INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[FarkerFarms]

Survived my first month with the chickens! Still feeling like a total Noob though We were doing so well on eggs the first week we had them, now out of the 8 we are only getting 1 egg every three or four days. Four of them are young, though, and just around the age they should be starting to lay. I can't tell how many are actually laying. When they start laying, how long is it before they are laying regularly? Two of the older hens are definitely moulting. One of them is almost totally bald and another is down to only one tail feather. She looks pretty stupid They stopped laying about 3 weeks ago. How long before they start back up? It sure is frustrating getting them the week before they start moulting! I feel like it is an awful lot of work for 1 egg a week! We also added birds and threw in a coop move, so I rationally know that might have hindered the egg laying business further. Still super frustrating!

 

[SallyinIndiana]

These are a Great Idea !!!

They have their downsides. First they are much heavier than they look. Next if you ask someone to help you make sure they don't turn them into a cube like my DH did. As John points out the fence used has large holes, making chicken wire around the bottom a needed item or hardware cloth. I would use something else on the front and back too as a hawk can easily get in those holes. For the winter both the front and back would need to be at least tarped and some venting issues figured out if one was going to reuse the tarps the following spring, if not just cut the tarp and hardware cloth over the holes. Adding wheels helps with the weight but also increases the chance of something getting under the wood. Level ground is also a must if one is overly concerned about a predator getting under and in, or a floor could be added. Another option for winter is to increase the thickness of the tarp by using old billboards.

 

[Old Salt 1945]

John LOL you are so kind, and we really need to find you/us some legbars

Yep I want them too!

In the early spring, a bunch of us need to get together a shared order to Greenfire so we can start out with some really good stock, then hatch and trade chicks. I hereby appoint you to do all the difficult or mundane tasks. I will stand eternally vigilant, ready to absorb any glory that might spring forth from the project.

John

You are so generous! I'll be by to pick up the blue cochin pullet.

Be vewy, vewy carefuw. These are the savage South American saber-toothed blue cochin. They will attack as a pack and flay you to the bone on only seconds.

John

Your Sebastopol is really pretty! Is the Muscovy the kind of duck you told me is quieter than others at your house or is that another breed?
Thank you for posting that info. After I drop my kids off at John's, I might get to go

Thank you!

You said any purpose, so I'm assuming that means kids too if I provide the cage right?

A phone book?? Does someone still use them?

Make sure that all children are humanely caged with adequate feed and water. We can put the cage under some trees for shade. Child services frowns on free-range children. Of course, children predating on livestock might risk the same fate of wayward coyotes.

I have extra phone books for putting in chairs so that children's chins will extend above the table. In Lebanon, it takes quite a few of our 1/4" thick phone books to accomplish the task.

What is wrong with people!?!? Someone has been in my coop AND left the door open! Chickens are very skittish (like the get if someone chases them around) and I had to chase a couple down on the yard. Thank goodness for my almost 4 year old chicken wrangler. The last one was a young bantam rooster, Small and quick, panting very hard! What is wrong with people? Anyway...End of Rant...as you were...

Right! Blame it on the neighbors. It's not their fault that they're idiots or rather, I mean uninformed individuals. Lawyers should have insisted on appropriate gate labeling.

Post a cardboard note on the door saying "Please latch door properly. Free range chickens soon become free meal chickens. I don't want them dead."

John

 

[CCCCCCCCHICKENS]

Another one of pullets started laying. It was the size od a quail egg! All the chickens in that pen are LF. Smallest first egg i have ever had. I had to crack it open, becuase it seemed pretty impratical to eat it with just one of them. It had no yolk, it was that small.

 

[CCCCCCCCHICKENS]

Be vewy, vewy carefuw. These are the savage South American saber-toothed blue cochin. They will attack as a pack and flay you to the bone on on only seconds.


John

I better keep a close eye on my blue cochin!

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Quote: If you all get some, I might want a chick once you start hatching, that is if you are willing to sell your chicks for less than $50 each. Also you may want to check out the rhodebar thread on here for feelings about greenfire. There are those out there that don't think greenfire has kept the rhodebare line perfect. I guess some of the supposed to lay brown eggs rhodebars from greenfire have laid a green egg or two.

Brad, your egg buying is catching, I just ordered more hatching eggs for delivery on the 17th. Hoping for lots of wonderfully blue tiny Sumatra chicks right before the chicken show. I'm hoping that keeps me from buying too much at the show.

 

[Old Salt 1945]

They have their downsides. First they are much heavier than they look. Next if you ask someone to help you make sure they don't turn them into a cube like my DH did. As John points out the fence used has large holes, making chicken wire around the bottom a needed item or hardware cloth. I would use something else on the front and back too as a hawk can easily get in those holes. For the winter both the front and back would need to be at least tarped and some venting issues figured out if one was going to reuse the tarps the following spring, if not just cut the tarp and hardware cloth over the holes. Adding wheels helps with the weight but also increases the chance of something getting under the wood. Level ground is also a must if one is overly concerned about a predator getting under and in, or a floor could be added. Another option for winter is to increase the thickness of the tarp by using old billboards.

Delicate chickens need to be inside a building for the winter.

Pheasants, ducks, guineas, and most of the non-show chickens that we keep Wyandotte, RIR, Orp, Jersey Giant, etc. should fare just fine in these hoop tractors if the tarp covers the top and back and the back faces the prevailing winds. If you are using cheap tarp, put ropes over the arch every couple of feet to keep the tarp from fluttering itself to death. You could cover the wire on the front, but it really isn't necessary.

A few hay bales strategically piled around to give some shelter from the elements would help. Put in a box big enough to hold all the critters so they can bunch up for warmth. Watch for snow drifts. They will need to be cleared.

Heated water is absolutely imperative. They will eat snow, but use a lot of energy to melt and warm it to body temperature.

I only plan to use the hoop tractors for pheasants and as isolation chambers for breeding.

John

 

[CCCCCCCCHICKENS]

Quo hot water freezes faster than cold water.

 

[CCCCCCCCHICKENS]

So my plans for the pen i am building
is to stretch bird netting up the side and over the top, so that they cant fly out. the front piece of pannel is where i will be able to get in and out. Of to the side farthest away there will be a roost for them and on the opposite side is where there hanging feeder and waterer will be. And i am only going to have 2 nesting boxes, since it is such a small pen. the bedding is going to be sand.

I should have some chickens to put in this pen in 2 months. I am going to get a barred rock rooster and some black ameraucana hens I already have to put in there. Barred EEs are really pretty I cant wait to hatch some out.

 

[HouseKat]

M2H: Things have been going fairly smoothly and I'm really glad that I decided to take the plunge and get the chickens. We do still have ten though and my husband wants me to get us down to the city limit of six, so I need to start making some decisions on who goes and to where. The rooster is definitely going.