INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Quinstar]

Lol o
k. If u decide you want any just let me know i hatch all the time!

Thanks! I most definitely will next summer! By then DH won't even notice one more. It's not like he can tell the girls apart anyway.

 

[ShawnaScott]

I use our cuttings too, get it with a yard sweeper for leaves. Pigs LOVE to much it too! Usually 2 days in the sun and its good to go. It will feel dry, and no moisture if you squeeze it in your hands. And it will still look a little greenish.

Thanks! I finally figured out a way to store them (I tried making burlap sacks, they wouldn't sew!) so I finally settled for making mini bales of hay. It takes a while but at least I know they won't rot!

 

[jhfamily5]

So how many chicks does everyone have?

I always hear about your chickens, but I can't figure out who has just a few (maybe living in the city) and who has more than say 15 or so. I would love to know because that is how my brain works. LOL Are there any on here that raise chickens for profit? If so, how many do you have?

Also would love to know who on here has more than 5 years experience?

I love to learn from anyone's experience, but it would be nice to know who has been through this many times over and who is just starting out, like me.

OMWord...I refuse to count. If I HAD to guess, with chicks- including the ones cheeping from the incubator as I type, probably 200. I have a bunch of assorted (purebred though) bantams and a bunch of Silkie chicks I hatched from my flock for sale right now so that is a lot of that number. (I am a total hatch-a-holic! I love the whole amazing process and selling the chicks helps with the feed bill.) I have a laying flock of about 30 and then my Silkies, Showgirls, Porcelain D'Uccles-my oldest's flock, Japanese bantams I am growing out (new to them so I am not sure if I will keep them or not but I wanted to get to know the breed and my DH thinks they are "pretty cool"- we have to keep him on board the chicken train so he can't fuss

), SL and BCW Polish-my youngest's flock, and then all the chicks we bought this spring to pick and choose from when we could tell what they were. "Name that Assorted Bantam" is one of our favorite family games. So, overall probably 140-150 that are ours and 50-60 to sell. I put fresh adds on CL this morning so hopefully those numbers will drop a bunch in the next week. That's a lot of poop to clean up every day!

I started with 9 layers for "fresh eggs" but soon discovered that chicken math is REAL and raising the birds has nearly cured the depression I had been battling for nearly a year before I got them so it has been hard to pass on more here and there. They are 100% therapeutic for me and help a lot in getting my kids to play outside more and spend more time doing selfless deeds for others. Even if it is for animals, at least they aren't as focused on themselves. I didn't raise them to have anything less than a servant's heart but they are kids and it is a process fighting that very human nature of ours. Spending time caring for animals is a great tool in that battle and I am thankful everyday that I decided to take that leap and try for "fresh eggs". One of the best decisions EVER.

Wow--too busy over the weekend to keep up with the thread, so had some reading to do.
Congrats to all those new additions and condolences to those with losses. It's up and down with poultry.
I went to the Milton swap Saturday--a muddy mess--but sold all that I took, including my last 3 pygmy goats. Have had a few teary moments since, but I was comfortable with the families that they went to. Just finally had to admit that I'm not keeping up with everything and have to cut back.
Have had chicks hatching every week, so need to do some serious construction projects. I try to keep them until I can tell who is show quality, breeder quality, or pet quality, so getting pretty overrun. But does that stop me? I like LAMom's "Help! I can't stop hatching!" It certainly applies to me also.

My name is Tami and I am a Hatch-A-Holic...too.

i guess i shouldn't shock you more when i tell you we have only had chickens for a year and we had to start our entire life over when our home burned down in January. oops..

here are a couple of our chicks.

Sorry for your loss. My in-laws lost everything in a fire too. It's heart wrenching and so hard to start over.

Gorgeous Paints!!!

I work for a power utility company as a lineman and I am currently on call 24-7 every other week. Have a daughter turning two Saturday, two dogs and have added 70+ assorted chickens 2 peacocks 7 goats and a lamb in less than two months the lamb and 3 of the goats are bottle fed 4 times a day and I'm fermenting feed and growing fodder.

