INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Chaneys Ranch]

Worked on getting broods moved around today. Moved all silkies except the 2 broodies out to the small coop and built a run onto it for them.

Moved the ducklings out of the GQF brooder into a large wooden brooding pen and the Speckled Sussex chicks with the Bresse into a different wooden brooder. So all older chicks moved, cleaned out the GQF brooder and moved the 2 guinea chicks and 2 very tiny silkie chicks in. Tomorrow i will go pick up my bators and hatched chicks from my aunt to bring back home and those new chicks will move in to the GQF brooder as well.

I hate heat lamps but after pulling the ducklings they hardly have any down fluff on their backs and wings so i couldn't help but put heat lamps on them until they start feathering out more. So pics aren't great but I think it's pretty obvious that at least 1 is a drake. He's so big!

Granted he was the first to hatch but by a day I'm pretty sure.
I plan to take some individual pics of each of them in natural lighting. At first hatch the tips of his tail was very light in color appearing lavender. I moved a lot of birds around today and in a dark garage to the blaring sunshine outside so i couldn't tell what color it is!

Oh yes..drake! They are noticeably bigger by the first week. The longer body and tail is the first hint followed by a bigger head, longer neck.
I agree, the heat lamps scare me too. I just make sure I have them wired down securely IF I have to use them.. The clamps fail and thats what causes fires.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

This is my best comparison for Muscovy to show changes in color and sexing.
The original 4 as duckings: Ducks from top, 3 hens, drake at bottom.

From the top, hen Squawk. Donald, Huey. Drake Stanley. About 8 weeks old. Notice Stanley is already HUGE compared to the 3 hens, he is bottom left. The long tail is a dead giveaway.

 

[pbirdhaven]

This weather is a bother! At least I haven't had power outages and trees down like some of you, and I'm thankful for that. Came home from my mom's on Sunday and 4 orpingtons met me at the back door. The wind had lifted the tarp on their pen so that the bottom of the fence was off the ground. Put them in a different pen, and they seem to like it better anyhow. Also had taken some scraps out to the chickens in my popcorn bowl (plastic), set it down while I fed, and haven't seen it since. I suppose it's off in the woods somewhere.

Because the temps have been getting so low, I haven't moved my golden comet chicks (about 4 weeks old) to the shed, even with their heater. So I have 7 of them in my bedroom and 8 in my office area.

Looking forward to reclaiming my house!

Welcome new peeps!

 

[chick rookie]

Hello from Clark County. Not necessarily new to chickens but new to this website. I came across it while trying to figure out what breed these 2 new ones we took in are. Seems like there is a lot of good information here.

Quote:

Hi! Clark County here too! I may have to message you as I'm just getting into chicken keeping!




Also, I am new to the forum as well. I'm located near Henryville Indiana! I've already got a lot of help from the forum, but I look forward to talking chicken!

Welcome both or you, to our home away from home, and

 

[chick rookie]

This is my best comparison for Muscovy to show changes in color and sexing.
The original 4 as duckings: Ducks from top, 3 hens, drake at bottom.

From the top, hen Squawk. Donald, Huey. Drake Stanley. About 8 weeks old. Notice Stanley is already HUGE compared to the 3 hens, he is bottom left. The long tail is a dead giveaway.

Thats 8 WEEKS old???!!!! WOW ducks grow fast!!!

This weather is a bother! At least I haven't had power outages and trees down like some of you, and I'm thankful for that. Came home from my mom's on Sunday and 4 orpingtons met me at the back door. The wind had lifted the tarp on their pen so that the bottom of the fence was off the ground. Put them in a different pen, and they seem to like it better anyhow. Also had taken some scraps out to the chickens in my popcorn bowl (plastic), set it down while I fed, and haven't seen it since. I suppose it's off in the woods somewhere.

Because the temps have been getting so low, I haven't moved my golden comet chicks (about 4 weeks old) to the shed, even with their heater. So I have 7 of them in my bedroom and 8 in my office area.

