INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Chaneys Ranch]

I got shipped paint silkie eggs 3 weeks ago. They hatched. LOL paint silkies are still a mystery, but I should be able to get spots breeding these guys. They are from paint breeding just a little different than I expected.

Haven't been on here in awhile, but have been trying to keep up with the thread.

Just wanted to say welcome to all the new members, sorry to everyone for their loses, M2H so sorry to hear about Nene, and beautiful pics all.

Thought I would post a few pics of the coops we got over the weekend.
The coop the farthest right came from Tony's (BF) daughter along with the 11 chickens that occupied it. She decided that she was tired of the chickens, so we got them. The 3 smaller coops my sons built for me.


If I remember right there has been a couple people asking about cats in with their chickens. Last year we had a momma cat have 4 kittens out in our coop. She is definitely a feral cat and will still hiss at me on occasion although she is getting better. But she or her kittens have ever bothered the chickens. A couple of her kittens have warmed up to me and want petted and loving every time I go outside now. Anyways, she has had another litter of kittens out there this summer and I wanted to share a pic that I got of them with the chickens

Sorry for the long post.

good to see your post! And don't worry, we love the pics. Never too long a post here

I agree, cats can be perfectly fine around the birds. My lil barncat Sassy will not harm even the tiniest chicks.

Anyone interested in a long wooden homemade feeder? I'm going to list one on CL and wanted to check here first. It is heavy, it would take two people to load it into a truck. It is about 6ft long and about 2 feet wide. Openings are on both sides and it holds about 4 bags of food. With most of our chickens being moved to breeder pens I'm not wanting to use it this winter or store it for another season. It has been in storage since March.

Pm'ing you.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Quote:
@pipdzipdnreadytogo

There used to be (and probably still is) a lot of talk about putting DE in the chicken feed because folks thought that it would prevent internal parasites when the birds ate it. I don't think this is true BUT.....

I think that DE was originally put in the feed to PREVENT WEEVILS AND OTHER BUGS from hatching IN THE DRY GRAIN!!!!!

I DO think that is a legitimate use and one time I got a bag of corn that had some bugs hatching in it. I put in about 1/4 cup of DE to the 50 lb. bag and it took care of them right away. And I would use it that way to prevent hatching buggies in the dry grain. I seriously think that was how it was originally used in grain bins on farms and mills that didn't want to use chemical pesticides on their grains. (Not for the purpose of preventing parasites in the intestinal tract of the animals!)

So I DO think it has it's place! And I would certainly consider using it like you are saying (and would definitely have used it to take care of the grain mites) if I were trying to contain an infestation and not use chemicals!
I had been adding it to my birds dust bathing areas. Not added any recently, but I have not seen mites or lice on any of my birds.

It seems that Indiana has gone into Fall hibernation.

think so many of us are working on winterizing, i know i have had very full days lately.

The use of DE for the bugs in feed hatching sounds like a reasonable use. Really though the more I consider it the use of it to dry the poo actually seems counter productive for the composting process of the deep litter method. I applied some once but don't know if i will again. I really haven't noticed that much odor from my chickens yet . I appreciate hearing the different opinions from everyone on the subject.

I free range my flock daily. I use it mostly in the areas that my birds dust bathe, I have several different species and types of birds and waterfowl. I do not use it in the coops, since I use deep litter, it would kill the "good bugs" needed to decompose the litter.

Quote:

I think odor is most noticeable when it's rainy. I used to mix a little Sweet PDZ (horse stall freshener) in the deep litter, but then I discovered using Garden Lime, which is much cheaper and works better. It's best not to sprinkle the powder when the chickens are around because of respiratory issues. I mix some into the deep litter and it's also good to put over messy poop in the summer (flies) until you get a chance to clean up the poop (like on a patio). I use a child sized garden hoe in the coop, which is handy to reach/scrape poopy areas where they sleep and handy to turn over/mix deep litter.

