INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[ChickCrazed]

It sounds like you have a good size farm going I would love to learn from you some day so maybe at some point I could come help you out if you don't mind

I would NEVER turn down help! LOL. I have three horses, 19 chickens (three breeder pens with silkied ameraucana, mottled breda and bielefelder) and 5 dogs on 4 acres. I've spent the last four years perfecting the setup and learning how to work smarter to manage and care for so much by myself. I always welcome visitors (might want to wait for Spring at this point!). Just give me a shout one weekend and I'll show you or anyone else my setup!

 

[daskhan]

I would NEVER turn down help!  LOL.  I have three horses, 19 chickens (three breeder pens with silkied ameraucana, mottled breda and bielefelder) and 5 dogs on 4 acres.  I've spent the last four years perfecting the setup and learning how to work smarter to manage and care for so much by myself.  I always welcome visitors (might want to wait for Spring at this point!).  Just give me a shout one weekend and I'll show you or anyone else my setup!

Awesome will do in the springtime I already don't like going outside lol

 

[browncow15]

@ChickCrazed you've been busy! I wish I could get some of those chores done by myself! We've got a couple of trees that need to come out along our fence line before they fall on the fence!

Anyone have any input about egg eating or feather picking for me? I've been finding broken eggs in the nest box but assumed it was because the shells were brittle. This weekend I caught one of my roos in there pecking at the eggs! Someone or multiple someone's are also picking tail feathers badly! Most of them just look ragged but some are missing their feathers all together. Everyone that's old enough to molt has already or is just finishing so it's not that.

I hope everyone's winter preparations are about there! I still need to get a bit of hay for the cows and I'm still looking to bring some young ones in but I think everything else is set

 

[iamfivewire]

i didnt really want steel toe, but i couldnt paas up on these for "coop boots" !
($13.oo on clearance @walmart)

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Great job on the exams, especially trying to study when you feel like crap!  Been fighting a cold here also; haven't had one this bad in years, so I can certainly sympathize.

Yeah, it has been a particularly rough one. I finally have my voice back from it, though, so at least it's on its way out! Hope you feel better, too!

What I do when I'm sick is take a cap of night quile and sleep late into the day

I only wish the chickens would let me sleep in.

[COLOR=333333]Question & story for anyone who has or had Sebrights:  Did you ever have a Sebright that converses?  Ours prefers to be treated like a parrot.  If we offer her a finger, she'll jump on.  I often talk to her, and she makes eye contact.  When I pause, she makes gentle little conversation noises in response.  I amuse myself (& others if they hear us) by pretending to understand the Sebright and make up silly conversations.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=333333]Just wondering if this is common.  I think I read somewhere that these were chatty birds, but I never thought she actually would try to mimic conversation.  I have a talkative Sussex mix.  Of course all of her conversations are merely begging for treats.  She simply follows me around with a long, low grumbly "Baaaaaaaaawk."  The Sebright is completely different.[/COLOR]

I've had a few hens that are or were chatty like that, always had a response for anything I say. My gold Sebright mostly scolds me for talking out of line, though. The silvers I own didn't come from a happy home, so they don't tend to stick around when humans are nearby, sadly. :/

As a side note, it's a Sussex thing. I call my two the walking stomachs. If food might be involved, they're ahead of the pack to get to it.

Has anyone looked at the forecast?!?!?!? The big chill is going to hit us between the eyes this week!  They are predicting highs in the 40's and lows in the 20's around Indy this weekend!  Eek!  I still have chores on my list!!  I've gotten 500 feet of fencing up, 2 gates in, 2 trees taken down, 40 tons of aglime delivered and spread, tarps up on the runs and 2 pastured sprayed for weeds.  I still need to move 200 bales of hay in for the horses, get heaters in the waterers, burn some stumps, prune my fruit trees, lime the pastures and clear one more garden bed.  Having animals is exhausting!  Luckily I am working from home today so I am hoping to take advantage of some extra daylight hours today! 

After processing I am down to 19 birds, which is a number I am VERY happy with going into winter! My birds have been protesting the tarps on the runs.  They hate change!  Hope all is well with everyone else! 

Shhhh, we're still pretending that isn't coming!

Sigh... At least winterizing for me isn't very difficult. Just need to get a shower curtain for the big door in the coop. I'm thinking installing a pop door in that side of the coop might be pushed toward the top of my summer to-do list next year.


On the topic of winterizing, I've already seen several coop fires from heat use in the past couple weeks. One in Indiana was posted a couple days ago on one of the chicken groups I'm in on Facebook and it hasn't even really gotten cold here yet. Be careful, y'all!

 
You're close to me then?

If you're in Warsaw as your profile says, I can't be more than 30 or 40 miles. 

Not far from me, either. I'm northeast of Columbia City.

 

[tmarsh83]

Quote:
Out as far as Busco?

I'm just south of Loon Lake.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Out as far as Busco? 

I'm just south of Loon Lake.

Not that far, but closer to Busco than Columbia City. If you've ever heard of Collins, it's a stone's throw down the street from us.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

anyone still active on here? trying t find an active indiana thread

You betcha! Welcome to our thread!

A big Thanks to Janet and her family as they came and helped me out quite a bit yesterday.
Aldo Thank you @racinchickins and @ellymayRans For your help over the past week. Every one here had been extremely supportive.

More to come~you are most welcome.

Has anyone looked at the forecast?!?!?!? The big chill is going to hit us between the eyes this week! They are predicting highs in the 40's and lows in the 20's around Indy this weekend! Eek! I still have chores on my list!! I've gotten 500 feet of fencing up, 2 gates in, 2 trees taken down, 40 tons of aglime delivered and spread, tarps up on the runs and 2 pastured sprayed for weeds. I still need to move 200 bales of hay in for the horses, get heaters in the waterers, burn some stumps, prune my fruit trees, lime the pastures and clear one more garden bed. Having animals is exhausting! Luckily I am working from home today so I am hoping to take advantage of some extra daylight hours today!

After processing I am down to 19 birds, which is a number I am VERY happy with going into winter! My birds have been protesting the tarps on the runs. They hate change! Hope all is well with everyone else!

NOOOOO I am not ready!!!!!

The spring chick order that I'm splitting with my neighbor was placed last Friday,

12 cuckoo marans
6 australorps
6 speckled sussex
6 new hampshires
6 delaware

Two or three of each for me, he will be keeping the balance.

Just need to finish my thoughts on the new coop.

Ready to expand the flock...

Oh love your list!

Quote: DH is turning the garden this weekend, and will have plenty of manure to turn in also.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

@ChickCrazed you've been busy! I wish I could get some of those chores done by myself! We've got a couple of trees that need to come out along our fence line before they fall on the fence!

Anyone have any input about egg eating or feather picking for me? I've been finding broken eggs in the nest box but assumed it was because the shells were brittle. This weekend I caught one of my roos in there pecking at the eggs! Someone or multiple someone's are also picking tail feathers badly! Most of them just look ragged but some are missing their feathers all together. Everyone that's old enough to molt has already or is just finishing so it's not that.

I hope everyone's winter preparations are about there! I still need to get a bit of hay for the cows and I'm still looking to bring some young ones in but I think everything else is set

for the feathers, check for lice, the birds will pull out their own feathers if lice are bothering them. Its getting to that time of year that there is not as much dry dusty area. And roosters here tend to be the first to slack on their dust bathing.

 

[kristi182iu]

Yes we are close to you too I am sorry about your cold..ive got it to right now..Im in the same boat I can usually kick it fast but not this one...Hopefully its on the mend for us both.