INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Chaneys Ranch]

Nite guys still catching up.
CYA tomorrow!

 

[chick rookie]

Here is a great link that shows how to give a chicken a 9 Point Comb to Toe Chicken Check Up & DIY Antiseptic …
It's good routine to follow with your own flock and when purchasing new flock members.
Originally Posted by hoosiercheetah . . . .I did call the seller, and he said he'd take them back any time, full refund, no problem. So that's nice. He said a few other things about chicken health and habits that told me clearly that he doesn't know nearly as much as he thinks he does... and as always I concede that I'm a rank amateur. But I've at least done the reading.

. . . Someone mentioned posting the seller's info as a warning to others but I don't think I will. in my business, it's considered unethical to badmouth another shop's work. Yo just tell the pilot what you find wrong, and its up to him to know where he's taken his plane and who screwed it up. So here's what I'll say. if anyone is thinking of doing business with a chicken person in Indianapolis, read back through my account and make your own call. I won't be going back there.

hoosiercheetah ~ Glad to hear that your chickens basically needed a bath! It sounds like you had a insightful conversation with the owner who perhaps was mostly guilty of being ignorant about chicken care.

I was the one who suggested warning others about the seller based on your initial posts following your purchase, which appeared that you had been deceived by an unscrupulous seller. Typically, this type of person makes a "business" out of selling damaged goods and in many cases can't be reached following the sale. I suggested that these people shouldn't be able to get away with ripping people off (and neglecting animals), and suggested warning other potential buyers through social media. When you mentioned that you're an airplane mechanic and in your line of work, it's unethical to tell your clients that the mechanics at another business did a terrible job and suggest that your clients never use that terrible business again-- that is like comparing apples to oranges. Your example is a legitimate business that tells their customers that another legitimate, competing business is a terrible place. The client in your example has resources to contact like the FAA or the BBB. My example is a person who directly rips another person off by purposely selling a sick chicken. The only resource the ripped off person has is using social media to warn others or asking for help from animal control or the humane society.

The reason I am explaining this is because occasionally we hear from a thread member who has been sold sick chickens or other livestock-- and some have later died after expensive treatments. jchny and animal lover come to mind, but there have been many others. I don't remember anyone being able to make the seller accountable, which makes it easy for these creeps to rip off the next person who comes along.
And on a lighter note--- This is an interesting story that happened nearby in Newburgh, just east of Eville (The hawk had a nest of babies).
Newburgh woman attacked by hawk - 14 News, WFIE ...

thanks for posting that link... added to my " Just in case list " and the Hawk story was interesting.

jchny ~ Way to go in getting a place for CHICKENFEST!

chickrookie ~~ I love how you put a photo of the hen with the photo of the egg! However-- It would be helpful to list the breed of each hen since some looked similar. That's a great way to post that info though-- much more interesting than when I've just shown the egg and the breed. It's cool to see the actual chicken. I mean, she should get credit after all!! haha

amwchicken ~ Great to hear from you! We're looking forward to your photos, too-- sounds like you have a great "collection."

raisinemright~ I haven't noticed people putting CL down -- RK maybe!! lol Anyway, I've been lucky with craigslist, and have actually made a couple of friends! One chicken-related and one mid-century design related. I like to freak my sister out by saying that I have a new best friend I met on craigslist!

CountryHen ~ My now deceased Black Jersey Giant hen had small spur nubs. No wonder she was head of the flock!

bradselig ~ You had a Treasure Chest in your basement. How handy!

minminme ~ Loved your photos, especially those precious ducklings!

glad to hear the chicken fest is a go. Will have to look up the city and park. Looking forward to my first Chickenfest.

Hello
just found this thread, I'm in Markleville... close to Anderson. I have LF Brahmas. I'm adding Blue and Buff Orpington's to the flock, they are 3 weeks old and I have 5 blues with 12 brahmas do to hatch tomorrow.

Love your birds, I have a soft spot for Brahmas, and the more I am on this thread the more I learn they come in different colors. BTW Welcome

and have fun.

I have quail! 2 little cortnix so far, many others trying.

Congrats...

for the rest.

Now, from my homestead.

I have some positive news! Rangi and Roha are buddies again!

They spent the afternoon free-ranging together, just like old times! I'm so happy to see them getting along again!

Now poor Rangi's getting her feather's worn down by Po.

Poor girl can't catch a break!


I have two more weeks of classes and then I'm free for the summer! And three weeks from tomorrow, we head out for chicks!

The TSC we go to for feed got their last order of chicks in last week, so I'm not going to have any way of getting my chick fix in until my own babies arrive. My internal crazy chicken lady is dying to break loose and buy out the last of the chicks there.

Gotta stay strong...


