INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[julie0477]

Happy hatch day guys! Kab - I was a nervous wreck my first hatch too (which was just about six weeks ago). You are doing great. I interfered WAY too much. Fortunately for my birds i had to go to work hatch day lol. Sounds like all is going well .... can't wait to see pictures!

 

[kabhyper1]

Thanks Julie! I just went out to turn the lights off in the barn, and I heard PEEPS!!!! It took a lot to not look. It's cold out and I didn't want to disturb them. I will check on them in the morning. Does anyone know if Lavender will get up to go poop during the hatch? She is in the brooder box, and I have had to carry her outside to relieve herself. I didn't do it today of course, but she ate a ton of food today. I don't want to lift her off the eggs at all for fear of shrink wrapping the pipped chicks.

 

[pbirdhaven]

On facebook I posted on this leghorn page that me rcbl died. And someone asked me if i wnated them to mount her. i was confused by this and then found out they meant like taxidermy. People do that!!!

. I thought people only did that to wild animals. She said she stuffs many show birds. I dont care if it was best showbird and I had won many many many times with it I am not doing that! No offense to anyone but I find that weird. Am I the only one?. i was just like ummmm....no thank you, that is not something i would be interested in doing.I didnt know what to say

A person I know had a peacock mounted; it had belonged to her dad. I asked her where she planned to keep it (it was in full feather!), and she hadn't decided that yet.

The quote function did something weird, but I think I got what I wanted to reply to here. Anyway...

Amprolium (brand name Corid) is not an antibiotic, but a thiamine blocker, which is why it doesn't do anything to treat, well, pretty much anything beyond Coccidiosis. It works well and is a more gentle alternative to Sulmet, which is harsh and can cause a continued bleed in the gut even after Coccidiosis has been cured. It is reccomended that Sulmet be used only if Corid has failed to cure coccidiosis. My first aid kit article (linked in my signature) has doses for both Corid and Sulmet if anyone needs them.

Most of the questions on Coccidiosis have been answered above, but I wanted to add something to consider in regards to medicated feed.

Using medicated feed is a big controversy and everyone has their reasons for and against it. I have never used medicated feed and I always recommend against using it, myself. The reason is that I have now heard from more than one source (one a general statement about it, the other a person that had actually gone through treating after it happened) that the cocci in an area can become immune to amprolium if given in low doses, which is exactly what medicated feed is. The best route if you want to prevent an outbreak of coccidiosis is to plan ahead for your chicks' first exposure to the outside world.

Cocci are most active in wet soil. In dry, dusty soil, they become inactive. This is the optimal time to expose chicks to the soil, either by taking the chicks outside or by bringing the soil to them. What I do is I dig up a chunk of sod or some dirt for the chicks to play in from a dry area on the property, within the area that my hens roam. This not only exposes them to anything else they might encounter after being introduced to the flock, but it also exposes them to the inactive cocci in the soil and allows them to build up an immunity naturally, without risk of the native cocci becoming immune to amprolium. Of course, if you have chicks at wetter times of the year, you can always just dig up some mud and leave it somewhere to dry before exposing them to it.

Never thought about bringing in the dirt--always trying to get dirt OUT of my house. What a great idea!

We've had over 4 inches last night and today. I should've emptied my rain gauge when it stopped for a while! Our creek is out of the banks and roaring like a ...... And the chickens are all hiding!

I got my baby girl dog back yesterday. She's doing better. She didnot have an intestinal blockage but her small intestine was looped thru a section of torn membrane . I can't give you the names for all of that. But so far she is keeping food down!!! First time in 2.5 weeks!!

Glad to hear that your baby is better.

I'm desperately trying to catch up on posts after a weekend in Lucasville and coming back to the mess left by the rains mentioned by Danand--still 20 pages to go. Lots of good pics and interesting posts!

Lost my best bantam Polish hen Sunday night. She started going down Thursday and didn't respond to any treatment. No idea what was wrong; she acted very much like a chick with cocci, but she was 18 months old. I lost her mother in the spring under much the same conditions, so I'm wondering if there is something genetic going on. Needless to say, I was devastated; she was champion AOCCL at the Bloomington show in September and a truly cuddly little girl. I hope that some of the youngsters from her turn out well and healthy.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Quote: If I do it, It will be more for DH, he likes honey and its terribly expensive anymore. I am not much on sweets, he gets ice cream and i get salsa

for a snack.

Quote:

adorable cuteness overload!!!!

 

[PeacefulWalls]

What a crazy but fun egg collecting day. This morning I saw one of my girls up in the loft of the barn. She was singing an egg laying song, so I thought I'd better head up there to look for an egg. There was a box lid on the floor with some straw in it, along with 4 eggs. So I collected those. Then I saw her settle in in on top of the pile of straw bales (with lots of loose straw everywhere from kids playing in it). Sure enough -- there was another nest -- with 15 eggs. She then headed over to another spot close to the floor and settled in. Followed her over -- 11 more eggs! I picked my girl up, held her for a bit then set her in front of me on the straw. She immediately squatted and about 10 seconds later I picked her up again and there was a fresh egg!! This evening I decided to check the loft -- 2 more eggs in the box. I also checked the hay bales stacked in the back of the duck coop. Another nest I hadn't seen before -- this one with 2 small blue eggs -- one of my Easter Eggers has finally started laying!!

All together today I think I collected 47 eggs -- I felt like a little kid on an Easter egg hunt!

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

So I went out to check, I couldn't help myself. She got off the nest on her own to eat a little so I checked the eggs. I didn't get a good look though because I picked one up and dropped it on another one. I am so mad at myself right now!!!!!!!!! It barely cracked the one it landed on, but I really hope I didn't mess something up. It just put a tiny indention in it, I don't think It broke the membrane. I really screwed up.

