INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[vickichicki]

Did a quick search for ironide rod, found nothing.   Did you mean the anode rod?   You really don't want to do that, it will shorten the water heater life.  I know what you mean about the gas dilevery charges.  Seems very high! 

We have enough stuff in our dining room, thanks.  Always nice to have the ole' trusty water heater in there for conversation, eh?

vickichicki  --  Too Fast is right.  Put the anode rod back in the tank.  It's purpose is to provide a sacrificial metal that will corrode away rather than the inside of your tank.  It is VERY necessary for the long life of your tank. 

Also, don't fiddle with the safety valve at the top of the tank.  It is usually connected to a long pipe that goes down the side of the tank to a drain at the floor.  It has a lever that you can lift and let steam or air or hot water out of it and through the pipe.  They sometimes leak and are replaced with a cap.  This is bad.  Mythbusters set one up like that and then overheated it until the tank burst.  The tank flew up from the basement through the 1st floor, 2nd floor, ceiling, roof, and continued to an altitude of 150 feet.  Not good, particularly if your bed is directly above it.  It would mess up your fancy new bedspread.

John

Ok ok.. it was early... I did infact mean anode rod not ironide...pfft.. women.

Our water seems pretty harsh on the minerals so we were changing the rod quite often and at $30 a pop DH decided just to pull it out.
The water does have a funky smell too it now, but no worse than needing to change the rod again. With the reg draining the heater was just as good as it was the day we got it.
The hot water tends to get a black hue to it giving us the indication of when we need to clean it out. We don't really drink our water here and never have done. It is used for cooking and the usual brushing teeth etc but for consumption we use bottled. Rod or not, the water was too rough to drink. Difficult to get over the sulfer smell.

We don't mess with the emergency valve either. As for messing up the cute bedspread.. With working so much if one did explode I don't think anyone could tell the difference. Currently have the bomb has gone off in here look in my house.

 

[vickichicki]

Here's a picture of the first RIR chick hatching last night. Aretha is fiercely guarding them post-hatch. This morning, all 3 chicks were warm and dry under her. I'll take some pictures of their cute & fuzzy faces tonight.

I am soooo proud... We did put two eggs in with our broodies, probably should have made a note of the date. If you end up changing your mind about them, I am sure I can take them back after my ones have hatched and grown a little. However if this is the case, I shall be brining MY car not the truck Thanks so much for sharing!

 

[vickichicki]

I'm new to understanding biosecurity. I think I'm misunderstanding something, so I trust the long-timers will share their experience and straighten me out
Since I have a Mareks positive flock, I am apprehensive to step foot in TSC or Rural King when they have chicks.
Surely folks with poultry diseases on their shoes, coats, hands, etc. shop at those stores, too, when they shouldn't be.  Maybe even the people who work there carry diseases on their person.
To me, it seems inherently bio-UN-secure to buy chicks from a farm store. How can these things be true?  Those ideas don't seem to make sense together to me.

I am sure people are completely oblivious to the spread of anything to the chicks in the 'farm' stores. How many times have you seen people buying the chicks just because but know in a few weeks they will be listed for free on CL because they are done with them.
Back home (yerh here I go) we had the bad breakout of CJD (madcows). You could not go to any farms without wellingtons on and they had to be disinfected upon arrival and leaving. Nor any 'State' style parks as cows are wild in most parks. Same thing.. had to walk through disinfectant coming in and out.

I am surprised the farms stores do not implicate something like that. So I guess the risk is whether someone has been in there carrying Mereks and other such niceties and handling the little chicks before leaving etc.
Get them off a breeder, they are more likely to have their own style bio going on, or at least have an idea about bio.

 

[vickichicki]

[COLOR=009966]pginsber~[/COLOR][COLOR=8B4513] Congratulations to you and to [/COLOR][COLOR=008080]vickichicki[/COLOR][COLOR=008080],[/COLOR][COLOR=008080] [/COLOR][COLOR=8B4513]the Grandmouther (English spelling[/COLOR]  [COLOR=8B4513])[/COLOR]
[COLOR=8B4513] [/COLOR]

I guess we do over use the U's a lot.

 

[Leahs Mom]

New coop! This is once the walls were up roof on and nest boxes ready. I'll have to get pics of the outside. We used reclaimed barn wood and we love it. 9x9 for the LF. Now the bantys have their very own the old 3x4

MORE PHOTOS, PLEASE!

Quote:
When I cleaned out the deep litter inside the coop I used to put it in the compost too. Then I realized that I could put it to use right in their run, and it gets broken down much quicker than it does on the pile as well as makes a healthier base for the chickens and I really like how it works so well to encourage worms, etc. for them to dig to.

I have thought that I could take some of it out of the run in the spring if I wanted to put some in the garden. But I'm thinking the deeper it goes, the healthier it will be in there for the chickens. I love the idea of creating the "forest floor" type area that is full of good, deteriorating, healthy decomposition and good microbes, etc.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Some food for thought on Blue Kote. I've always wondered a bit about it and haven't used it much. There is a warning on it about using on animals for food, but no testing has been done for chickens. In the linked article, the author contacted the company about it's use on chickens and was told they haven't tested it for safety as they aren't required to. There are some concerns as the main ingredient is a known carcinogen.

Thought I'd at least put the link out so you read and draw your own conclusions.

 

[FarkerFarms]

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.

I'm also thinking about honey bees next spring. I bought a couple of books and plan on reading up on them this winter. I'm going to try my hand at building a couple top bar hives this winter also. The only hesitation I have is that I have heard you don't get honey the first year. It has been hard enough waiting 4 months to get eggs from the chickens! I hate it when hard work doesn't pay off relatively quickly!

 

[pginsber]

I am soooo proud...

We did put two eggs in with our broodies, probably should have made a note of the date. If you end up changing your mind about them, I am sure I can take them back after my ones have hatched and grown a little.
However if this is the case, I shall be brining MY car not the truck

Thanks so much for sharing!

Naturally. We'll PM you with progress.

Two of the chicks have brown stripes on their heads and chipmunk stripes on their backs. One chick has a Harry Potter spot on his head and no markings on his back. Here's their first photo shoot:

They're complaining about their vaccines.

Here's a closeup of the gold one:

Can he be ANY CUTER?!!!

Here's the bunch as they hang out with Mom:


Sharing a little fuzzy happiness to brighten your day.

 

[Little Ameraucana Mom]

Naturally. We'll PM you with progress.

Two of the chicks have brown stripes on their heads and chipmunk stripes on their backs. One chick has a Harry Potter spot on his head and no markings on his back. Here's their first photo shoot:

They're complaining about their vaccines.

Here's a closeup of the gold one:

Can he be ANY CUTER?!!!

Here's the bunch as they hang out with Mom:


Sharing a little fuzzy happiness to brighten your day.

They are soooo Cute !!!!

 

[pginsber]

I'm also thinking about honey bees next spring. I bought a couple of books and plan on reading up on them this winter. I'm going to try my hand at building a couple top bar hives this winter also. The only hesitation I have is that I have heard you don't get honey the first year. It has been hard enough waiting 4 months to get eggs from the chickens! I hate it when hard work doesn't pay off relatively quickly!

Definitely thumbs up on the bees! We can use all the bees that folks are interested in raising. Honey is just a bonus for the family that puts in the work & expense.