Looking forward to reclaiming my house!

Welcome new peeps!

Sorry about your bowl, lol This wind sucks!! and if I haven't said it yet, I'm so done with it!!! I don't have any tarps left, they are all shredded and I just replaced them from winter. Good thing they are cheep.


Waddles update: he is walking and getting around much better, DH had to make him a ramp to get into his house by piling dirt in front of the house door. It seems getting into the house which was only 2 in. from the ground was too much for him and that was what was messing with his leg, who knew??? We really thought a 2" rise would NOT be too high.
Ridgett is on the mend, Never would have believed she would get so down so fast over the lack of SALT. Had the vet stumped too, he was so baffled he didn't even charge me for the blood work, that was a GOOD thing. I feel like we put his daughter through collage... lol
So now on top of her salt block she gets table salt in her food. And a new complete feed that she loves!!

Good night all or should I say good morning?? the dogs woke me to go out at 2 am so It's still bed time for me... anyway....

 

[bjohnson425]

This weather is a bother! At least I haven't had power outages and trees down like some of you, and I'm thankful for that. Came home from my mom's on Sunday and 4 orpingtons met me at the back door. The wind had lifted the tarp on their pen so that the bottom of the fence was off the ground. Put them in a different pen, and they seem to like it better anyhow. Also had taken some scraps out to the chickens in my popcorn bowl (plastic), set it down while I fed, and haven't seen it since. I suppose it's off in the woods somewhere.

Because the temps have been getting so low, I haven't moved my golden comet chicks (about 4 weeks old) to the shed, even with their heater. So I have 7 of them in my bedroom and 8 in my office area.

Looking forward to reclaiming my house!

Welcome new peeps!

You aren't too far away, we moved our comets out at 6 weeks but we had about 2 weeks of really warm weather then so they had nice time to adjust. It was 26 here this morning, when I went to open their door they were just hanging out on their roost and within a minute or two were heading down the ramp for some water and to scratch around.

 

[Hholly]

My silkie babies got their first free range today.

And meanwhile... Two's company.

Three was a crowd when the Brahma tried to join them to lay her egg. Lol. I tried to get a pic but they ousted her before I could.

 

[kittydoc]

I am SO mad I could spit nails!

BRINSEA SUCKS! I can't recommend that anyone buy their products. They don't even honor their own warranty!

The turner for my Octagon 40 died. I sent it to them with an RMA number, and paid Priority Mail to be sure they couldn't lie about not getting it. I wait for almost 3 weeks, and the parts were returned to me in the SAME box with the SAME packing material (multicolor plastic grocery bags) and in the SAME NON-WORKING condition. No email. No phone call. No note. No NOTHING.

That incubator and turner are 13 months old. If you register the products within 30 days, which of course I did, there is supposedly a 2 year warranty. Starting a month and a half after I bought it, they extended the warranty to 3 years (not that it matters!).

I sent them a nastygram email and they better make it right. I know all kinds of wonderfully free ways to make trouble for a company if they persist in screwing me over. It's really not my nature, but this is just outrageous. My incubators are stored indoors all year, no attic, garage, or other possibly dicey storage, and of course I only used it from March to July last year (I got it in late February).

SO I need both the Octagon 40 and the Octagon 20, so the 20 will have to be hand-turned. Clearly I am not doing a great job. In the Brinsea, the eggs are of course pointy end down, and all I can really do is spin them around about 180 degrees a few times per day. Do I need to prop up one end, then the other, too? What do you hand-turners do if you have eggs incubating straight up and down? Fortunately, I am going to use the turner that works on the 40. The only difference is the length of the spacer rods. The mechanism is exactly the same, and JUST a turner costs nearly $100.

