INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Chaneys Ranch]

He was hatched in late June when we were completely overwhelmed with chicks, county fair, 4-H, etc, so I gave some chicks to a nearby teen to "babysit." She did a great job raising her own chicks (which we sold her in the spring), so I knew they'd be in good hands. The girl ended up buying a few of the chicks she was babysitting, but this very friendly laced one ended up being a male - which she could not keep. He wasn't the prettiest, but he was used to living in the house as a pet. He had some culture shock when returned and was no longer king of the brooder. He had to live outside! There was grass, trees, bright sunshine, dogs, and adult chickens! As soon as he saw me, he'd come running and stay as close as possible to me. (Often standing on my boots or leaning against me like a dog.) If I went to the back garden, he went to the back garden. He just wouldn't leave my side and it didn't matter if I had treats or not. It never bothers him to be picked up or petted, he's great with the kids too, and has never shown any signs of aggression. His outgoing, loving, loyal personality earned him the nickname "Puppy." I ended up giving away 2 of Puppy's brothers for breeding, and all of his sisters were quickly sold. I noticed that Puppy kept getting more handsome as he matured, so I decided to grow him out for a while. (Thinking practically, he could be a back-up if something happened to Mr Wonderful or he just might end up being a surprisingly beautiful roo someday. If not, we could always process him in the future. If I processed him at 5-6mo, then I couldn't go back & change my mind.)

Today: He's crowing sometimes, but not mating as far as I can see. Due to the hawks, I'm not letting the flock free range, so I don't know if he'd still follow me all over the yard. He still greets me like all the other chickens in the run, but like the others, when I don't hand out treats, he'll go back to his own business. I'm not really offended. After all, he is a rooster, so his attention is bound to go to the hens at some point. Mr Dummy (although a terrific rooster & pet) also favored the hens but always allowed us to bend down & pick him up at any time.

Oh, I'd love to go on & on about Puppy.
.....BUT our actual puppy, Kepler, decided to play in the mud. UGH! Lots of mud! (He's normally all one color.) His playtime was followed by a bath.

It figures he'd do something like this. I cleaned the house & did a thorough job on all the floors. I had planned to catch up on laundry & errands today, but cleaning up after Kepler took up my afternoon.
View attachment 1635851 View attachment 1635852

I love both the Puppy's stories!

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Gearing up for the garden! Doing a test with my Jump Start T5 grow light system. I repurposed 5 ice cream buckets, 2 misc containers. We set up in our unused garage, there's some water damage below the window so I've got repairs to make anyways. I planted cherry tomato, jalepeno, okra, snap pea, chard, kale, bunching onion and a few lettuce varieties. Using heat mats for the plants that need it.

Annual livestock vaccines and deworming if needed. Lot of spring plans! We plan to build an actual birthing and milk barn. My brother bought me a brand new milking machine for Christmas! We finished building the cow stanchion, so now we need to get the 2 Jersey cows, and Daisy the heifer used to it. Our Hereford cows won't produce enough milk to worry with, but all the cows and bull need to be ok with going in it. I will also use it for annual vet checks, chutes are extremely expensive for a small herd.

 

[pginsber]

Well, I collected 9 Leghorn eggs today and one Cornish Cross egg! I also saw 1 pullet egg in my EEs, looks olive! I left it in the nest since most of the girls are new layers. I'm planning to hatch early with the breeds I keep so they are laying by summer. Some of my girls are pretty old 5+ and I hate buying chicks. Going to hatch a few weeks to get some new flock members going.
Whats your favorite chicken breeds for eggs? I love leghorn for a ton of eggs and great feed conversion excellent free ranged. Mixed flock for longevity, BR, BO, DC, Maran & CX. Egg colors and resilient birds, excellent free ranged. My EE/OE flock I've had for almost 7 years, love the egg colors and feed conversion, excellent free ranged.

