INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Mother2Hens]

We live in the city--6 miles from downtown Indy--and we hear roosters crowing. We don't have any, but the sounds are coming from at least 2 different directions in our neighborhood. No neighbors asked us if we minded hearing roosters crowing.
In a city-sized lot, if the rooster was right next door, I'm afraid it'd be considered a noise nuisance.

My older DD lives in the historic cottage home district by Arsenal High near downtown Indy. Her neighbor a few doors down has chickens and a roo, and they surprisingly fit right in and don't seem loud-- maybe because of blending with typical city-related noises. Because of that aspect, backyard chickens may make better neighbors in cities.

Two years ago, when we were surprised with cockerels, I found that even after we rehomed all but one, his crowing (all hours of the day) drove me crazy while I was trying to work in my home office in a fairly peaceful neighborhood. I personally like to hear a rooster crow-- in the distance! haha

I agree with several of you that polling neighbors may lead to more problems. It could cause conflict between neighbors who disagree and might snowball into general noise complaints concerning a neighbor's dog, truck, leaf blower, screaming kid, etc. etc. Then you might be forced to leave the neighborhood. hahaha -- just joking about that part, but my point is you can't please everyone, so you might as well not ask! I do believe in being a considerate neighbor, though, so IMO, I'd see how keeping a roo goes and if you think it's becoming a stressful situation, you could rehome him-- and of course it would be advantageous to set up a rehoming option beforehand.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Crowing roosters.. yea its an issue for some, and I understand why it is.. I love the crow of a rooster but our bedroom is really insulated, 6" walls all around lol.We built our house very strong and overdid the construction... I like to be secure in knowing my home will be strong with all the weird weather we get. Can't hear a thing outside.
Even if I slept in a tent by the coops, I love it. Just a wonderful welcome to the morning sound

When the sun rises I am outside, and go in every few minutes to check on my mom. Its all in what a person enjoys. I don't ask my neighbors but I did look at my county ordinance before we started adding any livestock or poultry. My only neighbor close was very excited. I always share free eggs with my close neighbor too. There are always a few negative souls out there. Share some eggs. meet that hateful neighbor. Let them know its because you want to provide healthy eggs and food for your family you have a few chickens!
Yeehaww caught up and going to bed night everyone!!!!

 

[raisinemright]

We may want a couple.  Sorry I ddn't text you back, we just got home from shearing a little while ago. We are beat! I would love some chocolate eggs ;-)

You got it, plus a few more hens for Gus probably wouldn't hurt his feelings lol. I'll call you tonight and keep ya posted!! Hope shearing went good for ya.

 

[hoosiercheetah]

I appreciate the wise words from everyone concerning roosters in the city, thank you all for sharing your experiences!

The only reason I'm considering keeping one is I may already have one. Gray, my EE, could go either way at this point. However, my other EE (I think someone said she's a tetra tint, but I don't know what that means - I'll go look it up!) had completely attached herself. She's very protective. If I'm handling Gray, she's right there watching. When I was trying to work with his eye one day, she tried to get my hand a few times. If I carry him around the yard, she follows on my heels. In the coop she's never more than three feet away from him.

Do chickens ever mate for life?

Anyway, I'd hate to separate them. So, if Gray turns out to be a roo, I'll try to keep him. There are a lot of trains that go through here, the horns are pretty loud at my house. And Rockville Road is two blocks away. So, chances are no one may notice.

I'll let you know how it goes!

ETA after some looking around, the white-ish bird (Elsa) looks a lot more like a tetra tint than an easter egger. Not that it matters - as long as she lays eggs, I don't much care what she is.

 

[ellymayRans]

Well I didn't mark my calendar and I think I ended up setting my eggs a day after I got them from @raicinchickins but I had two of my own with external pips last night and one had hatched this morning. My BCM. I have 9 that broody hens have hatched and between the bator and broody Marans another 60 yet to hatch! I broke down and bought a chick hutch from RK this morning because I just can't seem to find the time to build anything for all up and coming chicks! I have about 30 that are now 3 weeks old in a very large tote and 14 that I recently moved outside. I think I'm still going to need something else! In a couple of weeks I'll move the 3wk ones out to the garage brooder and the others??? Hmmmm!

I am super excited that for the fourth year in a row we have Orioles again! Every time this time of year they become visible gathering nesting materials and then they are gone. So odd they manage to stay hidden after that. Love Love Love seeing them though!

Lastly RK here in Martinsville has Dark and Light Brahmas now. Along with the other typical breeds of RIR Barred Rock Cornish etc. They also have ducks guineas and bronze turkeys.

Hope all you mothers out there have a wonderful Mothers Day! !

 

[PeacefulWalls]

I made 16 chicken aprons today. (The fabric patterns/colors show up better on an enlarged picture.)

Goodb wanted 6 of them so he has first dibs on them. The rest are available to anyone else who is interested. I'm charging $2.50 per apron. I used 2 layers of cotton so they're lightweight for summer. The elastic is only stitched on the ends so you can pull the elastic all the way over to one side to slide a wing in and then all the way over to the other side for the other wing. They stay on really well. Our girls are still wearing theirs from January because we haven't had the time to take them off yet!

here you can see one of our girls wearing hers -- this was about 2 months after putting it on her.

I have 10 aprons left for sale, plus I can make more if needed. I can also make heavier ones for later this fall/winter. Just let me know!

 

[kabhyper1]

Here are the 7 new beebies. They are so little!

 

[ellymayRans]

Here are the 7 new beebies. They are so little!

They are so precious! Congrats!

 

[barb s]

We have a baby chick!!!! We were all outside this morning working on the house and mowing grass, etc. and I came inside for some reason I don't even remember why now, but I heard really loud chirping. First thing I thought was that one of the new chicks had some how gotten out of the tote. But they were all in there so I checked the incubator and there it was. There are at least 6 more that have pipped. Its day 20. I'm pretty sure that it is a silver sebright hen crossed with either one of two LF mutts or LF Rhodebar rooster. Could possible be a oegb hen, but I have never seen a rooster mate with either one of them so I don't think that it is.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Here are the 7 new beebies. They are so little!

They all look so serious