INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[kabhyper1]

Love your chickens! Is that gray one a Cochin?

The more I learn about the food industry the more local we eat. I understand the give and take of it all, but thankfully I am able to make the choice to not put that stuff in my body or my animals bodies. We are all blessed that we live in the Midwest and have a much easier time accessing local and organic that many people in the US. Speaking of good, healthy food... does anyone know of any good farmers markets up north. The closest good one that I know of is in Goshen, but I'm wondering if there is anything closer to me than that?

Yes that is my (pretty sure self blue) L/F cochin pullet. She and the two youngest wyandotte girls hang out with my silkies. They have adopted my silkie roo as their boss. That is going to look really funny when they are grown. lol I haven't eaten chicken in 3 months. Probably never will again. Just fish dairy and eggs for me. We also have a green house and grow organic. I have come to the conclusion that my brain will not allow me to eat anything that had a face and followed me around like a child. I would try Shipshewana for farmers markets. I think fort wayne has one in the summer.

I hope this post doesn't bother anyone with it's size, but I figured the best place for it was with my fellow Hoosiers.

I listed my current Silkie flock on CL last night. Hard to do but I have decided to pursue raising Show Quality Silkies and the deal with the DH was that the pet flock had to go to make room. "You can't keep and feed them all." He is the voice of reason for me. I am a total chicken addict and a hatch-a-holic so I need him to help me stay in line. I listed all 9 hens and 1 roo that have to go together for $125. They are 14 months old- bought last spring as tiny chicks. I have additional pullets and cockerels (Silkies and Showgirls too- approx 6 months old- old enough to be sexed but not laying yet) that can go too but those 10 have to stay together. If anyone is interested, please let me know asap. I need them to go quickly before I have time to change my mind and to do the "band-aid" thing for my kids as this is hard enough for me already without them flipping out too. 5 of the girls are broody at the moment (sitting on air-stubborn girls) so I am only getting 3-5 eggs a day right now but normally get 7-9. I sell the hatching eggs for $15 a dozen and their chicks for $5 each so you could recoup your investment in no time. The girls go broody all the time so if you are hoping for chicks you will be in luck. Fertility is fantastic too. 90-100% hatches. I also have 12 of their chicks that are two weeks old for sale $5 each straight run.

She says, "Seriously? I'm laying an egg. Can't I have 5 minutes of privacy?".

.
Broody is "contagious".



"Steve" with a couple of the girls.



Most recent hatch...23 chicks total...12 still available.



Some of the others available...



Cockerel

Pullet



Pullet

Buff is a pullet and the darker one is a cockerel:


Pullet

Cockerel-and truly one of the sweetest boys ever

Silkie pullet and showgirl cockerel

showgirl pullet

Pullet

Pullet

Pullet- on the run

Black is a cockerel others are pullets

Sooo tempting! We just don't have room for that many. Very pretty though.

Funny indeed. We've been letting ours out of the run, supervised.

Before I had chickens I had no idea they would stay so close. I thought they'd fly/walk away. Then I learned the record for the longest flight for a chicken is like 306 feet. I feel comfortable enough to leave them outside while I run in the house for 15 minutes or so.

There are hawks, great horned owls, raccoons, coyotes, possums and I'm sure other animals (humans?) who would love a chicken dinner.

My are in a 5 foot fence with four alpacas under a lot of trees. They dont go far unless the alpacas or humans are in the pasture with them. They like it in the sand next to the barn, or they stay right by the run. If Im having a busy day, I don't let them out of the run.

 

[CRSelvey]

That's what I thought! We are doing our's 6x8 as well with a 6x20 run. Do you mind if I ask what your cost and build time has been so far? Are you following plans or just winging it?

A little of both actually. I looked at all the plans on this site and changed my mind dozens of times but I found one that could look similar to our woodshed and then made some modifications to it to fit our space.
Here is the inspiration: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hcarlsonlewiss-chicken-coop
I found a window that a neighbor was selling that is 3x5, so we had to fit that in and make room for window boxes. I wanted big barn doors to open into our compost bin for cleaning, so the roosts had to go on that side, the nest box had to go on the side closest to the house, and then I wanted windows for cross ventilation on the north side, but the whole project was getting out of control so I'm screening them in and making doors to cover in the winter. My husband wants to make a cupola so it goes with the woodshed (I love this) so it will be another modification too. I spent a lot of time reading a thread on what people wished they had done differently and that was really useful. Also, I now know I want to build a table above the nest boxes that is big enough to hold a dog crate so that I can keep some birds separated if they get sick (done with them being in the basement). Our coop will be off white with gray/brown trim similar to this http://pinterest.com/pin/261560690830948454/ and will have copper/dark brown colored accents like the garden and the cabin.

I'd say that its cost about $1000 so far which is crazy, but it will be cute and will blend with the log cabin (by colors) and the woodshed (by style) when its done. I still need to order some sand and I might need to get some paint for the inside. Also, I'd really like the auto chicken door (someday) and a chicken fountain.

 

[kabhyper1]

We have some friends who are losing their chickens because they live in town. They are having a meeting tomorrow night if anyone in Whitley county or surrounding areas would like to come and support keeping hens in city limits. They can use all the support they can get. Here is the invite from FB ...

Wanted to extend an invitation to anyone who is interested in making a change in our community!! On May 14th I will be

attending a city council meeting @ 5:15p.m. @ city hall in the city council chambers to try to see if the Ordinance for having

chickens in town can get changed. If you have ever wanted to have a few hens in your own backyard within city limits please

come and show your support for this. I think the more voices of the community we have the more likely we can make change

happen! Hope to see you all there! Thanks so much!!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

On my way back from Meyer hatchery right now, with these .

 

[CRSelvey]

On my way back from Meyer hatchery right now, with these .

So cute!!!

 

[jsummers]

Chicks for sale. 2 are mixed breed from great layers. $2 each 1 is purebred standard blue cochin $5 must take all 3.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Babies!!

There's an 8th one, but she won't come out for her picture.

ETA: Here's the last one:

 

[strssdmom]

So how many chicks does everyone have?

I always hear about your chickens, but I can't figure out who has just a few (maybe living in the city) and who has more than say 15 or so. I would love to know because that is how my brain works. LOL Are there any on here that raise chickens for profit? If so, how many do you have?

Also would love to know who on here has more than 5 years experience?

I love to learn from anyone's experience, but it would be nice to know who has been through this many times over and who is just starting out, like me.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

I have 8 chicks right now, and 32 adults. Mine are purely pets. No profit whatsoever.

And I've had chickens for 8 years now, but I'd say I've only really known what I was doing for the past 3-4 years.

 

[ldymelissande]

Sorry for the huge post, but I wanted to get some opinions on my chickens. Boy vs girl.
Because if half are boys I will be needing to pick one to keep
and I ill have to get used to finding homes for the others.

Baldy giving me the stink eye, I think this is a roo.


The derp face as shown by Baldy


Group shot
Wren , triplets, Nestle? Spot in the back


Sharpie, Hershey against the camera and Nestle behind(frizzle? or bad hair day?)

Spot, thinking its a roo?


Love the cheeks








What kind of comb is this? it looks like a horn