Also, do any of you use a Hovabator Genesis for hatching? I know they are cheaply made (styrofoam), but aside from that, they have decent reviews. If I get one, I'm going fully electronic. I either need to buy one or make a lockdown/hatcher. If most of the eggs I'm about to set are fertile and there are no bator malfunctions, there isn't enough room for them to hatch in place. I've always moved them. I used my Brinsea Mini until the motor burned up (just out of warranty), and used my generally empty Octagon 20 after that. But I really need to set eggs in both the 20 and 40. I have lots of brooder heaters (Brinseas ARE good for that, but I have had to make repairs to them myself--they use cheap adhesive and the undersides come loose for no good reason), but I can't use them for lockdown.

I am so frustrated with this company. If I make enough selling chicks this year, I'm buying a Sportsman for next year even though I really don't need that much capacity. I just want something that will WORK. I paid $400 for my Octagon 40 with turner. For the price of the 20 and the 40, I COULD have bought a Sportsman but hated to spend that much all at once.

People have asked me what I think of them. Since the turner broke, I have been less enthusiastic. I am now totally PO'd and would urge against getting them because they won't even honor their own warranty, and communicating with them is ridiculous. They rarely respond to emails, and when they do, it's at least a week later.

GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

BTW, I still have my Biele male chick, but he's become a trusted babysitter. I had three more lavs hatch from a handful that I threw in the bator out of sequence to help make up for infertiles from the first hatch. The chicks each hatched a full day apart from each other, and the last one was malpositioned and had to be helped out. One foot had no movement or sensation, but it's slowly getting better. It can really boogie across carpet! The foot was jammed against the side of the egg. It's a little gimpy but I'm going to keep it for a while (maybe permanently), so the Biele boy will be keeping that little one company after the other two lavs go to some folks who have bought birds from me twice before and had dibs! DH suggested using half a nasal strip (like Breathe Right) to stick to the bottom of the chick's foot and position/support its toes, and by golly it worked. We put the other half on top of the foot, though I don't know if that was necessary. I can make a cardboard chick sandal but can't get it to stay on even with thin strips of Elasticon/Vetwrap.

I'm setting nothing but Orps tonight/tomorrow because I have a couple of good sized lav orders, but want to hatch out some blues and chocolates and cross my fingers for better luck this time. The lavs are tough little birdies! I honestly didn't expect any chicks to hatch from the first batch that went up to 105 then 102, but several lavs and just the one Biele did. For a big roo chick that can already fly at just a couple of weeks old, he sure is mild mannered with the chicks less than half his size. My roo, Hopper (in German, Hauper, LOL), doesn't especially like to be touched but he is very easy going and doesn't mind close human proximity at all. He does have an annoying crow, not the deep resonance of the English Orp roos. Anyway, I wanted to end on a happier note than I started.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

I am SO mad I could spit nails!

BRINSEA SUCKS! I can't recommend that anyone buy their products. They don't even honor their own warranty!

The turner for my Octagon 40 died. I sent it to them with an RMA number, and paid Priority Mail to be sure they couldn't lie about not getting it. I wait for almost 3 weeks, and the parts were returned to me in the SAME box with the SAME packing material (multicolor plastic grocery bags) and in the SAME NON-WORKING condition. No email. No phone call. No note. No NOTHING.

That incubator and turner are 13 months old. If you register the products within 30 days, which of course I did, there is supposedly a 2 year warranty. Starting a month and a half after I bought it, they extended the warranty to 3 years (not that it matters!).

I sent them a nastygram email and they better make it right. I know all kinds of wonderfully free ways to make trouble for a company if they persist in screwing me over. It's really not my nature, but this is just outrageous. My incubators are stored indoors all year, no attic, garage, or other possibly dicey storage, and of course I only used it from March to July last year (I got it in late February).

SO I need both the Octagon 40 and the Octagon 20, so the 20 will have to be hand-turned. Clearly I am not doing a great job. In the Brinsea, the eggs are of course pointy end down, and all I can really do is spin them around about 180 degrees a few times per day. Do I need to prop up one end, then the other, too? What do you hand-turners do if you have eggs incubating straight up and down? Fortunately, I am going to use the turner that works on the 40. The only difference is the length of the spacer rods. The mechanism is exactly the same, and JUST a turner costs nearly $100.

