INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Indy Edge]

Just hatched out some standard show quality Speckled Sussex and Rhode Island Reds. I had a great hatch with 14 out of 15 hatching. I have Brown & Buff Leghorns, Black Copper Marans, Blue Cochins, Rhode Island Reds , Speckled Sussex & Cream Leg

bar hopefully hatching this week.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Quote: Pigs are super easy. Really fun to keep, they are a lot like a dog or smarter IMO. Favorite toy is a bowling ball

! I stay very actively social so they are tame and easy to manage. My Hampshire sow will leave her food to be scratched and petted, same for my Hamp boar. I have an "Old spot" and a mixed gilt too, currently 6 including a feeder hog. You have done cows, so pigs are 100% easier and more resilient against disease and illness. Just read body language and personality. Any aggressive act in a hog, they may need to go away, those hogs are a great risk to people. In both cases I have seen, the boar, and barrow were acting to protect me, but charging at a strange man. The boar was almost 500 pounds. Both were removed from my herd. I have kept 26 now and I really enjoy keeping them. We are breeding our own this year, hard to find feeder pigs when you are ready for them. If keeping just for the freezer, you want a barrow (neutered boar) for fastest growth, usually ready in 6 months or less for the freezer. Start with one or 2 barrows, young and treat them like a pet. Lots of hay and fermented feed will give you an awesome freezer full of pork.

Getting excited for baby chicks. I just ordered some Cornish cross and white laced red Cornish. My plan was to hatch sex linked olive eggers but I don't think it's going to pan out. If it does it will be on a small scale. I've not had good luck with my cream crested Legbars and my roo I was going to use is limping

So what's everyone hatching/selling this year?

Exciting for the cornish! As of right now for chickens, Lavender and Chocolate LF Orpington, EE/OE, Sumatra BBS, Ameruacana BBS, Dark Cornish and Turken (Naked neck). I have small numbers, pairs or trio in a few other common breeds, but am mostly focusing on the Orps. I no longer keep any bantam breeds. Still breeding Coturnix Quail, Guineas, Holland Midget White and Bourbon Red turkeys, Buff, Chinese and Embden goose, Muscovy and snow/mallard ducks. I have access to Ringneck pheasant also.

@Leahs Mom

Regarding goats and chickens--notice my avatar!

@jchny2000

I have BCM cockerels if you want any for green eggs.

I may take you up on that if I can get down to you! The BCM give an awesome dark olive green OE when paired with AMs. Are you looking for anything we can swap?

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

I'm a terrible chicken mom. Noticed a silkie cock limping, so caught him and found a bad case of bumblefoot. I can't believe I let that happen. The only possible excuse, and a weak one at that, is that he is black and in one of the bottom coops in the shed, where he tends to hang out at the back.
I handle most of my birds regularly, but my poor old bod doesn't let me reach back into those low coops--most of the chickens will come to the door hoping for treats. So he has spent the day in a tub in my shower stall, first with Dawn to clean him up, then in Epsom salts, and finally bathed him and bedded him down in a tub with shavings--still in the shower stall to prevent any escaping. Tomorrow I'll see what I can do about the feet--he's had enough trauma for today. Didn't affect his appetite, though.

I found one of my less dominant drakes limping, and has bumble on a toe. Don't feel guilty! They don't show anything until there is a real issue. Winter months my left arm is not so good and am a lefty so I am not checking every bird daily either.

Just hatched out some standard show quality Speckled Sussex and Rhode Island Reds. I had a great hatch with 14 out of 15 hatching. I have Brown & Buff Leghorns, Black Copper Marans, Blue Cochins, Rhode Island Reds , Speckled Sussex & Cream Leg

bar hopefully hatching this week.

Exciting! Congrats on the babies!

