INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Indyshent]

We LOVE Ideal! We have ordered from them 3 times, I think. Once a bonus chick broke a leg in transit and I put it down. It and all the other chicks were otherwise healthy. We got 15 blk Australorps from them on Oct 15. They start laying at 4.5 months, so only 6-7 weeks to go! They are very uniform in size and appearance. We need to cull some nonlayers to make room for them in our layer coop. I will probably raise some Australorp-Orp hybrids with them and Cogburn and/or Roadrunner. I'd like to make lav Australorps!! They only come blk, blue, and maybe white??? I like black chickens, but will need to get some one-off chicks for color and fun.

If anyone near Indy raises the following and/or has pullets, please PM me:

● Ameracaunas/EEs, any color but black, preferably blue-egg layers but green also okay
● Brahmas, any color
● Cochins, standard, any color (prefer not black)

Sandhill gets a NO from me and I suspect from @ellymayRans, too. My SGD cockerel is from them. The hassle of ordering from them is unbelievable.

I broke down and used My Pet Chicken for my SGD girls. From the address on the shipping box, I think I figured out they came from Meyer (or some big hatchery in Ohio). I paid out the backside to ship just 4. One was totally unable to walk upon arrival and I was unable to help her. MPC has a 24 hr notification policy and I followed it, got my money back for her. She also looked fine but for what had to be a travel injury. She was one of the bigger girls and alert. It was a shame. I hope they are not the same lines as my Sandhill cockerel. MPC uses a variety of breeders but can't/won't say in advance where your chicks will come from. I'm sure some breeders have issues, others not so much. I like my SGD pullets. The cockerel from Sandhill is mellow and handsome, but not much bigger than the younger pullets. If you need an uncommon breed or color, I would consider MPC if what you want is available and priced reasonably.

In other news, first eggs are in the bator! I hate to set cold eggs, but we've had enough days in the 40s that I started saving Orp and a few SGD eggs periodically. Some were saved longer than usual in the wine fridge at 56 degrees, but we'll see what happens. My Brinsea 40 has at least 48 eggs, maybe 49 or 50 with the small SGD eggs.

SGDs are autosexing (not other Dorking colors). I set mostly lav Orps (mixed American and English), plus a few English BBS, chocolates and chocolate cuckoos. My second and later hatches always go better, I think because of the egg temperatures being closer to ideal. I toyed with getting a Cochin to keep eggs warm since only a few of my Orps ever go broody, and only seasonally, but DH thinks they will just discourage the rest from laying. Can anyone with a few broodies among their nonbroody breeds let me know if that's true?

Brooding is contagious. I've had broody EE before, also Cochin, Marans, Marans x EE, Dark Brahma, gold penciled Brahma, Australorp, Welsummer, BO, plus a White Holland turkey hen and a Black Swedish duck. My Silkie never laid or went broody before she was re-homed (miss having silkies--too cute for words).

Update on my "farm": Sweetie the WH hen seems to be feeling better after Hershey the Chocolate turkey evicted her from the nest (Sweetie has been non stop broody since before I got her in August!) Hershey is broody but very young so I will wait to see how determined she actually is before adding her breed to the broody list. Sydney isn't out of the woods yet but appears to be feeling much better too. I haven't been able to tend to them nearly so well as I would have liked since my concussion.

Was feeling much better Tuesday, then horrible yesterday. This recovery thing is tricky. Been doing chores about as I'm able but the house is a wreck. Had to dis-enroll completely this semester and loathe that because I'm too old to be delaying having a decent job and really looked forward to taking some of those classes.

Been working a lot with my youngest, who has been home schooled from the beginning even though he really needed public school with all the turmoil of both parents switch hitting on school and working shifts, etc the whole time. He's a lazy student and attention hog if ever there was one and is very difficult to teach. We spent almost twelve hours on one math page Tuesday. He loves to "lose" his school books, too, and I can't go spelunking for them like I used to have to do.

 

[Faraday40]

We LOVE Ideal! We have ordered from them 3 times, I think. Once a bonus chick broke a leg in transit and I put it down. It and all the other chicks were otherwise healthy. We got 15 blk Australorps from them on Oct 15. They start laying at 4.5 months, so only 6-7 weeks to go! They are very uniform in size and appearance. We need to cull some nonlayers to make room for them in our layer coop. I will probably raise some Australorp-Orp hybrids with them and Cogburn and/or Roadrunner. I'd like to make lav Australorps!! They only come blk, blue, and maybe white??? I like black chickens, but will need to get some one-off chicks for color and fun.

If anyone near Indy raises the following and/or has pullets, please PM me:

● Ameracaunas/EEs, any color but black, preferably blue-egg layers but green also okay
● Brahmas, any color
● Cochins, standard, any color (prefer not black)

Sandhill gets a NO from me and I suspect from @ellymayRans , too. My SGD cockerel is from them. The hassle of ordering from them is unbelievable.

