INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[ellymayRans]

Got my tracking # from BYC! Spoke to someone at the post office. She said my chicks will come directly from Louisville to our local PO about 6:30 and I can knock on the door in the lobby and someone will get them for me. Pretty excited! If I hear back from the guinea guy I might have keets today or tomorrow, too. Depends on when he checks his email. I guess he's in no rush. Today isn't just Cinco de Mayo for us every year...it's my son's birthday. Just decorated the kitchen for a big celebration tonight. Ay yi yi! He asked for Minecraft chickens on his cake and he is getting them! Cockadoodle doo!

That's great! My 7 year old would love it! He's turning 8 the end of July. I'll have to look into having him one! Thank you for the idea!

 

[animallover2202]

Happy Cinco De Mayo everyone

Mayo doesn't sink; it floats.

I make homemade mayo.  I bet it's going to totally rock with fresh eggs!

/random

i made mayo once my first try went good my second time went bad oh well

 

[Leahs Mom]

I have a twofold fermented feed question that I didn't see answered in other threads on the subject.

I started fermenting my dog's food as a prelude to doing chicken food, and that was going really well. The dog liked it better, and after a couple weeks she stunk less. The problem was that no matter how saturated the dog food was, it would not sink. It insisted on floating on top of the water. Eventually, I did have some go bad because of contact with the air. As a side note, the difference in smell between fermented dog food (which was a pretty horrible smell) and rotten dog food was not subtle.

So my question is this. Right now I'm giving the flock Dumor layer crumbles, and that's what I want to ferment first - will it float? If so, I'm sure I can devise some kind of weight-plate to hold it down. This is what I'm going to do with the dog food, too. But I'd like to know what I'm in for.

Second part of the question. Eventually I'm going to either buy bulk grains and mix my own feed, or find a feed store or mill that will make it for me. I'm not real big on soy, which I'm sure is a major component of the dumor. I could be wrong, but I'd be shocked if it's not. So, will the grain feed float? Or does it sink politely to the bottom of a bucket of water, where I want it to be?

Thanks in advance!

Very behind and I imagine folks have replied..

My feed is home made grain feed that I grind coarse for fermenting. There is occasionally some of the "chaff" (seed coats) that will float on the top. After everything has settled down that will (I give it at least an hour), I just take a spoon and skim the floaters off the top.

BTW....I never ferment BOSS. For one thing, it does not have the same anti-nutrient properties as grains. For another - it floats! If I add BOSS, I stir it into the feed bowls with the ff but not in the fermentation container.

 

[Leahs Mom]

PS: I owe you a recipe and a spreadsheet! PM me with your email address and I can send the sheet. (Xcel File)

 

[hoosiercheetah]

Very behind and I imagine folks have replied..


My feed is home made grain feed that I grind coarse for fermenting. There is occasionally some of the "chaff" (seed coats) that will float on the top. After everything has settled down that will (I give it at least an hour), I just take a spoon and skim the floaters off the top.


BTW....I never ferment BOSS. For one thing, it does not have the same anti-nutrient properties as grains. For another - it floats! If I add BOSS, I stir it into the feed bowls with the ff but not in the fermentation container.

What is this BOSS of which you speak?

PS: I owe you a recipe and a spreadsheet! PM me with your email address and I can send the sheet. (Xcel File)

I was just thinking about nudging you on that. ;-) PM sent!

 

[Leahs Mom]

BOSS = Black Oil Sunflower Seed

 

[SallyinIndiana]

I have a broody hen. It is one of my 3 sumatra hens. She had been semi broody for the past week. Stealing all of the wooden eggs sometime between 11pm and 6am. So today I gave her 7 EE eggs. I don't need or even want more EE chicks at the moment. So if she is not the best broody, I'm only out a few eggs.

 

[Mother2Hens]

Thank you thank you thank you, for all of your help. I'll read all the links first thing in the morning, and try to figure out a course of treatment, but there isn't much more I can do for it until after work tomorrow.

I guess I didn't mention, it's not one of the orpingtons this time, although I wouldn't rule them totally out of the equation. Seems like I've read that chickens can be asymptomatic carriers for all sorts of nasty stuff. So it's hard to say who might have given what bugs to who, or if this thing just got sick because that happens sometimes. Anyway, here's a very sad, confused chicken:



Because I know someone's going to ask, yes, that's a taper punch holding the door closed. You get some of that in a last minute midnight build.

I'll check on it in the morning, but it will have to be alone most of the day. I hope that it can recover. I'd really like to find out if it's a boy or girl some day. Also, the other EE is going to go bat-poop crazy without her surrogate mother to attach to. Figures I'd get a codependent chicken.

In lighter news, I think I'm allergic to my straw hat. Either that or I got into some poison ivy. Not fun in any case.

I can't believe it's 2 am. I have to go to work in a few hours. At least no one can say I didn't care or try hard to help this animal, you know, if it dies and I eat it.

What do you think is more valuable - Autopsy or Fricassee?

I'm going to bed before I get any more morbid.

hoosierchicken~ If I was in your situation, I'd go ahead and put the other EE in with this one since it has been exposed to whatever this is anyway. Being isolated will just cause extra stress. You did an amazing job making a cage on a moment's notice!

 

[Leahs Mom]

hoosierchicken~ If I was in your situation, I'd go ahead and put the other EE in with this one since it has been exposed to whatever this is anyway. Being isolated will just cause extra stress. You did an amazing job making a cage on a moment's notice!

I agree on both points. (And... If you were closer I'd have you whip me up a pen or 2 )

 

[Delawaremommy]

It's wood, but it's 1-1/4" diameter, so it's a little narrow. I'm going to find a tree branch to replace it, as well.

My older girls love their cheesy home made 2x4 roost and will sleep and play on it day and night...they also have a tree branch but it is more used as a ladder rung to the other....we'll have to see what the two new ones think of all of it when/if they get out there....My mom has decided they are just too small to put out with the big ones and they may end up with their own coop!

The little ones are growing like weeds and my little cochin is BLUE!!!!! yeah!!! Even better is that at 3 weeks they still have almost sunken combs so I am now firmly believing they are pullets!!!! I will get pics of them this week to post before they lose all their fluff and see what everyone else thinks. I hope to let them have some grass time in the next week or two but who knows with the weather like it is. I don't want them chilled.....

Welcome to all newcomers!