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Been a long day. Mom had another fall, nothing broken thankfully. DH, DN and I were able to get her up to a chair. Oldest brother went to the hospital again tonight, but am still waiting to hear from my nephew where at, what hospital and what is wrong? He nearly lost some toes a few weeks ago (diabetic) and all I know so far is its another infection. Last round was a staff infection in his foot.
We were able to meet up with old friends for dinner, it was really nice to be away from the house a few hours. youngest DD came tonight to grandparent sit so I could go out. Our old friends keep guinea, deer and sheep. Its funny neither of us were keeping livestock or poultry when we worked together 11 years ago! Her newborn baby girl when she resigned is now taller than I am lol.

I will be downsizing more. With my parents health failing I have less time to raise and keep so many breeds. I have a trio of Bourbon Red turkeys and probably my quad of Midget whites I will be selling. Please PM for info and price.

 

[ellymayRans]

I'm a terrible chicken mom.  Noticed a silkie cock limping, so caught him and found a bad case of bumblefoot.  I can't believe I let that happen.  The only possible excuse, and a weak one at that, is that he is black and in one of the bottom coops in the shed, where he tends to hang out at the back. 
I handle most of my birds regularly, but my poor old bod doesn't let me reach back into those low coops--most of the chickens will come to the door hoping for treats.  So he has spent the day in a tub in my shower stall, first with Dawn to clean him up, then in Epsom salts, and finally bathed him and bedded him down in a tub with shavings--still in the shower stall to prevent any escaping.  Tomorrow I'll see what I can do about the feet--he's had enough trauma for today.  Didn't affect his appetite, though.

Aww we all have those moments. Glad you found it and getting it treated.

 

[ellymayRans]

@mother2hens little screech is so beautiful!

Maybe it's not frostbite signs you're seeing. Not sure what else it could be but sounds fishy. I wouldn't expect that area to be prone to frostbite without it also affecting comb, wattles or feet first.

The pea barn is doing ok. Really hard with the weather. Busting out frozen waterers every day. I built a large area using my hoop pens from home. I just removed the ends and put 4 of them together. The males trains had gotten long enough it was time for more space. They were very happy with it. Only thing is it will make it more challenging for transferring. I did rehome the lone male. I've been discouraged though with having someone message me intently one day and agreed they wanted to purchase 3 pair and then days go by and they aren't responding now. Not to mention the ridiculous scammer emails! Soooo irritating! I have a voice tech I work with that is getting a pair next week and I think Patrick is taking another pair.

So I have 4 pair that still need homes. If they don't get placed by spring I will be bringing them here. I'm already building 11 new coops and runs for all but the Peas here so I may just have to build a few more for them.

 

[Mother2Hens]

Are you sure it is frostbite and not just dry skin? To me it seems unlikely that only one hen would be showing signs of frostbite. They all have naked exposed combs and wattles, and if they are all roosting at the same height they should all be experiencing the same temperature/ventilation.

Just in support of Pipd's article, I also don't believe in heating a coop and have had zero frostbite or losses so far this winter I have a huge shed coop and there is a ton of space for moisture to rise, so I think that helps in my situation.

I think you're correct about Screech having dry skin. I realized that the gray area that I pointed out at the base of her head is actually her gray body skin. lol

When I first suspected there was a frostbite problem on Wednesday morning, she acted unusually quiet and didn't race over to me for a treat of mealworms. That's when I gave her electrolytes that perked her up. I had been concerned about her bald head in cold temps, so that's what I had focused on as a possibility. It's hard to say what the situation was. I borrowed my son's hygrometer/thermometer to make sure mine was correct, and it was, so humidity is not an issue. And my chickens luckily haven't been messy with the heavy heated water bowls. Who knows.

I've been more on edge since losing my two English Orps in one week (obviously not weather-related deaths). Again, it's hard to say if Eliza was run down because I hadn't noticed her leg mites or if she had a reaction to the meds from the vet the day before or if she perhaps was susceptible to a heart attack because she was so large. Eliza and Adeline were so close that I felt like Adeline lost the will to live. Or maybe she had a heart attack. Next time one of my chickens die from an unknown illness, I will have a necropsy done.

Posted by @pipdzipdnreadytogo Also, just want to say that Screech is about the cutest little birdy there is, sitting by the fire.

