INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Chaneys Ranch]

Hey all! Hope everyone is staying warm! I finished the coop and even managed to put some Christmas lights on it before the weather turned! I also have an Easter Egger rooster that needs to find a nice free range home. He is super alert and super concerned about the safety of his hens, I am worried about his protective nature with my two very young nephews and have no real need for a rooster. Clearly this is not a great time of year to have to rehome a rooster but it is sure worth a shot! He has a beard and is just getting his big boy feathers in....18 weeks old. Here are a couple of pictures of "Shrek".

I'm really loving the way the coop turned out. I will have to post more pics when the weather gets nicer. We've already talked about extending the run in the Spring to give them more space. I added 5 feet onto the plans as it was and would eventually like them to have even more room. We will also utilize "chunnels" to give them access to grass. Way too many hawks in this neck of the woods to do much free ranging. My neighbor two houses down has lost 18 chickens to predators in the last 4 months!

I finished my MBA the middle of December and have had construction going on in the house as a bathroom gets remodeled. Project houses are so stressful! I'm going through some job turmoil at work as "restructuring" has been announced (fingers crossed that it ends up being a positive thing) and am in the beginning stage of starting a side business with a friend from my MBA team. Exciting things ahead!

Is anyone else already planning ahead to ordering chicks for Spring? I fully plan to get a couple of Bielies and maybe a crested cream legbar for some pretty eggs!!!!

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Wow you have a lot going! Handsome fella but I've got 3 backup roosters already.
I have plans to get a new geese flock, looking into who to order from now. Going with brown Chinese again. I've tried Embden, African and American Buff. They all did their job well, and I will say the Buff was an excellent mom. She actually adopted 3 orphan Canadian goslings. Their mother was hit on the road. My issues with those breeds were very low egg production. Those breeds all went to live at my Veterinarian's house. I still have 1 African gander, Big Boy. He is 6. Gee my white Chinese is fella is 7 now, and my hens are at least 5. So its time for younger birds.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Loving the pictures guys! I haven't taken flock pics in a long time need to do it.
DH and I talked about Beefy, our Dark Cornish rooster. If he is no longer fertile he will still stay here. He's fantastic watching over his girls and has produced some gorgeous chicks in the past. He and the 3 girls in his regular flock are older but he has earned his keep. Mabel, Buffy and Blue have too. Not a day goes by I see one of them with a mouse, snake or who knows what. The 4 of them are pets, even Beefy is a "lap bird" if he wants to be. Yes the frugal thing is freezer camp, but sometimes pets mean enough to put frugal aside. Dad loves to sit on the porch and feed those 4 birds treats, that's enough for me.

So I replanted the lettuce & peppers. I'm probably going to do spinach too, Just got new trays in the mail. Definitely starting onion seed a lot earlier, I really liked how the walla sweet onions did last year. I can sure tell a difference using a T5 grow light already. I actually looked up buying a 2nd one, but its out of stock! I had a lot of leggy looking seedlings last year.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

I candled today! It looks like at least 6 of the 12 are definitely growing!

Glad to hear it! Those Marans eggs can be really hard to see into when candling. Fingers crossed for lots of babies from them!

How old is he? Young fellas are clumsy and in a big rush, what you're describing is pretty average.

THIS. I had a whole hatch of Dorkings completely fail last year because Darwin was so excited to be with hens, he was missing the mark most of the time--if he wasn't straight up leapfrogging right over the hens in his excitement, the dummy.

@pipdzipdnreadytogo Roosts very similar to mine. No roost on this one. They will sleep with their feet on the edges, and one sleeps flat on the tray in the shavings.

In the barn very few chickens have ever slept on the roosting trays. Instead they were sleeping up high in a doorway, and going upstairs to sleep and poop in the loft. That was a problem, so we recently blocked the loft and put up some high roosts. The muscovies mainly use these.