I need help- if you see my mind lying around please return it to me because I seem to have lost it

Don't find it until after you pick up the showgirls.

JK

I have a lot.. to many.. I honestly do not know at the moment, around 150 including whats hatching out right now, in the brooders, and out in all the pens. I had chickens several years ago for a few years. Only meat birds back then. My grandmothers both always had laying hens. I had moved into town and gave up my birds until last year, my future son in law asked me if I wanted some birds, his dad had too many and was giving chicks away. well, I blurted out without even thinking SUUUURE!!!!!! My DH just looked at me in horror. I got 6 GLW (still have 4, traded 2 for 25 meatbirds!) and it grew from there. I have added, swapped traded bought and sold. We have 17 BA, 15 LO, Unknown several EE, BR and GLW. 4 Muscovy (1 hen still AWOL), 2 pekin ducks. 7 chinese geese, 4 guinea hens. 3 pigs, 2 goats several barn cats and a pug.

I guess I probably have 5 years of chicken experience maybe more, not sure. I was a wildlife rehabber and director of animal control several years also.

Corturnix quail eggs on the way, Peafowl and Cows are next....

Did I mention I love critters?

So glad I am not alone! Everyone else posted such reasonable numbers!

If you put Glad Press & Seal on the top, it will save you tons of cleanup time. Just peel it off and put on a new piece. No scrubbing. Mine spend a lot of time climbing and pooping on top of ours. Yuck

Hey all! I'm starting to feel overwhelmed!! I went outside with the chickens and my EE hadn't laid an egg in 2 days which isn't normal for her and so I decided to just check to see if her vent was moist looking to ensure she isn't egg bound and I saw some lice!!! All 3 of my hens have some on their butt areas. 2 weeks ago I found worms in poop and now I found lice! I've have them for barely a month and I just got 4 chicks last week and now I feel like a terrible chicken mom! I scoop poo from the coop everyday, I got DE 2 wks ago when I found out about the worms and I've been sprinkling that everywhere but was afraid I'd use to much and make them sick so just a sprinkle everywhere. What do I do to fix all this?? What am I doing wrong?? All help is appreciated!!

I personally do not like the DE. I don't think it works at all and it is very dangerous to the lungs. Seven helps for the lice and Wazine first (only helps with roundworms but is good to do first instead of starting with something strong) and then followed with Eprinex (like Ivomec(ivermectin) but without the egg withholding) second for the internal parasite prevention. I haven't had to deal with worms at all (thanks to prevention measures) but lice happens (from wild birds) and all you can do is check for it periodically and dust. You are a good chicken mom for finding them! Some people don't even check. Wear a mask when working with the Sevin and go sparingly but pay special attention to the back of the neck, under the wings and especially the vent area. You can also sprinkle a little on the floor of your coop under the bedding. I find it easiest to apply it with a ketchup bottle (like the red and yellow picnic kind). It has a pointy tip so I get it where I want it and it is less messy. I like to spray the coop and nest boxes with a pet safe permethrin spray and let that dry before the fresh bedding goes in instead of the Sevin and just dust the birds but that is just me. I don't like to smell the Sevin and the spray sticks around longer with less mess. It's cheaper too. Make sure you re-dust in 7-10 days to get any new bugs that have hatched.

im thinking about doing a practice hatch can i hatch only one or do i need to have more then one???

I feel you should always do 6+. Even if that one egg did hatch no problem, chickens are very social and need buddies. Just my $.02

When they mate how long is it good for??

As long as 3 weeks but I would make sure it is every 1.5-2 weeks just to be sure.

Oh, goodness, this is my first time using one and I love it! The chicks sleep quietly all night and I don't have the light on all hours, nor do I have to worry about the fire hazard! The babies also seem to be less sensitive to being away from the heat for longer periods of time. I'm never switching back to a heat bulb again!

Mine was a Christmas gift, too.

I LOVE mine too! They are fabulous and no cheeping all night! Only wish I had realized last year what a great investment they are.

 

[PeacefulWalls]

So my daughter (she's 14) keeps asking why, if her brother can get ducks (a late birthday present), why can't she get quail & guineas???