But I'm almost as biased about Cochins as I am about Dorkings. She seems awfully content there, you may have to write up an official eviction notice to convince her to leave!

Thank you! Screech enjoyed her day inside yesterday and her night in the kennel, but this morning, she wanted to hang out with the rest of the flock in the garage. Once she makes up her mind, she is adamant! Her loud screeching led us to speed up acclimating her from the family room to the basement to the garage and/or coop. I have some heat in the garage and coop, so she did fine. I patted a little bag balm on her tiny head. We were glad to release the pint-sized loud mouth who sounds like a parrot -lol- but the other hens seemed to greet her by rolling their eyes, like "Here comes trouble!" hahaha

pipd ~ Did or do you have LF Cochins? Seems like our thread had a discussion once where the majority said that they thought LF Cochins were even sweeter than Bantam Cochins since bantams in general tend to overcompensate for their small size. One of the many aspects of Screech that makes her so endearing is that she is so tiny — especially compared to my Bantam Orp, Bonbon—and Screech is even smaller that my Silkie (although she stretches her neck upwards to peck my Silkie! lol)

Btw, when I jokingly asked you to work on a personality-based genetic program for chickens, I realized I meant to say is that I need you to work on cloning! haha I know that personality traits are associated with specific breeds, but as we all know, there are exceptions. I wish I had my Black Jersey Giant cloned— the one with the googly eyes that made her look like she always was looking backwards! haha She had the best personality, and I had no idea what her background was. I traded one of my original cockerels for her when she was already a hen. I was lucky to have her for a couple of years before she got ovarian cancer.

I'm a terrible chicken mom. Noticed a silkie cock limping, so caught him and found a bad case of bumblefoot. I can't believe I let that happen. The only possible excuse, and a weak one at that, is that he is black and in one of the bottom coops in the shed, where he tends to hang out at the back.
I handle most of my birds regularly, but my poor old bod doesn't let me reach back into those low coops--most of the chickens will come to the door hoping for treats. So he has spent the day in a tub in my shower stall, first with Dawn to clean him up, then in Epsom salts, and finally bathed him and bedded him down in a tub with shavings--still in the shower stall to prevent any escaping. Tomorrow I'll see what I can do about the feet--he's had enough trauma for today. Didn't affect his appetite, though.

I can relate. I kept looking at my previously mentioned Eliza, thinking she had bumblefoot, but I failed to notice scaly leg mites! Her death may have been prevented if I had been more observant. Your boy is in good hands—you're a pro!
Beautiful, plush babies!
@jchny2000 ~ Oh my gosh! So sorry to hear about your family health issues.

Glad you could get out for a while to socialize—that's so important to a break now and then to recharge.
@ellymayRans Thank you for helping bring little Screech into our world!

Here's a photo when she had feathers on her head, which were ironically cut off by the photographer trying to keep up with her!

Thanks for the update on your peacock rescue! I can only imagine how rough that's been in the winter, and you've been sick. too. You are to be commended for going above and beyond to help those poor peacocks! If anyone would like to donate to help Mandy with expenses, here is the link: gofundme.com/peafowlrescue

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

@mother2hens little screech is so beautiful!

Maybe it's not frostbite signs you're seeing. Not sure what else it could be but sounds fishy. I wouldn't expect that area to be prone to frostbite without it also affecting comb, wattles or feet first.

The pea barn is doing ok. Really hard with the weather. Busting out frozen waterers every day. I built a large area using my hoop pens from home. I just removed the ends and put 4 of them together. The males trains had gotten long enough it was time for more space. They were very happy with it. Only thing is it will make it more challenging for transferring. I did rehome the lone male. I've been discouraged though with having someone message me intently one day and agreed they wanted to purchase 3 pair and then days go by and they aren't responding now. Not to mention the ridiculous scammer emails! Soooo irritating! I have a voice tech I work with that is getting a pair next week and I think Patrick is taking another pair.

So I have 4 pair that still need homes. If they don't get placed by spring I will be bringing them here. I'm already building 11 new coops and runs for all but the Peas here so I may just have to build a few more for them.

