INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[river46201]

According to the neighbors who spotted him and chased him off, he's likely neglected and allowed way too much unsupervised time. From the sounds of it, he's disturbingly young, alone a lot, has no friends, doesn't have a dad, and spends all of his time riding around on his bike... and murdering my baby birds in broad daylight. I'm not sure how old this kid is, only that he can jump a fence, ride a bike and murder several baby birds and beat a miniature turkey tom in quick succession. 

Killing animals like this is actually a warning sign of a future serial killer. It does stand to reason that if you lack compassion for a terrified, fuzzy duckling and even enjoy torturing them, you could probably kill a person pretty easily. 

Yup...we're neighbors! Let's TRY to identify this kid! If nothing else, maybe the local churches MAY be able to reach out? Prefer to be proactive then wait & react when he grows away from animals & into peopleď

 

[Crista]

Thank goodness the stores won't have anymore chicks after this week

I have banned myself from going to town

On another note. I am using the heating pad momma on my new babies and it is working beautifully. They are in a large dog crate inside the coop (protected from drafts). I brought them home wed evening and moved them to the coop on thurs evening. I love it !!
Don't get me wrong. I loved hearing the peepers in a box in the kitchen and have done it that way for years, but this is definitely great !!

 

[Faraday40]

Thank goodness the stores won't have anymore chicks after this week

I have banned myself from going to town

On another note. I am using the heating pad momma on my new babies and it is working beautifully. They are in a large dog crate inside the coop (protected from drafts). I brought them home wed evening and moved them to the coop on thurs evening. I love it !!
Don't get me wrong. I loved hearing the peepers in a box in the kitchen and have done it that way for years, but this is definitely great !!

I agree. This is my 1st year trying it out. With both of my hatches, I kept them inside for about a week, then moved them to the garage once I was sure they could eat/drink/warm themselves properly. My 1st batch is only 6 weeks old but they are used to getting 10 hrs of daily grass time. In the past I wouldn't dare use the chicken tractor for any chicks until they were a couple weeks old AND the temps were 80-85'F. I also think they will be more easily accepted since they've been caged inside the run for a few weeks now.

 

[chickiebaby1]

Just wanted to let everyone know that I have Large fowl cochin hatching eggs available. I also have easter egger hatching eggs available for another day or two. I'm planning on separating my cochin into color coordinated pens. Right now I have my Black rooster in with bbs hens and also a partridge and a brown red hen. I'm planning on putting my buff roo in with the blue hens, keeping all my blacks together and having my blue roo in with the brown red and splash hens. If anyone is interested pm me. I'm in Southern Indiana. I also have some chicks available.

 

[Mother2Hens]

PLEASE call child welfare & the police about this! Harming, especially killing, small animals is only previews of future killers! This child, obviously, has some MAJOR psychological issues. Is there any chance of you finding & befriending him? Allowing him to apologize & maybe start helping take care of them MAY help him!
Would you mind saying what part of Indy you're in?

@Indyshent ~ I agree with @river46201 !!! This must be reported to law enforcement and DCS: Child Abuse Hotline - IN.gov I would contact both to ensure that the report doesn't fall through the cracks.
Marion County Sheriff's Department 317-327-1700
Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Victim Assistance 317-327-3331
Child Abuse Hotline 1-800-800-5556
Besides the fact that the child needs to learn right from wrong and consequences, the behavior indicates that he is being abused, and he's acting out his anger. It's likely that someone that disturbed cannot rationalize his behavior (by discussing it with you) and needs professional intervention. And it's true that there is a definite link between cruelty to animals and later violence towards people. PLEASE take action!

(I'm not a mental health professional, but I worked for 25+ years for hospitals including a renowned behavioral health hospital. Besides graphic design, I attended many professional medical and mental health training seminars by national experts because I wrote text for marketing materials like brochures and ads that I created—and I had to know what I was talking about!)

 

[ellymayRans]

Found my second Pea egg today.
@racinchickins my experience with my gal has been she will lay decoys..about 4 or 5 in different places and then nest somewhere else, guessing because I take the eggs I find. Last year I took all decoys and her first clutch and none were fertile. The second clutch I let her sit and only 3 of those 5 were fertile. It was both male and females first mature years so I suspected those possibilities.

I've set both eggs.

My 2 turkey hens, well one is brooding and the other I've caught in the same best with her so I know she's laying in there too. She's only stayed 1 night in with her so not sure she's decided to go broody just yet.

All 13 MW turkey eggs and the 1 and only duck egg I have found are all fertile!

 

[Mother2Hens]

Btw, @Indyshent ~ Thank you for your generous offer of new flock members!

Although I am anxious to get more chickens, I am waiting to see if I can find anything out about Bonbon. I can't get my BR, Tweedy, in to see the doc until tomorrow afternoon. I noticed earlier that she feels full, the way that my infamous Nene felt when she had congestive heart failure. Just when it seemed that CRD must be the culprit for all the deaths, that may not be the case for Tweedy.

I am still hoping to take up previous offers to purchase a Cochin or two from @ellymayRans , a Bielefelder from @kittydoc , and maybe an English Orp from @jchny2000 . I also would like to add a few Silkies, and was hoping someone could hatch eggs from @kabhyper1 . That's been my Wish List for 2016, so hopefully things will turn around, and I can have a healthy flock again!

 

[Crista]

@Faraday40
How old were they when you started tractoring them? Mine have had the momma hp since Thursday in their own pen inside a 10x 12 coop with the others. I too thot they will blend into the group easier when the time comes.
It was easier with the broody momma.

She decided when it was time to go outside !
The broody momma isn't paying much attention to her babies now ( they are 4 weeks old) and they have blended in beautifully.

Who knew chickens could be such fun !

 

[iamfivewire]

more of the coop/run additions progress:

 

[iamfivewire]

a 2nd one is completed & have put our Legbars + Leghorns into their new home
2 more to go, & then i can start on the roof