INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[PeacefulWalls]

Tomorrow is scheduled to be hatch day for my australorp, Maggie. She went broody in February and hatched 7 mixed breed chicks. This time she could hatch up to 8 ducklings -- yes, ducklings. I didn't need any more chicks so we let her sit on some duck eggs to see what would happen. This time will be interesting because of where she decided to go broody -- in the center space where 4 hay bales came together -- obviously not stacked tightly enough together!


Even though we tried a number of times to relocate her to a nest box or some other space she insisted on returning here, so here she sits. Her little hay nest doesn't look bad until you realize that it is located in the middle of the top 4 bales of this hay stack up in the loft of our barn! I hope they all hatch at the same time because I really don't want baby ducklings up in the hay loft for a couple of days!


Another one of our girls decided to go broody, too. This is one of the chicks from February that Maggie hatched. She's one of the prettiest girls! Of course she picked a lovely spot to go broody in as well -- the basket of our rabbit scale! I've taken her off a number of times, but it hasn't done any good. She's been there at least a week now...




She puffed herself all up like a little turkey when I took her out of the scale basket. -- A side note -- the stall behind her is where the ducks have been living. We spread a thick layer of wood chip mulch over the ground and it has worked quite well for the ducks. In the winter it kinda froze solid!


After I took her out of the basket I put a couple of round containers of zip ties in it so there wouldn't be room for her to sit. When she came back she couldn't figure out what was in her spot. Of course my solution didn't last long as my DH needed to use the zip ties that evening and she settled back in after he took them! Guess I just need to find a place to put the scale away for awhile.

 

[CCCCCCCCHICKENS]

RIP Nene [COLOR=8B4513]Very sad day here! Our first ever chicken, Nene, had to be put to sleep at the veterinarian’s. She was diagnosed as having congestive heart failure. Signs weren’t obvious until two days ago when I observed Nene waddling, and that evening she wasn’t able to jump up to her high perch. Nene was eating/drinking, but was breathing heavily. Her comb had gone limp and was purplish at the ends (lack of oxygen). I felt her abdomen area, which was bulging, so I assumed she had ovarian cancer tumors like my Black Jersey Giant had last winter. I am thankful that at least Nene's illness wasn't a contagious type.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=8B4513]I searched the thread for some of my posts about my irreplaceable Nene and put together some highlights (as part of my grieving therapy).[/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]My favorite photo of Nene that captures her crazy personality.[/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]Our chicken experience started in March 2012 when my daughter bought six Rhode Island Red “pullets” at Rural King. We were such newbies that we worried that one chicked named Nene looked odd, but it turned out that she was the only pullet! We joked about dropping off the five cockerels to RK’s “Returns & Exchanges” desk! Nene’s floppy comb is a little odd, and I once read that as a breed standard, it is considered “undesirable.” However, Nene is unique, and it fits her quirky character. [/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]Nene has the most personality of all my hens. She knows her name and always wants to be first. She moves at least twice as fast as the other hens and can quickly sneak in the door and run to the refrigerator to beg for her favorite blueberries. Nene is inquisitive, often becomes distracted, and wanders off-- she’s my only chicken who actually “crossed the road.” Of course, she ended up three houses down where the flower garden is perfectly manicured! [/COLOR]

[COLOR=8B4513]Although Nene is the smallest hen, she’s the Flock Leader. As a daily reminder, Nene walks up to a hen (who braces herself) as Nene inflicts one forceful peck to the hen’s head. The pecking order is a real headache![/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]“Word is”[/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]The utility guy has to walk through the hens’ fenced-in area to read the meter. When I happened to look out the window and noticed his apprehension about walking past the chickens, I stuck my head out the door to reassure him that they’re harmless. He responded, “Word is that there’s an aggressive rooster here . . . that red one.” He pointed to Nene, my infamous RIR Ha! I told him that I only had hens. I knew what he was referring to-- one time I had seen Nene chase one of the utility guys down the hill to the back gate! (She’s also chased other "intruders" down the hill).[/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]Follow-up Post:[/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]My DS (an engineer at the energy company) checked into the worker's story and found that there's a FILE with reports about our rooster![/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]Nene the Enforcer: “Who are you and what are you doing here?! I don’t recall approving your visit!!”[/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]“Nene’s piano arrived!” [/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]My daughter, Lauren, is studying animal behavior at IU. She sent information to me stating that chickens can be taught to play the piano. My RIR Nene is extra smart (and extra motivated by food!), so I thought she’d be a perfect pianist. As it turned out, she was accompanied by other talented flock members.[/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513](Video is topsy-turvy). [/COLOR]Poultry Playing Piano - YouTube

