INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Chaneys Ranch]

Pics for quail people.

DD gave away most of her hatch results, but we allowed her to keep a few. (Hopefully more will end up layers than meat.)

3 are the wild type that should be sexable. Of course ALL the ones we hatched looked female to me, so I suppose there's a subtle trick I'm missing.
Can anyone help me sex these quail?

#1 DD's fav (so it must be a male b/c she has never once picked a female as her fav. In that way, she is my most accurate gender indicator. LOL) The food coloring was simply her way of marking it, so I could make sure this one stayed.

#2

#3



I know the white chicks below won't be sexable for several weeks.
The small one is the "failure to thrive" chick. It's still smaller, but continues to eat & drink on its own. In fact, it refuses to eat unless its siblings are there for competition. Other than putting some some electrolytes in the water around day 2-3, we haven't done anything extra. I didn't feel right killing it, because it was eating /drinking & showing some growth. I thought that the chick would have caught up or given up by now.

Has anyone had experience with these runt chicks before? This is my 1st time having a "failure to thrive" chick & I'm completely new to quail.

#1-3 unless rusty feathers start to suddenly replace the speckled chests, all 3 are hens. I will see what I have left and hopefully can share adult pictures for you. the white (A&M) type Quail are really hard to tell until they crow. Male quail will be a bit smaller.

Quote: I think he is mostly an EE, which is honestly a combination of breeds. Most EE are expected to have a blue or green egg gene.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

The little preemie poult passed away on its third day. The other two are still doing well and getting along better every day. They've really enjoyed having turkey company but still love cuddles with mommy-bird.

Aww am so sorry. Sounds great with the others tho!

Had a pretty successful processing day. We now have 21 fewer boys around bothering the girls. Also, with the ducks the experiment with the duck wax to do the drakes was a big success! It doesn't remove every pinfeather, but it does get the majority. Not too bad to clean up after that. With the roosters, i'm always amazed at the differences between them once the feathers come off. The cornish were huge compared to everyone else. I also marked the two Dorking boys that we did, as I've heard good things about how they taste and want to compare them to the others.

I have done the waxing too, it does seem to help a lot! I usually skin but have helped others do it for a roast duck.
I have a pair of Cornish left am hoping to cross into my EE flock, want to add the size and vigor..new bloodline.

Quote: You may very well be seeing bantam eggs then. OEGB lay a nice medium egg, its almost white. Not sure on Rosecomb, Cochin I remember is more brown.

I live here in Indy, and am trying to find out where I would go to get hens processed.
Any info would be appreciated!
[email protected]

Hi! We do our own, hopefully other folks can give you some direction.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

@Mother2Hens thanks for asking! We tore out the entire kitchen and dining area minus 4x11 feet section...ran out of time last weekend. Total area was 22 feet x 11 feet! There was minor water damage around the sink. The floors were made from pressed fiber board, ugh! It had delaminated and broken down. We replaced everything with 3/4 plywood. Going back with vinyl floor cover, so the wheelchairs roll easily. Carpet is also unhealthy for anyone with a respiratory disease. I personally like hardwood or ceramic tile, but its not in the budget right now. We did take a few pictures, hope to share once its done..

Big push to get stock tanks drained, moved and clean, ready for heaters. Have already switched over to rubber bowls for the birds. I have to figure out how to keep Physco the Muscovy out of my stock tanks, she considers them her personal bath tub! She is my little rebel thats nearly impossible to keep cooped up.

 

[river46201]

Thanks for the reply.... I would process my own, but with my arthritis, and then still healing up from a shattered wrist.... sigh..... so....
ANYONE in/around Indianapolis know who/where I can get hens processed for meat?

 

[Faraday40]

#1-3 unless rusty feathers start to suddenly replace the speckled chests, all 3 are hens. I will see what I have left and hopefully can share adult pictures for you. the white (A&M) type Quail are really hard to tell until they crow. Male quail will be a bit smaller.

