INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[SallyinIndiana]

Does anyone know of a good source in the Indianapolis area for wheat and/or whole barley? Specifically, I need seed that I can sprout for fodder. Thanks!

I don't know about the pricing but Andrew's store is in Indianapolis and has heirloom seeds.
http://www.agrarianindy.com/ The organic and heirloom seeds are mentioned on the about us page. More about their chicken products can be found here:
http://www.agrarianindy.com/chickens/

 

[Leahs Mom]

Anyone else have a molting flock already? My girls are losing feathers left and right and are moody as all get out as a result! I'm having to break up squabbles all over the place!

One of mine is molting. I'd rather now than when it's cold like they did last year!

Does anyone know of a good source in the Indianapolis area for wheat and/or whole barley? Specifically, I need seed that I can sprout for fodder. Thanks!

@hoosiercheetah
Check this place out: http://www.centralindianaorganics.com/ (Lebanon)

I don't live down that way but you can give them a call and see what their prices are. I read about it but haven't contacted them.

 

[ChickCrazed]

Dear Abbey

I am treating one of my hens for bumblefoot on both feet. They were obviously bothering her prior to treatment, she was hobbling around looking pathetic. And in comparison to pictures of "bad bumblefoot" found online, hers were not all that bad. Just for giggles I went out and caught and inspected 6 other hens feet to see if there were any issues (they were thrilled). Most had what looked like a spot on both feet. They haven't been limping at all, don't seem uncomfortable. Do I really need to treat 12 more feet? This is getting rediculous!?!?! At what point do you guys treat it? I am almost wondering if most chickens have suspect spots on their feet, it is only when it flares out of control that it becomes a problem.


Thanks

Lazy in Lebanon

 

[Leahs Mom]

I had hens w/black spots. I decided NOT to treat unless there is obvious infection.

That was over a year ago and they are all fine. I ONLY TREAT IF THERE IS A SIGN OF INFECTION. It will be obvious.

 

[kabhyper1]

Our 12 new chickens from my mother in law.

I'm getting my Oliver back! He's a bantam cochin. The one in the middle is a Rir/ Slw mix I bred, and a full Slw I bred out of Gus and Jules, who now belong to Jchny2000

The younger crew, 4 EE's, an Oegb pullet, and a white crested blue polish cockerel.

The 3 from my hatch , blue laced on left is splash EE/ slw mix. The other 2 are same ones as first picture.

Oliver and Cagney and Lacey. Lacey is EE/ leghorn mix and Cagney (on left) is australorp/ leghorn mix. From Cluck Acres last summer.



White Crested blue? I'm thinking splash maybe, cockerel. I have a mate for Einstein now! ( I haven't told her yet)





Two of the EE girls and the polish

We picked the most unusual colored EE chicks we could find this spring for MIL and they turned out really pretty!The black and white one has hearts on her chest. She's my favorite.

 

[kabhyper1]

Raisenemright, your coop looks great! Pip'd the birds are looking very pretty!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

I'm finding feathers every place ... but they are still laying and no bald spots so IDK???

My flock is big enough that while I have a lot of moody molters, I'm still getting 10-14 eggs a day. Works for me! I was just amazed at how much they were bickering this morning, and how many feathers were scattered just in the few hours they had been out of the coop!

I'm thinking of selling a few of my full size khaki ducks. I have not fully decided yet but if you are interested, let me know.

Editing to add that our ducks don't use nests and they like to dig. If I was making a coop just for the ducks instead of giving them the rundown chicken hut here are some things I would think about.

Ducks don't mind the cold so increase venting maybe even an open side for 3/4 of the year if not all year.

Ducks like to be wet even in freezing weather, so water in the coop is only on extreme days. BUT if part of the coop had a grated floor or if the water was able to be on a grated floor above a pool, then it might not be so bad.

And it was suggested to me today to dig a trench around any pool the ducks use for swimming to collect splashes. Mud in the run happens and for us it means more pine chips but not everyone has a free supply of pine chips

Thanks for the offer, but I'm not sure about khakis. About what size are they? I am mostly interested in smaller ducks like Calls, Mini Appleyards, etc.

Also thanks for the thoughts on the coop! We were going to build a 4x6 coop with a community nest type of thing at floor level along one wall, just in case they wanted to use it. I wasn't going to put water in the coop at any point, but in the yard only. I have a kiddie pool for the summertime and was going to invest in one of those black rubber pans (like this one) for just enough water for them to play in in the wintertime. On the ventilation, I'm glad you mentioned that because I hadn't even thought about the ventilation, short of having vents open in the eaves of the roof. I have lots of hardware cloth leftover from the coop addition, so lots of vents it shall be!

I'll try to draw up a duck coop floor plan on my computer and post it, see what the duck people of the board think. Having never owned ducks before, I want to be sure we get it right the first time, so I have done a lot of research into it!

One of mine is molting. I'd rather now than when it's cold like they did last year!

For sure! It's always so stressful when they're molting and it's so cold out. At least for me, anyway, but I worry about my girls! I'll be looking up the chicken sweater pattern before long, I'm sure.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Our 12 new chickens from my mother in law. I'm getting my Oliver back! He's a bantam cochin. The one in the middle is a Rir/ Slw mix I bred, and a full Slw I bred out of Gus and Jules, who now belong to Jchny2000 White Crested blue? I'm thinking splash maybe, cockerel. I have a mate for Einstein now! ( I haven't told her yet)

Oh, Oliver's so handsome! Reminds me of my little guy, Po! I miss that little guy! The hen in the middle is so pretty, too! And that's white crested blue. Splash is more white with blue spots, like my Frou-Frou.

 

[ChickCrazed]

My flock is big enough that while I have a lot of moody molters, I'm still getting 10-14 eggs a day.

Works for me! I was just amazed at how much they were bickering this morning, and how many feathers were scattered just in the few hours they had been out of the coop!
Thanks for the offer, but I'm not sure about khakis. About what size are they? I am mostly interested in smaller ducks like Calls, Mini Appleyards, etc.

Also thanks for the thoughts on the coop! We were going to build a 4x6 coop with a community nest type of thing at floor level along one wall, just in case they wanted to use it. I wasn't going to put water in the coop at any point, but in the yard only. I have a kiddie pool for the summertime and was going to invest in one of those black rubber pans (like this one) for just enough water for them to play in in the wintertime. On the ventilation, I'm glad you mentioned that because I hadn't even thought about the ventilation, short of having vents open in the eaves of the roof. I have lots of hardware cloth leftover from the coop addition, so lots of vents it shall be!

I'll try to draw up a duck coop floor plan on my computer and post it, see what the duck people of the board think. Having never owned ducks before, I want to be sure we get it right the first time, so I have done a lot of research into it!
For sure! It's always so stressful when they're molting and it's so cold out. At least for me, anyway, but I worry about my girls! I'll be looking up the chicken sweater pattern before long, I'm sure.

I built a communal next box for my Bielies. Heiser the rooster was in there immediately clucking up a storm. He is so ginormous he barely fit. The Bielie pullets are smaller, I hope they fit! I did make it extra large for them but it still looked small with the rooster crammed in it!

Kab, those EE are gorgeous! I would love to know what mixes throw some of the different EE colors.

 

[ChickCrazed]

I had hens w/black spots. I decided NOT to treat unless there is obvious infection.

That was over a year ago and they are all fine. I ONLY TREAT IF THERE IS A SIGN OF INFECTION. It will be obvious.

Thanks! That is what I was thinking as well. I am not going to go looking for trouble until they seem to be in pain or their feet start to swell or look red and inflamed. It was just interesting to see how many of them had black spots! I stopped looking after 6 hens, i can't even imagine how depressed I would have been if I had looked at the other 20 birds.