Aww, I am so sorry M2H! Nene was my favorite chicken you had. I am going to miss hearing stories about that crazy piano playin chicken! RIP Nene

 

[kittydoc]

@CCCCCCCCHICKENS I am so very sorry for your loss. At least you know why she became ill, that it was nothing you did, and that you found the kindest solution. She sure does look like a character!

 

[kittydoc]

I guess while I'm at it, I'll post other news.

ENGLISH JUBILEE ORPINGTON COCKEREL FOR SALE: Hatched about 4/13, so just about 6 months old. These were my first Jubilees, and out of six purchased, ultimately I got five roos. HEAVY SIGH. This last one was a bit of a sleeper. I thought it was a super ugly pullet for several months. Well, now it's a much better looking cockerel (and yes, now I'm sure). He developed a little more slowly than his brothers, does not yet crow, and is (for a large cockerel) easy to handle. The breeder was in Southern Illinois but he is 100% GFF lines. PM me if interested, and I'll try to get a photo (probably tomorrow, since it is going to rain more or less all day today). Asking $25 firm. I lost my derriere on these five birds, but that's life. My loss can be your gain!

Our black/lav English Orpington splits hatched in mid-August and are robust little farts. I am going to have young cockerels to sell from that group, too. I'm not ready yet because I'm not positive about the gender of any but two that I am sure are pullets, but I only plan to keep one cockerel, so I know there will be about 3 to sell in the coming weeks. They came from a pen with two gorgeous and freakishly large black roos and 4 full-bodied lav hens. They came from a breeder in Kentucky. If you're looking for something different to use in your lavender program, I have 'em! They are all really nice looking chicks.

One of my five Jubilee pullets is laying, as is one of my four lavender pullets. The lav eggs are such a pretty pink! The others will hopefully follow in short order.

I am STILL waiting for my 7 month old Ameracauna to lay. I wonder if she is ever going to. I even rechecked her plumage, etc., to be certain she's a pullet (and she is!). She needs to pick up the hormonal clue and start giving us blue/green eggs so DH will be happy. He's the one who wanted her. I think she's cute, but there will be no more. I can't move as fast as an Ameracauna on the move!

On a personal note, I just had my fifth back surgery (third in the last 12 months) last Friday. I'm just barely starting to feel better. This is going to be a marathon, not a sprint. I have so much scar tissue that it will be my last surgery, so I pray with all I've got that it works. I am off chicken duty for quite a while. I already do a little more than I should, but I do what I can and let DH cover the rest.

Hope everyone has a good morning!

 

[twoboystwogirls]

By the way, for the windows, Mom found this place in Fort Wayne called The Wood Shack, which goes through old buildings and strips them of anything of value before they're demolished. They have LOTS and LOTS of neat old windows and doors, as well as all sorts of other stuff! We got a window that fits perfectly between the studs, and you can tell it's an old window because it has that nifty rippling effect in the glass. I love it! The other window is bigger and has split glass, just like I pictured.

They both need cleaned and probably should be repainted, but totaled around $60 put together.

I'm happy!!

You can also check out Habitat for Humanity's ReStore. They are on facebook if you want their address. Not only do they have a lot of building stuff in side for pretty cheap but they often have stuff they consider not in good enough condition to sell and they put it outside for free. I have seen old windows, doors, even a shower enclosure one time for free.

 

[twoboystwogirls]

What area is this fellow in? If he's close enough, I might be able to help him get rid of some as well.

He is in Ossian.

