INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[CountryHen19]

I changed my avatar to this chicken pic by Davidlohr Bueso. I used it for a teaser for my latest book. I wrote chickens into the story as a way for the Rancher to show the school teacher how much he cares about her. There was NO MENTION of hardware cloth.

Didn't know you were a writer?! That's awesome...DH and I are both novice writers-- trying to get our first manuscripts written. My story is based in a small town and I WILL have chickens in it somehow lol I will have to find this and read it, as well as others you have written, I assume? I love reading friends' books. Ever heard of Shirley Jump or Kyra Jacobs?

Just a guess here, but the vast majority of dog and cat foods are sprayed with an oil. The oil is probably making it float. I do know Bil-jac dog food does not spray fat and oils onto the feed. I'd be curious to see if that feed would float too or not. If you wanted to try I know petsmart sells little $3 trial bags of the feed. It is definitely an interesting food that my dogs did great on. It went against everything I thought about dog food and had corn in it. However all my dogs did much better on it than they did when I was feeding other corn free foods like Wellness.

This goes against what I know about dog food too. We buy the 4Health canned dog food from TSC (least expensive high rating for canned according to dogadvisor.com) since my dogs are spoiled with the canned. We had switched to canned when our late dog got sick and wouldn't eat the dry and now they are hooked. I am curious about fermenting dog food because I think they would do well on it.

Looking forward to Chickenfest and the fermenting demonstration/lessons

 

[atrueb00]

Been an exciting weekend so far! 4 of the MF chicks have hatched and have 2 eggs left to go. Woke up yesterday and was so surprised to see one had already hatched.






DH decided he wanted to get into ducks and we made a trip to the Niles RK. The person who helped us said that store alone has sold over 20,000 chicks so far and has had a hard time keeping chick supplies and chicks in stock! They were still out of quail waterer bases, heat lamps, chick grit and medicated feed, so had to make a trip to our local TSC for those items. My mouth dropped when he told us this, I can't believe there were that many chicks sold in the area-that is one chick for every person in the city I live in!

While we were there, I was looking at the bantams and RK had 3 silkies! I couldn't resist taking them home to as they were so cheap. One had pasty butt and I got him/her for free. Brought them all home and cleaned off the butt, today the chick is fine. I put them with the MF that just hatched and my hen took to them right away, encouraging them to go under to her to warm up. Been keeping an eye on all of the new babies, so fun to watch them pop out from under their momma hen and watching her teach them to eat and drink.

 

[CountryHen19]

Hello there! I am in Columbia City and new to chickens and wanted to start following this thread... We have 6 chicks, about 3 weeks old (I think?) 2 buff orpingtons, 2 black australorps and 2 RIR's... In the process of converting our shed to a coop, so I may have lots of questions... Glad to see so many people from IN!

Welcome!! I'm in Allen county (Far east side) but I love seeing more people from this neck of the woods! I travel to CC 1-2x a week for work so I am getting more familiar with whitley county.

 

[CountryHen19]

Been an exciting weekend so far! 4 of the MF chicks have hatched and have 2 eggs left to go. Woke up yesterday and was so surprised to see one had already hatched.


DH decided he wanted to get into ducks and we made a trip to the Niles RK. The person who helped us said that store alone has sold over 20,000 chicks so far and has had a hard time keeping chick supplies and chicks in stock! They were still out of quail waterer bases, heat lamps, chick grit and medicated feed, so had to make a trip to our local TSC for those items. My mouth dropped when he told us this, I can't believe there were that many chicks sold in the area-that is one chick for every person in the city I live in!


While we were there, I was looking at the bantams and RK had 3 silkies! I couldn't resist taking them home to as they were so cheap. One had pasty butt and I got him/her for free. Brought them all home and cleaned off the butt, today the chick is fine. I put them with the MF that just hatched and my hen took to them right away, encouraging them to go under to her to warm up. Been keeping an eye on all of the new babies, so fun to watch them pop out from under their momma hen and watching her teach them to eat and drink.

