INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Faraday40]

The buff just looked dingy...BOs it is. Hope they live up to their reputation.

That said, I'm convinced several of my birds from this spring are going thru a light molt. I know it's not common, but hear me out.

Egg product tanked the second week of October. My BR hens have been a hot mess since then. One looks to be wrapped up, while the other looks as god awful as ever. She's got pin feathers coming back around her head and looks like medusa. It's awful.

Meanwhile, there have been a lot of feathers that don't belong to the BRs in the coop. Mostly dark brown, of the Sussex, but no outward obvious "molt look" to them.

Yesterday, I got a good look at two that were roosting while I was checking vent screens, and their head/hackle is a hot mess.

I know it's rare, but with them being late February hatches, from what i'm reading, it seems like it's possible.

Yes, it's definitely possible.

Last year I had an April hatch chick go through a molt during her 1st fall. Then she took a break until late Jan.

This year, I hatched some chicks in March. My Spitzhauben pullet started laying in August, then began molting in mid Sept. She still has a prickly-looking neck with thinned out tail. The other 3 from that hatch (all diff. breeds) are laying almost daily.

I also have a lav orpington who is slowly replacing her feathers. (Some look clean & new while others are old & faded. She's not bald & prickly, though.) Her egg production is down, but she's still laying 2-3 eggs per week. It's like she's partly molting & has not fully committed to it. She hatched in April 2015, so this should be her 1st molt.

I'm finding that each hen's molt is different. Some hens drop all their feathers quickly & look pathetic, but finish the whole process in a month. Others take their time & lose feathers in sections over a 2.5 month period.

 

[MikeTodd]

Well the DW has decided we need a dog. We want something that will be good indoors and also good around the chickens. We are thinking we want to start with puppy so we can raise and train and not have to overcome any previous bad habits. I have experience with labs and shepherds and raised them for Southeastern Guide Dogs Inc when I lived in Florida.
The DW has in her mind she wanta a beagle or a basset hound.
We are not wanting to pay a lot and free would be best. We also will be out of town for the holidays so the beginning of the new year would be best.
If anyone has any leads, please let me know!
We are in Northwest Indiana.

 

[tmarsh83]

Well the DW has decided we need a dog. We want something that will be good indoors and also good around the chickens. We are thinking we want to start with puppy so we can raise and train and not have to overcome any previous bad habits. I have experience with labs and shepherds and raised them for Southeastern Guide Dogs Inc when I lived in Florida.
The DW has in her mind she wanta a beagle or a basset hound.
We are not wanting to pay a lot and free would be best. We also will be out of town for the holidays so the beginning of the new year would be best.
If anyone has any leads, please let me know!
We are in Northwest Indiana.

I'm not aware of anything, but personally, I would be cautious of sporting dogs. Beagles and bassets are both tracking/running dogs. It could be a problem to overcome that instinct. Beagles aren't fun to train, and bassets can be an outright NIGHTMARE. Stubborn, stubborn, stubborn. Notorious for being thick-headed. Also tough to find either free. Purebred in general that will be the case.

Just my .02, which isn't worth what you paid for it....

 

[MikeTodd]

I'm not aware of anything, but personally, I would be cautious of sporting dogs. Beagles and bassets are both tracking/running dogs. It could be a problem to overcome that instinct. Beagles aren't fun to train, and bassets can be an outright NIGHTMARE. Stubborn, stubborn, stubborn. Notorious for being thick-headed. Also tough to find either free. Purebred in general that will be the case.


Just my .02, which isn't worth what you paid for it....

That's what I told the wife. The dog wouldn't be outside by itself with the chickens (when they free range) and I am hoping that raising one from a puppy will help with the interaction. I would love one of the large, farm/working dogs like a GP but we don't reslly have the available cash for one or want something that size.

 

[tmarsh83]

That's what I told the wife. The dog wouldn't be outside by itself with the chickens (when they free range) and I am hoping that raising one from a puppy will help with the interaction. I would love one of the large, farm/working dogs like a GP but we don't reslly have the available cash for one or want something that size.

I've been really happy with my non-papered Rott. We got him at five weeks, and started taking our potty breaks by the run so he was around them. Within a few weeks he acknowledged but didn't harass. By 4 months he was outside, without supervision, while the birds free ranged. He has been great. Never the first bit of problem with him. He still wasn't "cheap", but a bargain by rott standards. At not quite 13 months he's quickly turned into one of the finest dogs I've ever been around.

 

[Faraday40]

Well the DW has decided we need a dog. We want something that will be good indoors and also good around the chickens. We are thinking we want to start with puppy so we can raise and train and not have to overcome any previous bad habits. I have experience with labs and shepherds and raised them for Southeastern Guide Dogs Inc when I lived in Florida.
The DW has in her mind she wanta a beagle or a basset hound.
We are not wanting to pay a lot and free would be best. We also will be out of town for the holidays so the beginning of the new year would be best.
If anyone has any leads, please let me know!
We are in Northwest Indiana.

I'm not aware of anything, but personally, I would be cautious of sporting dogs. Beagles and bassets are both tracking/running dogs. It could be a problem to overcome that instinct. Beagles aren't fun to train, and bassets can be an outright NIGHTMARE. Stubborn, stubborn, stubborn. Notorious for being thick-headed. Also tough to find either free. Purebred in general that will be the case.

Just my .02, which isn't worth what you paid for it....

I agree to avoid the sight hound breeds. We had a Whippet that simply couldn't resist chasing anything moving quickly through the yard. (This was long before we had chickens.) He was very well trained & never went after any "lap pets" like guinea pigs or rabbits, but I never trusted him in the room with the same little floor-running critters. His fav game was to chase a rubber toy tied to the end of a fishing pole line that was being swung around in a big 50' circle. That dog could get up to 35mph, so our wild rabbits, squirrels, etc never stood a chance.

Our current dogs are mutts from a shelter. (We think Pitbull/Boxer and Great Dane/Lab) It took training, but they have no problem co-existing with chickens. (Been about 5 yrs now) They eat bunnies & squirrels but have never gone after a chicken. (We don't let any baby chicks free range, so I don't know how they'd react to them.) Dogs live in the house, but if hawks are bad, I'll leave them out as a deterrent.

 

[Lengerich Farms]

Happy Veterans Day from this Jarhead to any of my brothers and sisters here. Semper Fi from the Lengerich family!

 

[Finnie]

Well the DW has decided we need a dog. We want something that will be good indoors and also good around the chickens. We are thinking we want to start with puppy so we can raise and train and not have to overcome any previous bad habits. I have experience with labs and shepherds and raised them for Southeastern Guide Dogs Inc when I lived in Florida.
The DW has in her mind she wanta a beagle or a basset hound.
We are not wanting to pay a lot and free would be best. We also will be out of town for the holidays so the beginning of the new year would be best.
If anyone has any leads, please let me know!
We are in Northwest Indiana.

I will put in my plug for rough collies! Of course, they are big, like a Shepherd, but for training, they are super smart. You might even be able to find what is called a farm collie. Google Old Time Scotch Collie.

 

[Lengerich Farms]

@Finnie
Our St. Bernard is great with the chickens and the rabbits. He helped me chase a loose rooster yesterday, he backed it into a corner and wouldn't let it run so that I could grab it.

 

[LocosHuevos]

Hello and good evening everyone. If anyone is looking for female Muscovies, I have two females for sale. They are less than a year old. I also have two female white crested ducks as well, less than year old. I'm asking $10 each for both breeds.
I rather them go to a good home instead of being duck napped and used for bate or food.