INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[CCCCCCCCHICKENS]

I don't have the mother. These are from shipped eggs. If it's a roo it will be split to chocolate and will produce chocolate off spring. If shes a girl she is just black not split. Pipd keep some Denagard on hand and do preventative treatments. There are instructions on here somewhere for the amount and frequency. You do not have to withhold eggs with Denagard, and it is amazing for respiratory stuff. I have also been doing some reading online about how it may actually wipe out MG not just treat it. Don't quote me on that though lol. There is a lot of info about a lot of things but not all of it is accurate. 

MG is uncureable.

Btw your chick is very neat. It will be cool to see what he she looks like when full grown

 

[kabhyper1]

MG is uncureable.

Btw your chick is very neat. It will be cool to see what he she looks like when full grown

I agree. It's just some thing I read they are researching trying to find cures for it. Denagard is still the go to for it though. It works better than Tylan apparently. Although you have to put honey or something in the water with it due to how bitter it is, and it can't be drenched orally like Tylan can.
Thanks she is the softest chick I have ever had because she is both silkied and smooth, she feels like a silk pillow lol.

 

[CCCCCCCCHICKENS]

I agree. It's just some thing I read they are researching trying to find cures for it. 
Thanks she is the softest chick I have ever had because she is both silkies and smotth, she fells like a silk pillow lol.

Researchers are trying to find cures for many things such as MG, MS, Mareks, etc. I think Pharmacuticals in the poultry science industry will soon be booming. Hopefully we won't have to worry about any of this in 50 years.

 

[CCCCCCCCHICKENS]

Researchers are trying to find cures for many things such as MG, MS, Mareks, etc. I think Pharmacuticals in the poultry science industry will soon be booming. Hopefully we won't have to worry about any of this in 50 years.

Also you can't beat a walking silk pillow

 

[SallyinIndiana]

I read that same statistic someone else posted about 90% of flocks having MG. It seems high to me but then I think of wild birds and just about every yard will have a wild bird visit sometime or another.

I'm sorry you got the bad news Pip. It is one of the reasons I dread the testing part of owning chickens. I have gotten the free egg testing done twice now. Each time I dread opening the results. Come June, I'll get the eggs tested again.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Quote:
You will be really glad you have them. Its a great boost for the birds during the winter, especially! I don't sort anymore, I just add a new bin when I feed one out. I keep them on 24% chick feed to optimize them. I also feed them to my tilapia. My mealie farms are about 2 years or so old now, and I have zillions of them lol. Going to switch to the underbed type storage bins, they need lots of flat open space. (no, I don't keep them in the house!) Be careful breathing too much of the dust off them, it will cause respiratory issues. I always wear a mask now and work outdoors with them if I can.
I plan to start on wax worms again next spring, they are pretty easy to raise too, and good for fishing bait

FYI the mealies are fantastic for fishing too.
I really need to get up to your place again to see your mealworm setup. I'm all for easy protein for the birdies.
Agreed! We are buried in snow right now tho lol. This is what I started with:

I cut the bottom out of a drawer and replaced it with screen.


I have these also, for the larger colonies.


Wheat, dried banana peel, tater peelings and a few different stages of mealies.

I was told to separate them into the three categories because the beetles are actually cannibalistic and will eat the pupa that are helpless....so right now I have two bins for the mealworms and one for the pupa and one for the beetles...they are so slow...I think it will take a good year before mine become really productive....

It can be true, if they aren't "fed" weekly they may resort to cannibalism. They are more looking for moisture, and a pupa is full of juice lol. Once your farm gets going, you will have tons! It takes about 12 weeks for the first eggs to appear, then the wait for worms begins.

Hey, all, I thought I'd finally make a return to the thread. Sorry I've been gone so long! The end of the year was pretty rocky for me, but I think I'm at peace with everything now and I know how to proceed.

I've been trying to decide how to post this for the sake of sharing learning experiences--and psyching myself out of posting in the process--so I think I'll just say it. Last month, my beloved girls tested positive for Mycoplasma Gallisepticum. The truly scary part about the whole thing is that they have not shown any symptoms to indicate they are even carrying MG. As a matter of fact, save for one hen that has periodic sinus issues, none of my birds have shown respiratory symptoms for as far back as I can remember. I only found out that they are carriers because the rooster in quarantine with the ducks had a slight runny nose and afterward they tested positive for it. I'm fairly confident that nothing has gotten through quarantine, so I'm not sure at this point if my sacrifice bird gave the ducks MG or if they already had it upon arriving. Either way, it's already here, so I figure they might as well stay.

I am not depopulating my flock. I can't. I love these girls too much. For those in my area that may be concerned about it spreading, I have put in my fair share of research to be sure that I know when my birds are most at risk of spreading it and how, and I will be taking precautions to prevent it from happening. I think this should be a welcome reminder to everyone, though, to quarantine new birds and to avoid wearing the same shoes and clothing around your birds as you wear off of the property. I don't know how or when MG arrived, but it almost had to be in the era I call 'Before I Knew Better', when I would go sit with the girls after being at swap meets and things, and my idea of quarantining was keeping the new birds in rabbit hutches... in the chicken yard.

