INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Chaneys Ranch]

Quote: Oh my, its incredible how tiny she is compared to her egg! I have kept them on 20% flock raiser and a lot of misc treats like beef liver on occasion. Johnny is just gorgeous, he has a high sheen to his feathers. That's exciting news for me, I am very partial to the blues!

Quote: Thank you! This is what I wanted to find

The cockerel isn't as full bodied as I like, but the hen is gorgeous. He has an excellent demeanor, so I want to keep that. I plan to work towards body first in the pair, she is a very plump full hen, nice color.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Quote:
Ok, thanks for sharing this! Very good to know. I have a smaller tote that I separate the more fragile breeds for brooding. I will pick up electrolites and probotics tomorrow to be sure they get a good start. Hoping both hatch, if not I have 2 pullet EE eggs thats pipped internally already. I may be able to add the chicks to the brooder. Those eggs are the same size as the MGs no kidding! I am going to be a nervous wreck waiting for this hatch

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Going to bed, long day tomorrow.
Its now -9 here according to my phone and pc. Keep warm, safe and be sure if you use heat lamps they are very secure, use heavy wire or chain to add a second layer of support to prevent them from falling. goodnite guys!

 

[raisinemright]

Taking bets on how many babies our 4yr old Dixie will have!!
(I say triplets)

She is going to kid out any time now

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Taking bets on how many babies our 4yr old Dixie will have!!
(I say triplets)

She is going to kid out any time now

Agreed, triplets, how exciting! Poor Dixie looks like she will bust.

 

[raisinemright]

Agreed, triplets, how exciting! Poor Dixie looks like she will bust.

She is miserable, doesn't like to stand much. Unless it's time for grain then she wants to climb the pen!

 

[Leahs Mom]

Quote: So....maybe I can just come down and visit and do an in-home demo. I've done in-home before with a family group of ladies (and men) or folks they get together. Gets a bit cumbersome hauling equipment if we do any pressed cheeses since I have to move more equipment, but it's fun to do in someone's home! Mozz doesn't take much in the way of equipment.

Maybe I'll have to get some of those heritage reds (are you going to RedRidge sometime??) and we could make some of the quick mozz. (REAL mozz is a very long process over a couple days to get the pH in the right neighborhood...... but the quick mozz "cheats" the system and makes a quasi- mozz that's acceptable if you eat it relatively quickly. That's the one most people make when they make mozz at home as a "first" cheese experience.)




ETA: Whoops...should have said 'LADIES AND MEN". It seems that in the cheesemaking hobby, there are Many men. I think it kind-of goes with the home "craft brewers" hobby as well so a lot of men are the cheesemakers in the family! The men usually like doing all the technical stuff like using pH meters, building equipment, etc. I prefer to keep it simple and fun rather than "techie". I just can't imagine that "grandma" was running around with a pH meter in her apron while she was making cheese

(...but I do have the education to go the techie route if needed.....)

 

[barb s]

Cheers Hoosiers

. I am new to BYC and new to Indiana! I have 9 girls and Roger, the infamous rooster. They are Amber Whites. We just settled north of Terre Haute, in the Otter Creek area, and I would be willing to host or drive somewhere to meet up with BYC folks. Do you all ever get together?

We are currently in the planning stages of Chickenfest 2015. I have been polling everyone on their preferred date to hold the event. The deadline is next Saturday. It looks like it is going to be a Saturday in June, but the exact date has yet to be decided. This years event will be in the Goshen area.

What Chickenfest is:

It is a meet and great where people from all over the state of Indiana and a few other states, as well, get together to talk, exchange tips, ideas and information. This year we are planning on having several demonstrations from FF (fermenting feed), raising meal worms, to raising rabbits, plus a few others. And there will be a lot of great food. Its a great time, so plan on attending this years event.

We also currently have a fund raiser going to raise funds for the event. Hopefully, someone will post the link for that, since I have never been able to figure out how to do that.

 

[pbirdhaven]

Bacon, my BBB tom turkey (who is a pet) Is my shadow during the day. So the usual morning ritual if I am home for the day is to open the coops and let everyone out. Bacon follows me around, and we take the walk every day. So today, I had these lounge pants on my DD gave me, pink with the pop tart logo on them. (I normally have my black coveralls or snowsuit on.. ) Oddly, Bacon was bumping against my leg and making the yurrrrp yurrrrp sound. I normally only hear that out of a turkey that's mad, getting ready to fight! Then I looked at his face and there was the same bluish white, red and pinks.. as these pants. uh ohhh

can you say duhhh! Those of you that keep turkeys will appreciate the colors I am referring to! So I can fortunately walk faster than Bacon, and went back to the house. Not his fault whatsoever. I was something he took as a threat! I was talking to him like I always do, but color obviously trumps sounds

Rather than allowing the altercation to develop, I went in and put my coveralls on. I was so worried about my flocks I got in a hurry to open the coops. Once I did that we were back to normal and all was well. Here are the dangerous dreaded pants

Well, I think this morning will result in me having lavender roos with combs as smooth as a baby's bottom. I have heat, but not enough heat for subzero for this many days, and I just keep seeing more black and gray. It's really a shame. I should have taken more photos of the boys in the fall, but they were still babies then (late May hatch). Ugh.

People who show must spend a fortune on electricity to keep enough heat to 100% protect those combs.

I am frozen half solid myself, and need to go throw more straw out there. I have to warm back up before I go back out there again! One waterer is frozen and there isn't a ****** thing I can do about it except give them fresh water every hour. I can't even open it, it's frozen shut, even with all the exterior ice chipped away.

I did not sign up to live in Outer Siberia. I can't wait until we retire and can move further south!!! I'll take an occasional ice storm in exchange for all these months of subfreezing weather.

