INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Chaneys Ranch]

Hey guys, am still considering a LGD, and am leaning more towards a smooth collie. If anyone knows of a breeder please pm me.

 

[pbirdhaven]

Ugh...so having my silkies in a large dog kennel just proved to be disastrous! I'm so sad! One of my partridge hens was dead with her head hung through the cage! I don't understand. .she had blood in her mouth. The kennel has pretty good sized holes. It's one of the largest cages you can get. We had it from our large great Dane from years ago.

I have had silkies stick their heads through bars, chain link, etc. Finally got smart enough to either put them in something less chancy or to line a larger mesh with hardware cloth or poultry netting. They'll also stick their heads through if there is a predator, and the result isn't pretty.

Hey guys, am still considering a LGD, and am leaning more towards a smooth collie. If anyone knows of a breeder please pm me.

I don't know a breeder but was playing around on Petfinder a couple of days ago and there was one for adoption that wasn't too old. The owner was ill or something--don't remember--and couldn't keep her.
My collie is an excellent guard dog for my chickens; he and his buddy keep almost everything out. I have lost a few the last couple of weeks when the younger coons and possums start roaming. The older ones know about Simon and stay away, but I've found a couple of mangled young possums lying in the yard. No tears over them!

 

[chick rookie]

We happen to have bunches of them that are not usable for fire wood as they were left too long so I have them out for a burn pile or bonfire type use. Too bad you're so far south...I could give some to you!

I'm thinking if you could find someone that hasn't split logs yet you might be able to find one or 2 available. Or if there is anyone that sells wood for bonfires - like for camping - that hasn't split them. Those would not cost as much as prime fire logs and be lighter to tote around than good heavy wood.

Yea I'm always too far away... lol I can talk DH into allot of things and trips ect... but I don't think I would have much luck for a stump or 2... I can just see the stupid look I would get...

lol
Just remembered we have made friends with a couple that sells camping bundles, and I bet he would hold a couple good size logs for me. And his wife wants a couple of my Silkie chicks next spring...

need a light bulb smiley... lol

Your opinion, please...for those of you that have or had flighty birds, have you had flighty birds that are also interested or curious about humans? May sound stupid to ask, but does flighty always mean 'keeps distance from people'?

For me there is Flighty and TOO Flighty, if they want to check me and or what I'm doing out but don't like to be handled... Flighty, The ones that stay 100' away from me no matter if its feed time or treat time, jumping fences, trying to roost in the trees instead of the house................ TOO Flighty, and those don't stay, the other can stay.

What are the advantages of straight over crosses?
Interesting...previously, I had thought scissor beak to be a developmental disorder, but your observation on color and scissor beak is curious.

yea only the black chicks suffer from it, Had another customer e-mail with pic's last night, it seems they all ( the black ones ) are coming up with it. but I don't know which hen is causing it.

On the cornish, the true cornish breed is a heritage bird. It will reproduce naturally, and has an SOP. Cornish cross aka CX are a mix of Dark Cornish, White plymouth rock and 2 other birds supposedly..the offspring supposedly won't reproduce. They do, but the resulting bird are not the same, grow slower. (I did this myself lol and raised a few) I like a breed that breeds true and gives expected results.
Scissor beak has a lot of different causes but I personally believe it comes from the hen. I had 1 EE hen that had several hatch, I removed her and that ended the problem. I feed flock raiser so I doubt it was a diet issue.

How did you know which hen it was? I have 5 EE and 2 AM hens, I can count out Ol'girl, she is an EE mix and all her babies look like her, I know its not my black AM cause I just got her, Not the wild brat her chicks look like her, not the Grey just got her the same time I got the Black AM, that leaves 1 white AM and 1 white EE, and a red EE. The rooster is mostly black, ( my avatar ).

Mine don't have fences. I coop up at night on the majority of my chickens but some exceptions are extra roosters, and "wild bunch birds". Those were hatched by a broody duck, chicken etc and lived outside since hatch. Off season for hatching like now, all my birds freely range my 5 acres during the day. I rarely have predator issues since I keep turkey, guinea and geese free ranging with them. I don't mind them flighty, it keeps them predator smart.

I don't have ground predators I have a weasel but only about once a mth??? but I have a trap now and have completely moved my chickens away from that area. I think my 7 dogs keep most of them away. My predator problem comes from the sky.... and I think I have that kicked in the butt now.

