INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Chaneys Ranch]

Quote: Hard to say. BBs are really vocal to begin with, but if they are laying having a tom will make them happier. I have one hen thats brooding and she is calling nonstop. Poor tom running himself ragged, he dashes to her when she starts then she is pecking at him, goofball!

 

[pbirdhaven]

Not chicken related--just venting. I have European hornets bombarding my house at night!

When I first started seeing them, I thought they were too big to be hornets and that hornets don't fly at night. Finally caught one so that I could look it up on the web and identify it--sure enough, they fly around lights catching insects. Those things are crazy--they bounce into everything. I'm afraid to go outside, but some are getting into the house. That's how I caught one.

Now I have to look for the nest. Hope it's not under my deck!

 

[ellymayRans]

Not chicken related--just venting.  I have European hornets bombarding my house at night!    When I first started seeing them, I thought they were too big to be hornets and that hornets don't fly at night.  Finally caught one so that I could look it up on the web and identify it--sure enough, they fly around lights catching insects.  Those things are crazy--they bounce into everything.  I'm afraid to go outside, but some are getting into the house.  That's how I caught one. 

Now I have to look for the nest.  Hope it's not under my deck! 

Be careful!!

 

[chick rookie]

I moved my EE's into a new pen 3 weeks ago and I only get 1 egg a day since, out of the 7. They have already gone through molt, I would think they have had enough time to get used to the new place. Anyone have any ideals why they have stopped laying? 2 of them are 2, 1 is 4 the other 2 are just under 1 but were laying before I moved them. Then I have the 2 new flock members, 1 is not laying yet ( too young still ) and I'm pretty sure the 1 and only egg I am getting is coming from the other new hen.
I am stumped on this so any ideals are welcome. O and I have not change the feed.

 

[Indyshent]

Hard to say. BBs are really vocal to begin with, but if they are laying having a tom will make them happier. I have one hen thats brooding and she is calling nonstop. Poor tom running himself ragged, he dashes to her when she starts then she is pecking at him, goofball!

Girls are fighting today. They've been threatening each other through a fence, rubbing against the chicken wire and nicking each other's faces. They've never done this before.

Vermi has decided she's a woman today. Haven't seen any eggs from her, but she's squatting and dropping her wings and apparently wanting some hot tom action. Need a tom, apparently, and sooner than I'd hoped.

 

[Indyshent]

What age do cockerels fight each other?

The 3 males I hatched on April 12th (now 5 mo) are still together with all the hens. I have not noticed fighting or aggression (toward people or each other). My biggest deciding factor on which to keep will be temperament. Are there warning signs I can look for? Now that they are all crowing & mating the hens, will they start to fight each other? (Hatched together, so they already have a peck order.) Our last Orp roo was raised w/o competition. We got rid of him at 11 mo b/c I didn't trust him around the kids.

In order to have some selection, we kept 3. Trying to decide which roo (or roos) to keep. Specifically between the 2 orps. Bielefelder will stay unless he gives us a reason to go. Anyone with orps, please let me know what you think. (Camera was on diff setting, so colors are a little off.)


Roo#1
Faster to mature (crowed & mated early)
Nice round body & xtra shiny tail (I think he's more attractive)
Takes treats from our hands & offers treats to the hens (the other roos just gobble the treats)
Can pick up easily / never squirms
My daughter's fav
Crows more frequently - especially when we're outside with food.
Has a slight limp (not sure what he did), so I'm nervous that it might be a future problem as he gets bigger.











Roo #2
Nicer low-pitched crow
Very shiny feathers.
Long neck & not filled out.
More skittish / avoids people.
Squirms when we 1st pick him up.









Roo #3
Just started crowing, but infrequent.
Not good at mating hens / awkward & pulls feathers
Not as friendly as roo 1, but not as skittish as roo 2
Have heard good things about this breed
Worried comb will get frostbite easy - long thin tips

Just realized that I might not have weighed in on this yet.

Boys don't have to fight. Sometimes they can go their whole lives without fighting (especially not the meaningful deathmatch kinda fights). I had nine boys in backyard at one point this spring, and we never had any "real" fights. The dominant rooster (the Welsummer now with @chickrookie settled everything with the other roos via crow-offs and neck fluffing--that is, with everyone but Cordon Bleu (who's now with @jchny2000 ) who liked to "fight". "Fighting" was basically dancing and occasionally kicking out with his feet, but he didn't have any spurs and never actually made contact with the Wellie. Cordon Bleu wasn't mean or anything; he just liked highly choreographed play-fighting. The two of them were best buds and often slept next to each other in the yard.