Sorry to carry on, but I know all of you have got to be frozen, too, unless you have completely heated coops/barns. And if you do, are you robbing banks to pay the bills to heat them these last two winters?

Do I hear some winter frustration here? Think we're all hitting that point. Up to last Monday we had only had a couple of inches of snow; since then, about 15. The first two snows of this round were powdery, so walking through it wsn't too awfully terrible. Then this last one....

I have a bum knee, so it's slow going, and my poor peeps aren't getting all the care they deserve. All are doing okay, though, but I'll also have some smooth combs.

When we first got started in rabbits we wanted to raise an endangered breed so that helped us settle on the Silver Fox rabbit. Since then (about 8 years ago), the Silver Fox has moved from the critical to the threatened list. The list also helped us select our duck breed -- Ancona -- which is on the endangered list. The Livestock Conservancy website is very interesting to explore. Here's what their website says about criteria for poultry:

Parameters of Poultry Breeds on the Conservation Priority List

Poultry breeds on the Conservation Priority List generally conform to certain genetic and numerical parameters.

1. The breed is from one of the four traditional U.S. poultry species (chickens, ducks, geese, and turkeys).
2. A bantam breed may be listed if there is no large fowl counterpart.
3. The breed census satisfies numerical guidelines:
   • Critical: Fewer than 500 breeding birds in the United States, with five or fewer primary breeding flocks (50 birds or more), and estimated global population less than 1,000.
   • Threatened: Fewer than 1,000 breeding birds in the United States, with seven or fewer primary breeding flocks, and estimated global population less than 5,000.
   • Watch: Fewer than 5,000 breeding birds in the United States, with ten or fewer primary breeding flocks, and estimated global population less than 10,000. Also included are breeds with genetic or numerical concerns or limited geographic distribution.
   • Recovering: Breeds that were once listed in another category and have exceeded Watch category numbers but are still in need of monitoring.
   • Study: Breeds that are of interest but either lack definition or lack genetic or historical documentation.
4. The breed is a true genetic breed (when mated together, it reproduces the breed type.)
5. The breed has had an established and continuously breeding population in North America since 1925. Or, if imported or developed since 1925,
   • The foundation stock is no longer available.
   • Must meet numeric guidelines for inclusion.
   • Must have at least five breeders in different locations in the United States.
   • The global population is threatened and the United States population is making a contribution to conservation of the breed.

Breeds not meeting all these criteria may be placed in the "Study" category and monitored.

Tried to give you ovation, but I kept clicking on it and nothing happened. So you either got several or none!

 

[Mother2Hens]

Well, I think this morning will result in me having lavender roos with combs as smooth as a baby's bottom. I have heat, but not enough heat for subzero for this many days, and I just keep seeing more black and gray. It's really a shame. I should have taken more photos of the boys in the fall, but they were still babies then (late May hatch). Ugh.

People who show must spend a fortune on electricity to keep enough heat to 100% protect those combs.

I am frozen half solid myself, and need to go throw more straw out there. I have to warm back up before I go back out there again! One waterer is frozen and there isn't a ****** thing I can do about it except give them fresh water every hour. I can't even open it, it's frozen shut, even with all the exterior ice chipped away.

I did not sign up to live in Outer Siberia. I can't wait until we retire and can move further south!!! I'll take an occasional ice storm in exchange for all these months of subfreezing weather.

Sorry to carry on, but I know all of you have got to be frozen, too, unless you have completely heated coops/barns. And if you do, are you robbing banks to pay the bills to heat them these last two winters?

I don't really know how much of our electricity bill is from adding a little heat to each coop-- the big one and Bonbon's bantam one. I have to say that my only chicken with a tall comb-- my BR Tweedy has a perfect looking comb. The others like my SLW and chickens with waddles all look good, too. I only have 11 chickens, so it's not like I'm trying to heat a barn. I'm also monitoring the temps and humidity with my wifi gadget by son gifted me with, and I'm just heating up to 20 degrees warmer than the outside. The coops are right outside the back door just off of the deck. The large coop is bolted to the back of the garage, and is partially protected by the garage roof eaves and bushes, so that helps.

Because of the ice covered snow and solid ice areas, they've been hanging out in the garage where we have a big messy area of straw. When the sun beats down in the afternoon like it did today, I open the garage door so they can enjoy their dustbath area under the eaves in the front.

Those smart chickens know that when I start to put the garage door down they can run through and the motion detector will stop the door from closing. You ought to see them all running as fast as they can when they see the door coming down! They're just like little kids. But if the sun isn't out and the wind is brutal, they do not like that garage door open-- they look at me like, "Seriously Lady?"

In bad weather, I am lucky to have the convenience of nearby coops, but the down side is that I don't have a lovely, spacious farm like many of you do-- just a large lot in a suburban neighborhood. But it's not large enough to have as many chickens as I would like!!
Just as I was thinking that my girls were bonding by hanging out together in the garage during this cold snap, I noticed that my two larger black bantam Cochin "chicks" from @ellymayRans have both had their cute bumps of feathers pecked!!! Not all the way to the skin, but the bumps are down-- what are those bustle areas called? Like my Orp Bonbon has-- see my avatar. I guess it's enticing to peck just like a crest is. Anyway, I hadn't noticed extra feathers laying around. Just before they went in for the night I saw my BR Tweedy flock leader peck one of them in that spot. It wasn't vicious, I think she's just trying to keep them in their place. Those Cochins are so funny-- they're exuberant and fearless, and apparently Tweedy wants to take them down a notch. I will keep an eye on that.
Ooooh @bradselig They are adorable, not ugly!