INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Faraday40]

But you can't deny that seeing a llama as a flock protector in a neighborhood would be the most awesome thing ever!

We actually had a couple in town that had an alpaca. The neighborhood kids loved it & the couple took their pet for regular walks.

As for me, I have the solar, red, blinky, LED lights & talk radio playing all night. I told my next door neighbor about the fox & the radio. She was relieved to know about the radio. She laughed & said that she kept hearing "little voices" when she went out back with her recycling.

I also read that male urine could be a fox deterrent, so I've been letting my dogs out back. They happily mark their territory, but they're neutered so I do not know if that will still have the desired effect. As a back-up plan, I asked DS & DH to help out as well.

 

[nenebynature]

Updates:
No signs that the fox has returned. I've been having my male dogs, DS, & DH pee all over the backyard. Also I turn talk radio on at night & have 3 solar, blinky, red LED lights nailed around the coop.

The dog definitely got sprayed in the mouth. We removed the worst of the skunk smell on Sat night & he wasn't bad on Sunday. However, the stink is returning & at its worst when he's licking, drinking, or eating. Last time this happened, it took several months for him to return to his normal level of stink. (He likes to roll in and eat poop, so he really only smells good right after a bath. ) How can such a pretty dog always smell so bad?

Darth Layer is still with us, but I am not optimistic. She looks miserable & is not eating/drinking on her own. i fear botulism or a fall. The kids said she fell out of a tree late last week but was running around with the flock on Sat. All of a sudden on Sunday morning, she looked like she only has hours left of life. I tube fed her a few times to see if it would help. No other chickens are acting sick.

I know she's depressed & molting, but her head is always down & she's not walking much. She's thin & pale. DD is feeling very sad. Darth Layer is her orig fav. I too am feeling bad.

Poor bunny! Those sweet eyes. I'm so worried about my girls. Im getting grater by the day imagining everything thing that could happen. I can only imagine how I'd be as a human parent! I'm so worried that my string of good luck will eventually run out. None of mine have gotten ill yet. Frank the Tank, my hound has gotten a hold of a couple who forgot about his lead perimeter but I was able to intervene in time to separate them and get the chooks to safety. I appreciate having a place to research and learn through others' experiences.

I've had a dog sprayed by skunk before and it took so long for the stink to go away. My basset Gypsy Luanne is loving having chickens. Found her in the chicken run the other day while the girls were going to roost wallering like a hog in crap in all of the straw and chicken poop. She came out looking like she was crossed with zebra. Yuck. Late night basset bath was in immediate order.

 

[nenebynature]

With great sadness I must tell you that our beloved Darth Layer (aka Darthy & DL) passed away today. She has always been a flock favorite and a sensitive, loyal, loving bird. She is now at peace and joins her sister Cuddles.

Who knew that this fun "science experiment" would give us a flock & change our lives?
Although we've had many chickens, Darth Layer, was something special.


She perfected her art of Photo-bombing. (Taught by Precious who is still our undefeated champ.)


Darthy was one of the original "treat monsters" and ALWAYS one of the 1st hens to come running when called. She loved to jump up into the air to catch a high flying treat. She also always had a look about her - like she had a secret. Although most people think of me as an owner of impressive Lav orps, it's the black iridescent shine of DL's feathers that was truly impressive. And of course the name: Darth Layer has its own share of great stories.

We have a white hen: Princess Lay-a, so when a black orp hatched, we joked about how it was the opposite, so we nicknamed it "Darth Layer." We always joked how she used "the force" to make us give her treats and sang the Imperial March (Darth Vader's tune) whenever we shared a funny story about her.
(Clucking: Bawk, Bawk, Bawk, Ba Ba Baaa-wk, Ba Ba Baaa-wk....)
BTW- Cookie also hatched with Darth Layer. We didn't intend to keep a bantam with LF, but she had a lot of spirit and stayed close to her sister & protector: Darth Layer. DL's sidekick, Cookie, later earned the nickname - "the Bantam Menace" and we no longer worried about little Cookie getting bullied.

Below: Cuddles, DL, & Cookie when they 1st saw snow & were not impressed. They didn't leave the run until it all melted.

Most importantly, Darthy was the heart of the flock. When chicks grew older & left by their mama, DL would look after them to make sure they were OK and ease their transition. When roos would be rehomed or hens sold to new homes (even if a bully) DL would notice & get depressed. She stopped laying for 6 months when her other sister & buddy, Cuddles, died. Darthy enjoyed snuggles and her favorite person was my DD.

DD is now crying & will be for several days. When school started DD plastered her locker with multiple chickens pics - many are of Darthy. Her teacher requested each child bring in a photo from the summer for a class project. She brought in a pic of herself with 2 silkies & DL in her lap. That is how I will remember DL= snuggled up in DD's arms while reading a book, watching TV, or relaxing under her tree.

