INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[ellymayRans]

 

[ellymayRans]

He is a good boy but I'm only keeping my BCM roos. He is currently with a mix of bantam and other roos without issues as well as small children. I got him with some Naked Necks but he of course didn't get the Na gene.

 

[ellymayRans]

I also have these two boys. Both will be a year old next month and are BCM/Silkie mixes. Both are only a bit bigger than a silkie. Again also hand held daily and all are together with small bantams and LF.

 

[ellymayRans]

I'm in Martinsville and willing to meet halfway.

 

[ellymayRans]

Just for fun my BCM girls have been hard at work this summer. Had 2 go broody but I broke them of that real quick..it's def catching! I had a australorp that is 2 and never attempted to b broody til the other girls did! Too funny. When I went to set eggs in the incubator and gather what the girls were sitting. .they had just been snatching them all up! There were 24 eggs under them! My my!

 

[Mother2Hens]

M2H - I know you were concerned that your English orps have not produced any eggs yet. I was reading on the website for Waltz's Ark Ranch, which breeds LF Jubilee Orps and Bantam Chocolate Orps, and saw the following:

Please be aware prior to your purchase that these are mostly exhibition lines of Orpington. The focus of most of the show breeders "across the big pond" is on exhibition, not production. These birds are generally not fantastic layers, so if you are seeking high egg production, you will want to stick with the American Orpington, or choose one of our more prolific dual-purpose breeds. These English varieties tend to start and stop on egg production throughout the year, have fertility issues (see more info at the bottom of this page) due to their thick feathering (we do fertility trims on all of our breeders), and take longer to go through the molt cycle. They also require a high-protein diet from hatch to lay, and they eat plenty of it. Still, they are worth it all!

So your girls may just be acting true to breed.

toodlesmom~ Thanks so much for the info! I thought I had read that they lay later than others. I didn't know that they need high protein diet, but that's what they're on since I have some flock members molting-- thanks to advice from Sally in Indiana and browncow. I originally wanted two more hens for more eggs to keep the neighbors happy, but I love my English orps so much that if they don't want to lay, that's fine. Those English vickichicki types are so persnickety! This just means that I need two more hens for eggs! Haha. Wish I had room.

toodlesmom posted: I want a mix of types of hens, feather colors, and egg colors. I had thought about RIRs and BRs, but my SC contact was concerned that their personalities would not be a good mix with the BOs. Not sure what choices I will make. I'm not particularly interested in breeders or show birds at this time, and I don't want roosters.

toodlesmom~ He's right, of course, but luckily my orps have integrated with The Mean Hens, which include a RIR and BR. That's lucky considering they didn't grow up together. Ironically, the hen that's the meanest to the orps is my normally sweet and skittish EE. I think she just wants to make sure she remains above the orps in the pecking order.

I agree that a variety of breeds is fun as well as aesthetically pleasing. That's important for we pet owners!

Originally Posted by toodlesmom
John,
My agent dropped DDDH off; gagged, blind-folded, and hog-tied; in front of the Purdue Memorial Union Sunday night.
I disguised raccoons with small suits, sunglasses, and luggage; purchased 37 1/4 train tickets for Washington D.C.; bid raccoons adieu this morning.
Scrubbed raccoon footprints off porch wall this afternoon, followed by performance of Happy Dance.
Mother-in-law spun in grave.
Sally

toodlesmom~ Haha~CLAH!

Our broody young Cream Legbar hatched 3 beautiful fuzzy RIR babies last night at 20 days!
They're beautiful! Thanks go to VICKICHICKI!
I'll send pics as soon as I can. Hooray, Aretha! She did great work!

Hopefully, she'll get back to the business of laying eggs now!

pginsber~ Congratulations to you and to vickichicki, the Grandmouther (English spelling

)

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

He is a good boy but I'm only keeping my BCM roos. He is currently with a mix of bantam and other roos without issues as well as small children. I got him with some Naked Necks but he of course didn't get the Na gene.

Wish we were closer, I don't mind adding roosters. Makes for a great mixed flock and the eggs are amazing.

Just for fun my BCM girls have been hard at work this summer. Had 2 go broody but I broke them of that real quick..it's def catching! I had a australorp that is 2 and never attempted to b broody til the other girls did! Too funny. When I went to set eggs in the incubator and gather what the girls were sitting. .they had just been snatching them all up! There were 24 eggs under them! My my!

Ohhhh nice dark eggs! Will you hatch them? I have 3 BCM hens 2 roos at 12 weeks.
Having a hard time choosing the roo, they are both very sweet and friendly, one shows a lot more copper on his hackles

.
Keeping both for now. Will put aprons on the girls now, they mature faster than other breeds I have.

 

[Mother2Hens]

jchny~ Did your Birthday chick shipment from your sister arrive today-- or do you have to wait until Thursday?

Originally Posted by Little Ameraucana Mom
I just can't keep up with all of you. Been really busy round here. Glad the rain finally stopped. this is pic of my back yard. It was ankle deep. Oh well the ducks loved it. !!!

My relatives from Berlin came to visit us on Saturday because the little boys wanted to see our chickens. It poured all day. I did "plant" some (refrigerated!) eggs in the nesting boxes so they could "find" them. The rainy day was followed by a stormy night. On Sunday morning they headed back to my sister's in Louisville where the storm had also headed. As you all probably know, Lville had 6" of rain and floods. Upon arriving at my sister's house (that she moved into a month ago), they found that the sewer back-flow prevention valve had burst, which resulted in sewage plus tons of rainwater shooting out of the basement toilet and flooding the basement. Her sump-pump/back-up pump worked fine, but because of heavy rain, water kept filling as fast as they tried to empty the area. What a memorable trip for my sister's daughter and family!
LeahsMom~ Thanks for the tip about using wood chips in the run. Our elderly neighbor across the street recently had to have a large tree cut down because ivy had consumed it. There's still a large pile of shavings in her yard, which she has offered to me. I've used some to mix into our crummy clay soil, but I hadn't thought about putting some in the run area since they free range during the day. I think I'll try that, though. I have construction coarse sand in the other sections. Btw, I enjoyed your photos, too!
ellymayRans~ Nice to see you posting again! You have beautiful roos.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

I am sure I missed some posts, but wanted to say welcome to any new members on our thread!

Our only rule here is follow BYC guidelines and keep it "family" clean. We have a few young adults as members here too.
Talk about your bad day and RANT! Or share a terrible loss of your favorite companion, we have all suffered loss of a beloved pet.
It really hurts, and myself I talk about it and it helps me let go.
I talk about my pigs, goats all my poultry and waterfowl. And still wishing for cows and an Australian cattle dog!
Its your thread too. Its wide open to chat about anything you want within the guidelines.
Soooo, i am still thinking about my honeybees. If anyone keeps them, let me know if you enjoy it. Starting to get real interested in them!
The office trailer has been here a few weeks, and I am using it for my brooding chicks. Even in the hottest weather, the bees are not aggressive.
Some have landed on me, then flew off. Really calm, not like a yellow jacket, wood bee or the nasty paper wasps.
Are they difficult to keep, what do they need to thrive? We rarely see any here so I am very curious.

 

[ellymayRans]

Wish we were closer, I don't mind adding roosters. Makes for a great mixed flock and the eggs are amazing.
Ohhhh nice dark eggs! Will you hatch them? I have 3 BCM hens 2 roos at 12 weeks.
Having a hard time choosing the roo, they are both very sweet and friendly, one shows a lot more copper on his hackles .
Keeping both for now. Will put aprons on the girls now, they mature faster than other breeds I have.

Thanks..yes I did hatch some just to do it considering it was my first time and needed to see if I could! Lol..but I hate not knowing if they are pure and half of them came out with 5 toes and a couple blues so I know my over zelus blue roo pic'd above is the daddy..so before I can or will hatch more I really need to find good homes for these 3 boys. Right now I have 7 BCM hens and 1 Roo. I too hatched mostly boys.. Blah!
Luckily one is Bcm/EE which I'm trying for Olive Egger but it appears to be a boy sooooo..gonna have to try again on that...but he sure is pretty!
How far are you? I work in Indy and would really love to find these boys a good home. I've tried for some time with the little guys and just haven't gotten myself to do the deed of making them dinner. .not to mention I'd b lucky to feed 2 of us with them! Ha!
I'm interested in breeding this beauty too!