I have used sweet PDZ also. Its safe for the birds, and does help keep moisture and odor down.
Lime is a better, inexpensive alternative. It also enriches the compost for garden use later on.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Super busy here with barn clean up and lots of other misc things. Have some repairs to do to the barn, some of the soffit & fascia boards need replaced, and need to dispatch the woodchuck that's dug under the concrete. Nasty big critter, he's charged at me, several times this year! One entry hole is right next to where we park our tractor. There is a 2nd smaller woodchuck that is around the barn, but no problems with her yet. The concern for me is the large holes they leave, and broken legs on my goats if they don't see the hole and step in one. Big risk for people too!
I have a newer phone with a camera, FINALLY! DH upgraded his to a Samsung note 4, so I got his note 2! Still a very nice phone, excellent camera. Time allowing, will be sharing pics again soon

and of course, I found my camera tonight lol. Finally got my desk cleaned off and all my papers filed away. Less daylight means I am indoors more

.
Egg laying has dropped considerably, already. Several of my birds are roosting by 6pm. Lots of moulting and cranky chickens, poor babies.
Hope everyone is doing fantastic, and if I missed anyone thats joined our thread recently, welcome!

 

[racinchickins]

Update on my respiratory issues and treating with Tylan.

Things went pretty well, and it has really cleared up most of my birds. The chickens with the worst problems are now symptom free. I still have at least two turkeys with issues and I think I know why. It rained almost the entire time I was treating my birds, and since my turkeys free range pretty much all the time now, they had many puddles to drink from instead of the waterers, so they weren't getting the medicine. For some reason, my birds will walk by a sparkling clean waterer to drink from a muddy poopy puddle.

So I'm going to catch all the remaining birds with issues (which will be fun, since they are the ones that tend to free range the most and the farthest). I'll lock them up in my largest pen for a week where they will only have medicated water to drink from. I'll also medicate the other waterers to prevent the last few from passing it back to the ones that were cured. I couldn't do that before, since at the moment I don't have the room to lock up all my birds. The weather also looks a bit more cooperative for this. This will delay my next chicken processing day a couple weeks because of the withdrawal period, but I can handle that.

 

[barb s]

Thought since I posted a couple pictures yesterday of the coops and kittens I would post some pics today of chickens and not so little puppies.
life is so rough





really need a couple girlfriends for this guy. if any one has any lf cochin hens for sale please pm me

 

[atrueb00]

I am sorry for the late post this week!

Weekly Chicken Event Post!

There are 4 auctions/swap meets this weekend, check out the details on the Indiana BYC'ers Events Calendar and check for the locations on the Indiana BYC'ers Map! I also have each event linked to it's website/Facebook page for additional show details.


Friday, October 24- Dinky's Auction-Montgomery, Indiana
Friday, October 24- Veedersburg Sale Barn-Veedersburg, Indiana
Saturday, October 25- Newbury Square Swap Meet & Flea Market - Shipshewana, Indiana - also check here
Saturday, October 25- Sandcut Trader's Fair-Terre Haute, IN
Sunday, October 26- Sandcut Trader's Fair-Terre Haute, IN

If you do go, try wearing your official Indiana BYC T-shirt and see if you spot anyone else there! Also, please take pictures to share!




Upcoming Events:


Friday, October 31- Dinky's Auction-Montgomery, Indiana
Saturday, November 1 - Croy Creek Trader's Fair-Reelsville, Indiana (Last one of the year)
Sunday, November 2 - Croy Creek Trader's Fair-Reelsville, Indiana (Last one of the year)
---
Friday, November 7 - Dinky's Auction-Montgomery, Indiana
Saturday, November 8 - Sandcut Trader's Fair-Terre Haute, IN (Last one of the year)
Sunday, November 9 - Sandcut Trader's Fair-Terre Haute, IN (Last one of the year)

 

[atrueb00]

I did end up going to Dinky's last weekend and my parents actually came with my cousin and I for the first time! There were some really good deals on apples (I got 1/2 peck for $3.49-paid $11 for the same size up north!). Lots of large animals were for sale too-mostly looked like people selling males to thin the herd before it gets too cold.

Full grown pullets were going for about $5 each. There were also rabbits and many nearly grown guineas for auction too. We stocked up on Amish baked goods, cheese, gum, candy and apples and only stayed at the poultry barn for a short while before heading back home.