I broke down and used My Pet Chicken for my SGD girls. From the address on the shipping box, I think I figured out they came from Meyer (or some big hatchery in Ohio). I paid out the backside to ship just 4. One was totally unable to walk upon arrival and I was unable to help her. MPC has a 24 hr notification policy and I followed it, got my money back for her. She also looked fine but for what had to be a travel injury. She was one of the bigger girls and alert. It was a shame. I hope they are not the same lines as my Sandhill cockerel. MPC uses a variety of breeders but can't/won't say in advance where your chicks will come from. I'm sure some breeders have issues, others not so much. I like my SGD pullets. The cockerel from Sandhill is mellow and handsome, but not much bigger than the younger pullets. If you need an uncommon breed or color, I would consider MPC if what you want is available and priced reasonably.

In other news, first eggs are in the bator! I hate to set cold eggs, but we've had enough days in the 40s that I started saving Orp and a few SGD eggs periodically. Some were saved longer than usual in the wine fridge at 56 degrees, but we'll see what happens. My Brinsea 40 has at least 48 eggs, maybe 49 or 50 with the small SGD eggs.

SGDs are autosexing (not other Dorking colors). I set mostly lav Orps (mixed American and English), plus a few English BBS, chocolates and chocolate cuckoos. My second and later hatches always go better, I think because of the egg temperatures being closer to ideal. I toyed with getting a Cochin to keep eggs warm since only a few of my Orps ever go broody, and only seasonally, but DH thinks they will just discourage the rest from laying. Can anyone with a few broodies among their nonbroody breeds let me know if that's true?

What are SGDs?

I have 2 bantams in with my flock & both like to go broody often. (Surprisingly, they're not trying to brood now, b/c their last hatch was in Sept.) Just between those those two I would say broodiness is very contagious. If one goes broody, the other will join her within 2 weeks. I have a mix that will only go broody in early June. Other than June/July, she lays like a Leghorn. LOL Although I read that Orps can go broody, I've never experienced that here. The rest of the flock has grown very tolerant of baby chicks in the flock. A few times I've even seen my never broody Orps protect / shelter a chick when a loud noise or lawn mower was heard. However, none have tried to set eggs.

My last hatch in Sept was fun. Both broodies were given eggs on the same day. After hatching, I put them both into the chicken tractor with a divider. The chicks were small enough to move to either hen's side, but would run to their orig mom when she called. It was like they were having "play dates." Gradually, I sold many of the chicks, and eventually, the hens allowed me to take the divider down. Each hen had a different mothering style but soon they free ranged with the flock & shared all the broody responsibilities. The last 4 chicks could warm up under either hen & they slept as a family piled into one large nest box.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

@Faraday40
  @pipdzipdnreadytogo
 Thanks for the advice! I for sure won't be heating the coop. I need to check to make sure my ventilation is good. My husband says it's great and I need to stop worrying about it. I could worry about worrying though. Just how I am.  I'm glad to hear roo won't be croaking. I'll be devastated when I have a loss. I've been super cautious and done all I can to keep them safe. 

No problem at all. Ventilation can be tricky, especially trying to get plenty of ventilation without having drafts, but it's well worth while. The difference between ventilation and drafts is that drafts blow directly over the birds, while ventilation allows air flow that does not blow against the birds. Here's a good read on ventilation if you're wanting some more info on that: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/...-go-out-there-and-cut-more-holes-in-your-coop Good luck!

Sandhill gets a NO from me and I suspect from @ellymayRans, too. My SGD cockerel is from them. The hassle of ordering from them is unbelievable.

I broke down and used My Pet Chicken for my SGD girls. From the address on the shipping box, I think I figured out they came from Meyer (or some big hatchery in Ohio). I paid out the backside to ship just 4. One was totally unable to walk upon arrival and I was unable to help her. MPC has a 24 hr notification policy and I followed it, got my money back for her. She also looked fine but for what had to be a travel injury. She was one of the bigger girls and alert. It was a shame. I hope they are not the same lines as my Sandhill cockerel. MPC uses a variety of breeders but can't/won't say in advance where your chicks will come from. I'm sure some breeders have issues, others not so much. I like my SGD pullets. The cockerel from Sandhill is mellow and handsome, but not much bigger than the younger pullets. If you need an uncommon breed or color, I would consider MPC if what you want is available and priced reasonably.

In other news, first eggs are in the bator! I hate to set cold eggs, but we've had enough days in the 40s that I started saving Orp and a few SGD eggs periodically. Some were saved longer than usual in the wine fridge at 56 degrees, but we'll see what happens. My Brinsea 40 has at least 48 eggs, maybe 49 or 50 with the small SGD eggs.

SGDs are autosexing (not other Dorking colors). I set mostly lav Orps (mixed American and English), plus a few English BBS, chocolates and chocolate cuckoos. My second and later hatches always go better, I think because of the egg temperatures being closer to ideal. I toyed with getting a Cochin to keep eggs warm since only a few of my Orps ever go broody, and only seasonally, but DH thinks they will just discourage the rest from laying. Can anyone with a few broodies among their nonbroody breeds let me know if that's true?

I'm excited to see how those Dorking eggs turn out!! I did just see a thread where MPC confirmed that they drop ship from Meyer's, so I would assume you got Meyer Dorkings. That's where my three came from and I adore them! Two have sprigs on their combs, though, which I understand is not desirable for breeding.

