INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

Hi new here! I'm in Madison County! We just restarted out chicken habit and I've got 27-28 now from Black Jersey Giants, Sapphire Gems, Plymouth Blue Rock, Lavender Orpingtons, Russian Orloffs(rural king may have been fibbing to me about these) And I just got 2 Narragansett Turkeys!

I used to raise and release Bob White Quail when I lived in Michigan and my oldest who is 10 would like to do that so maybe next year we will get into Quail and Pheasant
 
Hi all! I’m SUPER new to BYC and online ‘sharing’ in general, (no FB, Nextdoor, or anything) so please go easy on me. I’m not even sure I put this post in the right place 🤷‍♀️🤦‍♀️.
We just bought a little farm, outside of Muncie and just finished cleaning and totally refurbishing the existing chicken coop. We’re looking for our first flock of 10-15 hens of any age.
Any suggestions? Hubby has been messaging various chicken groups on FB but can’t get anyone to answer. I’d like to start with adults and see how that goes before trying my hand at eggs/infants.
 
Welcome to BYC @Steveandtina1007!

You've indeed found the right place. This particular thread is pretty much for Indiana-specific conversations. People on BYC are very helpful and overwhelmingly easy on newbies, so don't be shy about asking "stupid" questions. We all start somewhere.

I have some initial suggestions for you. These are my opinions and others may jump in an tell you otherwise.
  • I'd recommend creating a new thread in the Coop & Run forum. Put some pictures and info about your coop and run there (including dimensions and expected flock size) and ask for input. If any modifications are needed it will be much easier to do early before your chickens arrive.
  • Please put your general location in your profile. The answers to many questions depend on your climate and that info will help people give you better answers.
  • For most questions, I recommend using the search function and see if you can quickly find the answer. Usually you can. If not, then find the appropriate forum and create a new thread for your question. People will be happy to jump in and try to help. I'm giving my opinions for specific questions below, but you might want to search/ask about them in the proper forums for a larger response than just Indiana people.
  • As for the birds, eggs vs. chicks vs. adults is a matter of circumstances and opinion. Personally, I'd recommend starting with chicks. They are much cheaper than grown birds and it is much easier to find specific breeds that you want. Raising them from chicks generally means that they are less flighty around you. Dealing with eggs involves either buying/building a brooder and/or letting some hens "go broody" and raise the chicks.
  • If you keep any cockerels for protection and/or reproduction, then understand that you should only have 1-2 for a flock that size. More will likely end up fighting to keep their harem. Excess cockerels should generally graduate to "freezer camp".
  • Have you given any thought to what you are trying to achieve and specific breeds? Do you want more egg production (including size/color/quantity), meat production, dual purpose? Do you want your chickens to be better breeds to raise chicks? Some breeds are more cold/heat resistant, so that should be a factor as well.

I'm glad to see you asking questions early. Your flock will benefit from what you learn here.
 
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Hi all! I’m SUPER new to BYC and online ‘sharing’ in general, (no FB, Nextdoor, or anything) so please go easy on me. I’m not even sure I put this post in the right place 🤷‍♀️🤦‍♀️.
We just bought a little farm, outside of Muncie and just finished cleaning and totally refurbishing the existing chicken coop. We’re looking for our first flock of 10-15 hens of any age.
Any suggestions? Hubby has been messaging various chicken groups on FB but can’t get anyone to answer. I’d like to start with adults and see how that goes before trying my hand at eggs/infants.
I'm in Alexandria! The first time we had chickens we has Rhode Island Reds and they were good starters for sure my oldest loved them.

I just got back into chickens and I got Black Jersey Giants, Sapphire Gems, Lavender Orpingtons and a couple others. I look at temperament too because I have a 3 year old former micropreemie who is still pretty tiny and I don't need any of my birds beating him up..lol

All of our birds are really tolerant and gentle so far. We have a pullet who my boys named "Carl" shes a Black Jersey Giant and she gets to go for rides in the power wheel with my youngest a lot..LOL

There are a couple farm groups on facebook I use and people always have birds and stuff available!

Here are some of the groups in im on Facebook maybe they can help!

Central Indiana chickens
Central Indiana Poultry Enthusiasts
Indiana Small Farm
Livestock Central Indiana
 
Poor pullet!
Our son found some doll dress up clothes today.
poot NY outfit close.jpg


poot NY outfit.jpg
 
Hi all! I’m SUPER new to BYC and online ‘sharing’ in general, (no FB, Nextdoor, or anything) so please go easy on me. I’m not even sure I put this post in the right place 🤷‍♀️🤦‍♀️.
We just bought a little farm, outside of Muncie and just finished cleaning and totally refurbishing the existing chicken coop. We’re looking for our first flock of 10-15 hens of any age.
Any suggestions? Hubby has been messaging various chicken groups on FB but can’t get anyone to answer. I’d like to start with adults and see how that goes before trying my hand at eggs/infants.

Welcome to the group!

I felt the same way when I started, and I bought my first few pullets at about 6 mo old. I ran into some health problems with them that I think I could have avoided by raising my own.

Raising chicks sounds scary when you haven't done it but it's really pretty easy, and the equipment you need is fairly minimal. The big tip I would give on that is go to your Tractor Supply or Rural King when you're ready to get them, and pick out chicks that have some wingtip feathers, and are a little bit bigger. If you get them a few days older you're less likely to have pasty butts and random unexplained deaths.

I just bought a new batch of chicks yesterday, and they're doing great. We brood ours in the coop (it has an internal divider) with a heat lamp. I've done several sets this way now and they always do great.

Enjoy your new hobby! It's great fun!
 
Russian Orloffs(rural king may have been fibbing to me about these)
I got Russian Orloffs from the Muncie RK in June. I lost one (out of 10) early on, but the rest are doing great. I just wish they had been straight run instead of pullets, because now I can’t breed them. Ironically, I had a 4 year old Russian Orloff rooster that I decided to sell this spring, because I didn’t expect to ever have hens for him. 🤷🏼‍♀️ If any of yours turn out to be male that you don’t want to keep, please let me know. I will pay to get a boy!
I used to raise and release Bob White Quail when I lived in Michigan and my oldest who is 10 would like to do that so maybe next year we will get into Quail and Pheasant
Check with your local ag extension office to see if quail or pheasant can survive on your property. That was one of the things we wanted to do when we moved here from Michigan, but it turns out that here in Hamilton County the conditions are not favorable for them. Which I guess is why there isn’t already a population of them. (We checked into pheasant, not quail, so maybe quail would work.)

By the way, :welcome and to the Indiana BYCers thread. What part of Michigan are you from? We grew up in the Detroit area, but lived in Kalamazoo County for 10 years before moving here. Been here 18 years now. My how time flies!
 

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