INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[ChrisTheChickenFarmer]

Welcome! Where in Indiana are you located?

We are out in Greencastle. How about you? I'm sorry about your losses, btw.

 

[Leahs Mom]

I definitely thought my safety area was, well, safe. I'm thinking of putting in a 3'x3'x3' safety box in the corner for the babies to get in and out of.

Thoughts?

@kanina

Here is a quote from something I posted a couple years ago showing a little corner I gave 3 growing kiddos that I hope will give you some ideas. I had to put some netting on the top or some of the more agile adults could jump up and over.

I wanted to have a little area they could go if they wanted and also a place I could let them get the amount of food I wanted them to have if I was giving raw meat, sprouts, etc. That way they could get their share before the "olders" got the lion's share.

Found these little "digless fence sections" at Lowes for $13 each piece and made a little corner refuge. I put a little of the deer/bird netting over the top just in case a hawk came in and they ran in there.
The corner is held together with zip ties. Zip ties also attach them to the kennel panel.


The "littles" can fit through the fence posts but the adults can't fit through!









Later with a different group, I made the safe place larger (I purchased a couple more of the fence pieces.)

 

[Leahs Mom]

And...
I also use the plastic green netting for a lot of temporary dividers. You can make it so that little ones can get in but not the elders and it's completely removable so you can put it up or down, or reconfigure as needed. There are some really brittle green nettings that I DON'T buy as they break easily.

I also line the bottom of any fences where they run that have larger openings so that they can't get through.

A couple more photos:

View attachment 1110436

You can see some photos of the green netting used to divide off a section here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/indiana-bycers-here.730582/page-4224#post-15569958 scroll down to the bottom photos.

In my "little house" dog kennel fence, I used plastic netting zip tied to the bottom. In this case, I cut the fence in half length-wise and let some of it be on the ground with the wood chips over it to keep them from slipping under.

At any gate gaps I overlapped on both sides to keep them from slipping through the large gaps.

There's a mamma broody with chicks out ranging on the other side over there. You can see a length of closet shelf lining the bottom of that fence...my husband had lots of it free at work that they were getting rid of so he brought it home and we zip-tied it to the bottom of that fence. Worked well...before the babies were slipping through even though they were pretty old!

 

[Leahs Mom]

PS: We need a photo of your new run!

 

[kanina]

Glad to of found this! First year owning chickens and I love it. I own red sexlinks, rhode island reds, and amberlinks so far! These are my layers and I plan on having some meat birds and turkeys next year.

 

[kanina]

This is essentially what I had in mind. Thanks for putting a visual to it, I know where I'm going now!

 

[Indyshent]

Yard is looking a lot emptier now. Gave Thanksgiving the bronze tom to @jchny2000, sent all but two of her birds back to her now that her coops and runs have been renovated; rehomed a duckling, a snowy mallard hen, and ten chicks to a nice couple with grandkids and a huge pond on twelve acres; and I'm going to sell two ducks and my remaining hens tomorrow (or at least, that's the plan).

So, if everything goes as planned tomorrow, I'll have one pair of mixed heritage turkeys, ten chicks, two broodies on loan, and two roosters. Still keeping a pair of turkeys because I just can't seem to go without my turk-turks. Going to try to refresh the layers by keeping some of the chicks these persistent broodies insist on hatching. Hadn't actually intended to completely sell out but had a tragic accident with an ad on Craigslist, and, coupled with my husband's need of a particular device for work, I needed the cash too much to turn the buyer down. Going to miss my girls.

That said, I've now got two roosters with no hens of my own... so, if anybody's looking for one, PM me, I guess. I have a friendly silver laced Polish rooster who's shaping up pretty good with his girls and the babies, and a blue BYM (1/2 Marans, 1/4 Sumatra, 1/2 EE) who's non-aggressive but doesn't like being picked up, should be carrying some lovely egg genes and long tail genes. His mother and grandmother were excellent layers, and his mom has laid as dark as #8. Neither is terribly loud or obnoxious as roosters go.

David Bowie and Optimus Prime are both one year old this month.

 

[nenebynature]

@nenebynature

Probably a mix. If there's enough meat on him to consider him as a possible dinner, he's not likely a Mediterranean boy. Single combs are common in quite a few popular breeds, and because it's a recessive comb type, the alleles can hide in other breeds, waiting for the I chance to make a sport (like the occasional single comb Wyandotte). His color suggests he's a mix though, probably of a dark bird like an American black copper Marans (no leg feathers) but growing in popularity) or an Australorp, and a red breed like RIR.

Single combed breeds which might've contributed to this handsome boy include: Sussex, Orpingtons, American Marans, Welsummers, Australorps, RIR, NHR, RIW, Plymouth Rocks, Delaware, Old English Games or a closely related game breed.

Wow you really know your stuff! Thank you so much for the information I really appreciate it. He's pretty bony right now because he's so young. I'm hoping he learns to behave because he follows me around like a puppy. He only gets jazzy usually when I first got them out of the coop and at bedtime. He went after a pink garden bucket yesterday like it was talking dirty about his hens. So funny. I have eight more ISA Browns that my neighbor brought me this week and he's been hanging out with them. They're quick to put them in check but they put up with him.

 

[nenebynature]

First crow this morning. Meet "Bootsie," our black Cochin cockerel. He hatched May 7, and arrived on the farm (with his flock mates, 13 buff and white Orpingtonhens and one buff Orpington cockerel) on May 10. The second photo is Bootsie in the brooder, a few months ago.View attachment 1109707View attachment 1109709

Will you post pictures of your buff Orphington Cockrel?

 

[nenebynature]

First crow this morning. Meet "Bootsie," our black Cochin cockerel. He hatched May 7, and arrived on the farm (with his flock mates, 13 buff and white Orpingtonhens and one buff Orpington cockerel) on May 10. The second photo is Bootsie in the brooder, a few months ago.View attachment 1109707View attachment 1109709

He is such a doll!