INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[SallyinIndiana]

Quote:
I have a few almost ready to lay pullets available as well. I'm south of Indy. Mine are barred rocks. DH won't part with our remaining 4 red stars. He likes the darker shells.

 

[ChickCrazed]

As suspected would happen, the chickens refused to go through the pop door with plastic, and the coop was filled with even more wild birds that had no problem coming through the plastic. Grrrrrrrrrr. Guess I will be out there in the snow storm tomorrow fighting the next skirmish. Of course the roads are too bad to go out for more supplies and lowes didn't have poultry netting when I stopped today. They clearly don't think anyone buys poultry fencing in the winter. I'm going to have to rig some tarps up on top of the run to temporarily thwart the darn birds from coming through....and with all the snow we are getting my next ordeal will be a collapsed run because of the snow load piling up on the tarp. It is amazing how you see it coming, hope for better and then reality is exactly how you expect To top it all off my heated water dish keeps popping the GFI and was completely frozen over today. Poor girls So I will probably be hauling water all day tomorrow too and trying to figure out how to fix it before I have to go back into the office thursday and friday. Oh, and I am one of those lucky hoosiers that is supposed to be getting 2" tonight, and another 12" tomorrow, and it sure looks like I already have more than 2" so I am seriously afraid to see what tomorrow brings! Is it Spring yet? It sure is difficult to have livestock in the winter. These are the days when I wonder if it is really worth it...I know it is but it is hard to struggle so much for months on end without questioning.

Oh, and in my struggle to get the wild birds out of my coop, two of my chickens flew the coop and my dachshund took a mouthful of feathers out of one or both. She got yelled at and I think they are ok. I worry that they are not and that I missed an injury. And my dog knows I'm mad at her so she has been a nervous wreck all night. We are all an emotional exhausted mess tonight.

 

[Kiniska]

As suspected would happen, the chickens refused to go through the pop door with plastic, and the coop was filled with even more wild birds that had no problem coming through the plastic.  Grrrrrrrrrr.  Guess I will be out there in the snow storm tomorrow fighting the next skirmish. Of course the roads are too bad to go out for more supplies and lowes didn't have poultry netting when I stopped today.  They clearly don't think anyone buys poultry fencing in the winter.  I'm going to have to rig some tarps up on top of the run to temporarily thwart the darn birds from coming through....and with all the snow we are getting my next ordeal will be a collapsed run because of the snow load piling up on the tarp.  It is amazing how you see it coming, hope for better and then reality is exactly how you expect  To top it all off my heated water dish keeps popping the GFI and was completely frozen over today.  Poor girls  So I will probably be hauling water all day tomorrow too and trying to figure out how to fix it before I have to go back into the office thursday and friday. Oh, and I am one of those lucky hoosiers that is supposed to be getting 2" tonight, and another 12" tomorrow, and it sure looks like I already have more than 2" so I am seriously afraid to see what tomorrow brings!  Is it Spring yet?  It sure is difficult to have livestock in the winter.  These are the days when I wonder if it is really worth it...I know it is but it is hard to struggle so much for months on end without questioning.

Oh, and in my struggle to get the wild birds out of my coop, two of my chickens flew the coop and my dachshund took a mouthful of feathers out of one or both.  She got yelled at and I think they are ok.  I worry that they are not and that I missed an injury.  And my dog knows I'm mad at her so she has been a nervous wreck all night.  We are all an emotional exhausted mess tonight.

CC, my husband and I had the " Is this all worth it" conversation yesterday. So much little and big stuff has happened this winter we are both stressed. We decided the weather is to blame and come Spring we will feel much more grateful for what we have. Hang in there lady. Big hugs from S.Indiana

 

[Kiniska]

So, for some good news. Incubator warehouse is awesome.
I did indeed get too large a unit for my Bator. Thankfully the nice tech guy knew exactly how to fix it. He was so nice! Now it is fired up and holding steady at 99.5. Going to let it run a few days just to make sure all is working correctly then pop in some eggs for my first test hatch.

 

[ChickCrazed]

CC, my husband and I had the " Is this all worth it" conversation yesterday. So much little and big stuff has happened this winter we are both stressed. We decided the weather is to blame and come Spring we will feel much more grateful for what we have. Hang in there lady. Big hugs from S.Indiana

Thanks! I know many of us are feeling this way. This has obviously been a 8x worse winter than normal, and a normal winter is hard enough as it is. It is funny hearing people at work complain. I want to tell them "at least you don't have to be outside for 2 hours a day caring for animals in this weather, I'm super sorry you had to walk the 100 yards to work in this, but you can hide inside the rest of the time! Those of us with livestock are the real winter heros"! I am just so ready for this weather to break! Then I will be complaining about all the rain and mud! I'm looking forward to complaining about something else!