Please, everyone, learn from my mistakes!

As far as what this means for me in the future, well, whatever happens will have to wait a while. For now, my flock is closed. I have decided to take the route of breeding for resistance in the future. MG is out there, all over the place, and it seems so insidious that it's frightening! I would much rather put effort into breeding resistant birds than worry myself to death trying to avoid disease altogether. I'm still reading into the idea, but it sounds ideal thus far.


I have missed roughly 60 pages of posts, I think, so I'm not going to read everything. Sorry if I missed anything! Hope everyone had happy holidays and had fun on New Year's!

I still have a lot of plans for this year, even with the above mentioned diagnosis putting some plans on hold. Lots of building to improve my birdies' homes!

I'm not getting chicks this year (for obvious reasons), but I'm looking forward to spending the year just appreciating the birds that are already here.

Oh wow pip'd

Kudos to you to not be afraid to discuss it too. I didn't know that ducks and geese are actually at risk of it!

 

[Faraday40]

Opinions
Does the bottom egg look fertile? Both eggs are about 3 days old.
I haven't seen a non-fertile egg in over a year. The bottom egg spot (from a pullet) looks smaller than the top one from my hen.


Close up of bottom egg:

 

[Leahs Mom]

Hmmmm....maybe I can't see clearly in the photo, but it doesn't look fertile to me.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/content/type/61/id/6690667/width/200/height/400Hello all. You still there Chuck Acres? I was away from site for a bit. Just checking back in to see how everyone else is faring.
I reside in NE central Indiana. We are currently experiencing, as I am sure all you "foul" people are a period of very cold weather.
Just wanted to tap in & see if anyone had any problems I might help with or learn from.
I don't have close to the experience some of you do, but I have had some very unique experiences I'd be more than happy to share. I.e.: Making my own incubator & being fortunate enough to video the hatching. As well as having bantams & full size hens brood their own.
I have a mean, but excellent Rhode Island Red roo (named Bach) that made it happen with a Gold Laced Seabright, (bantam of course) named Pox. [IMG]emojione/assets/png/1f603.png?v=2.2.7 Haha, they made a "Box", a "Pack" & 3 others.
They hatched on July 4th. And they were all firecrackers! They were so tiny, they ran through the chicken wire like it wasn't even there!
Anyways, hello all.

Great to see you! @CluckAcres still visits on occasion, he got pretty busy with life events.

Happy New Year, all. Hope all are staying warm tonight.

As soon as my little one lets me get up from the couch, I'm off to refill water, close the pop door, shut the window, refill the food...hopefully the roof doesn't blow off the run, bc hubby never nailed it down.

Think I will add some extra pine shavings, too. Can't hurt, although it's already pretty deep in there. Yeeesh!

I've been busy with the kids, probably going to continue to be scarce, but I always get an email when someone messages me, so I'm never far away if anyone wants to chat!

Oh, yeah...less than 4 mo til our new babies come!

Time really is flying this year with the pullets keeping me busy.

Thanks for being part of the journey.

great to see you post!

So I have been MIA for a few months. Work has been super busy. There are way too many sick people!

I hope everyone is doing well. I miss talking to everyone and getting ideas.

I have built two coups lately, one for silkies and one for the Mille Fleurs that were sleeping in a tree all the time. I really didn't want to go out in the morning and find Millie-cicles. It was a real fun time trying to catch those little girls!

Egg production has been pretty good. All three of my EEs stopped laying at the same time. Such weird birds that they take laying sabbaticals. I did get two green eggs today though, so maybe they're back to work.

I've had a few attacks lately. Either a cat or a weasel took out most of my younger silkies. And a young rogue coyote trotted off with a pullet in broad daylight as I was in the garage 30 feet away! We have a depravation permit so my dad went after it with a shotgun.

One of these days when I move into a different area I will have better security, but for now having my birds out in the sticks comes at a cost.

I hope to be on here a little more as it warms up again. Whenever that may happen!

Wow am sorry to hear about the losses. I understand, our first year we had minimal problems, 2nd year a fox got a few of our birds. Neighbor finally shot it, and that was that! Turkey, geese and guinea seem to keep the predators away for the most part now.

Quote: awesome!

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

I learned one things today.

Apparently the snow on my boot tastes better than the snow on the ground. At least in a chickens mind.

I also got to try my first home grown chicken tonight. Tasted pretty good.

LOL thats too funny! Yes, its amazing how much better they taste. I will be ordering some CX early spring as well as the BB turkeys. We are down to flock size so I don't have any "extra" roosters or turkeys left lol. Have my first round of eggs in the bator for this year too.

Quote: Ugh, that would be a fun trip!

Quote:

Quote: ROFL peas and turkeys, you aren't kidding