness and I don't need to stop to look for the switch and ask directions and they don't look like nightlights so I can save face with the fellas you can even run the LED into the eyes of your stuffed head collection just try not to forget your glasses in a power outage having forgotten where the antlered heads were mounted,,, On a related note after the Christmas rush and things are being cleared out I go to Fall-Apart and buy several marked down light sets to use around the tops of cages, coops and fence sections it helps with keeping critters at bay dogs not no well they're used it them and some of them are great for path lights just figure out how to remove the ones you won't need I think flashing lights stress the birds more than steady ones, My security light is near one of the pens so it's always not quite dark there, It don't bother me really I would have prefered it closer to the shop but I didn't have it when the pole was placed...

 

[sixshooter60]

In the commercial laying barns the lights are on a timer to keep the same amout of light as in the spring and summer.. they program them to work with the amount of daylight as the days get shorter the lights are on more . they are adjusted to keep the same amount of light usually around 14 hours a day all the time..but they are not left on 24 hours a day

 

[NanaKat]

Quote:
How is your knee healing?