As for broodies, I have 3 Silkie hens, so there's almost always a broody in my coop, year round. The other girls just walk all over them if they get in the way. It definitely doesn't discourage anyone from laying! I LOVE my Cochins, almost as much as I love my Dorkings, so of course I would recommend them. Mine are under a year old and have never gone broody, so I can't tell you how worthwhile they would be to get for that purpose, but they're definitely big sweethearts. But seriously, if you want a reliable egg warmer at the drop of a hat, get some Silkie hens.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Haha, didn't notice the next page, and both of you make a really good point--contagious broodiness! I've not noticed the Silkies' broodiness being as contagious to other breeds, but when the three of them decide to go, they go!

Brooding is contagious. I've had broody EE before, also Cochin, Marans, Marans x EE, Dark Brahma, gold penciled Brahma, Australorp, Welsummer, BO, plus a White Holland turkey hen and a Black Swedish duck. My Silkie never laid or went broody before she was re-homed (miss having silkies--too cute for words).

Update on my "farm": Sweetie the WH hen seems to be feeling better after Hershey the Chocolate turkey evicted her from the nest (Sweetie has been non stop broody since before I got her in August!) Hershey is broody but very young so I will wait to see how determined she actually is before adding her breed to the broody list. Sydney isn't out of the woods yet but appears to be feeling much better too. I haven't been able to tend to them nearly so well as I would have liked since my concussion.

Was feeling much better Tuesday, then horrible yesterday. This recovery thing is tricky. Been doing chores about as I'm able but the house is a wreck. Had to dis-enroll completely this semester and loathe that because I'm too old to be delaying having a decent job and really looked forward to taking some of those classes.

Been working a lot with my youngest, who has been home schooled from the beginning even though he really needed public school with all the turmoil of both parents switch hitting on school and working shifts, etc the whole time. He's a lazy student and attention hog if ever there was one and is very difficult to teach. We spent almost twelve hours on one math page Tuesday. He loves to "lose" his school books, too, and I can't go spelunking for them like I used to have to do.

So sorry about you missing classes, but I'm glad to hear your birds are doing better! And hope you start feeling better soon, too!

What are SGDs?

I have 2 bantams in with my flock & both like to go broody often. (Surprisingly, they're not trying to brood now, b/c their last hatch was in Sept.)  Just between those those two I would say broodiness is very contagious.  If one goes broody, the other will join her within 2 weeks. I have a mix that will only go broody in early June.  Other than June/July, she lays like a Leghorn. LOL    Although I read that Orps can go broody, I've never experienced that here. The rest of the flock has grown very tolerant of baby chicks in the flock.  A few times I've even seen my never broody Orps protect / shelter a chick when a loud noise or lawn mower was heard.  However, none have tried to set eggs.

My last hatch in Sept was fun.  Both broodies were given eggs on the same day.  After hatching, I put them both into the chicken tractor with a divider.  The chicks were small enough to move to either hen's side, but would run to their orig mom when she called.  It was like they were having "play dates."  Gradually, I sold many of the chicks, and eventually, the hens allowed me to take the divider down.  Each hen had a different mothering style but soon they free ranged with the flock & shared all the broody responsibilities.  The last 4 chicks could warm up under either hen & they slept as a family piled into one large nest box.

SGD = Silver Gray Dorking. Also known as the best breed there is.

I love hearing about the different broody styles. And it's pretty awesome that the other hens helped to hide chicks when alarmed! My only broody-raised chick experience, I had mama and the babies closed off in the coop, so I never got to see any of that.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Well, my semester started pretty rough. Babies are still doing well, and I think I caught a second one of the little boogers crowing this morning! They take after their father for sure, he's always trying to convince everyone what a manly man he is. They're about a week old already, can't believe how fast they're growing!


Also, my gorgeous young Easter-egger, Endymion, laid her first egg yesterday, and it's just as gorgeous as she is!!

She brilliantly hopped up on top of one of the hutches and laid it off the edge, though, so it was broken when I found it.

 

[JanetMarie]

Well, my semester started pretty rough.

Babies are still doing well, and I think I caught a second one of the little boogers crowing this morning! They take after their father for sure, he's always trying to convince everyone what a manly man he is.

They're about a week old already, can't believe how fast they're growing!


Also, my gorgeous young Easter-egger, Endymion, laid her first egg yesterday, and it's just as gorgeous as she is!!

She brilliantly hopped up on top of one of the hutches and laid it off the edge, though, so it was broken when I found it.

Her and the egg are beautiful!!!!

 

[Leahs Mom]

I know someone in the Peru area that has a Buckeye cockerel (will be year old in June) that they are hoping to find a new home for. Anyone interested? Send me a PM please

 

[Leahs Mom]

 

[Faraday40]

A friend has this beautiful Cuckoo English Orpington cockerel (a choc I think) that is need of a new home. She cannot keep roosters.
Located in western suburbs of Chicago.

 

[twoacrefarm]

So, I just discovered online buying... well I knew about them but I got spring fever. Is Meyer hatchery out of OH good? Is shipping generally high?