Nice! Would also like to know if they're removable, and what your cleaning routine with them is? Mine are not removable, and I treat them like a big ol' cat box. They're filled with Sweet PDZ and about twice a week I go out and scoop them out with a kitty litter scoop. Takes maybe 20 minutes and doesn't break my back from shoveling shavings or hunching down to the floor to scoop. But, my favorite part is all the floor space that it opens up for the girls, as I commented on before.

Your coop turned out so amazing!! Congrats on the MBA, too! No plans on buying chicks here, but I have lots of plans about hatching from my own flock and not much beyond a thread of restraint left (and the fact that the hen I most want to hatch from isn't laying yet) keeping me from going for it!

 

[Leahs Mom]

@pipdzipdnreadytogo
What kind of incubator are you using?

 

[JanetMarie]

@Leahs Mom @pipdzipdnreadytogo The trays could be removed, but are not made to be used that way. Husband made them that way so they slide in order to move them closer or farther from the wall if needed.

I remove the poop and soiled shavings from the trays every day.

 

[Leahs Mom]

@JanetMarie
Thanks. So how do you clean off the trays? Do you use a shovel, cat-litter scooper or ____

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

@pipdzipdnreadytogo
What kind of incubator are you using?

I have a Brinsea Octagon 20 Eco, which I love, and my parents got me a Brinsea Ovation 28 Eco as a graduation present last year since the Octagons are no longer being made, I guess. Haven't had the chance to use the Ovation yet, so I want to give it a shot if I hatch from my LF hens, but I'm thinking the Octagon will work better for bantam eggs because the rails can be adjusted for the size of the egg.

@Leahs Mom @pipdzipdnreadytogo The trays could be removed, but are not made to be used that way. Husband made them that way so they slide in order to move them closer or farther from the wall if needed.

I remove the poop and soiled shavings from the trays every day.

I see. That's pretty clever!

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Lock down is Monday the 21st for the Maran eggs. I'm beyond excited been a long time since I've hatched chicks for us. I adore the breed, have one blue that's been a good producer a few years now. 4 days later I should have a nice Leghorn hatch and one OE. I might still get some Dark Cornish chicks from Strombergs. Appears they are the closest to a heritage Cornish.
@racinchickins doesn't appear to be active anymore. He and I swapped Dark Cornish back and forth a few times. Was a very good line and where I got my Beefy rooster from. Good roosters are a bit of a challenge. Once you get a good line you best breed forward with that fella if he is calm and gentle.

 

[Leahs Mom]

I wish @racinchickins would come back.

 

[pginsber]

Hey all! Hope everyone is staying warm! I finished the coop and even managed to put some Christmas lights on it before the weather turned! I also have an Easter Egger rooster that needs to find a nice free range home. He is super alert and super concerned about the safety of his hens, I am worried about his protective nature with my two very young nephews and have no real need for a rooster. Clearly this is not a great time of year to have to rehome a rooster but it is sure worth a shot! He has a beard and is just getting his big boy feathers in....18 weeks old. Here are a couple of pictures of "Shrek".

I'm really loving the way the coop turned out. I will have to post more pics when the weather gets nicer. We've already talked about extending the run in the Spring to give them more space. I added 5 feet onto the plans as it was and would eventually like them to have even more room. We will also utilize "chunnels" to give them access to grass. Way too many hawks in this neck of the woods to do much free ranging. My neighbor two houses down has lost 18 chickens to predators in the last 4 months!

I finished my MBA the middle of December and have had construction going on in the house as a bathroom gets remodeled. Project houses are so stressful! I'm going through some job turmoil at work as "restructuring" has been announced (fingers crossed that it ends up being a positive thing) and am in the beginning stage of starting a side business with a friend from my MBA team. Exciting things ahead!

Is anyone else already planning ahead to ordering chicks for Spring? I fully plan to get a couple of Bielies and maybe a crested cream legbar for some pretty eggs!!!!

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Congrats on completing your degree!
Your coop looks great!
I knew it was just a matter of time until you got bielies again!