INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Faraday40]

Thanks. I really do miss HS & Drumstcks. At least I know that Drumsticks will be enjoyed in his new home as much as he was loved here. I had tried to sell them back in May & was even willing to give him away, but it fell through. I put the pair up on CL on Fri night & woke up to 4 responses by morning.

It's so weird how CL has cycles. In March, my baby chicks sold out in 2 days after hatching. The May hatch took 6 weeks to sell all the chicks. Not many people asking for chickens in June, but now in July chickens are popular again. I don't plan to hatch any more this year, but I wonder if there is some sort of cycle or logic to it.

 

[pginsber]

A weekend of ups & downs. Sold lots of chicks & even my fav Spitzhauben Pair. (Yes, my sweet Drumsticks went to live with a very nice couple. We kept one female, but will still need to get the number down by fall.)It always feels good when you get a chance to meet other chicken families and know that your "babies" are going off to loving homes.
View attachment 1070664


The sad & shocking news is that the chicken number went down by one today. My beloved Bielefelder "Hen Solo" died. The best I can figure is that she got into my garden by jumping the shortest section of fence by the gate. Perhaps she followed my intelligent lightweight athletic hen. Hen Solo probably couldn't find her way out. I do not want chickens in my garden, so I do not have feeders & waterers in there. Bieles don't do well in the heat. Being stuck in direct sunlight on a hot day with no water probably gave her a heart attack. I feel terrible. The fence is suppose to keep the chickens OUT not IN. I found her around 1pm. I already miss her continuous honking for treats as I do my chicken chores.

RIP my dear Hen Solo

I'm so sorry to hear!

 

[Dayrel]

Is this scaly leg mites? This is the hen we got from My brother in law since they are moving to town. I don't know if their legs just get like that as they get older and I'm being paranoid, or not.View attachment 1069049 View attachment 1069050 View attachment 1069048

OK. I'm missing it entirely. I see leg scales. Where are the scaly leg mites?

 

[Faraday40]

OK. I'm missing it entirely. I see leg scales. Where are the scaly leg mites?

You can't see mites without a microscope, but you may see damage from mites in feathers, skin, & scales.

 

[hbrown322]

A weekend of ups & downs. Sold lots of chicks & even my fav Spitzhauben Pair. (Yes, my sweet Drumsticks went to live with a very nice couple. We kept one female, but will still need to get the number down by fall.)It always feels good when you get a chance to meet other chicken families and know that your "babies" are going off to loving homes.
View attachment 1070664


The sad & shocking news is that the chicken number went down by one today. My beloved Bielefelder "Hen Solo" died. The best I can figure is that she got into my garden by jumping the shortest section of fence by the gate. Perhaps she followed my intelligent lightweight athletic hen. Hen Solo probably couldn't find her way out. I do not want chickens in my garden, so I do not have feeders & waterers in there. Bieles don't do well in the heat. Being stuck in direct sunlight on a hot day with no water probably gave her a heart attack. I feel terrible. The fence is suppose to keep the chickens OUT not IN. I found her around 1pm. I already miss her continuous honking for treats as I do my chicken chores.

RIP my dear Hen Solo

So sorry!!

 

[kanina]

Ivomec is not an antibiotic. It is an anti-parasite medicine used to kill roundworms, lungworms, lice and mites. It is more commonly used for cattle and swine. I just want to kill the mites before they spread to the others. They all free-range together.

Sorry I'm late to the party, I quit getting notifications. My grandma uses bag balm or udder balm when she has a leg mite break out. She makes us search for non petroleum base. Her favorite is in a green tin with red lettering. She uses it on her hands as well.

 

[kanina]

My girls aren't laying very well. Went from two eggs a day with two layers to maaaaaaybe one egg a day with four layers. Have a mixed flock, and I have two youngsters that are working on laying.

My original two layers were purchased as proven layers. My second two, I think they're older than the guy told me, but that's ok. Nobody's molting.

My two reliable layers, Bette and Joan were laying great (6 days a week) when they were on grower and then finisher, due to all the pullets. We just made the leap to layer as everyone is of age (18wks+) and that's when the laying "stopped." I do mix in scratch with their crumbles.

Do I want to take the scratch out? Do I want to go back to finisher? I don't know what to do, I miss my fresh eggs!


[edit: what I'm finding on google is that I shouldn't be feeding them scratch with their food. I decided to get them scratch because my rooster wasn't being a good rooster, he didn't explore much and needed help with the whole concept of foraging. But I made the mistake of mixing their feed directly with the scratch. I'm just feeling kinda, DUH, right now]

 

[akorte]

Thanks. I really do miss HS & Drumstcks. At least I know that Drumsticks will be enjoyed in his new home as much as he was loved here. I had tried to sell them back in May & was even willing to give him away, but it fell through. I put the pair up on CL on Fri night & woke up to 4 responses by morning.