I have had silkies stick their heads through bars, chain link, etc. Finally got smart enough to either put them in something less chancy or to line a larger mesh with hardware cloth or poultry netting. They'll also stick their heads through if there is a predator, and the result isn't pretty.

I don't know a breeder but was playing around on Petfinder a couple of days ago and there was one for adoption that wasn't too old. The owner was ill or something--don't remember--and couldn't keep her.
My collie is an excellent guard dog for my chickens; he and his buddy keep almost everything out. I have lost a few the last couple of weeks when the younger coons and possums start roaming. The older ones know about Simon and stay away, but I've found a couple of mangled young possums lying in the yard. No tears over them!

My Silkies will put their heads through anything and everything, I have to cover with hardware cloth or something if I don't want them in someplace.

 

[Fattyfrogpots]

Hi everyone. I'm a new member ( after doing a little lurking here and there for a while...) I'm located in Indianapolis and have a flock of 11 that are almost 5 months old and are laying about five eggs a day now.
Can anyone tell me what the going rate for a dozen eggs is around here nowadays? Planning ahead a little.... Thanks!

 

[chick rookie]

Hi everyone. I'm a new member ( after doing a little lurking here and there for a while...) I'm located in Indianapolis and have a flock of 11 that are almost 5 months old and are laying about five eggs a day now.
Can anyone tell me what the going rate for a dozen eggs is around here nowadays? Planning ahead a little.... Thanks!

Hello

We have a few members that sell eggs and I think some in your area do. I sell mine for 2.00 and that is cheep I'm told cause with the price of eggs in the stores everyone around here has raised their prices to just a buck under. Me personally I don't. I don't sell to get rich, ( good thing ) it just wont happen. I sell enough to pay for feed, if my feed bill goes up my prices will reflect that. But that's the only reason.
What I did was totaled my feed bill plus reg. treats, and then I figured how many eggs I sell in a week and that is how I get my price. I have got a few new customer lately due to their normal supplier raising the price above what they were willing to pay.
Again it just depends on your area as to what you can get.
Hope this helped a little bit. Enjoy you birds and BYC we are all a bunch of very friendly people and love to help when possible.

 

[chick rookie]

BTW @Fattyfrogpots what breeds do you have?

 

[ellymayRans]

Hi everyone. I'm a new member ( after doing a little lurking here and there for a while...) I'm located in Indianapolis and have a flock of 11 that are almost 5 months old and are laying about five eggs a day now.
Can anyone tell me what the going rate for a dozen eggs is around here nowadays? Planning ahead a little.... Thanks!

I'm not quite an hour south of Indy but I also only sell for $2 a dozen. Same reasons as @chickrookie.

Welcome and be sure to check out our members page for folks near you!! @Mother2Hens or @jchnny2000 has the links associated with them. My mobile doesn't show me it or I'd paste it in for ya!

 

[browncow15]

If anyone hears of someone selling true White Cornish (not Cornish X), I'm definitely in the market for those.

I'd be interested too, or the white laced red Cornish!

Hi everyone. I'm a new member ( after doing a little lurking here and there for a while...) I'm located in Indianapolis and have a flock of 11 that are almost 5 months old and are laying about five eggs a day now.
Can anyone tell me what the going rate for a dozen eggs is around here nowadays? Planning ahead a little.... Thanks!

Welcome! I'm on the west side of Indy and charge $3/ dozen for mine. I figure that's about what it is in the grocery and home grown is better than grocery store eggs any day! You could probably even ask more depending on what part of the city you're in.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

@Fattyfrogpots - I think one can fairly charge $3-3.50 for good farm/fresh eggs. That being said, I am in the $2.00/doz club too on the eggs I do charge for (I have one "customer" that I give eggs to weekly - as well as gifting eggs now and then to neighbors/co-workers when I have a surplus). The "paying customers" I have are all friends and I feel weird taking money from them, but they are ones that insist on paying something, so I set the price low. I don't even put a dent in the feed bill at this price, lol, I give the money to DS because he is my "business partner" in the chicken thing. Were I to start over I'd be in the $3-3.50 range - but I feel kind of stuck at this point as I feel I can't very well decide that any new customers will pay one rate and my old customers another, and I am not sure how to broach an increase with the existing customers so...........yeah.

 

[Quinstar]

What breed?

They are all mixed breed, but one is 3/4 Barred Rock and it would be hard to tell him from a full blooded rooster. He's beautiful and definitely my favorite. Of the other two one resembles a darker BR with some green and red on his wings and saddle and the third is a grizzled gray and red.