INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[leslea]

A shotgun miss won't travel as far, but depending on the shell, it could still be lethal for 100 yards or more. I've personally witnessed deer taken down at 75 yards by a 12ga and #4 buckshot. A load that's light enough to be safe will not kill the coyote. The noise might startle them away, but they'll come back if they want what you have. Also, a shotgun miss spreads in a much less controlled pattern than a rifle bullet. Also, because of the shorter effective range, hitting a coyote with a shotgun is terribly difficult. You're much better off setting up with a high power rifle and decent scope at 200 yards and a downward angle. Put the bait 100 yds from your house and go sit on your roof with a tripod. Pick them off as they come in.

Something to think about!

I think my neighbor lives for this stuff. (I mean that in a nice way. He is very cool.)

 

[hoosiercheetah]

So I went out to close up the coop, a little later that usual, and all the critters had settled onto the roost for the night. This is what I saw :

That's six content chickens on the right, all snugged up next to one another. On the left is Miss Bossy Pants herself, Queen Penelope. All Alone.
All I could do is smile at her and say, "It's lonely at the top, isn't it?"

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

I had another overnight egg. This time, she dropped it into the PDZ on the poop board, so at least it didn't break. What's weird is she used the nest box yesterday. I wish I knew if there's something about the box she doesn't like, or if it's just unfortunate timing when she needs to lay. I hope it evens out with time.

Last night when they were all getting settled on the roost, one of the little comets decided it was a good time for a PDZ dust bath. She fairly irritated everyone around her, but it was kind of hilarious. :-D

I think the closet bar I used is too small a diameter for the bigger chickens. The Orps don't seem comfortable on it. Fortunatly I have lots of room; I was thinking they'd like a lower roost anyway. I should be able to find a nice tree branch in the pine pile.

the egg cycle is about 25 hours, so the problem should correct itself soon.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

I dont remember who found the shrooms the other day, but if I were a betting man Id say they were south of Indy?! Because I dont think we up north have had the warmer nights to get them sprouting. I just walked my 4 acres of woods and didnt find not one of them yummy yellows (or blacks)!!!

I looked too! no luck. Now I am craving them!

Quote: Terribly sad loss. At least there is hope she can be placed.

 

[bradselig]

Wasnt there someone who has or was getting Breda? I just ordered some hatching eggs and wanted to see what they thought of the breed. Im excited about no combs to get frost bit during winter!

 

[barb s]

Wasnt there someone who has or was getting Breda? I just ordered some hatching eggs and wanted to see what they thought of the breed. Im excited about no combs to get frost bit during winter!

I ordered Breda, but haven't gotten them yet. I hope to get them in about another week or two. I'm excited to see what they are going to be like as well.

 

[bradselig]

I ordered Breda, but haven't gotten them yet. I hope to get them in about another week or two. I'm excited to see what they are going to be like as well. 

ok I was thinking it was you but wasnt sure. Ive been curious about them for awhile and stubbled across a good deal on ebay.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Hi guys

Looks like tentative chickenfest dates are:
June 28th - July 12th- July 19th. My preference is July 19th due to scheduling a DD to care for my mom and birds that weekend.
Please let me know if these dates won't work for you. I will be contacting the campground owner this Sunday to submit dates.
Fermenting Feed appears to be the popular topic! This will be a "multi-species" FF demo. I even ferment for my goats.
If anyone uses lacto-fermenting, please shout out and show us how you do it! I think it would be great to show both methods!
The pitch in also seems to be a good idea. I am willing to supply pulled pork BBQ & buns.
We can bring our grill up to the barn for anyone preferring hot dogs or burgers etc.

so we will need paper goods like plates, napkins etc, side dishes.. Probably best if everyone brings their own preferred drinks.
There are 2 state parks within minutes nearby: http://www.in.gov/dnr/parklake/2961.htm
Highly recommend reserving as soon as we set a date if you want to make it a weekend camping trip!
We've camped at the state parks on occasion, and they book up fast! That's part of what made us get our own permanent lot, lot of driving just to go fishing

You can reserve in advance. Mounds (Not the Anderson mounds FYI) SRA has fully electric etc. Pull in, hook up. Quakertown has some nice primitive lots you can fish almost out of your tent! Both are nice, clean, well maintained campgrounds. Modern restroom and shower facilities. Will get the physical address for our campground ASAP. Unfortunately, there is no public sites there, and rarely any open lots. There is a waiting list of people to park a camper there.

