INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[JanetMarie]

@Leahs Mom I grow sage, parsley, thyme, rosemary, lovage, Mexican marigold, cilantro, sweet basil, and Italian oregano. The sage, parsley, rosemary, thyme, Mexican marigold, and lovage I like to use with meat. Celery too, which I use the leaves for seasoning also. With being on a very limited diet it helps a lot to have the extra flavors.

Some others for landscaping and bees. Mint grows invasively too.

I don't grow enough herbs to sell right now, but did try to when I had some extra. Most people do not like to cut up fresh herbs, but would rather purchase the shaker form from a supermarket.

The bagger is for our Kubota, that was purchased from HFS Tractor in Baroda, Michigan. We had been using a John Deer to mow, but like you said, just letting it lie there and not using it...

I didn't like plasticizing the garden. Who knows what leaches from the plastic into the soil when the sun warms it, besides not letting all the rain get through.

 

[Faraday40]

This last week has been very rough. (My fav hen & both our dogs died.) Lots of tears & sadness!

However, there was one bright part. Here are my 2 baby seramas.

The white one reminds me of the siklied serama daddy. "He's" very needy and peeps a lot to be held.

The chipmunk one is quiet, slightly smaller, and content. "She" looks like her mama serama.

The white one was peeping in panic (unless being held) nonstop. It got old really quick! I asked the kids to donate a stuffed animal they no longer wanted to the chicks.
Here's their new mama: a rainbow tiger.
We were making all kinds of predator-prey jokes about it, but by the end of the night, they eventually fell asleep with the help of this cheap carnival toy.

 

[Faraday40]

Trouble's orpington chicks are now 4 weeks old. Let's play, guess that gender!
1 = ?
2 = female
3 = obvious male
4 = male
5 = possible female
6 = possible female
7 = ?
* and this blue orp is the only one I considered keeping. The comb/wattles have a touch of color but not obvious like #s 3 & 4. This chick came from Jewel's line, which has been known to give females with early big pink wattles.

The only guesses I feel confident about are chicks 2, 3, & 4.

 

[Faraday40]

My 2 seramas are 1 week old. The white is a day older & slightly bigger. Both are sweet, spoiled, & love to be held. Here are some pics.

They don't look like they inherited their daddy's silkied feathers, but boy do they look exactly like their parents as chicks. Here's what Noodle & Teddy looked like right after hatch & at 3 weeks old:

 

[Leahs Mom]

Pretty kiddos

 

[Faraday40]

I took some pics today of the chickens.
Here's Cupcake (perhaps I should change her name to MuffinTop)

Here's Jewel:

and Blizzard - still molting but looking better now that she has back feathers.

I sold all Smudge's Spitzhauben chicks but kept the one lav orp. At the time I thought it was male, so not worth the effort to sell. At 11 weeks, I now think she's a pullet.
BTW- Smudge is molting, so that's why she looks "thin"

Here's the same lav orp at 5 weeks:


Speaking of Lavs, here's my cockerel (May 1st hatch). He was my 2nd choice, but the 1st choice decided to peck at the kids. This guy is BIG. Perhaps even bigger than my old roo Moose. I like parts of him, but he's also awkward. I think it's the tail. It's straight but he holds it at different angles. His comb is not as nice as other roos, but no sprigs or extra points. I'm growing out a back up just in case this guy doesn't turn out.

 

[Faraday40]

I decided to post my fav duo separately.
Here's Oreo & Double Stuff.


I tried getting their pics separately, but it was difficult. They're a package deal & always mirror each other. Here are just some random pics of these pretty gals walking around the yard. You can see why I simply could not decided which ONE to keep.

 

[Faraday40]

Just a few more...
a choc orp

Mr Wonderful is now Mr Molt. He looks so bad without his tail.

... and here's "Puppy' That's the nickname we gave him. He's supposed to be a future dinner b/c I have no use for him. (Partial laced orp, so not going to breed him) He's actually nicer than my fav roo, Mr Dummy-Pants (RIP). Whenever we're outside, he 's right there to greet us & follow us around. Hoping to find him a home. He also reminds me a little of Precious - my photo-bombing hen. Puppy wants to help with everything! So if I'm looking at a camera, he wants to look too!

 

[Leahs Mom]

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@Faraday40
How old are these 2? Are they the ones that were just a week or so older than the ones I took?

I'll have to get some recent photos, but my 2 are still predominantly black.

 

[Faraday40]

@Faraday40
How old are these 2? Are they the ones that were just a week or so older than the ones I took?

I'll have to get some recent photos, but my 2 are still predominantly black.

Yes, these are 2-4 weeks older than yours. By now, my summer hatches are all blurred.

Here's what they looked like in early September. Oreo always had good-looking lacing, but Double Stuff had a lot of black. It's so hard to tell what they'll look like as adults.

Even now, DS doesn't have the best lacing - especially on her back & tail. It's getting better with age, and I hope it continues.

Now: