INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[PeacefulWalls]

Some of our pullets started laying a couple of weeks ago -- a few more seem to join them each week. Currently we have 23 pullets & 11 hens (last year's pullets). I'm thinking perhaps some of the older girls are going through a molt or are just off because of the weather as some of you also mentioned. About 3 weeks ago we were averaging 4 eggs a day. This past week we started getting 11 eggs every day, then 13, then 15. The grand total so far today....19! And some of them tend to wait until evening to lay.

We had friends here for the weekend & decided to make eggs over the campfire for breakfast. Chloe donated the eggs from her birds -- she cracked up & scrambled 8 dozen quail eggs for the 9 of us. Boy were they yummy!

 

[Mother2Hens]

I just now read an email from jchny/Janet saying that she is not able to access the internet during her camping trip. She should be happy! She's probably worried about getting behind on posts . . . luckily it seems like we haven't had as many posts this holiday weekend, so it shouldn't be overwhelming.

Pbirdhaven~
I was wondering about your show terms, too. Thanks for the explanation! I figured that stubs were rubber caps that went over the rooster's spurs. haha After I read your post, I was going to ask you, but then I thought I'd google it. I couldn't find anything that made sense, so I was going to ask you, but I forgot until I saw danad's inquiry. I'm glad you enlightened me-- I wasn't even thinking about feather stubs.

Your thoughts about grieving were engaging. I just wish that the general public was aware that creatures, like humans, grieve, so that creatures could be given compassion.

If they knew what I do about your [pbirdhaven's] chicks, they'd snatch them all up. My DH and I were out in the coop and run working all day and my constant companion was one of the chicks. I'm pretty sure she is a she and I found out that somebody pecked a hole in her neck. Could be why she stays so close. It looks like its healing well, but I got some good pics of them today. (at the bottom).

I finished putting the garden fence back up, got a section of the run hardware cloth up, buried, and covered with mulch, cleaned the inside of the coop, and picked up the garden area as much as possible. It was starting to look like a war zone out there. My dh put up the additional 4 feet of roof (kind of a porch) for the coop, wired in the roofline, and then started on the shingles. I think we will have the shingles complete on the whole thing tomorrow as well as the hardware cloth on most of the sections. I haven't even finished the original plan and I've already started planning the run expansion project. Once this part is done, I will put up a couple of 4x4s to add a 5x16 foot extension on the back of my garden to make a longer sunny area for them. I was watching everyone running around the garden and it just made me sad to think of them all closed up, so here we go.

Just so you all know, my dh told me I am a little chicken crazy tonight.

I said that it wasn't really fair because I talk to a lot of people daily on the BYC page that are as much or in some cases (not pointing any fingers) a little more than me. He said a lot of people use drugs too, but that doesn't mean there isn't something wrong with them

. OK, so just to clarify, he has a really wrong sense of humor, so in case you might be offended, please don't. This is the same man that told me to pipe down because he was trying to get some rest while I was in LABOR. He makes me laugh. If not, I'd probably put something in his coffee. He asks me every day if today is the day that I will. Every day I tell him probably not.

I am pretty sure that this one will turn out to be a boy. Its developing waddles and the others aren't. I wish I knew more about them.

This is my little love. He/she goes where I go all the time. The hole on the neck isn't pretty but looks to be healing well. I will keep an eye on it.

This one looks so different from the others (still cute) but I have no idea what it might be either.

This is Chicken Little. I don't like him, but my son does. He is an Old English Game Bantam (may be a mix)

These pretty ladies are my Lucy (red sex-link), Nutella (EE), and the two fluffy cochins. I have three, but the other doesn't want to be seen with the first two. They were checking out our work.

CRSelvey~ I love the mohawk feathers on the heads of your Appenzellers. haha Does your DH admit to being intrigued by the chickens? Or does he prefer to act like he's indifferent, so he can keep a cap on the count? You and your husband sound like you have a great relationship. A sense of humor is very important, and I appreciate yours. Congrats for getting so much work completed on your huge project. I want to see a video when the helicopter hovers over to place the cupola on the roof of your coop!

Although my coop and run are way smaller than yours, mine is all one unit with a main door/buried hardware wire, etc., I just lock the front door and the nesting box access door using carbinger locks. I don't even shut the door to my coop/box section because there's more air flow with it open and my RIR likes to roost on the top of the box door. She's the only hen who can fit in that small area. Even though Nene is the smallest hen, she makes up for size by her assertiveness (shrieking).


Btw, does anyone know the correct terminology of the parts of a coop? We all call the structure the coop, but I remember reading somewhere that the box part that contains the nighttime perches is actually the coop and the rest is the run. If so, it seems like there would be a term for the whole structure besides "coop." Is this question keeping anyone else up at night?

Julie & Old Salt~ Funny "parenthood" stories. Not funny at the time, I'm sure, but they make good memories. Adorable photo John, but does the photo have a sepia, old-fashioned look on purpose because your daughter couldn't be that old!

Peaceful Walls~ Looks like an idyllic holiday! Fresh eggs in the fresh air. What a pretty scene.

 

[Crafty chick]

need to make a chicken tractor... what do you guys suggest? gets windy here in the flat area.

 

[Old Salt 1945]

When my first daughter was about 1 1/2, she was playing with the neighbor's kids. She fell and was crying. I ran over to her and her mouth was smashed with little red pieces falling from her lips.. I grabbed her up and ran to the car. As I was burning a patch across the yard in my 63 Pontiac, heading for the hospital, the neighbor lady screamed at me to stop. She said "Let me look at her".

Turns out she had chewed up a red crayon. Emergency averted. Good thing. New dad, I would have gone through Brownsburg at 80 mph and probably gotten us both killed.




John

This posting actually qualifies for this forum. She was an excellent pullet and at 44, she's still a good egg. The photo was taken during my photography phase. I developed the film and printed the picture in my darkroom, applying sepia toner. Camera was a Mamia C3 twin lens reflex using 120 b&w roll film. In the original, you can count the fine little baby hairs on her head.




I got my 5th egg yesterday and laughed myself silly. I've been weighing them in grams and so far it's been 42, 42, 48, 50. This last one was 30! Kind of an extra large song bird egg.



John

 

[Old Salt 1945]

need to make a chicken tractor... what do you guys suggest? gets windy here in the flat area.

I have a chicken tractor that I inherited through several dealings. It is made from 2x4's and 4x4's and OSB. It weighs a ton. I can't move it by myself. Don't make yours like that. The last time I moved it, I used the forklift attachment on my tractor.

If I were going to make one, I would make a rectangular 2x4 base and use plywood triangles as gussets to brace the corners. Make the uprights and top with plywood gusseted corners. Make a plywood box for the house part and bolt it to the end, raised up from the ground a foot or so. Give it a slanted roof. A ramp to the house part. Think weight. It adds up quickly. Put a pair of wheels on the house end. The bigger, the better for the wheels. Mine broke from the weight.

Alternatively, make it from 2" PVC pipe and use tie-down stakes to keep it from blowing away. Super easy to move around. Not secure against predators unless you put fencing on top, sides, AND bottom.

There are tons of plans/examples on the internet.

John

 

[CCCCCCCCHICKENS]

I feel like I have just had some bad luck this year. I know people have had worse but I wish I could go 3 months without finding something wrong with one of my chickens. I posted on here yesterday about my partically blind juvinelle ameraucana. Which he will be able to adjust to living with as long as something does not happen to his other eye. I went out to inspect the other juvinelles in the same pen with him, just to make sure no more were blind or anything. My other black AM has a cross beak! I just had this problem a month or two ago with a chick from the same batch. Its baeak isnt bad yet, but I know will get increaslingly bad over time. I Havent decided if I am just going to go ahead and cull it or not. But whatever I do there is no way i am going to let it get to the point of the last one. It isnt losing weight yet. Maybe I should just let it live as long as it can comforatably and then cull it.

And then saturday I went into my barn and 2 chickens were lose in my barn and only 2 were in a pen where there should of been 8. So 4 were missing. I had to serach for them in weeds that were over my head. Yes I need to mow my pasture. I found 2 that night. then one was waiting for me at the barn door sunday morning and 1 is still missing.

 

[pbirdhaven]

This is a small (about 4 x 6) tractor that I bought at a swap at Knox a couple of years ago. The other end is just like the one that shows. The frame is 2 x 4s set up as John explained. The hoop is pvc pipe covered with 1/2 inch hardware cloth; pipe insulation covers the edges of the hardware cloth. I have a pair of bantam cochins (was a trio but one hen died) with a small doghouse. It could house two LF hens without too much crowding, but perching on a roost would be a problem. The bantams can actually get on top of the doghouse if they choose; however they usually prefer to snuggle down inside.

I can move it myself, and when I want to change the bedding, I just upend it--it will stand on its end.



If you look closely, you can see a hen on top of the doghouse, another hen in the corner, and Bowling Ball at the edge of the tarp.

 

[pbirdhaven]

I feel like I have just had some bad luck this year. I know people have had worse but I wish I could go 3 months without finding something wrong with one of my chickens. I posted on here yesterday about my partically blind juvinelle ameraucana. Which he will be able to adjust to living with as long as something does not happen to his other eye. I went out to inspect the other juvinelles in the same pen with him, just to make sure no more were blind or anything. My other black AM has a cross beak! I just had this problem a month or two ago with a chick from the same batch. Its baeak isnt bad yet, but I know will get increaslingly bad over time. I Havent decided if I am just going to go ahead and cull it or not. But whatever I do there is no way i am going to let it get to the point of the last one. It isnt losing weight yet. Maybe I should just let it live as long as it can comforatably and then cull it.

And then saturday I went into my barn and 2 chickens were lose in my barn and only 2 were in a pen where there should of been 8. So 4 were missing. I had to serach for them in weeds that were over my head. Yes I need to mow my pasture. I found 2 that night. then one was waiting for me at the barn door sunday morning and 1 is still missing.

Unfortunately it isn't so much your bad luck as it is the norm for living with chickens.

I hope that your missing chicken returns. My Appenzeller hen Houdini (guess why!) was gone for about 3 weeks, then suddenly was in the Brahma pen looking at me like, "What's the big deal?" So don't give up on her yet.

 

[Birdylady3]

Whew I am beat! I just clean the ducks pond out. We don't have a pump so I had to do it all by bucket and a homemade scoop. Yuck!

This is the new pond we made out of an old pool. Minis the stones.

This was the old pond.

 

[CCCCCCCCHICKENS]

Unfortunately it isn't so much your bad luck as it is the norm for living with chickens.

I hope that your missing chicken returns. My Appenzeller hen Houdini (guess why!) was gone for about 3 weeks, then suddenly was in the Brahma pen looking at me like, "What's the big deal?" So don't give up on her yet.

I know, I know, but a lot more has happened this year than last year. And I need to stop reading things on the internet, becuase all the diseases and things I read about just make me worry lol. Wow, 3 weeks! I was going to give up all hope of her coming home after a week, but now I wont. If she hasnt come home in a month I am just going to assume she became a coyotes supper .