Like This?:




Notice the blue spot? (She marked her fav with blue food coloring on the chest) Yes, DD has done it again. Whichever her fav, it's ALWAYS a male. I guess it works with other birds besides chickens. What a gift!

I hope the quail "crow" is not as loud as a rooster.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Thanks for the reply.... I would process my own, but with my arthritis, and then still healing up from a shattered wrist.... sigh..... so....
ANYONE in/around Indianapolis know who/where I can get hens processed for meat?

Sorry I don't. I'm in Northern part of the state and we have a processor everyone uses in the Goshen area but I know that's too far.

There are plenty of people in the Indy area on this forum so maybe someone will see and answer!

@racinchickins @SallyinIndiana @Indyshent and others...any leads?

 

[Indyshent]

Sorry I don't. I'm in Northern part of the state and we have a processor everyone uses in the Goshen area but I know that's too far.

There are plenty of people in the Indy area on this forum so maybe someone will see and answer!

@racinchickins @SallyinIndiana @Indyshent and others...any leads?

@river46201 I don't know where to go to have someone else do it, unfortunately. I usually process at jchny2000's place. I'm not terribly good at it (read: I'm a total wussbag).

Have you considered selling them or bartering for already-processed fowl?

 

[Indyshent]

Another poult hatched while I was at school! Looked silvery gray with a little blond before it had dried, but know I'm seeing a little more of that buff bourbon color. Much bigger and healthier than all the other poults we've recently hatched--except Thanksgiving, of course. This one might actually be bigger than he was at the same age. Thanksgiving is definitely a tom--a wittle bronze tom. The other Bourbon-ish poult seems like a girl to me, but this new bitty, well it might just be a tom, too. We'll have to wait and see. They're such charming babies.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Quote: Yep, She did it again, that's a boy! Wait til you hear the crow, you will laugh. Its a sound like no other. Will make you think of old cartoons! Its no where near as loud as a chicken rooster. Boys will start crowing at 6 to 8 weeks. Its a rasssp! rassp! sound.
I normally do winter over the quail. This past 2 years has been too challenging with my parents care. We are processing and replacing next spring. If I can't be hands on, I won't keep any animal I can't be there for socializing them. My current birds have become very flighty and it feels very disappointing. I never want any critter that's living here to feel fear or be afraid of us.

Another poult hatched while I was at school! Looked silvery gray with a little blond before it had dried, but know I'm seeing a little more of that buff bourbon color. Much bigger and healthier than all the other poults we've recently hatched--except Thanksgiving, of course. This one might actually be bigger than he was at the same age. Thanksgiving is definitely a tom--a wittle bronze tom. The other Bourbon-ish poult seems like a girl to me, but this new bitty, well it might just be a tom, too. We'll have to wait and see. They're such charming babies.

They are so precious! Congrats on your new poult.

Bourbon are a light brown pattern as poults, bronze are a bit darker. Holland and midgets will appear white or light yellow. Toms even as newborns strut early on, its so adorable to see.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Bought a cart full of tarps at Menards, and winterizing coops tomorrow. They had 8x10 tarps on sale for around $3 each. We have 4 coops to cover, 2 are very small. Coops are already moved by the garage and freshly bedded with hay. My pekin and geese are free range but have a large house with fresh hay to keep warm in. My large chicken coop is already winterized. My rooster pen, and the Muscovy and Mallard breeds are left to get covered.

My Bochephus, our goat buck got a new house too. Of course he has butted and rammed it all over the pasture! At least when I did my rounds tonight he was curled up asleep inside. Bo is in rut, and every leaf, stick, blade of grass that moves in the wind, makes him a jerk. I adore Bo, just love him when he is normal.. But he is a terrible buck when in rut and I can't/won't handle him alone. I have had 3 adult bucks, and its the same story. If you keep goats, be prepared to handle an adult buck or plan to AI. Its very hard to train a male intact goat. Bo is 4 this year and will be leaving our farm. Too much risk for my parents and neighbors. Bo was not dehorned as a kid, so that alone has become a huge problem. Pictured about 2 years ago...