INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[leslea]

My silkies lay whitish.. One girl has a slight tan color to her eggs.

Great pics! Watch his tail, the guinea cocks got so mean with Red my oldest rooster, they were breaking the skin, terrorizing him. I finally had to cut my guinea cocks down to 1:1 hen and roo, and the problems stopped.

Glad to hear it will get better. I just have the 1 M and 1 F, so hopefully no more problems. Since we finished the run and they have more space, Otis seems to be getting by better.

 

[leslea]

Hello everyone! I had to leave the thread "cold turkey" for a week or so because I was swamped with work and family events. I am looking forward to catching up.
My chicken news update is that Bonbon, my Bantam Chocolate Orp is still mothering the five Bantam Black Cochin chicks from @ellymayRans . Mother and babies are adorable.
Last weekend, we made another hectic trip through Bloomington to Indy and back in order to visit both DDs. I brought Bonbon's first hatch (3 OEGBs and 1 Belgian Mille Fleur roo) to @jchny2000 where the eggs originated. I had hoped to keep the amazing looking Mille Fleur roo, but his crow was too loud and drove my DH and I crazy! We live in a subdivision, and like hearing a crow from a distance-- like in a farm setting!

My Blue Splash Silkie, Ditzy, (from @bradselig ) had been broody, so jchny/Janet gave me three mystery eggs-- maybe Silkies or Silkie mixes or even a Naked Neck! I figured if Ditzy was going to be broody, I might as well give her something to sit on. At first, I thought she might be too ditzy to lay on them properly since I kept seeing one sticking out, but then she got the hang of it. She's very serious now. She's been in a nesting box in the big coop where surprisingly the others haven't bothered her. When I moved the four chickens (that went to Janet's) out of the bantam coop, Bonbon moved her five babies into that coop, which left a small former rabbit hutch coop. I'm planning on moving Ditzy to that one tomorrow.

Coincidentally, my real kids (all in their 20s) have been moving and settling in new places, so it's been a hectic start of autumn.

Hope everyone has been doing well, and I can't wait to catch up on the chicken news!

We spotted this limo in the Indy area:

The Chicken Limo!

Sounds like all kinds of chicken fun on your end.

I lol'ed at "cold turkey." You gotta do what you gotta do!

 

[ellymayRans]

Its been more my personal experience and from threads on BYC, I have had 2 whites and lost both within hours of arriving here. Love them, just breath taking birds when you see them! I realize the genetic connection and that's what upset me more. Same with pied. Have  had and lost 2 within hours. I need a better breeder to find a more hardy line! It may also be the transport time... My IBs did very well and its the color I wanted. I wont be as generous with my next group.
The main issue was my dad's surgery and being here to socialize. My peas were feeling abandoned and bored so they found another home with my neighbor.

These came from South Dakota and other than having lice they seem sturdy. I'll be keeping them in a brooder in the basement for the time being for quarantine and social reasons atleast a month. I hate to hear of bad experiences but hoping that isnt the norm! Sorry for your loss!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Their combs are all so big!!! To me, a BR is what a "real chicken" looks like. I didn't realize I had that mindset until I hung a watercolor of a BR in my kitchen. I've had it for years, but didn't give it much thought. When we moved & I rehung it, we had already ordered chicks and I made the connection. Then when I was writing my historical romance, I was researching chickens from the 1930s and I found out then that the BR was the most popular backyard chicken for years. I guess I had some deep-seated ideas about BRs, who knows where from! Probably from antiques and things that have been around, but I know I wasn't mindful of them, because I didn't know any of the breeds until last winter. We probably will get more bantam BRs, and hopefully they will be as docile as Amy. My daughter carries her around quite a bit. I love her little plump shape, too. She's just a gem. Re: Otis, he started crowing at 8 weeks, so we were pretty sure...from then on, it was a constant "cock-a-doodle-doo" watch. I am sure I asked for opinions on here, so you probably did speak up! I appreciate everyone's advice, experience, and wisdom. It has been a fun 9 mo or so from decision, clicking the order button, to our first eggs! The egg I found tonight was underneath the temporary box I set out for them to try as a nest box. Oh, well. At least it was in the right vicinity (and not cracked)!

I didn't get my Barred Rocks until 6 years into chickening, but when I first saw their picture I knew I had to have some! They have such great personalities, too! Definitely a breed I plan to keep in my flock! Mine are all quite friendly and most of them will actually squabble over who gets to sit in my lap (all of them except Debra Jo, who's too good for my lap, of course. ). I'll do you one better--my EE bantam boy started crowing at just after 3 weeks old! He sounded like someone sat on a canary. As far as eggs, I figure as long as they're laying their eggs in the coop, at least I can find them! I try to encourage them to lay in the nests, but some of them are stubborn, so I get the occasional egg under the nests or in the back corner under the roosts. And then there's Frou-Frou, who has never laid an egg in the box. I always know when she lays, though! She has her favorite spot.

[COLOR=8B4513]Hello everyone! I had to leave the thread "cold turkey" for a week or so because I was swamped with work and family events. I am looking forward to catching up. [/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]My chicken news update is that Bonbon, my Bantam Chocolate Orp is still mothering the five Bantam Black Cochin chicks from @ellymayRans . Mother and babies are adorable. [/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]Last weekend, we made another hectic trip through Bloomington to Indy and back in order to visit both DDs. I brought Bonbon's first hatch (3 OEGBs and 1 Belgian Mille Fleur roo) to @jchny2000 where the eggs originated. I had hoped to keep the amazing looking Mille Fleur roo, but his crow was too loud and drove my DH and I crazy! We live in a subdivision, and like hearing a crow from a distance-- like in a farm setting![/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]My Blue Splash Silkie, Ditzy, (from [/COLOR]@bradselig [COLOR=8B4513]) had been broody, so jchny/Janet gave me three mystery eggs-- maybe Silkies or Silkie mixes or even a Naked Neck! I figured if Ditzy was going to be broody, I might as well give her something to sit on. At first, I thought she might be too ditzy to lay on them properly since I kept seeing one sticking out, but then she got the hang of it. She's very serious now. She's been in a nesting box in the big coop where surprisingly the others haven't bothered her. When I moved the four chickens (that went to Janet's) out of the bantam coop, Bonbon moved her five babies into that coop, which left a small former rabbit hutch coop. I'm planning on moving Ditzy to that one tomorrow.[/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]Coincidentally, my real kids (all in their 20s) have been moving and settling in new places, so it's been a hectic start of autumn.[/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]Hope everyone has been doing well, and I can't wait to catch up on the chicken news![/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]We spotted this limo in the Indy area:[/COLOR]

Hey, I wondered where you went! I've been waiting on bitty baby Cochin updates! Glad to hear all is well over in your neck of the woods!

[COLOR=900000]Two exciting things for the day! First, I reached down to pet Kit-kit, my young Silver Gray Dorking, and she squatted for the first time!! She's only about 18 1/2 weeks old, and Dorkings are supposed to be slow to mature![/COLOR] [COLOR=900000]And second, we've finally started working on the duck coop!! e We've finished the floor thus far, so there's not much to see, but we've got the lumber for the rest of it and will be working on it today! [/COLOR]

So exciting! The squat tells me she is laying or close! Love what you have laid out on the duck house so far. know you will have lots of pix

[COLOR=900000]Well, I think we're done for the day. It doesn't look like much, but getting the foundation even was killer! So we have a pretty new duck coop floor! Here is the floor plan:[/COLOR] [COLOR=900000]This is approximately how big the duck yard will be:[/COLOR] [COLOR=900000]We're on our way! [/COLOR]

I love your plan, excited for what you have done!!!! Watching for updates

Actually, none of the babies from this year have started to lay yet! I think the Welsummer, Mabel, will be the first just judging by how much her wattles have grown! The Dorkings, judging by their development, are pretty far from laying, which is odd because usually the squat means they're getting close to laying! I wonder if I just surprised her and that's why Kit went into a squat? Last year, I had one girl that waited a full month after her first squat to start laying, so who knows? I'm super excited about the duck coop, too! Less than a month until the Lebanon show--I hope I find some nice calls there!! (Preferably of the snowy variety! ) Speaking of the duck coop, I have a question about the floor! My dad thinks we should put down some vinyl or linoleum flooring, but mom thinks that will be too slick, especially if they get it wet. I was looking at painting it with that Black Jack 57 stuff that people keep talking about, which is a rubberized waterproof roofing paint of some sort and a lot of people recommend it especially for duck coops. Any thoughts on duck coop flooring?