SO cute pictures of all your new babies! Thanks for sharing. Of all the times I've gone into our new RK, many chicks and ducks were assumingly sold out since there was litter and feeders/waterers in the tubs that had no hatchlings. Granted, the area the new Ft Wayne RK is at, Its not as big and has little variety of offerings compared to the Angola store but whatever. It is very hard not to take any home with me but knowing that I still have to build my brooder and I have nowhere to put them helps this

 

[CountryHen19]

Ok people-- I saw a listing on CL for young Bielefelder and Jubilee Orp pullets... before I commit to anything, I asked to see this person's flocks to make sure he is treating them well. I am planning on going this coming Wednesday (May 7th).

IF he is treating them well and they seem to be good stock, I might ask for one hen of each (depending on conditions). What kind of quarantine conditions do I need to prepare for? I want to build a small area on the other side of my yard for them to have a place to be but that means that my flock needs to stay away from that area right? How much can be passed through the air? I believe MS/MG can, from reading some of those threads in the illness/disease forum.

I'm also trying to figure out which clothes/shoes I can wear that won't be used in my own yard. As long as the clothes are washed right away, its okay to wear those in my backyard again?

Don't know if its even worth all the trouble...

 

[leslea]

Didn't know you were a writer?! That's awesome...DH and I are both novice writers-- trying to get our first manuscripts written. My story is based in a small town and I WILL have chickens in it somehow lol I will have to find this and read it, as well as others you have written, I assume? I love reading friends' books. Ever heard of Shirley Jump or Kyra Jacobs?

I don't know if I have seen their books or not. I'll have to look them up. Thanks for your kind words. My DH and ended up together after he insisted on joining my writing group. The name of the group was Indiana Kentucky MomWriters. I had dated him years and years before and knew he was a writer, but I asked him "Are you sure you want to join a group of women talking about how hard it is to write while managing kids???" He said "It's your group, and you're the only writer I know, so..." And then he ended up becoming one of my best friends. Eventually I wrote a personals ad for him bc I couldn't understand why he was 40 and still single. He had it all. I really laid on the charm about his selling points. After a few months no one else had taken him so I decided I probably should. I guess I sold myself on him. But we are super happy and it all worked out. He doesn't write as much as he used to. He goes through fits and spurts, but he sure does support me in what I'm doing because he's seen how far I've come with it.

I think a contemporary romance with chickens in it is in my future, too. I thought about making the heroine of that one a detective. Maybe a chicken detective who stumbles into a crime ring or a murder of some kind? Just a thought.

Have fun with it!!!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Hey, all, thought I'd pop in this morning to let y'all know what I've been up to. My niece and nephew generously shared with me their plague (AKA a ridiculously miserable cold), which, as is tradition at this point, promises to linger into finals week just because I don't have a hard enough time on my final exams. My final for Chemistry is on Tuesday. Cumulative and worth 150 of the 700 points in the class. Wish me luck, because I'm gonna need it! The rest of my work is online and so Chem is my only final this semester, thank goodness.

Here is the woods as it greened up over the past three weeks:

April 18:

April 25:

Yesterday:

Not a striking difference yet, but I'm starting to see leaves on trees open up now! Yay, spring!


Well, anyway, I guess I should get back to studying. I'm almost there, just gotta survive this last week and I have a few months off for the summer! See y'all after my classes are finished for the semester!

 

[CountryHen19]

Hey, all, thought I'd pop in this morning to let y'all know what I've been up to. My niece and nephew generously shared with me their plague (AKA a ridiculously miserable cold), which, as is tradition at this point, promises to linger into finals week just because I don't have a hard enough time on my final exams. My final for Chemistry is on Tuesday. Cumulative and worth 150 of the 700 points in the class. Wish me luck, because I'm gonna need it! The rest of my work is online and so Chem is my only final this semester, thank goodness.

Here is the woods as it greened up over the past three weeks:

April 18:


April 25:


Yesterday:



Not a striking difference yet, but I'm starting to see leaves on trees open up now!

Yay, spring!


Well, anyway, I guess I should get back to studying.

I'm almost there, just gotta survive this last week and I have a few months off for the summer! See y'all after my classes are finished for the semester!