Other than Cordon. everyone's been content to make a lot of noise and puff up around the yard (if that). Mag the Mighty (current dominant cockerel, a Dark Brahma) is actually smaller than Wun Wun (who's fricken huge and only getting bigger) but "fights" between them just mean that Mag's running at him while Wun Wun's getting too close to the girls. Wun Wun has only certifiably crowed three times (he's about 6mos old).

The silkie roo just started crowing and is already far more graceful about it (and quieter) than any of the other boys. Has a rather petite quintessential sounding crow that could be mistaken for coming from other houses in the near vicinity (must just be something about where he chooses to do it and his comparative lack of volume next to the D'Uccle and Mag).

The only one I'm even slightly worried about right now is the mille fleur D'Uccle, who is free, if anyone's interested. He's much smaller than any other bird in the yard, and has an attitude to more than make up for his size (he might be two pounds). He's the only one in the yard to ever think he could possibly take a turkey, and, much like the case at @jchny2000 's home, I think he might get himself good and dead if he does that again (Falkor don't play that game). Lately, he's been lightly attacking our shoes on occasion while we're in the yard. He's never hurt anyone and hasn't pecked flesh since he was a chick, but he's pretty protective of the flock and really wants a lady... and all of our ladies (even the silkie) are too big for him to do his manly duties with. For $20, he can even come with his No-Crow collar. He doesn't like being captured, but is pretty well behaved once he's held. Funny, pretty, adorable little guy, but I just don't have the right kind of girls for him. He's quite well-flowered for his age (has a lot more than Bully, our previous D'Uccle roo, did). He's also about 6mos old but has been crowing since he was about 8weeks old. Super early bloomer!

 

[Indyshent]

I moved my EE's into a new pen 3 weeks ago and I only get 1 egg a day since, out of the 7. They have already gone through molt, I would think they have had enough time to get used to the new place. Anyone have any ideals why they have stopped laying? 2 of them are 2, 1 is 4 the other 2 are just under 1 but were laying before I moved them. Then I have the 2 new flock members, 1 is not laying yet ( too young still ) and I'm pretty sure the 1 and only egg I am getting is coming from the other new hen.
I am stumped on this so any ideals are welcome. O and I have not change the feed.

Check them over for parasites and up their protein intake for awhile, but otherwise chalk it up to poor health or stress, is my only guess. Anytime something major fluctuates, my egg count drops abominably. New roo? Old roo gone? New place? Change in the weather? Too hot? Yeah, pretty much anything can count as an anovulatory disaster in chickenville.

 

[daskhan]

How's everyone doing today the thread kinda stalled today lol like I'm a member of eight and not a single post anyone going to the poultry auction In terre haute on the 26th? I'll be at racins tomorrow I'm looking forward to that

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Not chicken related--just venting. I have European hornets bombarding my house at night!

When I first started seeing them, I thought they were too big to be hornets and that hornets don't fly at night. Finally caught one so that I could look it up on the web and identify it--sure enough, they fly around lights catching insects. Those things are crazy--they bounce into everything. I'm afraid to go outside, but some are getting into the house. That's how I caught one.

Now I have to look for the nest. Hope it's not under my deck!

Yikes! I hate bees of any kind that would be awful!

I moved my EE's into a new pen 3 weeks ago and I only get 1 egg a day since, out of the 7. They have already gone through molt, I would think they have had enough time to get used to the new place. Anyone have any ideals why they have stopped laying? 2 of them are 2, 1 is 4 the other 2 are just under 1 but were laying before I moved them. Then I have the 2 new flock members, 1 is not laying yet ( too young still ) and I'm pretty sure the 1 and only egg I am getting is coming from the other new hen.
I am stumped on this so any ideals are welcome. O and I have not change the feed.

It may not be the change, I am having a drop in eggs too. The days are getting shorter and I really think thats playing a part in it.

Quote:
Yes, probably so. Toms usually break up hen fights.

How's everyone doing today the thread kinda stalled today lol like I'm a member of eight and not a single post anyone going to the poultry auction In terre haute on the 26th? I'll be at racins tomorrow I'm looking forward to that

Weekends are kinda sluggish on here. I can't make racin's tomorrow, really had hoped to! Its a fun day, get to see other members and talk birds. swap and trade too!
DH is at the 4x4 Jamboree in Indy, so I am parent sitting tomorrow.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Good seeing @LonelyPageTurne today, worked on a round of processing we both needed to get done. Getting my numbers down were I want to be for winter!