I am still thinking of another pair. Once the weather is a little warmer we will resume coop building here.

 

[kittydoc]

I plan to hatch blue, black, and splash English Orpingtons,
Lavender Orpingtons (25-50% English),
Chocolate English Orpingtons,
Cuckoo English Orpingtons (Chocolate and Black),
Black split to lavender Orpingtons on demand only,
maybe a few Jubilee Orpingtons,
and last but not least, Bielefelders!

I also have a general question for the masses. I know most of you don't show (except kids in 4-H), and I don't have show quality birds at this time anyway. I'd like some idea of how many people would care if their Orps might carry lavender without knowing for sure without a test breeding at maturity? I'd like to give Cogburn and his sisters something to do this season. They are black split to lavender. Bred to blue, their BBS offspring MIGHT or MIGHT NOT carry lavender. Same if I breed them to my chocolate cuckoo rooster. The offspring will be the "dominant" color (black or chocolate, cuckoo or not), but MIGHT or MIGHT NOT carry lavender.

Let me know. I plan to test a few of Cog's offspring with the blues from last year by breeding them to Janet's lav roo to see if they do or do not carry lavender, but it'll slow me down a bit. I kept three full English Orps out of him and my blue hens (two black pullets and one blue cockerel) that each have a 50% chance of being split to lavender. I'm planning to use my older blue cockerel which is "true blue" for sure until I know otherwise, so it's less of an issue with my BBS. I have one black hen that is "pure black," two of Cogburn's sisters which are split to lav, and the two black pullets of unknown status with respect to lav. I need black girls to breed to my chocolate cuckoo cockerel so I can tell by color what sex the offspring are (chocolate or chocolate cuckoo = female, black or black cuckoo split to chocolate = male).

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

I'm a terrible chicken mom. Noticed a silkie cock limping, so caught him and found a bad case of bumblefoot. I can't believe I let that happen. The only possible excuse, and a weak one at that, is that he is black and in one of the bottom coops in the shed, where he tends to hang out at the back. I handle most of my birds regularly, but my poor old bod doesn't let me reach back into those low coops--most of the chickens will come to the door hoping for treats. So he has spent the day in a tub in my shower stall, first with Dawn to clean him up, then in Epsom salts, and finally bathed him and bedded him down in a tub with shavings--still in the shower stall to prevent any escaping. Tomorrow I'll see what I can do about the feet--he's had enough trauma for today. Didn't affect his appetite, though.

So sorry, it can be so frustrating sometimes. Like others have said, sometimes you just can't tell until it's gotten to that point. Don't beat yourself up about it!

Been a long day. Mom had another fall, nothing broken thankfully. DH, DN and I were able to get her up to a chair. Oldest brother went to the hospital again tonight, but am still waiting to hear from my nephew where at, what hospital and what is wrong? He nearly lost some toes a few weeks ago (diabetic) and all I know so far is its another infection. Last round was a staff infection in his foot. We were able to meet up with old friends for dinner, it was really nice to be away from the house a few hours. youngest DD came tonight to grandparent sit so I could go out. Our old friends keep guinea, deer and sheep. Its funny neither of us were keeping livestock or poultry when we worked together 11 years ago! Her newborn baby girl when she resigned is now taller than I am lol. I will be downsizing more. With my parents health failing I have less time to raise and keep so many breeds. I have a trio of Bourbon Red turkeys and probably my quad of Midget whites I will be selling. Please PM for info and price.

Keeping my thoughts with your family.

