INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Chaneys Ranch]

My run is currently just dirt. You know what chickens do to grass. I don't like how muddy it gets so I am debating on wood chips or sand. Does anyone have any suggestions. When we get rain(if you are from Indiana you know how much) some of the chickens will get little mud balls on their toes. Then they have to have a pedicure, which they really do not enjoy.

My runs are currently all just dirt as well. I'm getting ready to clean out a bunch of old shavings, pine bedding from TSC, and plan to add it to the runs. I didn't plan my runs very well and the wheelbarrow doesn't fit into a couple places which means more shoveling/raking, but I'm hoping this will help the muddy mess when it rains.

I prefer wood chips, we get them from a local tree service or when the power company trims trees. All the rain this past few weeks, its time to add again.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Hey is anyone interested in a pair of gold partridge brahmas, a free silkie rooster or maybe 2, blrw pullets, or a legbar pullet?

post what you have and prices, please?

The swap went ok. There were some really nice OEGBs and bantam brahmas, bantam Cornish, sermas, Ameraucanas, an black minorcas, and a pigeon (which I bought-love him to pieces! I said I wasn't going to get pigeons a few months ago but he was so darn cute). We are going to have another swap meet in late April (we think the 25th but we haven't reserve the building yet). I hope to see a better turn out-but we had a good start. Thanks to anyone who came

So sorry we missed it, we had to winterize the camper

Anyone want to take a stab at sexing these two chicks? @ellymayRans They were the only ones of the 7 I could get good pics of.

My only blue now

this one looks so funny without a tail

ETA they're 6ish weeks

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I vote pullet on top, cockerel on bottom.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

I have posted my khaki ducks in the classified section. I also have 1 black Swedish duck if anyone is interested.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Had a nice weekend, aside from FREEZING my toes off at the camper! Rained most of the evening. We were able to winterize, get things closed up.

IMPORTANT Sharing this event, be on the lookout for this scam! Had a very upsetting event when we got home last night. Checked my bank account and found 2 separate fraudulent charges of $59.99 each! Called my bank, they said the vendor was "microsoft' and gave me the number. Got on the phone, and without even asking my name, the rep asked if I owned an Xbox. I said no, we don't and have no interest in one. This person insisted I do, and said maybe a child or grandchild? I said, my kids are grown, and I have no grandchildren! Then he went on to say they needed to log into my pc remotely. may be a charge of up to $99 to find the problem..WHAT!?! No way!
I told this "microsoft rep" (obviously not!) that I will be calling my bank and the Attorney Generals office to report their fraudulent activity. Promptly drove to the bank and filed the claims. The bank manager feels it was possibly a small vendor that "stole" my credit card info this weekend. Had to cancel the card and freeze my bank account until its resolved! How very upsetting.

 

[Leahs Mom]

@jchny2000 Thanks for sharing that. It's always good to be on the alert.

I just purchased an RFID protected wallet for my husband and sleeves for every card and driver's license I have. They're not too expensive and well worth it.

Here's where I got mine: http://www.idstronghold.com/

They just came in today and everything is sleeved up. I often carry my cards and license in my back pocket since I don't like carrying a purse around so I just got the sleeves. Hubby got a nice new tri-fold wallet.

 

[Leahs Mom]

PS: for those of you that use smartphone apps - they also have a scanning app that can steel the info from any cards that are in proximity and email the info out to the thief. I don't like smartphones in the first place. But if you use one, PROTECT YOUR CARDS AND LICENSE AND PASSPORT and anything else that may have RFID!

 

[CCCCCCCCHICKENS]

post what you have and prices, please?

So sorry we missed it, we had to winterize the camper

I vote pullet on top, cockerel on bottom.

No problem

 

[Faraday40]

One caution using sand if you are going to brood much. It can quickly become a vector for cocci. I've known a few folks that kept having losses from cocci that cleared up right away in future hatches and broods when they replaced the sand w/wood shavings and deep litter.

If you're not brooding it may not be a huge issue, but the adults can still get an overload of cocci if it's bad.

I've never had young chicks in the coop - until 8 maybe 10 weeks old. I had a broody hen once & put her with the eggs in a separate cage. Sold the babies off at 4 weeks since it wasn't in the plan to keep them. Normally the chicks are incubated and raised in the house or garage & then given daily play-time in the chicken tractor as soon as the outside weather is the same temp as their brooder. That way the adults can get used to seeing them around & the chicks can get a little, natural exposure to outside germs. I also use a bag of medicated chick feed. Not all the time, just a bag when they first start going outside. Perhaps I'm wasting my $, but I figure if they can build up an immunity it would be better than dealing with an outbreak. By the time the chicks were 8-10 weeks old, the number was down and only the likely keepers got to move into the coop. (My daughter was hatching for a science/4H project - with multiple trials! More than 90% of the chicks were sold. We just don't have the room. I must admit it was fun & would like to have more chicks in the future. Biggest issue is that if we keep a chick, we must get rid of a hen.)

I'm still new at all this and only keep a few chickens, so I'm always learning. Of course, I never experienced cocci, so if a chick died, I know I'd be going crazy cleaning everything & asking all kinds of questions. I like the deep litter method in theory, but I don't think we're ready to try it.

Are there any early warning signs of cocci besides runny, bloody poop? What is the age of highest risk? Is there anything else I could do to minimize the risk?

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

@jchny2000 Thanks for sharing that. It's always good to be on the alert.

I just purchased an RFID protected wallet for my husband and sleeves for every card and driver's license I have. They're not too expensive and well worth it.

Here's where I got mine: http://www.idstronghold.com/

They just came in today and everything is sleeved up. I often carry my cards and license in my back pocket since I don't like carrying a purse around so I just got the sleeves. Hubby got a nice new tri-fold wallet.

PS: for those of you that use smartphone apps - they also have a scanning app that can steel the info from any cards that are in proximity and email the info out to the thief. I don't like smartphones in the first place. But if you use one, PROTECT YOUR CARDS AND LICENSE AND PASSPORT and anything else that may have RFID!

Looks like I need to learn a lot more about this. The more info I pull up on this scam, its been going on a while. Thanks for sharing this link, it gives me a lot of good info to look into.

 

[Faraday40]

Leahs Mom-
I just read my email & noticed that I blabbered on without first saying thank you for your advice. I honestly just started describing my set up to see if there's anything others could point out as good or in need of improvement. I don't know it all. I only know what I've tried. I might be doing something right or I might have just been lucky. I've learned so much these past couple years through the sink or swim method.