Also, do any of you use a Hovabator Genesis for hatching? I know they are cheaply made (styrofoam), but aside from that, they have decent reviews. If I get one, I'm going fully electronic. I either need to buy one or make a lockdown/hatcher. If most of the eggs I'm about to set are fertile and there are no bator malfunctions, there isn't enough room for them to hatch in place. I've always moved them. I used my Brinsea Mini until the motor burned up (just out of warranty), and used my generally empty Octagon 20 after that. But I really need to set eggs in both the 20 and 40. I have lots of brooder heaters (Brinseas ARE good for that, but I have had to make repairs to them myself--they use cheap adhesive and the undersides come loose for no good reason), but I can't use them for lockdown.

I am so frustrated with this company. If I make enough selling chicks this year, I'm buying a Sportsman for next year even though I really don't need that much capacity. I just want something that will WORK. I paid $400 for my Octagon 40 with turner. For the price of the 20 and the 40, I COULD have bought a Sportsman but hated to spend that much all at once.

People have asked me what I think of them. Since the turner broke, I have been less enthusiastic. I am now totally PO'd and would urge against getting them because they won't even honor their own warranty, and communicating with them is ridiculous. They rarely respond to emails, and when they do, it's at least a week later.

GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

BTW, I still have my Biele male chick, but he's become a trusted babysitter. I had three more lavs hatch from a handful that I threw in the bator out of sequence to help make up for infertiles from the first hatch. The chicks each hatched a full day apart from each other, and the last one was malpositioned and had to be helped out. One foot had no movement or sensation, but it's slowly getting better. It can really boogie across carpet! The foot was jammed against the side of the egg. It's a little gimpy but I'm going to keep it for a while (maybe permanently), so the Biele boy will be keeping that little one company after the other two lavs go to some folks who have bought birds from me twice before and had dibs! DH suggested using half a nasal strip (like Breathe Right) to stick to the bottom of the chick's foot and position/support its toes, and by golly it worked. We put the other half on top of the foot, though I don't know if that was necessary. I can make a cardboard chick sandal but can't get it to stay on even with thin strips of Elasticon/Vetwrap.

I'm setting nothing but Orps tonight/tomorrow because I have a couple of good sized lav orders, but want to hatch out some blues and chocolates and cross my fingers for better luck this time. The lavs are tough little birdies! I honestly didn't expect any chicks to hatch from the first batch that went up to 105 then 102, but several lavs and just the one Biele did. For a big roo chick that can already fly at just a couple of weeks old, he sure is mild mannered with the chicks less than half his size. My roo, Hopper (in German, Hauper, LOL), doesn't especially like to be touched but he is very easy going and doesn't mind close human proximity at all. He does have an annoying crow, not the deep resonance of the English Orp roos. Anyway, I wanted to end on a happier note than I started.

How frustrating! I have to admit my cheap LG bators hatched well over my first year, probably close to 1000 birds! I ran 2 with fans & turners, one still air for geese eggs. If I have to hand turn, I lay eggs on the side and mark them..turn 3x a day. Goose eggs just do better on the side than upright. I also had a cooler bator for hatching. I still have a Farm Innovators plastic coated styrobator, DD is using it right now. I keep it on hand in case I suddenly need extra room. How can you run out of room with the capacity of 540 eggs, I ask you.. ROFL! In a month I will be really glad I have it!

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

So after fighting with my slow internet for an hour..ugh! This weeks eggs, 11 dozen, just layer hens. Love the colors I am getting now! EE/OE have great colors. Lots of orders from friends and family. This was the second round I washed up and put in fridge!



Those jumbo dark brown eggs are from "Golden Comets". Wish they were heritage, ugh! Huge eggs. Those poor hens do not have longevity, but I have some from flocks folks could no longer keep chickens due to rezoning or other life issues.