INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Finnie]

Oh sorry Finnie. We had a pair of turkeys when I was a kid. The female was so sweet. I'm sorry for your loss

Sorry about your losses guys....

I can't imagine loosing one of the girls I've raised going before she's a "Doweger ". Hope things start looking up for all of you!

Thanks guys.

 

[Leahs Mom]

@Finnie

Wanted to post a PS re the waterer.

When if gets in the single digits and below, it starts to freeze down from the top and sides like you showed in your photo. When it gets that cold I was just taking water out in the morning and it would do fine all day long. But I'm somewhat lazy.....

And it's hard to carry everything out there in the morning.... (poor me)

So.... I started doing something different when it gets - and stays - extremely cold. I have set up a light bulb to keep the top part thawed. I put it on a dimmer switch and can raise or lower the wattage according to need. Or not turn it on at all.

When I originally did it I used a 100 watt light bulb dialed down very low. Probably about 1/4 so about 25 watts. Then I realized that I had a 75 watt RED heat bulb (like you use for lizzards) that I could keep on low at night and the room would stay dark. I'm now using the red bulb at less than 1/2 on the dimmer switch.

Anyhow, thought I'd share that FYI.
My waterer is inside within a dog kennel pen so I have the light in a heat lamp reflector attached to the OUTSIDE of the kennel pen. It is triple attached 3 different backups in case one fails. It is just enough to keep the bottle thawed when the temps dip so low.

 

[Leahs Mom]

@Finnie and @Indyshent

Sorry for the losses.

 

[Leahs Mom]

@jchny2000
Hope everything is okay over there....how are your parents doing?

 

[Faraday40]

With the terrible cold outside, I thought you could share in a laugh. As some of you may know, our family usually does a couple chicken-themed Christmas portraits each year. Well part of what makes it fun is some of the craziness. Here are some pics that will not make it into the Holiday cards.



Christmas Photo Out-takes:
While big Marshmallow was sitting pretty, Trouble decided to play in DS's hair.


Here DS is scolding Trouble & reminding her not to poop.


Then Marshmallow didn't want to get upstaged by a bantam. She stood up, and as you can see, she's more than a lap-full.


Of course DS still had problems when we moved on to fake birds. (I think it's a boy thing.)


DD shows him how it's done....
This is the quail that she hatched over Thanksgiving break.

 

[Finnie]

@Finnie Wanted to post a PS re the waterer. When if gets in the single digits and below, it starts to freeze down from the top and sides like you showed in your photo. When it gets that cold I was just taking water out in the morning and it would do fine all day long. But I'm somewhat lazy..... And it's hard to carry everything out there in the morning.... (poor me) So.... I started doing something different when it gets - and stays - extremely cold. I have set up a light bulb to keep the top part thawed. I put it on a dimmer switch and can raise or lower the wattage according to need. Or not turn it on at all. When I originally did it I used a 100 watt light bulb dialed down very low. Probably about 1/4 so about 25 watts. Then I realized that I had a 75 watt RED heat bulb (like you use for lizzards) that I could keep on low at night and the room would stay dark. I'm now using the red bulb at less than 1/2 on the dimmer switch. Anyhow, thought I'd share that FYI. My waterer is inside within a dog kennel pen so I have the light in a heat lamp reflector attached to the OUTSIDE of the kennel pen. It is triple attached 3 different backups in case one fails. It is just enough to keep the bottle thawed when the temps dip so low.

That's really good thinking to work that out! I have figured out that kitty litter was not a good medium for raising my waterer up in the dog dish. So anyone that was considering copying me, don't bother. It was just a solid lump of wet clay. And I think it didn't transfer the heat. The whole waterer ended up freezing. Once it thawed and I dumped it all out, I also noticed that the wet kitty liver gave off a strong perfume scent. Probably not good for them if they could have gotten to that part of the water to drink it.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Hi, everyone! Been such a long time since I've been able to be active here! This has been my toughest and most stressful semester with the classes I was in, but it looks like I made it through and actually passed them all (although I'm still waiting on my grade for Physics to know for sure). I'm just relieved to have a few weeks to relax now! Phew!


Some of you might remember that over the summer, my family built a predator-proof covered deck on the front of the coop. This has been the single best addition to the coop to date! Over Thanksgiving break, my mom and I wrapped the south and west walls in plastic sheeting, and so far the deck has been snow free and much warmer just for having the wind blocked from it! The girls have been having a blast with all that extra snow-free space, and I haven't had to worry about predators or the sparrows and starlings getting in and mooching feed! I love this deck! The girls, obviously, are not as impressed, but they're always full of complaints when they're snowed in.