 

[atrueb00]

My cousin recently lost some peacocks and turkeys. They died suddenly; would be healthy when he would check on him and the next day dead. None of the chickens have been affected. The ground has been dry, they don't have bloody stools, they aren't exhibiting signs of respiratory disease. He has ivermectin and cordid available, he hasn't treated them with either so far. He wanted me to ask if anyone would have advice on what could be happening, what to look for and possible treatment options. At this point, we aren't ruling out genetics as a possibly cause.

I have a theory about this thanks to @jchny2000 ! While staying at my cousin's house, I noticed a TON of these woolly brown caterpillars. At any given time there could be 20 on the porch. They were also by the chicken coops out back, and we did find dead ones laying around too. I am wondering if anyone knows if these are poisonous to poultry, as that would explain the sudden death of my cousin's peacocks and turkeys. Did some research and they are the larval form of Pyrrharctia isabella, the Isabella tiger moth. I can't find if they are poisonous to poultry though.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

@pipdzipdnreadytogo


There used to be (and probably still is) a lot of talk about putting DE in the chicken feed because folks thought that it would prevent internal parasites when the birds ate it.  I don't think this is true BUT.....

I think that DE was originally put in the feed to PREVENT WEEVILS AND OTHER BUGS from hatching IN THE DRY GRAIN!!!!! 

I DO think that is a legitimate use and one time I got a bag of corn that had some bugs hatching in it.  I put in about 1/4 cup of DE to the 50 lb. bag and it took care of them right away.  And I would use it that way to prevent hatching buggies in the dry grain.  I seriously think that was how it was originally used in grain bins on farms and mills that didn't want to use chemical pesticides on their grains.  (Not for the purpose of preventing parasites in the intestinal tract of the animals!)

So I DO think it has it's place!  And I would certainly consider using it like you are saying (and would definitely have used it to take care of the grain mites)  if I were trying to contain an infestation and not use chemicals! 

[COLOR=900000]Ah, okay. Just wondering. Every time someone brings up the 'use versus don't use DE with chickens' stuff, I get worried about how I'm using it! It really got rid of the feed mites, both in the feed bin and in the coop where the girls had spilled infested feed. Haven't had a problem since![/COLOR]

sure, its on eBay...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/221126614408?_trksid=p2060778.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

They have all different sizes, and do custom sizes too.

[COLOR=13598B]Thank you so much! This is perfect!! Much less expensive than what I was finding! [/COLOR]

Update on my respiratory issues and treating with Tylan.

Things went pretty well, and it has really cleared up most of my birds. The chickens with the worst problems are now symptom free.  I still have at least two turkeys with issues and I think I know why.  It rained almost the entire time I was treating my birds, and since my turkeys free range pretty much all the time now, they had many puddles to drink from instead of the waterers, so they weren't getting the medicine.  For some reason, my birds will walk by a sparkling clean waterer to drink from a muddy poopy puddle.

So I'm going to catch all the remaining birds with issues (which will be fun, since they are the ones that tend to free range the most and the farthest).  I'll lock them up in my largest pen for a week where they will only have medicated water to drink from. I'll also medicate the other waterers to prevent the last few from passing it back to the ones that were cured. I couldn't do that before, since at the moment I don't have the room to lock up all my birds. The weather also looks a bit more cooperative for this.  This will delay my next chicken processing day a couple weeks because of the withdrawal period, but I can handle that.

[COLOR=900000]Glad to hear things are working out! That's the thing with using water-soluble meds--no guarantee that they're getting enough of the meds if they're free-ranging.

My girls are the same way, too. There's this low spot in our driveway where water always collects and it's really muddy and nasty, but the girls make a mass movement to drink from it every time they're set loose to free-range. Because why drink out of the clean buckets when you can have driveway sludge!!

Good luck catching your free-rangers! [/COLOR]

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

[COLOR=900000]The duckies decided to go swimming this morning while I was down with them! Just filled the pool, so of course they splashed as much water out as possible. It was nice to see they have it figured out now, though! And I caught some bathing and Malcolm swimming like a little submarine underwater on video!!

Here's Mal and Trude going at it in the water. This was after they had calmed down a bit, so less splashing.[/COLOR]




[VIDEO]