 

[ChickCrazed]

And I forgot to post these earlier, so here are some pictures of a few of the girls during free-range.

Miss Frou-Frou la splash Marans, looking grumpy during her molt.

You can really tell which feathers still need to molt out here.



A good wattle scratching for the Frou-Frou bird.

Violet, my young Bielefelder, telling me she needs more food.

She actually hopped up onto the feed shed when I was finished distributing the feed this morning and yelled at me because I didn't give her her usual hand full of feed. What can I say, she's serious about the feed.



Grumpyface.

I'm getting that a lot lately from my girls.




Betty the Easter-egger, looking fabulous after her molt!



Love that beard!

And, well, Diana's having her usual molt. She is bare-butted like this every year.

Awww I love Frou Frou and Violet! My Marans and Bielies are my absolute favorites! So friendly and inquisitive!!!!! I'd love to get a splash Marans since I love my birchens so much, but don't need any more broody marans!!!!

My Welsummer Sally goes through a really long and ugly molt every year. I named her Sally after the arrested development character Sally Sitwell who had alopecia (hair loss). My Sally already had bald patches when I got her in July and she was bald until late December. Longest molt EVER!!! She currently looks like a naked neck, her neck has been completely bald for about a month now.....

 

[ChickCrazed]

RIP Nene

Very sad day here! Our first ever chicken, Nene, had to be put to sleep at the veterinarian’s. She was diagnosed as having congestive heart failure. Signs weren’t obvious until two days ago when I observed Nene waddling, and that evening she wasn’t able to jump up to her high perch. Nene was eating/drinking, but was breathing heavily. Her comb had gone limp and was purplish at the ends (lack of oxygen). I felt her abdomen area, which was bulging, so I assumed she had ovarian cancer tumors like my Black Jersey Giant had last winter. I am thankful that at least Nene's illness wasn't a contagious type.

I searched the thread for some of my posts about my irreplaceable Nene and put together some highlights (as part of my grieving therapy).

My favorite photo of Nene that captures her crazy personality.

Our chicken experience started in March 2012 when my daughter bought six Rhode Island Red “pullets” at Rural King. We were such newbies that we worried that one chicked named Nene looked odd, but it turned out that she was the only pullet! We joked about dropping off the five cockerels to RK’s “Returns & Exchanges” desk! Nene’s floppy comb is a little odd, and I once read that as a breed standard, it is considered “undesirable.” However, Nene is unique, and it fits her quirky character.

Nene has the most personality of all my hens. She knows her name and always wants to be first. She moves at least twice as fast as the other hens and can quickly sneak in the door and run to the refrigerator to beg for her favorite blueberries. Nene is inquisitive, often becomes distracted, and wanders off-- she’s my only chicken who actually “crossed the road.” Of course, she ended up three houses down where the flower garden is perfectly manicured!

Although Nene is the smallest hen, she’s the Flock Leader. As a daily reminder, Nene walks up to a hen (who braces herself) as Nene inflicts one forceful peck to the hen’s head. The pecking order is a real headache!

“Word is”
The utility guy has to walk through the hens’ fenced-in area to read the meter. When I happened to look out the window and noticed his apprehension about walking past the chickens, I stuck my head out the door to reassure him that they’re harmless. He responded, “Word is that there’s an aggressive rooster here . . . that red one.” He pointed to Nene, my infamous RIR Ha! I told him that I only had hens. I knew what he was referring to-- one time I had seen Nene chase one of the utility guys down the hill to the back gate! (She’s also chased other "intruders" down the hill).
Follow-up Post:
My DS (an engineer at the energy company) checked into the worker's story and found that there's a FILE with reports about our rooster!

Nene the Enforcer: “Who are you and what are you doing here?! I don’t recall approving your visit!!”




“Nene’s piano arrived!”
My daughter, Lauren, is studying animal behavior at IU. She sent information to me stating that chickens can be taught to play the piano. My RIR Nene is extra smart (and extra motivated by food!), so I thought she’d be a perfect pianist. As it turned out, she was accompanied by other talented flock members.
(Video is topsy-turvy). Poultry Playing Piano - YouTube

I'm so sorry for your loss.

As painful as it is to lose the special ones, we are in the end blessed to have known them.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

My chickens did that last year when I dumped some leaves in there! Last year we actually bagged leaves and then would get them out and throw some on the snow like you're saying. It works pretty well to get them to come out. Even dumping some of the litter out on the snow was helpful to get them to realize that there was something to walk on there. It was discouraging last year, though, because just when I'd get shovel enough that they could see ground - or put something on the snow like that - it would snow again! Very frustrating at how much snow we had last year and how often.

Yeah, my hens will not walk in snow at all unless it's down to less than an inch. Might save my back a bit of work by just tossing leaves over it instead of trying to scrape down shallow snow! Last year was the worst. That's what I'm dreading most coming up on winter, that it could do the same thing. :/

tbis is the last week of my training for work! Monday I finally get my store! While nervous, I'm pretty excited for the challenge. I've been able to keep up with the thread, just haven't been active much. Sadly the little Cemani didn't make it. Hopefully the one hatched today will do better to thrive. Chicks from pullet eggs always seem to need extra care and hope for the best. Don't always seem to be as hardy as chicks from hens eggs. IMO, the quality of this one is much better and all feathers are black (first one had white on wing tips) and pretty much all toes and nails are black as well. Hoping this one does better!

Congrats and good luck with the store! Sorry to hear that your little Cemani didn't pull through. My fingers are crossed for this one! I've heard that there are a lot of fakes and impure ones out there, unfortunately. Lots of people trying to strike it rich by fooling people that don't know better. :/ You have to be really careful when buying these guys.

@pipdzipdnreadytogo loved all your pics, and the duck coop! I didn't want to take up too much space repeating all the pics, even tho frou deserves a 2nd look @Leahs Mom we totally agree on deep litter!

Aw, thanks! Miss Frou-Frou is something, isn't she? Poor girl is really feeling the molt, though. She doesn't want to have her visits right now because she's got so many pins. It can't be comfortable for her when she's picked up. She still runs over to see me, though, and has been our little honking supervisor for the duck coop build.

She puffed herself all up like a little turkey when I took her out of the scale basket. -- A side note -- the stall behind her is where the ducks have been living. We spread a thick layer of wood chip mulch over the ground and it has worked quite well for the ducks. In the winter it kinda froze solid!

Oooh, hope the babies hatch well--and that they don't run into trouble being so high up!! They really do turn into turkeys when they're broody, don't they? I have a picture somewhere of a broody Sebright hen. We call them little turkeys when they go broody because they really put on a show!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

You can also check out Habitat for Humanity's ReStore. They are on facebook if you want their address. Not only do they have a lot of building stuff in side for pretty cheap but they often have stuff they consider not in good enough condition to sell and they put it outside for free. I have seen old windows, doors, even a shower enclosure one time for free.

He is in Ossian.

We checked out the ReStore but couldn't find anything that would fit right in the framing we'd already done, which was why we went over to the Wood Shack. Both really good places, but I'm super happy with the old windows we found at the Wood Shack! (And thanks for the location--not far at all from us! )

Awww I love Frou Frou and Violet! My Marans and Bielies are my absolute favorites! So friendly and inquisitive!!!!! I'd love to get a splash Marans since I love my birchens so much, but don't need any more broody marans!!!! My Welsummer Sally goes through a really long and ugly molt every year. I named her Sally after the arrested development character Sally Sitwell who had alopecia (hair loss). My Sally already had bald patches when I got her in July and she was bald until late December. Longest molt EVER!!! She currently looks like a naked neck, her neck has been completely bald for about a month now.....

Well, Frou'f has never gone broody, but I'm not sure she's a good indicator for the variety since she really doesn't lay many eggs, anyway. Just make sure Sally doesn't drive a convertible. My Diana does this every year. She doesn't look too bad overall (bald in some spots, but nothing worse than some other molts in my flock), but every year she loses all her butt feathers like this. Here's her molt last year:

Oh, the shame!

Off to classes--see y'all later!