[COLOR=333333]Posted by @pipdzipdnreadytogo Also, just want to say that Screech is about the cutest little birdy there is, sitting by the fire. But I'm almost as biased about Cochins as I am about Dorkings. She seems awfully content there, you may have to write up an official eviction notice to convince her to leave! [/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]Thank you! Screech enjoyed her day inside yesterday and her night in the kennel, but this morning, she wanted to hang out with the rest of the flock in the garage. Once she makes up her mind, she is adamant! Her loud screeching led us to speed up acclimating her from the family room to the basement to the garage and/or coop. I have some heat in the garage and coop, so she did fine. I patted a little bag balm on her tiny head. We were glad to release the pint-sized loud mouth who sounds like a parrot -lol- but the other hens seemed to greet her by rolling their eyes, like "Here comes trouble!" hahaha[/COLOR] [COLOR=00CC99]pipd ~[/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]Did or do you have LF Cochins? Seems like our thread had a discussion once where the majority said that they thought LF Cochins were even sweeter than Bantam Cochins since bantams in general tend to overcompensate for their small size. One of the many aspects of Screech that makes her so endearing is that she is so tiny — especially compared to my Bantam Orp, Bonbon—and Screech is even smaller that my Silkie (although she stretches her neck upwards to peck my Silkie! lol)[/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]Btw, when I jokingly asked you to work on a personality-based genetic program for chickens, I realized I meant to say is that I need you to work on cloning! haha I know that personality traits are associated with specific breeds, but as we all know, there are exceptions. I wish I had my Black Jersey Giant cloned— the one with the googly eyes that made her look like she always was looking backwards! haha She had the best personality, and I had no idea what her background was. I traded one of my original cockerels for her when she was already a hen. I was lucky to have her for a couple of years before she got ovarian cancer. [/COLOR]

Haha, oh my gosh, she sounds like a tyrant! I'm suddenly feeling like I need more bantam Cochins in my life. No, the only Cochin I've ever owned was my black bantam rooster, Po, rest his sweet little soul. He was completely unaware of his size, too, the little puffball, and was pretty much head of the flock by the time he was ~8 months old (Reuben's probably about twice the size Po was and hasn't succeeded at this yet at about 15 months old!). I also got a lot of fertilized eggs from the least likely hens when Po was in the flock!

Anyway, I do have some LF Cochins on order for the spring along with the Dorkings I'm getting. So excited!! And if you know anything about how other animals have been cloned, it probably wouldn't be that difficult in birds, all things considered... No idea if it's been done or not, though. Hmm...

I also have a general question for the masses. I know most of you don't show (except kids in 4-H), and I don't have show quality birds at this time anyway. I'd like some idea of how many people would care if their Orps might carry lavender without knowing for sure without a test breeding at maturity? I'd like to give Cogburn and his sisters something to do this season. They are black split to lavender. Bred to blue, their BBS offspring MIGHT or MIGHT NOT carry lavender. Same if I breed them to my chocolate cuckoo rooster. The offspring will be the "dominant" color (black or chocolate, cuckoo or not), but MIGHT or MIGHT NOT carry lavender. Let me know. I plan to test a few of Cog's offspring with the blues from last year by breeding them to Janet's lav roo to see if they do or do not carry lavender, but it'll slow me down a bit. I kept three full English Orps out of him and my blue hens (two black pullets and one blue cockerel) that each have a 50% chance of being split to lavender. I'm planning to use my older blue cockerel which is "true blue" for sure until I know otherwise, so it's less of an issue with my BBS. I have one black hen that is "pure black," two of Cogburn's sisters which are split to lav, and the two black pullets of unknown status with respect to lav. I need black girls to breed to my chocolate cuckoo cockerel so I can tell by color what sex the offspring are (chocolate or chocolate cuckoo = female, black or black cuckoo split to chocolate = male).

For the purposes of, say, a backyarder like me who just wants pretty birds in their flock, I wouldn't think it would make a difference. However, my understanding is that it's a BIG no-no to get Lavender and BBS in the same line for breeding purposes. If I remember correctly, Lavender completely covers sexlinked Chocolate, so I don't know if that would be a problem (and you have the possibility of a neat variety of chicks breeding lavender split chocolate SF cuckoos / non-cuckoos together ). I guess it just depends on the goals of the person buying whether it would matter, but I would think at the very least you would need to add that as a disclaimer to anyone you sold to, just in case. Personally, though, I'd love sexlinked chocolate ANYTHING, split or not, but I'm a sucker for chocolate and dun varieties in general. (Edited to fix the picture of the puffball.)