It's so weird how CL has cycles. In March, my baby chicks sold out in 2 days after hatching. The May hatch took 6 weeks to sell all the chicks. Not many people asking for chickens in June, but now in July chickens are popular again. I don't plan to hatch any more this year, but I wonder if there is some sort of cycle or logic to it.

My girls aren't laying very well. Went from two eggs a day with two layers to maaaaaaybe one egg a day with four layers. Have a mixed flock, and I have two youngsters that are working on laying.

My original two layers were purchased as proven layers. My second two, I think they're older than the guy told me, but that's ok. Nobody's molting.

My two reliable layers, Bette and Joan were laying great (6 days a week) when they were on grower and then finisher, due to all the pullets. We just made the leap to layer as everyone is of age (18wks+) and that's when the laying "stopped." I do mix in scratch with their crumbles.

Do I want to take the scratch out? Do I want to go back to finisher? I don't know what to do, I miss my fresh eggs!


[edit: what I'm finding on google is that I shouldn't be feeding them scratch with their food. I decided to get them scratch because my rooster wasn't being a good rooster, he didn't explore much and needed help with the whole concept of foraging. But I made the mistake of mixing their feed directly with the scratch. I'm just feeling kinda, DUH, right now]

Out might be a coincidence as well and have nothing to do with the feed. What other variables have changed?

 

[Indyshent]

&

My girls aren't laying very well. Went from two eggs a day with two layers to maaaaaaybe one egg a day with four layers. Have a mixed flock, and I have two youngsters that are working on laying.

My original two layers were purchased as proven layers. My second two, I think they're older than the guy told me, but that's ok. Nobody's molting.

My two reliable layers, Bette and Joan were laying great (6 days a week) when they were on grower and then finisher, due to all the pullets. We just made the leap to layer as everyone is of age (18wks+) and that's when the laying "stopped." I do mix in scratch with their crumbles.

Do I want to take the scratch out? Do I want to go back to finisher? I don't know what to do, I miss my fresh eggs!


[edit: what I'm finding on google is that I shouldn't be feeding them scratch with their food. I decided to get them scratch because my rooster wasn't being a good rooster, he didn't explore much and needed help with the whole concept of foraging. But I made the mistake of mixing their feed directly with the scratch. I'm just feeling kinda, DUH, right now]

Heat will also make them stop laying. How hot are your nest boxes? Might be worth looking into. Any change can cause them to stop laying for awhile.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Thanks. I really do miss HS & Drumstcks. At least I know that Drumsticks will be enjoyed in his new home as much as he was loved here. I had tried to sell them back in May & was even willing to give him away, but it fell through. I put the pair up on CL on Fri night & woke up to 4 responses by morning.

It's so weird how CL has cycles. In March, my baby chicks sold out in 2 days after hatching. The May hatch took 6 weeks to sell all the chicks. Not many people asking for chickens in June, but now in July chickens are popular again. I don't plan to hatch any more this year, but I wonder if there is some sort of cycle or logic to it.

When TSC stops selling chicks I get a lot of calls. I have a close friend that works there and she will give my number out. Other folks prefer to get their chicks from a "real farm" and not a feed store. It does come in spurts! We have a huge number of people joining our Facebook page lately.

My girls aren't laying very well. Went from two eggs a day with two layers to maaaaaaybe one egg a day with four layers. Have a mixed flock, and I have two youngsters that are working on laying.

My original two layers were purchased as proven layers. My second two, I think they're older than the guy told me, but that's ok. Nobody's molting.

My two reliable layers, Bette and Joan were laying great (6 days a week) when they were on grower and then finisher, due to all the pullets. We just made the leap to layer as everyone is of age (18wks+) and that's when the laying "stopped." I do mix in scratch with their crumbles.

Do I want to take the scratch out? Do I want to go back to finisher? I don't know what to do, I miss my fresh eggs!


[edit: what I'm finding on google is that I shouldn't be feeding them scratch with their food. I decided to get them scratch because my rooster wasn't being a good rooster, he didn't explore much and needed help with the whole concept of foraging. But I made the mistake of mixing their feed directly with the scratch. I'm just feeling kinda, DUH, right now]

Oh no, don't be, its how we learn is to ask! 5 years ago I started to keep chickens as layers, instead of keeping for meat only. I learned a lot right here from fellow BYC'ers! Honestly there is a bunch of good replies but the heat index is pretty awful. Spring is eggs galore time, the rest of the year they just don't lay as often. Leghorn, Australorp and RIR are very popular for good reason, they lay very well.