It doesn't help that one of her friends from school also raises chickens and ducks and quail and I'm not sure what else! We saw the quail hatchlings in the rabbit/poultry barn at state fair last year when we were there for rabbit competitions. She fell in love with the quail & has wanted them ever since. My question about quail is, what do you do with them? She says we can use their eggs, but I'm thinking they lay pretty small eggs & how many dozens of quail eggs does it take for a family-sized omelet??!! As far as meat goes, we butcher our own meat rabbits, but haven't done poultry (don't have to pluck a rabbit!). I can't imagine it would be worth it to pay someone to process quail for us would it??

Does anybody keep guineas? I've never heard them in person, but have read & heard from others that they are loud/noisy. Are there enough good reasons to raise them (besides, Mom -- they're pretty!) that outweigh the noisy factor? And is it an occasional noise or the kind that drives you nuts after 5 minutes?

Any input would be helpful.....

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Po the fizzle Cochin bantam!

Hika Ma the EE bantam, Marama the Egyptian Fayoumi, and Po again.

Hika Ma with Tiwhiri the light brown Leghorn checking him out.

Energy!!

Tiwhiri and Rangi the Ancona

Rangi trying to fly out of the brooder!v

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Does anybody keep guineas?  I've never heard them in person, but have read & heard from others that they are loud/noisy.  Are there enough good reasons to raise them (besides, Mom -- they're pretty!) that outweigh the noisy factor?  And is it an occasional noise or the kind that drives you nuts after 5 minutes?

Any input would be helpful.....

I have Guineas and they are LOUD. They are loud when it rains, when something new is moved next to their enclosure, when something flies over, when we drive the tractor past them, they're even loud while they're eating! And they like to wander off into the woods and get lost. However, they have on several occasions warned the hens about hawks flying over, and the girls run for cover when they warn. I have heard them enough that I can distinguish between their 'this might be dangerous' scream and their 'OH MY GOSH RUN!!' scream (and the hens apparently can, too), so I know when to check on the birds if the Guineas have been set off. I don't know if that's enough good reason for you, but that's why I keep them around.

 

[strssdmom]

• jhfamily5 ~ I agree raising chickens is very therapeutic and has helped with my depression as well. My children love the chickens and don't complain about being outside as much anymore.

Wow, over 200 hundred, that is more than I could handle. I have 29 and that is more than enough for my first time. LOL

 

[bradselig]

Ive had both quail and guineas. I butchered the quail and sold the guineas. I loved the guineas until the males became hormonal. They constantly harrassed the chickens. They are also roamers and taught my chickens hhow to cross the road. But they were pretty and comical. Once I get a different house with more acres and off the road, ill be getting more guineas (just not cooping them up with chickens).
The quail I hatched, raised, and butchered were cortunix . I liked them but were raised strictly for butchering. They are EASY to process. Plucking is easy to do (no scalding needed) but very easy to rip the skin. I plucked most of the burd and the skinned them. Removing the feathers prior to skinning made skinning much easier. Besides kitchen shears I didnt need anthing else to process them other than my hands. Ill be buying more hatching eggs soon to incubate. If I get them in time ill send some quail chicks with the orpington chicks if you want some!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Ive had both quail and guineas. I butchered the quail and sold the guineas. I loved the guineas until the males became hormonal. They constantly harrassed the chickens. They are also roamers and taught my chickens hhow to cross the road. But they were pretty and comical. Once I get a different house with more acres and off the road, ill be getting more guineas (just not cooping them up with chickens).

Oh, yes, I should note that my Guineas are NOT housed with my hens, and so the Guineas seem a little cautious about harassing the girls. And, well, the girls don't take any crap from the Guineas if they try anything.

 

[bradselig]

I got birchen marans hatching. Saw the first pip before I left to work! I biught 8 off ebay, 11 sent. All 11 were fertile and made it to lockdown! Seller is also on byc.she has other breeds as well. If anyone is interested let me know and ill send you her contact info. Im very impressed especially with shipped eggs!