RIP my sweet Darth Layer.

What a special girl. Thank you for sharing her story. Sounds like you and your family gave her a lovely life.

 

[nenebynature]

I just got the smallest Coturnix Quail egg ever!! It's smaller than a dime!
Is this bad? None of my quails seem different?
View attachment 1125782 View attachment 1125783 View attachment 1125784 View attachment 1125785 View attachment 1125786 View attachment 1125787

How sweet! Those eggs are so very pretty. I don't know anything about quail though. I wish I had gotten a picture of the fairy egg I got a couple weeks ago. Found it in the straw. Looks like one of the First Ladies dropped it. Woulda loved to see it happen!

 

[nenebynature]

We actually had a couple in town that had an alpaca. The neighborhood kids loved it & the couple took their pet for regular walks.

As for me, I have the solar, red, blinky, LED lights & talk radio playing all night. I told my next door neighbor about the fox & the radio. She was relieved to know about the radio. She laughed & said that she kept hearing "little voices" when she went out back with her recycling.

I also read that male urine could be a fox deterrent, so I've been letting my dogs out back. They happily mark their territory, but they're neutered so I do not know if that will still have the desired effect. As a back-up plan, I asked DS & DH to help out as well.

I met a group of llamas when I was house hunting a few years ago. I now have them on my animal bucket list. I just probably need to win the lottery.

I can only imagine how freaky it would for your neighbors be to hearing the radio and not know where the voices were coming from! Hahah. I may try the radio idea in the future. I take Frank the monster hound over to pee by the coop occasionally (not as often as I should) and Gypsy usually does her business over there in search of chicken poo to roll in. I often invite male visitors to pee over there too. I get weird reactions. Gah. City folk.

 

[nenebynature]

View attachment 1111901 View attachment 1111902 View attachment 1111903

Here's Mr Babe.

Wow. What a hunk a roo! My buff Orpington that I'm thinking could be a he looks very similar to yours. I am going to just be patient though. I've had mixed reviews when I posted pictures. The other six First Ladies are squatting and at least four are laying. The buff Orpingtons are running on their own schedule.

 

[nenebynature]

View attachment 1113209 View attachment 1113208 Here's a new addition that I brought home last week. I thought my Cotton Patch gander/gosling named Wilbur, would be better if another goose was around, especially when his best friend an Ameraucana cockerel starts to get more interested in the pullets.

How wonderful!!!!

 

[Faraday40]

I met a group of llamas when I was house hunting a few years ago. I now have them on my animal bucket list. I just probably need to win the lottery.

I can only imagine how freaky it would for your neighbors be to hearing the radio and not know where the voices were coming from! Hahah. I may try the radio idea in the future. I take Frank the monster hound over to pee by the coop occasionally (not as often as I should) and Gypsy usually does her business over there in search of chicken poo to roll in. I often invite male visitors to pee over there too. I get weird reactions. Gah. City folk.

Our dogs share some of those same chicken-loving genes. They actually don't give any thought about the birds, but the droppings are another story. I have a fence to partition the yard just to keep them away from the poop. Now that I'm allowing them to run into the back part of the yard 1-2xs per day, they're very happy (& stinky) dogs.

 

[Indyshent]

Thankfully neither of my dogs is a "roller" or wants anything to do with poop. Bad news of course us that both will go inside seemingly every time they think they might be able to get away with it, Ursa thinks poultry are delectable, and Sadie hates tom turkeys.

Neither has killed a turkey, but Sadie has drawn blood several times because she goes for their necks. If she really wanted to, I know she could kill one. Haven't had any problems with the dogs vs the turkeys since Thanksgiving went to @jchny2000. Jake doesn't seem as partially dog imprinted as Thanksgiving, so he's not trying to fight or mate with them.

Ursa doesn't seem to be purposefully killing them (except the pheasant, which she ate), just playing with them til their batteries run out. She loves pulling feathers out, mouthing everything, and pinning other critters. She's especially fascinated by the new silkies, so it's a doubly good thing those birds can't fly. She seems more concerned about chicks, so I'm wondering if she just tried to pick one up and accidentally killed it.

As many other persistent bad habits as these two have, I'm so glad they don't roll in poop.

 

[Nyla]

So upset right now..
I have an ad up on craigslist for selling day old ducklings, and this person texted my cell asking to buy 1 blue pied female duckling, 1 5lb bag of starter feed and a heat bulb. Which was okay and we agreed on a meet up location and they said they lived only 20 minutes away and that they were leaving that moment and will be in a silver Jetta. I waited 30 minutes in the parking lot for them. They texted saying "sorry just now leaving". I waited for another hour. I texted them multiple times and called 3 times, no answer. Who does this?