INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Edenbridget]

RK Lafayette is getting 1,500 chicks tomorrow

the lady said it was definite. Frankfort RK is supposed to get theirs on Thursday. We bought 3 ISA browns from Laffy and I'm thinking they gave me a rooster. It's much lighter than the other two, has no tail feathers yet while the other two have about half inch tails. Plus it has way less wing feathering and the feathers are pure white instead of white with brown spots. Siiigh lol, thought my daughter might be safe this time from picking a roo as "her own" since they are sex linked. We bought 3 black australorps about a month ago from them and 2/3 are roos.

 

[slutter]

we just got our first pullet egg today! It was one of the jersey giants the americanas are slacking.

Great news! How old are they?

 

[Faraday40]

Trouble Update:
Our little Sebright "Trouble" is trained to come & land on my arm on command. (Or at least when I call AND have my treat pail.) She's a great flyer, fast, & impossible to catch if she decides to be. That's why I started working with her about 1-2 weeks ago. At first she merely hopped onto my hand from the roost. With 3-5 min per day, she will now fly up to 10 feet to reach me. She'll also fly down out of a tree or up from the ground. DD has mostly been working with her Dominique, "Bubbles," but she plays with Trouble too. DD can get Trouble to fly 3-4ft & land on her arm.

So far the only drawback is that Trouble follows me everywhere. Sometimes when I reach out to grab something I get a sebright on my arm. (But, she only gets rewarded when I call her 1st.) Of course before training she sometimes would try to land on my back, head, shoulder, etc. I have a strong swatting reflex when something is coming at me. The training helps us both build trust & teaches Trouble a more appropriate place to land.

I tried to get a pic of Trouble in flight. Lighting wasn't very good today but here are some action shots.

Mid-flight

Just before landing.
See how she sticks her feet out forward to grab hold of my arm? All I see are CLAWS coming at me. It's a trust exercise for both of us.



BTW- Trouble laid 4 eggs in 7 days. Now there are enough eggs for our family, so we don't have to fight over who gets to eat her cute little eggs. Of course, we'll still have to eat some orpington eggs if we want to make it a meal. DH calls Trouble our useless chicken. She hatched July 1st & just started laying a week ago. The eggs are pretty tiny. Oh well. I'm having fun with her.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Hi, everyone! I should be doing homework right now, so I'm cruising around BYC. I really don't have the time or energy to read the 20+ pages of posts I missed, so sorry if I missed anything directed toward me. Everyone has had the flu here over the past week, and it had me down for the count from Monday through Thursday last week. I'm still coughing but finally on my feet again. Man, that stuff really takes it out of you!

My girls are well, happy as can be. I have two hens in my room with the ducky now because little bitty Frannie wasn't acting herself over the weekend. She is one of my two Sebrights whose previous owner debeaked them, and I think she was having issues with her mouth due to food collecting in what's left of her beak. :/ She's back to herself now, though, and she and Elly are ready to get back outside if their constant shavings kicking is any indication! Set of ingrates!

I got a whopping 7 eggs yesterday, and I've brought in 6 today already. I'm STILL waiting on my Silkie hen, Marge, to start sitting so that I can put some under her and hatch out some baby Reublets. I think the weekend's cold temps put her off of the idea, so she's still taking her sweet time deciding. I had hoped she would be broody by now so that the babies would hatch during my spring break, but I think the little butt is going to hold out too long. Brat.

Oh, I also can't say I haven't seen any frostbite this winter anymore. My Legbar's ridiculous comb grew out again because she's come back into lay, and the tips of it dip into the water when she drinks, so she has a touch of frostbite on the tips that get wet. No one else has had frostbite, though, including my Light Brown Leghorn, whose comb never shrank down this winter so I was fully expecting issues. Still have 4 of 5 windows open at all times and all the vents open for ventilation. No heat, no insulation.




A couple things I saw that I wanted to comment on.

Anyone wanting to know where to start with Marek's disease, I highly recommend reading through Nambroth's Great Big Giant Marek's FAQ if you haven't: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq You will probably find this on there as well, but just so y'all know, vaccinating birds in a flock that has already seen losses or symptoms is not going to help, and vaccinating birds older than about 36 hours old is not recommended either. It won't hurt, but it'll probably be a waste of money because it also probably won't do anything. Personally, after reading that the vaccination can actually make birds into breeding grounds for stronger strains of the disease, I wouldn't vaccinate anyway. Marek's is impossible to quarantine for, lives an age outside of the body, is everywhere, and to be honest I'm relatively sure my flock has it as well, though I've never had any tests to confirm. Once you understand the disease and how it works, it becomes less of a gut shot to know it's here and more of just one of those things you have to accept, like the MG. Just my two cents on that topic.




