INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[JanetMarie]

My husband just let me buy the last pair of Split to White Male and White Female Pair of Mandarin Ducks from Mallard Lane Farms!!!!!
They ship out on Monday January 7th.

It costed way more then I would ever pay again... ($325 with shipping).
I'm at a cross road. I'm upset/sad about how much we paid for just 2 ducks. But I'm also very excited because I've wanted Mandarins for over 12 years. It's what got me into Muscovy's. Muscovy's where the closest resemblance to them, cheaper, and closest. I still plan to get Muscovy's again and hope to get the Muscovy's to hatch the Mandarin Eggs.
There is a couple Mandarin Breeders near me (3-6 Hours away). But I didn't really trust people on CL to sell me "non-related" Pairs. For all I know they could be siblings. At least now I have a proper pair that are Guaranteed NON-Related. And this allows me to buy or even trade Mandarins with the other sellers for new blood lines!
I'm going to keep my pair in the house in a dog cage till I can build their Aviary. And it isn't going to be cheep! I plan to fully enforce it all around and on the ground! I'm going to make a welded wire flooring fully secured around the entire floor and base and then bury it with 2ft of clean fill dirt. The walls of the Aviary will be wrapped with 1/4" Welded wire with Heavy Duty Lattice on top. Roof is going to be plywood with shingles or metal roofing. The Gate will have a pad lock on it at all times. I can't wait!

I paid quite a bit for my Cotton Patch goose pair. Paid for hatching eggs twice to get my male, then this past summer found and purchased the single grown female from another source. I would feel the same way if I spent that amount all at once.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

@pipdzipdnreadytogo
Here's the one serama I think is a male:
His name was "yellow chick" here and he's being very spoiled and well loved in his new home. (This pic was taken on Thurs or Fri, so a little shy of 4 weeks) He has some height to his comb & it's dark pink at the base. I was told tiny red wattles are just starting to drop down.View attachment 1628680
Compared to the remaining ones here, I feel more confident HE's a male.

The two seramas here have combs shorter than their head fluff. I'm hoping they still look female in a week..... and the following week.... and so on.



.... and Roxy certainly does look like a spitfire! Your silkied cochins look amazing!

YEAH, that's quite a comparison! I think you're pretty safe.



I do adore my silkied Cochins, but of course y'all are aware of that. I'm planning on outcrossing them to my smooth Mottled Cochin bantams to add some new blood, and possibly breed back to Black silkieds like the one cockerel I had. I can't decide if I want to prioritize that or the Dorkings, since the Dorking girls turned their beaks up at Darwin and not a single egg was even fertilized from that batch last spring. Not sure if I have enough coop room to do both, so I'll have to make that call in the spring.

...Unless we build a new coop next year to move all the Cochin bantams to...

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

I got word from an old chicken friend yesterday that had moved to PA. She went NPIP with her flock, and plans to start shipping eggs. She is shipping me a few eggs, free and wants an honest report back. Any broken eggs, viable etc. They will be a mix of Marans, blue, black and splash.
I'm excited but in the past eggs shipped that far don't do well. I'm bringing in my sportsman cabinet indoors so the incubator isn't struggling with winter temps. And ugh, guess I'm brooding indoors. Love baby chicks, not a fan of all the dust. Really bad time of year for chicks, but too good an opportunity to pass up.
If anyone local is looking for Leghorn or EE I plan to toss in what eggs I have at the time.

 

[Nyla]

Thank you! I hope to make them spoiled!

I think I'd wait a bit on the Orp to be sure, but it looks like a pullet for now. I'm not sure I'm confident enough to say on the Seramas. I understand they mature quite early, so those two are if anything underdeveloped for males, even though they would on first impression strike me as males... The chipmunk striped one does remind me of Roxy when she was a baby, though, and I was sure she was a cockerel for a while there.
Speaking of Rox, here she is today. Look at this face! Such a spitfire!
View attachment 1628658Wow, congrats! Sounds like they'll have it made in that pen you're planning!!

Thank You! I will take videos and tons of Pictures!

Is your DH applying for husband of the year? LOL
Sounds like you're going to have a duck palace. Congrats and post lots of pics when they arrive.

I keep telling myself "It was money that was never there. One way another it would have went poof so why not" I also keep thinking about all the Muscovy's, chickens, and quails I could have bought with that money instead. So to distract myself from it I just keep watching videos and reading up on Mandarins. I hope to trade a couple pairs from breeders close by come Fall. Since I will only have 1 pair their off spring will need their own unrelated mate. I have one person interested in trading me already, but they only are willing to trade their extra Males for Females... I feel that is a little bit of a rip off. But I may just go with it.

I paid quite a bit for my Cotton Patch goose pair. Paid for hatching eggs twice to get my male, then this past summer found and purchased the single grown female from another source. I would feel the same way if I spent that amount all at once.

 

[Nyla]

Happy New Years!!

 

[Nyla]

Anyone else have Mandarins or want them in the future?

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

The Maran eggs I'm excited!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Oooh, those eggs are so pretty! I especially like the second from the top on the right. I saved one like that from one of my original BCMs. Sending good hatching vibes!

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Oooh, those eggs are so pretty! I especially like the second from the top on the right. I saved one like that from one of my original BCMs. Sending good hatching vibes!

Thank you! Yes #3 and #7 are both my favorites, #7 is a huge egg.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Cleaned out and freshened the nest boxes yesterday but no chicken eggs today. I think one of the geese are laying. My youngest hen keeps disappearing! Guineas are finally free ranging again! And are finally putting themselves to bed. My old pair (5 years old now!) still thinks they live in the Muscovy coop tho, that's fine. They all must have overheard my mention of a soup pot, oops.
If anyone is interested in trying to raise a cow for beef, I have one Jersey steer left not spoken for. Ideal size for a small family/freezer situation. Moose was 1241lbs live weight and we put around 640lbs in the freezer. He was raised by his Mom Dixie, and big chunky fella like his Dad, Moose was. He turns 5 months Tuesday and is on full feed/hay. PM me if you would like to know more. Dixie below with Moose Jr.:

Moose JR about a week ago, look at the big wide body and legs:

Moose: