INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Little Ameraucana Mom]

From my experience, you can't tame guineas. They aren't really a domesticated species like chickens. Mine would come when called for treats, get close to me, but never let you pick them up or touch them. None of mine ever attacked me though.

I agree. But there was a boy that showed one at our fair and his WAS gentle, he could carry it, catch it. But this is unusual for one to be so gentle.

 

[kabhyper1]

233 posts behind and caught up. Ugh, I just cant stay caught up

I know how you feel! I can't keep up either. Sometimes it feels like a lottery when you post something too, because this thing moves so fast, half the time it doesn't get seen.

 

[animallover2202]

shes thinking of getting a male to breed them with so she can atleast tame the babys alil bit shes probably going to be showing some next year

 

[danand]

Ill be getting some newborn guinnies this weekend. I'll see how they tame down!! The 2 I had before were softball size when I got them and they never did tame.

I get emails from Ideal poultry and Mc Murray , well all of their "deals" are driving me crazy!!!! Chicken math addict and all!!

 

[RedheadErin]

FREE COCKERELS FOR MEAT OR OTHERWISE! KANKAKEE COUNTY, IL (Just over the line from Lake Village, IN) !

My chickens hatched out 30 young ones this year. Even if I did eat meat, I don't think I could eat all the cockerels we have coming up. I am offering the cockerels free to anyone who wants them, provided they are handled humanely.

There are 1 or 2 Columbian Wyndottes, and the rest are a mix of my big Production Leghorn
rooster Connor and some cochin or easter-egger hens.

This is what I can tell you about them: Connor is a very good rooster. He is The king of the flock and is very good to his girls. I hope they have inherited this trait. Connor's sister Molly is one of my best egg layers. Even in her 3rd year, she is still fairly regular, if not as proficient as before. Her eggs are huge and delicious. She is the smartest and most curious hen in the flock. The mamas are all good regular layers of medium-sized eggs.

These cockerels would make a nice addition to a pullet-only flock. It would be fun to see if they pass on any of these traits to the next generation. They would also make a nice addition to your supper table.

I ask only that anyone who takes them handles them humanely and dispachs them as kindly as possible. I have heard horror stories about people using "free" cockerels to train fighting roosters, to "entertain their dogs," and so on. I was going to give them to my friend, until I found out her husband kills the chickens by grabbing their heads and swinging them around until their necks break. This is exactly the kind of thing I want to avoid. If you can give them a quick, clean death on a chopping block, that is all I want.

If you chose to keep any for your flock, I would be curious to know how they are doing.

Please PM me an let me know if you can take any or all of them.

 

[julie0477]

My over all egg production like everyone elses is down HOWEVER Mr. Squeakers (the duck) laid his first egg this morning. So its Mrs Squeakers after all. I have so much to learn about ducks. Apparently she is just the dominate female. This pekin egg is huge too! Twice as big as the ones from the khaki campbell. How fortunate is that? That I picked up two females straight run at Rural King? That never happens!

I had one of my chickens lay her first egg from the roost. It was soft. Based on the experiences I've read on here that's pretty typical. I found a couple like that out in the yard too. Hopefully my young girls get all of that straightened out.

My silkies eggs are due to hatch in 4-5 days. Please oh please don't be all boys.

 

[FarkerFarms]

I'm glad to see everyone else has had reduced to no egg production over the last few days. We were starting to panic and think we were doing something wrong (being noobs!). If this is a weather or molting induced setback, about how long will it last? Our hens are 3-4 years old I think, and we had 1 egg four days ago and none since from our 4 ladies. Also, if we are going to be looking for a couple more hens in the next month or so, are there any recommendations on how to go about doing so or what breeds to get? We would like friendly hens that are good layers. Obviously nothing that will be too difficult to integrate into our small flock (although I know that is sometimes hard to predict and should work itself out). We also want younger since we suspect our current 4 hens are older and egg production will probably keep diminishing. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Quote: For my adult chickens, they get more from their free ranging time if a feeder is not available until the evening. They have not lost weight but they have become more active since I stopped keeping food out all day. I feed wet food though and to let that wet food sit out all day is a bad smelly mess that attracts flies.
I don't think it will hurt your standard chickens to have food all the time. It is very bad for meat bred chicks. They will eat until they have a heart attack.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

I'm glad to see everyone else has had reduced to no egg production over the last few days. We were starting to panic and think we were doing something wrong (being noobs!). If this is a weather or molting induced setback, about how long will it last? Our hens are 3-4 years old I think, and we had 1 egg four days ago and none since from our 4 ladies. Also, if we are going to be looking for a couple more hens in the next month or so, are there any recommendations on how to go about doing so or what breeds to get? We would like friendly hens that are good layers. Obviously nothing that will be too difficult to integrate into our small flock (although I know that is sometimes hard to predict and should work itself out). We also want younger since we suspect our current 4 hens are older and egg production will probably keep diminishing. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Molting will last longer than a heat strike. My chickens take about a week or 2 to adjust to heat but they are production hens. Molting can take over a month depending on breed and how much protein they eat. I have seen it recommended to feed liver to chicken in molt to speed up the process.

 

[browncow15]

I was starting to think everyone talking about egg production being down was nuts until I checked my coop this afternoon. I've been getting 11 eggs a day out of 12 hens today I got 8 and a broken egg on the roost