INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[kanina]

This search for Lavender Muscovy's is really bumming me out! So far I found a fellow BYC member but she only does first come first served. She refuses to let me buy them. She said I have to check her FB page and its first come first served... Why tell me about it then?
And now I found a person 2 hours away from me but they are the same way.... I don't use facebook.... So depressed over this! Lavender Muscovy's is the only color I don't have and have been searching for over 2 years now..

Are they in my direction? I would be happy to get ahold of them on FB and get them picked up. PM me the pages and I'll look in to it tonight.

 

[pginsber]

Has anybody bought hatching eggs from a place in Illinois called Ritter Livestock?

I'm bouncing around the idea of some Naked Necks next year, so I'm doing a little legwork now.

 

[Nyla]

Does anyone know of others near you that have Lavender Muscovies?

I had to put plastic on the roof of my new coop I'm building... Rain just loves to ruin plans!
This is my new coop for one of my breeding groups. It's built out of two free wooden shipping crates. I'm going to get more wooden crates and build more coops.
Debating on building and selling the coops to others.
This coop is 3'6" wide by 3ft long and 4'6" tall.
This is what the wooden crates looked like before:

And now 2 of them are a coop:

 

[Leahs Mom]

@Faraday40
Do you use the nipple waterers during the summer too? If not, how long does it take them to learn to use them when you switch them in?

I have a couple of buckets with the horiz. but never really took the time to teach them to use it. I only use restricted opening waterers in the winter (with a heat source). And I did put the bucket with the horizontals also, but always felt like I liked to see them drinking from a pool and never pushed the nipple.

Every time winter comes around I always wonder if I should try remove the regular ones and just leave them with the horiz. But I don't have the time to be sure they're getting their drink so I haven't done it.

 

[Leahs Mom]

@JanetMarie
That mix sure is pretty! How is the temperament?

 

[Faraday40]

@Faraday40
Do you use the nipple waterers during the summer too? If not, how long does it take them to learn to use them when you switch them in?

I have a couple of buckets with the horiz. but never really took the time to teach them to use it. I only use restricted opening waterers in the winter (with a heat source). And I did put the bucket with the horizontals also, but always felt like I liked to see them drinking from a pool and never pushed the nipple.

Every time winter comes around I always wonder if I should try remove the regular ones and just leave them with the horiz. But I don't have the time to be sure they're getting their drink so I haven't done it.

My chicks use vertical nipples in the brooder. I only really need one chick to try & then all of them want a turn. It keeps things nice & clean, and I just feel better when I know that they're not drinking . Likewise when they get moved around into chicken tractors or an area of the coop. I just use clips to hang bottles all over at various heights. They're so cheap & easy to make from things in the recycle bin. When I switched them to horiz nipples in their 2nd winter, they used them right away. I think mine may prefer a big, sloppy drink from a pool of water, so to reduce mud puddle drinking, I put a few traditional drinkers out on the patio & under trees. I do see the level of water in the nipple drinker going down, so I know they're using that one as well. Perhaps they just use whatever's close.

As far as winter, yes, the heated bucket with nipples is the only source of water. (Or perhaps snow b/c I've seen some young pullets try to eat it. LOL) The water level goes down much faster in the winter, so I know they're drinking.

 

[kanina]

Does anyone know of others near you that have Lavender Muscovies?

I had to put plastic on the roof of my new coop I'm building... Rain just loves to ruin plans!
This is my new coop for one of my breeding groups. It's built out of two free wooden shipping crates. I'm going to get more wooden crates and build more coops.
Debating on building and selling the coops to others.
This coop is 3'6" wide by 3ft long and 4'6" tall.
This is what the wooden crates looked like before:
View attachment 1152624
And now 2 of them are a coop:
View attachment 1152625 View attachment 1152626 View attachment 1152627 View attachment 1152628 View attachment 1152629 View attachment 1152630 View attachment 1152631

I've been looking all over for those! Begged DH to bring some home from work, says they have to send them back. I think hes fibbin'.

My chicks use vertical nipples in the brooder. I only really need one chick to try & then all of them want a turn. It keeps things nice & clean, and I just feel better when I know that they're not drinking . Likewise when they get moved around into chicken tractors or an area of the coop. I just use clips to hang bottles all over at various heights. They're so cheap & easy to make from things in the recycle bin. When I switched them to horiz nipples in their 2nd winter, they used them right away. I think mine may prefer a big, sloppy drink from a pool of water, so to reduce mud puddle drinking, I put a few traditional drinkers out on the patio & under trees. I do see the level of water in the nipple drinker going down, so I know they're using that one as well. Perhaps they just use whatever's close.

As far as winter, yes, the heated bucket with nipples is the only source of water. (Or perhaps snow b/c I've seen some young pullets try to eat it. LOL) The water level goes down much faster in the winter, so I know they're drinking.

I have a heated dog bowl we use (in winter), but we also have a nipple drinker. I'm wondering if a pond warmer will work for the nipple drinker through the winter because it has PVC that the nipples hang from. But on the other hand, I might be better off taking the nipple drinker down and letting them use the duck pond through winter since that will have warmer in it.

So many things to do to get ready for winter.

 

[Leahs Mom]

I'm very cautious regarding what water sources they have available in winter. Anything open - a bowl, pool, etc. - can be the source of a terrible accident with frostbite that can cause permanent damage.

Birds get flapping around and can get a foot into an open water source in the flash of an eye and that foot will get frostbite and they may lose it entirely.

Same caution with wattles dragging in an open waterer. They freeze and then a horrible case of frostbite.

So I'm an advocate of restricted opening waterers for winter rather than open water sources.

An ounce of prevention....

So far my best system has been a regular chick waterer with a half-gallon jar (honey jar) setting on a heated dog bowl that's filled with grit and water to conduct the heat. It's worked very well, but I'm considering just using a low watt red light in a protected heat lamp fixture pointed at the waterer this year and eliminating the dog bowl altogether. Wattles don't get in and no one can step in it by mistake.

edited to add: If you notice my setup, I can put the light bulb fixture outside of the kennel pen pointed at the glass jar so it's never in with the chickens.

I like the idea of the horizontal nipples also and they do stay thawed with a small heater inside (I've used the submersible 50 wt glass aquarium heater in them with a thermocube. But I just get concerned that they don't get enough water that way. Maybe I'll have to get over it!

 

[Leahs Mom]

@kanina
If you're talking about vertical nipples, they will freeze solid in winter. Only the horizontal ones will work in the winter with a heater in the bucket.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Here's a photo that shows the horizontal nipples on a bucket. I had one of the "birdbath heater in it...you can see the cord. Those things are 250 watts!!!!! I put a pyrex round container in the bottom of the bucket and sit the heater in that so it's not cooking on the plastic. 250 watts is way overkill.

@Faraday40
See....even when I had the horizontals in there I also had the regular waterer too!