Think positive! sending good hatching vibes, it happens.

Quote: X2 excellent info. Now I am rethinking if I really want to deal with that.

HI! We are new and was told about the state sites! I am looking to start our adventure here in Northwest Indiana, but don't know where I can purchase chicks. We are looking to purchase egg layers. We are from Northwest Indiana and our town is looking to change our ordinances, so that is why we are looking now. We were going to wait until Spring, but now we cannot. And why wait right? I look forward to "meeting" everyone and thank you in advance for your help!

and our thread

Theres a lot of great resources on BYC, you sure found the right place!
https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/37/local-chicken-laws-ordinances-and-how-to-change-them
Is a great spot to start, Others on our thread have went through changes and ordinance situations.
If you click on the link at the bottom of my post, it shows you what members are close to you, they may have chicks available!
There are a few hatcheries still selling, check the local big box farm stores bulletin boards too.
Valpo may have chicks at the feed store, its a big farming community (at least was, not sure now

).
Crown Feed in Crown point is a little closer, they may have some too.
BTW, I grew up and lived in lake co for 35 years. I am sure its grown a lot since I left 15 years ago.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

I did the bee thing 30+ years ago. I had 3 or 4 hives.

I bought one box of bees through the mail and collected the rest myself from swarms.

I collected one swarm downtown Indianapolis during lunch hour while wearing a business suit. I cut off the tree branch with my pocket knife and placed it in a cardboard box I got from a business nearby. I folded the box shut and put it opening-down in the back of my pickup truck. I parked back in the parking garage. When I got back to work, I mused with my co-workers about what would happen if a thief tried to steal the box from the truck.

The longer I had them, the meaner they got. When dealing with bees, you never think of individual bees, unless the individual has managed to get inside the veil with you. At that point, you think ONLY about that individual. Once, I had so many inside the veil that I ran and ripped off the veil. They chased me all the way back to the house, about 800 feet. Fortunately, it was upwind or I wouldn't have been able to stay ahead of them. Now I would be able to run (slowly) maybe 80 feet.

One night, I went out after dark (they won't fly at night) and pulled all the comb frames out and piled them up on the truck's tailgate brushing off the bees from the combs, pant legs, gloves, etc.

I broke up the combs and put them in a pressure cooker pot that held 3 or 4 gallons and warmed it up on the stove. I strained off the crud consisting of larvae, form wires, cocoons, etc. Then I skimmed off the beeswax. I then poured the remaining honey into quart and pint jars.

That supplied my extended family with honey for years.

It was fun until they got mean. I still have some of the bee stuff laying around in the basement and barn if someone wants it.

John

ugh, sounds scary...

 

[PeacefulWalls]

X2 excellent info. Now I am rethinking if I really want to deal with that.

Who knows -- maybe you'll end up being the shorts & T-shirt kind of beekeeper! And the honey is sooo good

 

[Mother2Hens]

pbirdhaven~ So sorry to hear about the death of your sweet, award-winning bantam polish hen! Very sad.

pipd~ I agree; all of the mother hen and baby pics make me yearn for a broody hen sitting on eggs.
kabhyper~ I'm checking in and I'm disappointed you didn't look at the chicks, but you did the right thing! That would be hard to resist. I can't wait to tune in tomorrow to see what happened.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Quote: And learned to be smarter in the process, its the best way to learn.

Hey, Kab, I totally feel your anticipation!! I have 4 eggs each under 2 broody girls. Yesterday when I tucked everyone in had 2 pips. This morning at 8:30 had 3 fuzzy chicks. 2 pale yellow, one black. Now at 4:22, still have just 3. I sure wish these 2 moms would stand up so I can see what's going on!!! One of the peeps was trying to climb out, so I had to make temporary "screen doors" for the front of their nest boxes to keep them in and let the moms relax. Keeps everyone else away, too. All the rest chickens are pretty curious about all the peeping. Sure hope all 8 of them hatch. This is our first time!

Curious about everyone's opinions about who the possible mom is of the black chick. The dad is BO. One mom is a huge black sex link and the only other one with any black in her is the BR. Could it be either one? If I could get to the shells under mom (if they even still exist) I could tell because I marked all the names with the mom's names. Oh well.

Could be. My BR hen I cross with my GLW or BA and her girls hatch black, the boys are always barred. Boys have a big white dot on the head at hatch. The oldest girl is now laying, very nice sized brown egg.

Originally Posted by SallyinIndiana

I agree with the others that no light is needed Unless she rejects chick. When you hear peeping that is when you do need to watch and make sure mom hen is not going to toss out the chick or eat it. It happens once in a while. One of the few things that people using incubators don't have to worry about right away.

I have one egg with a tiny outer pip right now. I think I hear at least 2 different chirping chicks inside the various eggs. This is the most nerve wracking part of incubating. I typically try to be gone on hatch day or super busy but even then it is in the back of my mind.

Don't bother with the heat lamp. If they are cold, they will burrow under her. That is one of the big positives of a broody, no need for a possible fire hazard to keep the chicks warm. She is all they need.

As far as telling if they are hatching, my first indication was the loud cheeping coming from the vicinity of the mother.

I have been trying to stay busy, but It's driving me batty LOL. Okay no heat lamp. Check Don't let her eat chicks. check. Will listen for chirping. check. Try not to lose my mind. double check.
ETA: The quote didn't quote you! BYC is being weird...


Oh my... Maybe I wont do a broody, I will make myself crazy not being able to look!