I also think I must have gone insane, but I have my incubator running right now. My darling little silkied Cochin bantam, Cordelia, fell ill and after a month or so of fighting for her life, she sadly passed away. My mom and I had been discussing it and decided that it would be best to hatch more silkied Cochins as soon as possible since Donna is my only pullet left. If anything were to happen to her, I wouldn't have any easy way of getting more of them, and I just adore them. So Donna and Roscoe have been separated in their own pen (in my room, but that's another story), and I gathered up 5 eggs and popped them in the incubator, due January 5th. I can't wait!



I hope it's okay if I post a few pictures from over this semester. I missed sharing here!

My precious Dorking, Elda, expert at chicken therapy. I don't believe I would have survived the semester without her.

Flury the LF Splash Cochin. Dorkings are definitely my favorite breed, but Cochins have secured second place in my heart.

My sweet Lavender Orpington, Rooska, takes third place for her breed. She was pinning me down by perching on my boot so that I had no choice but to give her my full attention.

Here's Donna, my silkied Cochin bantam pullet. Such a sassy little chicken! I love how big and sweet and fluffy the LF Cochins are, but there's just something about that bantam attitude that I find irresistible!

Cazzie, LF Blue Cochin, not looking impressed by the snow. This was the first dusting of snow--she's REALLY not impressed now!

Some of you might remember my accidental Brahma cockerel who was supposed to be a pullet, Umru. Here's a size comparison of him now next to my adult Campine hen, Ihi, who shortly after this shot gave Umru a good flogging. Sassy girl.

Reuben, my Silkie rooster. So proud of this boy! Before the flock was snowed in, we had a hawk stalking the flock for a few weeks. One day, the hawk flew in while the girls were free-ranging, and by the time I got outside, Reuby had them all safe and sound under a fallen tree and was standing just far enough out from under the branches to keep an eye on the sky. Such a good boy he is!

Hey, I finally got some 'Snowy' Call Ducks! Malcolm and Trudi were not as amused by this as I was.

And then there's Crashie, just as loud as ever.

I also had an amazing close encounter with a Downy Woodpecker a month or two ago. She hit one of our windows hard enough that she was stunned. The girls free-range in that area, so I went out to make sure she was okay, and she let me pick her up and warm her back up before shaking it off and flying away.

Looking forward to catching up and posting more often here!

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Hi guys!!!

Have a little free time so am going to catch up on almost 70 posts. Hope everyone's doing well with the cold snaps. Everyone is holding up well here, from my tiny mallards up to the cows. I have about 5 chickens that love the snow. the other 30 or so will not leave the coops. Getting very few eggs, what I do get are frozen.
3 days until Winter Solstice! (That's the shortest day of light, the 21st) I always look for it. After that we start to see more daylight

.
Snow is so pretty. DH loves it, means he plows snow and makes money! I hate winter personally, but love Indiana so its ok but BRRRR!
We are doing our kitchen and dining room remodeling, and its slow going. Mainly on the weekends, my guys, DH and nephew are working a lot of extra hours. Feel really positive about this coming year, thankful the economy has taken such a sudden surge for work available.

 

[Faraday40]

And then there's Crashie, just as loud as ever.

Looking forward to catching up and posting more often here!

Glad you made it through your last semester. I love all your birds & pics. Because of you, Dorkings & silkie cochins are on my wishlist. Yet I must say that Crashie & his story are still my favorite.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

It's funny how diff cultures view things. A friend's son just got back from a mission trip to Ethiopia. The people there thought he was crazy for not knowing how to process a chicken or goat.
"Do you eat chicken?"
"Yes"
"Then how can you not know how to kill a chicken?"

They also thought the idea of getting daily mail delivered to your house was magical and they simply could not comprehend a grocery store. Basically if you can't grow it or make it, you don't have it. In most of the world, these are basic living skills. I have a college degree, teach science, play multiple woodwind instruments, & speak 2 languages, yet I would be the village idiot with my lack of "common sense" skills.

Cultures and lifestyles, yes vary so much! One supervisor position I held I was teased, I had no idea what Calamari was.. I ate it and loved it tho! Now its a favorite. Far southern states have totally different foods too.

Two more poults hatched but both died.

Between the seven female turkeys, I get sometimes (usually) two eggs daily, but the majority of them are too young to be laying and one of the older gals has been broody since August or so and doesn't appear to be feeling well still. Between 15 chickens (1 cockerel, 1 roo, two pullets, 11 hens) I get between 2 and 8 eggs daily.

This is a really off time of year for poults. Moms may not be getting what they need to produce healthy poults. I would really increase protein and vitamins for the mother's feeds. BBB/BBW will not produce poults that will live.