Heating and whether it is 'more humane' or not. I, of course, have to disagree with the consensus that it's more humane to provide heat.

But seriously, being part of as many chicken groups as I am, you see a lot of sides to every topic, and one thing that I have noticed more and more discussion on this winter is the idea that chickens could actually be happier without heat. This has been my thought for a long time, and being that my girls have been happy to get out of their coop every day this winter, I've come to the conclusion that the cold is seriously no biggie to them--it's the snow they begrudge. We've had hardly any snow this winter, and it has shown. Every morning, including during the cold snap, my girls have been eager to fly the coop for some fresh air, stretch their wings, eat ice from my boots, and scratch around at the old shavings down in the chicken yard. I think they have been outside almost as much this winter as they are any other time of year!

On one of my groups, there was talk about people deciding not to heat this year and comparing their birds' behavior to previous years. One person in particular said her chickens seemed a lot happier this year without heat than they did last year with heat, that they were much more active and just behaved more like healthy chickens. With heat, they moped inside all day, all winter long. This person lives in Canada. She's not the only one to have noticed this, but her location is what makes her testimony that much more potent.

Providing heat really has few benefits for our winters, and none that I can think of for the birds, themselves, with few exceptions. It does not prevent frostbite if my flock is any indication, and may actually be the cause of some. It does not make the birds happier and whether it makes them more comfortable cannot really be said due to the subjectivity of comfort, though again, if my birds are any indication it does not add comfort, either. It does keep eggs from freezing and may encourage more production through the cold months, so there is that... But for chickens kept solely as pets like mine, I can think of no real benefits. I mean, by all means, heat your coop if you want to, it's your coop. Just don't try to imply that your birds are happier or healthier or treated better than mine for it.

Pardon for the mini-rant there at the end. Just something to think about on the topic...

 

[stumpfme]

Hi all I'm from Cicero Ind. and I'm new to the chicken business but I am so excited I have 5 hens and 2 roosters i got my hens last summer and finally one of my barred rocks went broody her first day of sitting was Feb 3rd. She had 12 eggs under her from the other hen laying in the same box I had to move her to the brooder with her eggs. I candled them this Sunday all but 3 were good i don't know what happened to the 3 that were bad but the boys and I are so excited for the hatch which should be Feb 24. Does it always take 21 days? or could it be shorter or longer we cant wait too much longer lol.

I think another one is going broody she sat in a nest box all day long on 4 eggs and when I went to close up my coop she was roosting with the others. this is exactly how the first one done and after doing this for a few days here and there the last time she wouldn't budge not even for treats so I thought i would leave the eggs and see if she would sit on them and she has done a great job so far. I absolutely love my chickens so the more the merrier

Elizabeth

 

[Hholly]

[COLOR=333333]Hi all I'm from Cicero Ind. and I'm new to the chicken business but I am so excited I have 5 hens and 2 roosters i got my hens last summer and finally one of my barred rocks went broody her first day of sitting was Feb 3rd. She had 12 eggs under her from the other hen laying in the same box I had to move her to the brooder with her eggs. I candled them this Sunday all but 3 were good i don't know what happened to the 3 that were bad but the boys and I are so excited for the hatch which should be Feb 24. Does it always take 21 days? or could it be shorter or longer we cant wait too much longer lol.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=333333] I think another one is going broody she sat in a nest box all day long on 4 eggs and when I went to close up my coop she was roosting with the others. this is exactly how the first one done and after doing this for a few days here and there the last time she wouldn't budge not even for treats so I thought i would leave the eggs and see if she would sit on them and she has done a great job so far. I absolutely love my chickens so the more the merrier[/COLOR]

[COLOR=333333] [/COLOR]

[COLOR=333333] Elizabeth[/COLOR]

Welcome to the Indiana thread! Glad you joined us. Hope you get lots of chicks from your broody hen.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Quote: That was my main reason, Midget whites are more timid than my hollands and bourbons are. I honestly don't agree with the taste test opinions, I have raised a lot of turkeys. Its how they are raised and what they are fed.

we just got our first pullet egg today! It was one of the jersey giants the americanas are slacking.

Congrats, awesome!

@flyladyrocks So grandfathering in... do I need surplus numbers of everything to be grandfathered in for them too? I only have three quail and one turkey (and a metric crapton of chickens). Does their presence count for anything? With the way you're talking about those pheasants, I might have to talk DH into those (stick it to the man, you know). I've thought about borrowing a goat for the last day of March, too

LOL I bet he would go for it and my friend is very eager to place hers. I could do a 3 way swap and get them for you. Its a simple $10 DNR permit. PM or text me if you decide to. I can help you set up.