 

[ChickCrazed]

Since I am officially spamming the page tonight - I got a funny shot of my gawky chicks tonight

Charlie's Angel Chicks They are so hard to photograph now! They were flying all over the place!

 

[bradselig]

As suspected would happen, the chickens refused to go through the pop door with plastic, and the coop was filled with even more wild birds that had no problem coming through the plastic.  Grrrrrrrrrr.  Guess I will be out there in the snow storm tomorrow fighting the next skirmish. Of course the roads are too bad to go out for more supplies and lowes didn't have poultry netting when I stopped today.  They clearly don't think anyone buys poultry fencing in the winter.  I'm going to have to rig some tarps up on top of the run to temporarily thwart the darn birds from coming through....and with all the snow we are getting my next ordeal will be a collapsed run because of the snow load piling up on the tarp.  It is amazing how you see it coming, hope for better and then reality is exactly how you expect  To top it all off my heated water dish keeps popping the GFI and was completely frozen over today.  Poor girls  So I will probably be hauling water all day tomorrow too and trying to figure out how to fix it before I have to go back into the office thursday and friday. Oh, and I am one of those lucky hoosiers that is supposed to be getting 2" tonight, and another 12" tomorrow, and it sure looks like I already have more than 2" so I am seriously afraid to see what tomorrow brings!  Is it Spring yet?  It sure is difficult to have livestock in the winter.  These are the days when I wonder if it is really worth it...I know it is but it is hard to struggle so much for months on end without questioning.

Oh, and in my struggle to get the wild birds out of my coop, two of my chickens flew the coop and my dachshund took a mouthful of feathers out of one or both.  She got yelled at and I think they are ok.  I worry that they are not and that I missed an injury.  And my dog knows I'm mad at her so she has been a nervous wreck all night.  We are all an emotional exhausted mess tonight.

Ohh I know the feelng! I'm seriously considering selling all my Marans and legbars to get rid of my straight comb breeds. I'll keep the Cochins as theirs aren't too large, but the frost bite is driving me crazy! Hurry up spring!

So, for some good news. Incubator warehouse is awesome.
I did indeed get too large a unit for my Bator. Thankfully the nice tech guy knew exactly how to fix it. He was so nice! Now it is fired up and holding steady at 99.5. Going to let it run a few days just to make sure all is working correctly then pop in some eggs for my first test hatch.

woohoo! That is awesome!

 

[PeacefulWalls]

I'm skipping over the last couple of pages so I can post duckling photos!

cute babies! what breed are they?

 

[racinchickins]

Ohh I know the feelng! I'm seriously considering selling all my Marans and legbars to get rid of my straight comb breeds. I'll keep the Cochins as theirs aren't too large, but the frost bite is driving me crazy! Hurry up spring!
woohoo! That is awesome!

My Legbar was the only Roo not to have frostbite issues with his comb. Not sure why, his comb is not as large as the Bresse, but it is larger than several others that had issues.

 

[racinchickins]

Thanks! I know many of us are feeling this way. This has obviously been a 8x worse winter than normal, and a normal winter is hard enough as it is. It is funny hearing people at work complain. I want to tell them "at least you don't have to be outside for 2 hours a day caring for animals in this weather, I'm super sorry you had to walk the 100 yards to work in this, but you can hide inside the rest of the time! Those of us with livestock are the real winter heros"! I am just so ready for this weather to break! Then I will be complaining about all the rain and mud! I'm looking forward to complaining about something else!

I actually had a coworker today tell me 'I don't know how you do it. I would hate to have to go outside and work in this weather.' I agreed it is not the most fun, but the animals are soooo worth it in the end. Those chickens I worked so hard to keep comfortable in the polar vortex are now giving me good fertile eggs to go in my incubator!

Speaking of eggs.....a new record for me. 11 eggs!!!! my first day in double digits. I'm so happy about that.

7 of my 8 Bresse pullets laid today. I continue to be impressed by this breed. Both my Legbars are averaging 4-5 eggs a week. If I get a decent hatch on them in the new incubator, I will be so psyched.