Anyway, I'm up waaay too late on a school night, so I'd better get going to bed! Beautiful pictures (except the chicken butt ones--sorry, can't say those were beautiful

), welcome to everyone new, and I love all the coops being built. I think that covers everything I didn't quote. G'night, all!


ETA: Don't mind my smiley abuse here. I seem to use more smilies the more tired I am.

Good night, this time for real!

I'm guilty of Smiley Abuse to some times...

just cant help myself. Guess I'm young at heart????

So, I've been observing my birds as they get settled in, and I've got some peck-order stuff going on. I have read up again on it, and im pretty sure i know whats going on, but i wanted to to run it by the Voice of Experience (that's y'all) in case im way off base.
My barnyard mix, Penny, is number one for sure. The two comets and the two e.e.s, who already know penny, stay well out of her way. The two orps, who are each twice as big as penny but are new birds to her, do not seem intimidated by her. they go where they want, sometimes following her and sometimes paired up by themselves. The smaller 4 stay out of the orps way too, but the big girls have shown no aggression at all.
The possible issue is that Penny has been pecking at the orps, and everyone else, as they're roosting down for the night. She'll be the first one on the bar, and the next chicken who tries to fly up and sit down gets pecked. The smaller birds just fly off and try sitting somewhere else, but the big orps don't run from her. They just sit there, getting pecked. I let it go for a minute, but it was alarming and I stepped in- probably a dumb noob mistake- and picked penny off the perch and set her on the floor. After giving me the evil eye for a minute, and probably trying to decide whether she could take me on, she flew back up and sat down between the orps, and did not resume pecking.
I'm figuring Penny feels like the bigger birds may be a threat to her status, so she's trying to put them in their place. They don't seem to be interested in challenging her, or backing off either. So my thought at this point is it will probably all sort itself if I leave it alone, and I should just watch everyone for injuries, in case it does escalate.
Oh, and here's another funny thing- the white EE keeps trying to stick her head under the gray one. If I didn't know better I'd say it looked like she's trying to nurse. I think she's probably looking for comfort and protection? She's also one of the most vocal, and she'll coo and purr and perch on my hand and let me pet her.
Does anyone else handle their chickens like parrots? I had each of them but the big orps perched on my hand or arm with a standard pickup, and none of them, even penny, seemed to mind. I think they were as surprised as I was that it worked!
Okay, enough new owner babbling. Thank you all for your gracious patience. ;-)

I don't intervene either unless it goes too far, but I have been the last 2 nights with 2 big girl hens that will sit outside the poop door and only let the other big girls in and makes the littles stay out side

... I politely boot them inside and will pick them up and put them on the perch if I have too so the littles can come in and go to bed too.
and when it rains they wont let them in the coop or under the porch!!!!

having a heck of a time with this bunch!!!!!

 

[chick rookie]

This chicken( barnyard mutt ) lays this egg Egg is a cream tint with speckles.

this hen lays( RIR/Welsummer cross ) this egg med brn with speckles

this hen (EE) lays this egg biggest green egg

this hen (GC) lays this egg lg brn

miss " Do Not Disturb" (BR) lays this egg Md brn

this hen (EE/?cross) lays this egg md green

this hen (RIR?) lays this egg lg brn

this hen (EE) lays this egg lg lt olive

now comes the mystery I went to lunch with DH today so wasn't able to track my hens eggs, I found this when I got home:

this is a sm white egg ????? I only have 8 hens old enough to lay. but this is a new color and the 9th egg.

I went through and put the breeds with each hen, the ones I knew anyway a couple I just took a guess at and 1 I have NO IDEAL...

I also forgot to tell ya'l these hens are 1 -3 years old

 

[leslea]

Bedtime Drama
My poor Blue Splash English Orp from Kiniska who was raised with her brother (now at jchny's) and three Silkies from bradselig is so confused at bedtime. She really wants to be on the perch like a normal Orp, but the Silkies who are like her babies want to sleep in the shallow Rubbermaid tote. The Orp (who has yet to be named because I want a British name, but find something wrong with every possibility) is torn between the perch and the box. All of her stress came to a head tonight when she started flying into the window screen separating her from my flock of five mean hens. I removed the screen to see what was going to happen, and she marched right up the steps to the coop box, much to the dismay of the five mean hens. They couldn't believe their eyes-- especially when she got up on the main perch right in the middle! Immediately she was pecked from all sides as I tried to shield her from the pointy weapons. Then she flew up to join Nene on her special top of the door perch. Bad idea! With one major peck, the Orp was knocked off the door top. She decide to go back to her part of the coop with the Silkies, but was obviously not happy about how things turned out. She kept readjusting herself in the box with the Silkies who wondered what had just happened. Of course, I feel guilty that I raised such different breeds together and confused both of them. If we have some breaks in the rain tomorrow, I'm going to work on flock integration. I don't think Nene and the mean hens will be on the same page, though!