All "kiddos" up and laying for the season.

The oldest birds started first, interestingly enough. Oldest birds will be 4 yo in March.

Awesome news, same here My Mabel, is at least 5 and is laying, as well as LoPro the EE who is 4.

So I was looking for a new incubator and I really think I want a gqf sportsman 1502 or something like that and I found some on crag list guy has 12 he's in Miami no biggy I go to Florida often but he wants 599$ each and if looked online and can get them brand new for 650-750$ anyone have any thoughts?

My DH insisted my first one was new, no worries with warranty repair. 2nd was used but I knew the person. I will never buy another brand, the GQF 1502 cabinet is flawless.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

RK Lafayette is getting 1,500 chicks tomorrow

the lady said it was definite. Frankfort RK is supposed to get theirs on Thursday. We bought 3 ISA browns from Laffy and I'm thinking they gave me a rooster. It's much lighter than the other two, has no tail feathers yet while the other two have about half inch tails. Plus it has way less wing feathering and the feathers are pure white instead of white with brown spots. Siiigh lol, thought my daughter might be safe this time from picking a roo as "her own" since they are sex linked. We bought 3 black australorps about a month ago from them and 2/3 are roos.

If I haven't said it already, welcome to our thread! Awesome chick radar report too.

Trouble Update:
Our little Sebright "Trouble" is trained to come & land on my arm on command. (Or at least when I call AND have my treat pail.) She's a great flyer, fast, & impossible to catch if she decides to be. That's why I started working with her about 1-2 weeks ago. At first she merely hopped onto my hand from the roost. With 3-5 min per day, she will now fly up to 10 feet to reach me. She'll also fly down out of a tree or up from the ground. DD has mostly been working with her Dominique, "Bubbles," but she plays with Trouble too. DD can get Trouble to fly 3-4ft & land on her arm.

So far the only drawback is that Trouble follows me everywhere. Sometimes when I reach out to grab something I get a sebright on my arm. (But, she only gets rewarded when I call her 1st.) Of course before training she sometimes would try to land on my back, head, shoulder, etc. I have a strong swatting reflex when something is coming at me. The training helps us both build trust & teaches Trouble a more appropriate place to land.

I tried to get a pic of Trouble in flight. Lighting wasn't very good today but here are some action shots.

Mid-flight

Just before landing.
See how she sticks her feet out forward to grab hold of my arm? All I see are CLAWS coming at me. It's a trust exercise for both of us.



BTW- Trouble laid 4 eggs in 7 days. Now there are enough eggs for our family, so we don't have to fight over who gets to eat her cute little eggs. Of course, we'll still have to eat some orpington eggs if we want to make it a meal. DH calls Trouble our useless chicken. She hatched July 1st & just started laying a week ago. The eggs are pretty tiny. Oh well. I'm having fun with her.

She is so pretty, I love silver laced! I kept sebrights for a while and the eggs do get bigger. Mine were pretty much a daily layer also. They are really economical to keep considering the size compared to the egg, lol.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Welp, I'm up still anyway, and I posted this on another thread, so I thought I'd share it here, too. My precious remaining Dorking, Elda, is just so good at making me smile. It looks like someone called for a 'selfie' and she happily obliged. (Don't mind my big ol' face in the background, it was cuddle time. )

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Hi all I'm from Cicero Ind. and I'm new to the chicken business but I am so excited I have 5 hens and 2 roosters i got my hens last summer and finally one of my barred rocks went broody her first day of sitting was Feb 3rd. She had 12 eggs under her from the other hen laying in the same box I had to move her to the brooder with her eggs. I candled them this Sunday all but 3 were good i don't know what happened to the 3 that were bad but the boys and I are so excited for the hatch which should be Feb 24. Does it always take 21 days? or could it be shorter or longer we cant wait too much longer lol.

I think another one is going broody she sat in a nest box all day long on 4 eggs and when I went to close up my coop she was roosting with the others. this is exactly how the first one done and after doing this for a few days here and there the last time she wouldn't budge not even for treats so I thought i would leave the eggs and see if she would sit on them and she has done a great job so far. I absolutely love my chickens so the more the merrier

Elizabeth

Welcome to BYC and our thread!

On hatching, some will go as early as 19 days or as late as 25! I have literally hatched thousands over the last 3 years. Main thing, smell that clutch, and candle your eggs. If you notice an odor its time to look for your bad egg. Sometimes chicks quit for reasons we can't explain. So excited for you!!!
Please feel at home and ask questions, post pictures WE love pictures!