INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[jonesfamily6]

I don't need guineas, but I really love their feathers. Our daughter's in a recital this weekend, so I made headpieces for the dancers. I bought a couple peacock feathers & also boiled & died some molted chicken feathers to match their dresses. A friend sent me some guineas feathers & they really made it pop. (Just don't tell the girls that they're wearing mostly chicken feathers in their hair. LOL Most of the feathers came from our beloved Appenzeller Spitzhauben. She was sadly killed by a hawk just before Christmas. She was the most photographed chicken we ever owned & loved to strike a pose. It seemed very fitting that her feathers would live on to be part of the show. RIP, dear Spitzie.

How beautiful! You did an amazing job!!! I love this. And sorry about Spitzie!

 

[jonesfamily6]

We are ok here rain wise. No standing water or mud in the coop. The sand is looking damp in some spots. I added more dry to the top of the high areas. They don't get any wind either but I kinda feel bad for them. It's just so yucky.

 

[CochinCuddlr]

These are the stories I need!!! It helps me maneuver my brain. I did read in a hatchery catalog that they are very docile! Glad to see you experience the same. How big do they get inch wise? I know the expected weights but being new I can't translate that into size! Do you have pictures? Is a 13x10 inch door going to be sufficient? It sounds like they run with your chickens?

A 13" x 10" door would work okay for most Narragansett hens, but I think you'd be pressing your luck with a mature gobbler. I just bought an automatic coop door for our poultry house but made sure to purchase an "extra-large" one to accommodate our turkeys and peas.

Yes, we free-range all our birds together. They roost together in the same henhouse at night, too. We do segregate first-time hens with new chicks, house-hatched chicks in a brooder station, & other 'special' cases, etc.

I'll try to post some pictures when I get home later.

C.

 

[jonesfamily6]

A 13" x 10" door would work okay for most Narragansett hens, but I think you'd be pressing your luck with a mature gobbler. I just bought an automatic coop door for our poultry house but made sure to purchase an "extra-large" one to accommodate our turkeys and peas.

Yes, we free-range all our birds together. They roost together in the same henhouse at night, too. We do segregate first-time hens with new chicks, house-hatched chicks in a brooder station, & other 'special' cases, etc.

I'll try to post some pictures when I get home later.

C.

We also purchased an auto door and I got the standard size. Maybe we need some modifications. Or maybe I could convince hubs for a second coop area. Do you think they would go to their own coops and still be able to free range together? Are chickens and turkeys that smart or am I over thinking this?

 

[CochinCuddlr]

These are the stories I need!!! It helps me maneuver my brain. I did read in a hatchery catalog that they are very docile! Glad to see you experience the same. How big do they get inch wise? I know the expected weights but being new I can't translate that into size! Do you have pictures? Is a 13x10 inch door going to be sufficient? It sounds like they run with your chickens?

Here are some pics of our tom, Thomas, with various other birds near him to help give you a better idea how large a mature Narragansett tom gets. Thomas is about 5 years old.

I hope these help a bit!
Carlene

 

[jonesfamily6]

@CochinCuddlr
Wow they are gorgeous....and HUGE holy cow! Thankyou for sharing!

 

[Finnie]

Our basement flooded.

First time in 13 years, although we've had some dampness around the edges a couple times when it really rains hard.

Fortunately it wasn't deep and didn't go to the middle, which stayed dry. But the whole perimeter got soaked. Damaged 3 50# bags of finch seed, but I was able to salvage a lot from the tops of the bags. Except for one that I stupidly tried to lift. 50# of bird seed all over the floor!

 

[CochinCuddlr]

We also purchased an auto door and I got the standard size. Maybe we need some modifications. Or maybe I could convince hubs for a second coop area. Do you think they would go to their own coops and still be able to free range together? Are chickens and turkeys that smart or am I over thinking this?

HAHAHA!! Somehow I can't quite picture my mix of birds filing off separate ways to go into different houses at night ... LMBO! My imagination just conjures up flurries of confusion: big birds squeezing into where the little birds belong & small birds lounging where bigs belongs! LOLOLOL!! Or, most likely, ALL the birds squished into one house anyway!!
C.

 

[CochinCuddlr]

@CochinCuddlr
Wow they are gorgeous....and HUGE holy cow! Thankyou for sharing!