Meanwhile Bonbon (another English Orp, but a bantam who settled for a French name) no doubt heard all the ruckus since she's housed a few feet away in her own little coop. When she hatches-- on approx. May 3 - 5, we'll have another pecking order / flock integration fiasco.

leslea ~ Your handsome son looks like he's confident about raising chickens-- as long as they arrive alive. He can take it from there!

How about Mary Poppins? Especially since she is flying all around?

Thanks. Everyone is so excited to meet our chicks. It will be the most exciting day of 2014, I think!

 

[Kiniska]

Mary Poppins is a great name for an ORP! Don't worry M2H they will settle in, it will just take a while.

 

[barb s]

I have a question. We have never incubating eggs before, but last Sunday we put 38 eggs in an incubator. Last night (day 7) we candled them. Of the 38, I pretty sure that we have 5 clear, but we left them in there, just in case. The rest I'm pretty sure are developing. But there are 2 eggs that look like we may have put them in the wrong way to begin with. When my BF put them back in the incubator I think he put them back in the opposite way. Did we just kill the chicks that were growing in there?
In other chicken news. The chicks I have on order will be getting sent out on May 12th. I'm can't wait. I also have some chicks coming from Brad around the same time. I think all together in about 3 weeks I should have about 100 new chicks.
Love all the coop, chicken, chick and puppy pictures. Can't wait for the chicken fest. Sounds like a great time.

 

[hoosiercheetah]

The Orp (who has yet to be named because I want a British name, but find something wrong with every possibility) is torn between the perch and the box. All of her stress came to a head tonight when she started flying into the window screen separating her from my flock of five mean hens. I removed the screen to see what was going to happen, and she marched right up the steps to the coop box, much to the dismay of the five mean hens. They couldn't believe their eyes-- especially when she got up on the main perch right in the middle! Immediately she was pecked from all sides as I tried to shield her from the pointy weapons. Then she flew up to join Nene on her special top of the door perch. Bad idea! With one major peck, the Orp was knocked off the door top. She decide to go back to her part of the coop with the Silkies, but was obviously not happy about how things turned out. She kept readjusting herself in the box with the Silkies who wondered what had just happened. Of course, I feel guilty that I raised such different breeds together and confused both of them. If we have some breaks in the rain tomorrow, I'm going to work on flock integration. I don't think Nene and the mean hens will be on the same page, though!

Elizabeth. There are so many good ones - Queen E. the First, obviously, who struggled with clashes between love and duty. Then there's Elizabeth Bennet - torn between her sense of duty to her family, and her desire for the freedom to choose her own path. Sounds a little like your bird, perhaps.

Then there's Elizabeth Barrett Browning:

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of being and ideal grace.
I love thee to the level of every day's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for right.
I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

She's one of my favorites. A truely remarkable poet with a facinating life. ;-)

 

[lilmizscareall]

I set my first eggs(Kab's) under my very first broody hens(partr. Cochin bantams)! They are making the most AMAZING sound! It's almost like a cute, old fashioned, percolating coffee maker.
On that note...I went out of town Saturday night and when I came back, I had two more broody hens, another PCB and my Birchen Maran. I am going to watch them today and see if they break. If they don't I'll split all the eggs under them.
My question is this, if I set them last night and add a couple more in tonight, will that be ok? They'll only be 24 hours apart. I'm trying to hatch for a friend and her girls should lay 2 more today.

 

[hoosiercheetah]

One of my hens laid an egg in her sleep, with her butt hanging out off of the roost, so the egg broke on the floor. I hope this doesn't become a habit.

(I swear I posted this already, but then it wasn't there, so if it doubles it wasn't my fault.)

 

[racinchickins]

I have a question. We have never incubating eggs before, but last Sunday we put 38 eggs in an incubator. Last night (day 7) we candled them. Of the 38, I pretty sure that we have 5 clear, but we left them in there, just in case. The rest I'm pretty sure are developing. But there are 2 eggs that look like we may have put them in the wrong way to begin with. When my BF put them back in the incubator I think he put them back in the opposite way. Did we just kill the chicks that were growing in there?
In other chicken news. The chicks I have on order will be getting sent out on May 12th. I'm can't wait. I also have some chicks coming from Brad around the same time. I think all together in about 3 weeks I should have about 100 new chicks.
Love all the coop, chicken, chick and puppy pictures. Can't wait for the chicken fest. Sounds like a great time.

I don't think you harmed the chick by flipping the egg this early (but I'm no expert). You definitely want to make sure the air cell is up from this point on. If you wouldn't have corrected this, you were almost certainly in for issues later, so I think you did the right thing.