We have tried a few new breeds this year, as our hens are older, too (5-6yrs). The Norwegian jaerhon's were good layers their first year-smallish white eggs, laid every day and seemed like they ate very little; the Naked necks are super fun! I read they're like puppies and will follow people around. It's TRUE! They seem to LOVE attention, come up to us for pettings and treats, and the pullets have laid large brown torpedo-shaped eggs throughout the winter. The Brown leghorn is a winner in laying, too, but overall, my Dominique is my favorite layer and overall bird.

 

[Nyla]

So I got 2 pairs of Mandarins and 2 extra females last night from Wisconsin!
Males are Standard Split To White , Females are all Whites!
My mandarin pair from Mallard Lane Farms comes home on Wednesday!
Pictures were taken last night after arriving home from a 10 hour drive!
1 pair and a white female He bought Zepswildacres. He originally bought 1 white pair and one split to white male with white hen pair, and he bought the same from White Feather Farms. His two white Males where killed. he showed me paperwork on all of them with His order numbers from the two farms he bought from. None of the ducks are related! All are 2-3 years old too so I should have LOTs of babies!

I plan to separate them in their Own Aviary's labeled by colors! So I can keep track of whose ducklings are whose and zip tie them by their Aviary Color!

Anyone looking to have Mandarins?

 

[Faraday40]

So I got 2 pairs of Mandarins and 2 extra females last night from Wisconsin!View attachment 1636561 View attachment 1636563

Congrats on your very pretty ducks!

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

So I got 2 pairs of Mandarins and 2 extra females last night from Wisconsin!
Males are Standard Split To White , Females are all Whites!
My mandarin pair from Mallard Lane Farms comes home on Wednesday!
Pictures were taken last night after arriving home from a 10 hour drive!
1 pair and a white female He bought Zepswildacres. He originally bought 1 white pair and one split to white male with white hen pair, and he bought the same from White Feather Farms. His two white Males where killed. he showed me paperwork on all of them with His order numbers from the two farms he bought from. None of the ducks are related! All are 2-3 years old too so I should have LOTs of babies!

I plan to separate them in their Own Aviary's labeled by colors! So I can keep track of whose ducklings are whose and zip tie them by their Aviary Color!

Anyone looking to have Mandarins?
View attachment 1636561 View attachment 1636563

Congrats, beautiful little ducks! I had true Mallard a few years ago, realized then small ducks just don't do well here. Love the indigo blacks too, but I just don't have a setup for ornamental fowl. We are more a farm, so the species we keep are all a dual purpose breed. Love to see more pictures! Enjoy seeing what other folks can keep.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

We have tried a few new breeds this year, as our hens are older, too (5-6yrs). The Norwegian jaerhon's were good layers their first year-smallish white eggs, laid every day and seemed like they ate very little; the Naked necks are super fun! I read they're like puppies and will follow people around. It's TRUE! They seem to LOVE attention, come up to us for pettings and treats, and the pullets have laid large brown torpedo-shaped eggs throughout the winter. The Brown leghorn is a winner in laying, too, but overall, my Dominique is my favorite layer and overall bird.

I enjoyed the Jaerhons a lot, and naked necks were always so social! Haven't kept the other 2 breeds. I downsized to 3 breeds when my mom started to fail, miss the diversity. I still keep EE, White Leghorn and a mixed flock covered by my Dark Cornish rooster.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

7 eggs today, 5 WL, 1 CX 1 EE. It was still daylight at 6pm here!
I am full steam planning the garden, will start spring seed plants February 1st. Anyone have opinion on eggplant? I've never ate it. Oldest DD likes it and haven't found it in the store yet to try. I've got a ton of seeds from her all sorts of stuff. Maybe I will do 2 plants and try it. Anyone interested in seed or egg swapping? I think it would be fun, just shout out.

 

[Chelps03]

Hello all I'm from SW Indiana and was looking for a good dealer in chicks. Anyone know or should I just do mypetchicken.com or TSC?

 

[Nyla]

I personally go with Meyer Hatchery or Cackle Hatchery. They are cheapest I've found. I've had 5 shipments total 3 from Meyer and 2 from Cackle. All arrived healthy!

Hello all I'm from SW Indiana and was looking for a good dealer in chicks. Anyone know or should I just do mypetchicken.com or TSC?