We love them! Believe me, Narragansett's are not nearly as large as the broad-breasted varieties! The differences are really astounding once you've actually seen both &, better yet, had your hands on them. The Narragansetts are much lighter, sleeker, more streamlined. They're built a lot more like wild turkeys.
Thomas just looks so big in most pics because he's displaying.

C.

 

[Mother2Hens]

How's everybody else holding up with all this rain? My poor hens went to bed early tonight and when I went to check on them they were soaked! *their down feathers were dry, they just looked so pitiful! I know they are capable of going into the hen house when necessary but I just felt so bad for them. So they are inside the house tonight. I thought since today is International Respect for Chickens Day, the least I could do was give them one night without rain & wind!

Love your post! I pat my girls dry with a towel and give them some heat for 20 mins to fluff their feathers before they go to bed. I have some heavy plastic covers that I can attach to different areas of the coop when it's cold or windy. Trying to sleep while sopping wet seems miserable.
Originally Posted by kittydoc

We lost our blue English Orp roo Junior recently. He was Cogburn's son and a wonderful boy, not quite as big as Cog but with a better comb. With all the rain, I had been avoiding the chicken yard and he was so fluffy Jay didn't notice until he was seriously ill. Crop impaction AND sour crop. I put him on Nystatin and he was better for a few days, then crashed and burned. He died in my arms. I'm still pretty busted up about it. I have no blues to replace him with, but I think I'll keep a solid chocolate cockerel and have mauves. I may hatch a few this season with my choc cuckoo boy and my four blue hens. Anyone interested, potentially?

Lots of chicks hanging around and in need of new homes. Chocolates and chocolate cuckoos mostly. I am redoing my lav breeders and will have some still quite productive lav hens for sale to people I know later on this year. They still lay great, but we are full with young girls.

I have a lovely but lonely choc cuckoo pullet available. Hatched 1/31. @ellymayRans has a pair of her siblings and @Mother2Hens also has one from last season (Mocha, seen in her last post); she also has one of my chocolates, Zipporah. They are so pretty! This pullet is living alone and not liking it. Would give listers a deal on her!

Our Australorp layers are very productive, as our silver grey Dorkings. The latter get boyfriends next week, so I'll have SGD chicks next year. They are SO sweet. They adore DH. I'm getting some LF Cochins and Hamburgs just as pets, all females.

We finally had such a hardcore Orp broody I had to give her eggs to sit. No idea if any will hatch. We'll find out late this week. If it works, it will be our first natural hatch. I hope it works out. We only gave her four eggs and two have gotten soiled, so keep your fingers crossed.
@kittydoc ~ So sorry to hear about Junior and that both of you had to go through rough times!

It's so heartbreaking.

And yes, my fluffy Orpingtons that I got from you are gorgeous!

I will take some new pictures when the weather improves.

I hope your broody works out!

It is so fun and exciting to have a hen hatch eggs! My 4 year old Silkie, Smalty, has been broody for almost a week, but I can't count on her. I let her sit on hatching eggs a couple of years ago, and she quit after two weeks. I felt terrible. Around once a year, she will go broody for a few days or a week or two. I take her out of the nest off and on to divert her attention for a while. I hate when she sits in there all day for no reason.

Mark me down for a Silver Grey Dorking pullet next year! @pipdzipdnreadytogo has raved about them, and it's nice to have a new breed.

That's exciting that you're getting LF Cochins! I've kept my eye out for two years, but Indiana members haven't had any to sell that I've known about. Since I have a small flock, can't order from a hatchery. I'd love to have a LF Cochin pullet since I'm crazy about my Bantam Cochins from @ellymayRans . It would be interesting to see the difference because although they both are friendly and loving, the bantams have that fiesty Napoleon complex that characterizes most bantams.

lol !!! I just read ahead and saw a new post from @CochinCuddlr

Welcome to the Indiana Thread! @CochinCuddlr Can't wait to hear about your Cochins!
Also Welcome to @jonesfamily6 and others I may have missed!

@pginsber ~ It is so sad to hear about Edith!

I'm sure she had a wonderful 5 years. Were you ever able to find anything out about her color fading? I've only heard of sun fading feathers, but obviously Edith's was caused by something else. My 4 year old BR Tweedy (who died from the mystery illness last year) was a very special chicken—a very smart and sensible, even tempered flock leader. I would like to get another BR sometime. I was tempted the other day when I was in Indy because Agrarian has some.