 

[bluffwood]

good morning.

I'm on Indy's west side, a 22 acre organic operation of hay, soybeans, popcorn and sometimes other things like spelt, sunflowers, sweet corn, etc. We're also a certified bee farm and honey producer.

We have about three dozen layers (about 5 of them are roos), ending our second summer. We started with a mix of RIR and barred rock, but our original rooster got so aggressive that he harmed people who can to help or work on the farm. So he went thru a succession of names. Originally named Rudy, it was changed to Randy (because he was) when he matured. His name was changed to Satan when he started hurting people, and finally, he became known as Crock Pot. He was my second kill, the first being a black sex link hen who started breaking eggs.

This spring we added all buff orpington, in hopes of gentler roos.

And we have three white turkeys maturing for a fall harvest. Four Muscovy ducks (2 drakes) and 2 ducklings

All fed certified organic feed.

 

[Campine]

good morning.

I'm on Indy's west side, a 22 acre organic operation of hay, soybeans, popcorn and sometimes other things like spelt, sunflowers, sweet corn, etc. We're also a certified bee farm and honey producer.

We have about three dozen layers (about 5 of them are roos), ending our second summer. We started with a mix of RIR and barred rock, but our original rooster got so aggressive that he harmed people who can to help or work on the farm. So he went thru a succession of names. Originally named Rudy, it was changed to Randy (because he was) when he matured. His name was changed to Satan when he started hurting people, and finally, he became known as Crock Pot. He was my second kill, the first being a black sex link hen who started breaking eggs.

This spring we added all buff orpington, in hopes of gentler roos.

And we have three white turkeys maturing for a fall harvest. Four Muscovy ducks (2 drakes) and 2 ducklings

All fed certified organic feed.

Try some Buff Brahmas, I've found the roosters to be very friendly.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

For duck flooring, try to make the floor easy to replace. It turns out to be much cheaper to replace the coop floor every 2-3 years than to make it water proof. Covering it will allow some water to get between the layers and not really drastically increase the floor's life span. As for the amount of water. Picture a wet dog shaking. Duck do that but not once a day, no it's closer to 30 or even 40 times a day that our ducks were splashing large amounts of water all over the watering area.

Another option is to look at the Metzer duck site. somewhere on there they show how to raise the water and have a catch pan underneath it. But when we tried it the catch pool we used was too heavy to empty. So no water in coop until extreme weather.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

For the chicken train, I don't have any of the breeds you requested but if you want a black australorp I have a few of those I could get to JCH... or black stars from a HRIR rooster or a light splash from sumatras. I have red stars and production RIR pullets but I seem to recall you wanting to avoid the less friendly breeds. Although the red stars I have now are nice enough to me.

 

[kabhyper1]

My 3 new babies!! A splash cockerel and a porcelain pair.





And my mystery kids. Their brothers look all boy at almost 5 months, but these two I can't tell. Definitely a wait and see situation.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

For duck flooring, try to make the floor easy to replace. It turns out to be much cheaper to replace the coop floor every 2-3 years than to make it water proof. Covering it will allow some water to get between the layers and not really drastically increase the floor's life span. As for the amount of water. Picture a wet dog shaking. Duck do that but not once a day, no it's closer to 30 or even 40 times a day that our ducks were splashing large amounts of water all over the watering area. Another option is to look at the Metzer duck site. somewhere on there they show how to raise the water and have a catch pan underneath it. But when we tried it the catch pool we used was too heavy to empty. So no water in coop until extreme weather.

Thanks for the advice! The floor should be pretty easy to replace the way that I've designed the coop, so I guess I chose the right way to design it! If it makes any difference, their pool will be down the hill, away from the coop, and I have a covered/sheltered area planned right next to their coop so that their water doesn't have to be in the coop at any point in the year. I'm going to do what someone said here (I don't remember who, sorry ) and get a heated bucket for wintertime that I can put a board over to keep them from climbing in. I've also been seeing around the duck forum this simple method of putting water in the coop, which involved pine pellets and the bottom of a small doghouse. I'll see if I can find the pictures again so you can see what I mean.

And my mystery kids. Their brothers look all boy at almost 5 months, but these two I can't tell. Definitely a wait and see situation.

I think this one's a girl, just based on coloration. Don't hold me to it, though. I'm not very good at sexing Silkies. Either way, such a pretty bird!