I can still set up a demo for quail processing if enough people are interested. I have had a lot of requests for it, but it will be separated from our gathering. We can do it at our campsite lot to not gross out those that are not comfortable with it. Its super fast, takes maybe 5 minutes a bird at most. I can supply the birds, and you can take your test subjects home to try them out and see if you really want to raise them! I will also make sure I have a supply of quail eggs set back and some hardboiled so you can try the eggs also

they are so Yummmm!

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Not a lot going on here besides yard work. It was really chilly and damp here today too. Ugh this has been a cold winter, and spring isn't much better so far. My BB white turkey hen has started squatting for us, so I am expecting eggs from her soon. Crossing her with my younger BR tom to see what we get.
We are getting about 3 dozen eggs a day here. Really happy with that! Nite guys! Off to bed.

 

[Mother2Hens]

I finally got caught up

I am thinking mid july for chickenfest, 19th maybe? I really need input to reserve the barn.
I have to give the owner 3 dates in a week or so, he books the barn fast every year. PLEASE PM ME!!!
I want to plan a date that wont interfere with regular kids sports, racing events, 4H, state fair, kids activities period.

jchny~ Chicken Fest Just my idea: List 3 possible dates on this thread (knowing that you can't please everyone). Ask everyone to PM you with their choice and their confirmation of attending on that date. The date with the most people who confirm that they'll be there is the Chicken Fest date.
Make a deadline for people to PM you with their date preference.

If you decide to do this method, when you make the announcement, I will volunteer to go through our list of members and forward your post to all members who've been active the past year.

Thank you for all you do!

Originally Posted by hoosiercheetah

I also agree that secure housing is critical, and I hope I didn't imply that it isn't. If you have coyotes, you have opossum and raccoon and probably fox, not to mention all of the feral domestic cats and dogs.

However, a dead coyote doesn't kill chickens, or people's dogs or children.

Gun safety is easy, but it has to be taught and learned. Killing wild animals safely is easy, as long as you keep your wits about you and pay attention to what you're doing. I hunt deer on a farm that pastures horses and cattle, and their neighbors have dogs that often get loose and run the woods. We've been hunting this property for decades, and there's never even been a close call.

People who shoot things they didn't intend to shoot are lazy and/or ignorant. I would defiantly not suggest letting someone you don't know personally hunt on your land, and I hope I didn't imply that either. Out of the people I Do know, there are not a lot of them I'd trust with that kind of job. But I think most people could find at least one or two friends or relatives to help out with eliminating predators.

Coyotes are badly overpopulated, and their numbers need to be reduced.

hoosiercheetah ~ You neither implied that secure housing isn't critical nor did you imply that reckless gun owners are to be trusted. I'm just the lone person on this thread who is anti-gun and who could never kill an animal. But that's what makes this thread great-- the fact that we all can agree to disagree on some issues. I do believe that prevention is the best action you can take for your livestock by predator-proofing as much as possible. I realize that many wildlife species are overpopulated and that shooting is more humane than starvation, so I believe it's acceptable if a conscientious property owner shoots a wildlife predator. Personally, I could never kill an animal, but that's a characteristic of me. And coyotes mate for life, so I hate the thought of one being killed.

Originally Posted by leslea
Okay, question about my first brooder! Attention all experts!

I went by the Chicken Chick's post on brooders and made this today. I used puppy pads, but as you can see from the "mother in law suite" photo at the end, it doesn't fit the box very well. Should I tape it down, or will it not matter? Will the chicks pull it up and get smothered under it? Sorry if that is a dumb q, I am feelin' paranoid.
leslea ~ One of our mottos --lol-- here on the Indiana Thread is "There's no such thing as a dumb question!" Chicks poop constantly, so paper towels are much more economical than puppy pads. When my chicks were little, I used medium pine shavings from the beginning. It's when they became larger and needed more space in the bedroom that I started using paper towels because I didn't want shavings all over the room. Just like any chicken-related issue, there are many ways of doing things!

To avoid food and water containers from constantly being knocked over, hanging ones are so much easier. If you have hardware wire over the box, you could hang small plastic food and water containers. Especially use a water one because your cardboard box won't last long with spilled water.

As far as your dogs, I would keep the chicks in a room with the door shut. You won't have to worry about a tragic accident. While I'm thinking of accidents, if you're setting your brooder up in your garage, don't forget that fumes can kill birds of any age.

On a positive note! That's so exciting that the chicks you've been waiting for such a long time are arriving soon! And the weather should be finally settling into a wonderfully warmer mode.

atrueb00 ~ Your flock looks lovely!

Wasnt there someone who has or was getting Breda? I just ordered some hatching eggs and wanted to see what they thought of the breed. Im excited about no combs to get frost bit during winter!
bradselig ~ I thought you were a breda! (breeder-- with a Boston accent)