INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Faraday40]

Here's my little Bantam Orpington, Cookie. Our little queen had her own broody set up in the garage. She didn't really get off the nest to eat or poop, so I moved her bottle & bowl within neck's reach. She got used to me scooping out her broody poop & soon learned to poop during my daily check. Yes. That's right. She learned how to poop on command. What a fowl smelling greeting she prepared for me. When I 1st opened the garage door, no smell. 60 seconds later = POOP! There it is!

Thankfully, she transitioned well into motherhood. These 7 chicks are all large-sized breeds, but Cookie doesn't seem to mind. The dog crate was moved into the run today. Chicks are 2 weeks old. The flock is now able to see & hear the chicks. About how long should I wait until I open the cage? Maybe after a week of observation?





The rest of the chicks from the incubator group are in our living room. The hard part is coming when we must decide who stays & who gets new homes. The kids want ALL of them, of course.

 

[Mother2Hens]

Here's my little Bantam Orpington, Cookie. Our little queen had her own broody set up in the garage. She didn't really get off the nest to eat or poop, so I moved her bottle & bowl within neck's reach. She got used to me scooping out her broody poop & soon learned to poop during my daily check. Yes. That's right. She learned how to poop on command. What a fowl smelling greeting she prepared for me. When I 1st opened the garage door, no smell. 60 seconds later = POOP! There it is!

Thankfully, she transitioned well into motherhood. These 7 chicks are all large-sized breeds, but Cookie doesn't seem to mind. The dog crate was moved into the run today. Chicks are 2 weeks old. The flock is now able to see & hear the chicks. About how long should I wait until I open the cage? Maybe after a week of observation?






@Faraday40 Love your photos! I'm not surprised about the pooping schedule. I have found that chickens are such creatures of habit and that they can be easily trained. It only takes a time or two of doing something before they think it's part of their schedule. They know what time I usually go out to play with them, so they come to the door and start squawking. (I don't go out when they're squawking because I don't want to reinforce that behavior! lol) The first time or two (3 years ago) that I gave them treats after we returned to the fenced-in yard following a field trip, they began standing and squawking upon return like, "It's treat time, lady!" They definitely have specific routines that they follow.

As far as introducing the chicks to the rest of the flock, IMO, a week is good, but it really depends on what you observe. And I'm sure you know to watch them each time you let them mingle until you feel comfortable. The mother usually does an excellent job of fending off any nosey flock members, but I don't have roosters so I'm not sure about them. For me, the perfect situation was when my broody bantam orp, Bonbon, twice hatched hatching eggs outside in a separate coop adjacent to the big coop. Surprisingly, after a week she'd bring the tiny chicks out of the coop with her and more surprisingly the other hens were very respectful (for a few weeks). They allowed Bonbon and the chicks to have private time with me looking for bugs while they sat under the bushes ten feet away and observed. Bonbon always made the classic broody/mama warning cadence: "CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK."

I feed mine raisins sometimes for treats. Their very favorite treat, which I only give them every couple of weeks, is (generic) Craisins. They have added sugar because cranberries are naturally less sweet. For younger bantams, I've cut them in half.

Just taunting for now! Definitely not old enough to lay.

SO cute! Are you starting a breeding program?

 

[Mother2Hens]

Ugh! I just wrote replies and there was a malfunction when I hit Submit! Going outside now for some stress relief!

 

[browncow15]

Well momma has at least one baby. Can you spot it?


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[Leahs Mom]

@Faraday40 & @Browncow

Love those photos!!!!

 

[flyladyrocks]

I have a really hard time with quoting on my phone. Can't get to where I can see what I quoted, but I think I quoted you to say "Yes!", Clara is a JG. A very small hatchery JG but a sweetie and we love her!

@AngelLaydee ~[COLOR=A52A2A] [/COLOR] [COLOR=A52A2A]Welcome to the Indiana Thread![/COLOR][COLOR=8B4513] Hope one of our northern Indiana members can help you. At the bottom of my post, clink on the link to our members' list that includes the area of the state where they live. Also check out the other link to find out more info about our great thread![/COLOR] [rule]@chickiefreak [COLOR=8B4513] ~ Congrats to you and your MomFlyLadyRocks for your one year anniversary of raising chickens! I bet you learned a lot this past year. Great pictures! What breed is Clara? She reminds me of my (RIP) Jersey Giant-- I love that U-shape between the head and tail.[/COLOR] [rule]@browncow15 ~ [COLOR=8B4513]Whew! I was glad to see your pics of the two chicks that made it through the hatch! Congrats![/COLOR] [rule][COLOR=8B4513]@jchny2000 Your hatch was making me nervous, too. Great news about your new little turkey poult![/COLOR] [rule]@bradselig [COLOR=8B4513]Just wondering if you're selling double laced silver barnvelders or are you just taunting us?[/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513] They are so gorgeous! [/COLOR] [rule]

 

[Faraday40]

Well momma has at least one baby. Can you spot it?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Took me a minute, but my 5 yr old found it in 20 sec.

 

[CCCCCCCCHICKENS]

I finally got a new laptop, so I will probably be on here more often. Still trying to figure out how to work everything on it. It has a different layout than my old Acer notebook. My BBS Ameraucanas are getting big. They will have to be going inside soon. I am about to start building another coop. Mostly because I will be running out of room at this rate and it makes so much more sese to build more, than to sell some chickens haha. It seems like the beginning of the year zipped by. It needs to slow down a little, I am not ready for the show season.

 

[bradselig]

[COLOR=8B4513]I feed mine raisins sometimes for treats. Their very favorite treat, which I only give them every couple of weeks, is (generic) Craisins. They have added sugar because cranberries are naturally less sweet. For younger bantams, I've cut them in half.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=8B4513]SO cute! Are you starting a breeding program?[/COLOR]
[rule]

yes, I'm hoping too! I have these chicks and 6 more eggs incubating from another line. Crossing my fingers!

I finally got a new laptop, so I will probably be on here more often. Still trying to figure out how to work everything on it. It has a different layout than my old Acer notebook. My BBS Ameraucanas are getting big. They will have to be going inside soon. I am about to start building another coop. Mostly because I will be running out of room at this rate and it makes so much more sese to build more, than to sell some chickens haha. It seems like the beginning of the year zipped by. It needs to slow down a little, I am not ready for the show season.

How did the swap go? I was really hoping I could make it but sadly work got in the way.

 

[Faraday40]

LOVE this article! Thanks for posting the link!

Speaking of a good life…my DH always says, "Our chickens don't know how good they have it." He said that again today as the three top tier hens were throwing a pity party because it was sprinkling.

I leaned out the door to take this picture of them staring us down. About fifteen minutes prior to this sad scene, all of the flock were treated to sliced strawberries, bananas, grapes, kiwi, and Soylent Chicken.

Love the pic. That's exactly what our hens did when they "learned where we live." They would look at us through the sliding glass door & beg for treats. DH doesn't want hens pooping on our patio, so we tried a mini fence + an automatic sprinkler (called a scarecrow). It worked for a year until one smart hen learned the spray pattern. We tried sending our dog running out to scatter them. (Poor dumb dog would run right past the birds in search of a non-existent squirrel.) The best solution to date is a preschooler with a supersoaker. He has permission to aim at the chickens only when they cross over the fence. A taller fence will be added this year, but until then a water gun stored at the back door provides some entertainment. So yes, your hens are very spoiled. Ours are spoiled only when they remain in the back of the yard.