Good luck on your Chem final-- better you than me. I hated this class, even in HS. So glad I didn't have to take it. Biochemistry would be more interesting but I'm sure I'd still fail without major tutoring.

I can tell a difference in the woods! Especially the ground cover, and the other parts of the trees

Thanks for sharing!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

[COLOR=800080]Ok people-- I saw a listing on CL for young Bielefelder and Jubilee Orp pullets... before I commit to anything, I asked to see this person's flocks to make sure he is treating them well. I am planning on going this coming Wednesday (May 7th). [/COLOR]

[COLOR=800080]IF he is treating them well and they seem to be good stock, I might ask for one hen of each (depending on conditions). What kind of quarantine conditions do I need to prepare for? I want to build a small area on the other side of my yard for them to have a place to be but that means that my flock needs to stay away from that area right? How much can be passed through the air? I believe MS/MG can, from reading some of those threads in the illness/disease forum.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=800080]I'm also trying to figure out which clothes/shoes I can wear that won't be used in my own yard. As long as the clothes are washed right away, its okay to wear those in my backyard again? [/COLOR]

[COLOR=800080]Don't know if its even worth all the trouble...[/COLOR]

Oh, you know I had to chime in here as well! First of all, not only check out his operation, but check out the birds before you take them home as well! Look for signs of respiratory illness (runny noses or eyes, clicking while they breath, etc.), signs of parasites (scaly leg, lice, mites, etc.), and anything else that's just night right (deformed bones, tumors, signs of diarrhea, etc.). In the case of parasites, for the most part you can fix that, so it's your call whether you want to put that effort in or not. However, if there are any signs of deformations, tumors, or respiratory symptoms, I absolutely would not bring those birds home.

Quarantine ideally is over the length of at least 4 weeks. CCCCCCCHICKENS was saying something about 6 weeks. I would go as long after 4 weeks as you can tolerate, but no fewer than 4 weeks. The birds should be kept somewhere at least 100 feet from where your chickens roam. You are absolutely correct that some things can transmit through the air, such as Marek's transmitting through dander that can be carried on the wind, which is why 100 feet is recommended. That distance can be difficult to attain, though, so if nothing else, you can quarantine in a barn or garage that's completely closed off from your flock and your new birds will just have to live inside until they pass quarantine.

I highly recommend you take your least favorite bird from your flock and quarantine him or her with the new birds as well. I was just recently reading about someone who did the recommended quarantine of 4 weeks and then introduced the new birds into his flock only to find that they were asymptomatic carriers of MG. The only way to find out if the new birds are asymptomatic carriers of something is to introduce one of your birds to them, cruel as it sounds. It could save the rest of your flock from devastation, though. This is a mutual exposure, too, because it gives the new birds some contact with your flock's flora (such as your native cocci, which is usually not a problem in older birds but you never know).

I assume you know what to look for during quarantine--anything respiratory, anything abnormal, anything that makes you suspicious--so I will leave that out of this post as I think it's getting lengthy enough. As far as clothes, I think if they are washed right away, they should be fine to wear out to your current flock. I would try to have a completely different pair of shoes to wear with the quarantine birds, though, as cleaning them could be difficult. Try to have a boot wash ready as well so that you can make sure you aren't tracking anything around. (I can look up a boot wash recipe for you if you need. I lost mine when my computer attempted suicide earlier this year.)

Whether it's worth it or not will have to be up to you. Best of luck, either way!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

[COLOR=800080]Good luck on your Chem final-- better you than me. I hated this class, even in HS. So glad I didn't have to take it. Biochemistry would be more interesting but I'm sure I'd still fail without major tutoring.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=800080]I can tell a difference in the woods! Especially the ground cover, and the other parts of the trees [/COLOR]  [COLOR=800080]Thanks for sharing! [/COLOR]

Thanks! This is my last Chemistry class for a while, I think, and thank goodness for that because it's been difficult! I'm a biology major and I've pretty much walked through my Bio classes thus far, but Chemistry makes my brain melt! I still have to take Biochem and Organic Chem, too, but maybe I won't have to take them for a while... Then again, my other option is Calculus for Biology Majors, so... :/


...And, I really should get back to studying now. Oops.