INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[amwchickin]

Pips - Ozzy is a Birchen Marans and I got him from Chickcrazed, who got him from BradSelig. He might as well be wearing a letter jacket. He is the BIG man on campus! Chewie, his partner in crime, decided to lay leisurely on the other side of the yard and didn't participate in the feast. Sometimes, he's such a loner. And right now he's molting, and nobody needs to see that.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Not sure if this is the right place to post this or not but I am looking for some polish chicks. My daughter is begging for one for her birthday. I would also take some frizzled chicks, too, if anyone has any. I'm near Rochester but would consider driving to pick them up if I needed to. If anyone has either, please let me know! Thanks!

I still have a few weeks of polish in my incubator, I set weekly. I do have a frizzle hen in my coop. My Bourbon red turkey is still laying, and I will hatch until she stops. I always hatch chicks with my turkeys so they aren't alone if any of the eggs are quitters. How many are you looking for? I am in Pendleton.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Pips - Ozzy is a Birchen Marans and I got him from Chickcrazed, who got him from BradSelig. He might as well be wearing a letter jacket. He is the BIG man on campus! Chewie, his partner in crime, decided to lay leisurely on the other side of the yard and didn't participate in the feast. Sometimes, he's such a loner. And right now he's molting, and nobody needs to see that.

I saw your signature after I posted. But thanks for the reply! He's so handsome! I love my Marans, I haven't had a Birchen (yet?) but have a splash and two black coppers. My splash is my baby, of course, always in my avatar. One of the black coppers is such a bossy little thing, and the other is sweet and a little meek. Such a set of characters! I'm waiting anxiously to see the color of egg the BCs lay. Hoping for a nice, dark brown!

I definitely know what you mean on molting birds--I have a few girls that are... we'll just say, not looking quite as beautiful as usual.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

So I had horrible luck hatching my lavender barred cochin eggs all year. I bought some silkies the other day who had some chicks with them. I went out yesterday to feed and noticed an extra chick in that pen! My broody bantam cochin must have hatched the chick and then the chick went exploring and took home with the silkies and their chicks! And it was a lavender barred chick! And the cochin hatched out another one today but looked like yolk wasn't absorbed all the way. Hopefully it pulls through but not holding my breath.

Also, this means I will have some silkie chicks available soon. Some are splash, but the others I'm not sure. They are from splash roo over black, blue, and buff hens.

Thats great to hear! Hope the little one with egg sac problem improves. I was having an awful time with the polish. Now that they are brooding separately they are thriving. I think I will start letting my Broody OEGBs hatch them after my turkey hen stops laying this year.

finally caught up on posts (again) - was about a week behind . been busy with making some chicken pens inside the polebarn for before winter + needed some extra places for roos we gonna eventually eat or for the younger birds . will be adding a 2nd 4x8 in front of the 8x12 in the picture - still some details to finish up on, but you'll get the general idea of the design :



. . . . . & in other chicken news - we lost one of our young iowa blue cockerels (hatched in june) - guessing he was chasin' after one of the hens (who tends to wander across the road occasionally) & figure he got hit by a vehicle . found maybe a dizen feathers, but no bird - probably wedged in someones car grill
:- (

So sorry for your loss. I had my first road incident last week with my guinea after keeping birds, free ranging well over 2 years now. My guinea keets from this year are traveling a lot. 3 Guinea cockerels wound up on the bridge over fall creek! They didn't make it home. I will be penning them for about a month, or longer to stop the roaming. My geese were so concerned about them, they were getting too close to the road too

not OK!
Love your progress on the coop!!! be sure to keep posting, cant wait to see it!

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Pips - Ozzy is a Birchen Marans and I got him from Chickcrazed, who got him from BradSelig. He might as well be wearing a letter jacket. He is the BIG man on campus! Chewie, his partner in crime, decided to lay leisurely on the other side of the yard and didn't participate in the feast. Sometimes, he's such a loner. And right now he's molting, and nobody needs to see that.

Quote:
I love the birchen roos I have from Brad. Exceptionally friendly roosters. My oldest fella is Rene, and I can pick him up at any time with no problem. Lovely dark eggs for a birchen line too, I have 2 hens I put with Rene from my copper marans for a few months to add some new blood. My birchen hens egg is almost as dark as my coppers.
I have so many molting birds I thought I had a predator attack, so many feathers in my waterfowl pen! All but a handful of my pekins, and scovies look fresh and so FAT after the molts! Most of my chickens are done too, the few that haven't I sure hope hurry up!

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Had a really good weekend here. DH was scheduled to work, but received a last minute cancellation call. YAY! So we had time for clearing more brush, got our tractor fixed

Took down another dead tree! Had a huge bonfire last night burning a lot of it off.
Was able to get more birds situated for winter by breeds and sizes. Starting to put together plans for our breeder coops. My comingling of the new flock members went exceptionally well! I had a surprise problem with my young RIR roo, he was aggressive with my new roosters and went to jail. I usually wait longer to introduce, but want the flock comingled well before the new (shed) coop is placed.
I can finally work on grating the driveway. We get puddles at the entry of our drive, its a low spot. Every few months, we run the box blade over the driveway and pull up the gravel. Its a big issue because it draws my birds near the road also. And it causes a big mud puddle, messy on the cars! Our tractor is pretty important here. Move the big rolls of hay, building materials, mowing, turning the garden... its priceless. Very painful when its not usable and causes more hand labor for me. Its also vital in processing a hog, and we will be saying goodbye to Wilbur very soon. Will be doing the 2nd round of deworming tomorrow. He is around 425 - 450 now, and will need it to lift him!
I deworm any animal that's planned to be processed to make sure its safe for my family. My only exception is the quail, they do not ever come in contact with the ground or other poultry. I follow with holding times according to whats recommended and usually a week or so longer to be sure the medication has passed from their body.
Good nite everyone!.

 

[Faraday40]

Question:
Can chickens eat high quality dog food when they need extra protein? (I have a few molting & would like to make extra protein available.) I've heard about cooking up eggs, but we prefer to eat them ourselves. I'm looking for an easy source of protein that I may already have on hand. The "feather fixer" feed I've been buying is a lot more expensive, so I'm guessing there's a simple/cheaper way to add something to their diet at this time instead of buying the feather fixer formula. Any advice?

 

[ChickCrazed]

Question:
Can chickens eat high quality dog food when they need extra protein? (I have a few molting & would like to make extra protein available.) I've heard about cooking up eggs, but we prefer to eat them ourselves. I'm looking for an easy source of protein that I may already have on hand. The "feather fixer" feed I've been buying is a lot more expensive, so I'm guessing there's a simple/cheaper way to add something to their diet at this time instead of buying the feather fixer formula. Any advice?

I've heard people say to feed cat food during molt for extra protein, not sure about dog food but it seems like it would be a similar concept. My dog food kibbles are a bit large though and might risk choking, maybe that is why people recommend cat food.

 

[Rhandi74]

I've heard people say to feed cat food during molt for extra protein, not sure about dog food but it seems like it would be a similar concept.  My dog food kibbles are a bit large though and might risk choking, maybe that is why people recommend cat food.

Cat food is higher in protein then dog food. This may be why people prefer to give cat food.

 

[kabhyper1]

Be careful with cat and dog foods. They are super high in sodium. Not something you want to feed very much or very often. I would go with canned tuna personally.