INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[bradselig]

Wow, you guys are busy.... Idont always post, but Ikeep up with the reading. Pipd and brad~ such cuties you have..... love fluff balls!

Thanks!

 

[zeke]

Hello to all you hoosiers[ is that how you spell it] You ve got yourself a nice thread here,,, Hope you dont mind a wisc. boy hoppin on it from time to time,, I have family i IN. and have always said the people in IN. are the friendliest I ve ever met. Good luck to all!!!!

 

[Too Fast]

That made me laugh out loud!! Thank you.

Baby chickens with wings! Cute! I remember, oh so long ago (11 weeks, ha ha, when we were all so much younger) when ours had tiny wings.

Now, Merlin, one of our roosters, is attempting to crow. This morning, he did it 13 times. Then stopped like he has the past 4 days. Then 10 minutes later, 12 more. That's a first. Hope that's all he has in him.

 

[Too Fast]

Thanks for the advice. I would love to have the roost with a counter under it to catch the droppings, but the girls are in their coop for the first time tonight. I didn't want to wait lol. If I find it doesn't work, I'll change it around one day when he's at work lol

Edited to add - nothing blocking off that area, it's open.

Wow, I thought you had really lost it. When I read 'I would love to have the roost with a counter under it...' I was thinking you wanted to count how many times they pooped! Maybe I've really lost it. The slide out poop board under our 12 chickens is disgusting after 2 nights.

Gotta get the wifey to clean it daily.

 

[Too Fast]

Hello to all you hoosiers[ is that how you spell it] You ve got yourself a nice thread here,,, Hope you dont mind a wisc. boy hoppin on it from time to time,, I have family i IN. and have always said the people in IN. are the friendliest I ve ever met. Good luck to all!!!!

WisCONsin, eh? Of course welcome. Especially after the compliment. How many chickens deep are you? We have several here who have a dozen or less in their back yard (us) and many who have a LOT more.

 

[Too Fast]

I took your advice and I looked them up. I know that a lot of people don't like them, but have always been usure why.
Here's what I found out:
*They're tough birds, adaptable, and are commonly believed to push other birds out of the area and sometimes take over nests
*They congregate in large flocks, and leave behind a mess of poop
*The can spread disease between livestock
So, in a nut shell, they're pushy and adaptable and don't care about other species. They like to surround themselves with more of their species/breed, and they leave their crap just lying around...They sound like humans! And no, I'm not going to kill it because it's like that, and I wouldn't kill it if it was an adult either. Every life is worth something, and all creatures deserve respect.

I totally understand your position. As I get older I find it harder to kill anything. Insects, however, have always been fair game. However, when something comes in a new place and tries to claim it as their own and push the natives out, that upsets me. Guess what would happen if an alien civilzation wanted to colonize Earth? All I can say is it won't be good for the natives. Remember what happened to the native north americans?


Starlings should never have been introduced to N. America. Alright, off my soapbox! Chicken picture:

They love this bushy area. They are trying to claim it as their own. I've wondered why we've kept it here for years, now I know!

Also, saw some red-tailed hawks many times yesterday, one was doing a low flyby. Yes, the word is out that their are chickens in our back yard...

 

[ShawnaScott]

My baby rooster is crowing! Of course, the one I just had to keep is the only one that has been crowing. He's pretty small but he sure makes a big sound! And the hope that he would magically turn into a hen is now gone.

 

[hogster160]

Wow, I thought you had really lost it. When I read 'I would love to have the roost with a counter under it...' I was thinking you wanted to count how many times they pooped! Maybe I've really lost it. The slide out poop board under our 12 chickens is disgusting after 2 nights.

Gotta get the wifey to clean it daily.

LOL that's what it is called a Poop board! hahahaha I really for the life of me couldn't remember. Still learning the chicken language. Yes I wanted a poop board. I figured the chickens wouldn't want to use that space under the roost the way it is, or will be, with all the poop. Then I would lose sq footage. Chicken math and all that, I want more chickens but had to finish the coop first, and I sure didn't want to lose 30 sq' to a dumb roost if it could have been placed higher and not lost any. Haha too funny! And yes I imagine it is nasty after 2 days. I clean their brooder box out daily, I see how much is there...yuk, but I'm sure my garden is gonna love it one day!

Anyway, they did wonderful last night, placed them on their roost at dark. Two EE's went down to check out the digs, all the others slept peacefully. I went out there this morning, and they are all up and scratching around talking so loud I could hear them 15' away. At first I thought something might be in there with them, nope, locked up tight and they were just having fun! Hopping around, flying around and scratching all over the place. The water container is up on a cinder block, its filled with bedding lol. Looks like they have been playing for a while.

They have the side yard which is like 75' x 130' + so its a large area. How long do I keep them in the coop so they know where home is?

Haha I can be so silly (blonde) sometimes. Poop board...I'll probably never forget "poop board" and never have one lmao!

Deb

edited to insert blonde

 

[CRSelvey]

My baby rooster is crowing! Of course, the one I just had to keep is the only one that has been crowing. He's pretty small but he sure makes a big sound! And the hope that he would magically turn into a hen is now gone.

I feel the same way! I have two that turned out to be cockrels and I really like them both. One started his first crowing yesterday and it sounded like he was choking on something. With only 4 pullets and two cockrels, I guess the only thing I can do is get more pullets, lol.

Question all, my friend is offering to give me some banty hens that are less than a year old. Is there anything special I should to to get them mixed with my chicks? Mine are almost 11 weeks old and not bantams. Hers have been free-ranged all their life and come into the yard at night to sleep in a dog house. I will have a coop and enclosed run within the next week or so.

Our coop made great progress yesterday. We got more than half of the outside walls up and its so much more sturdy now. Its great to see it taking shape. While we were working on the coop, we let the chicks out to play in my garden all day. It was really nice, but wow, the ticks and mosquitos are out of control this year. I was thinking I might spray something out there to help reduce the ticks, but I don't want to use anything that will be a problem for the chicks by the time the coop is ready.

I posted something on Facebook to see if my friends had any good ideas for coop names and we've decided on The Peep Show, but I think I will make a small street sign for the ramp that says Henny Lane. I couldn't decide between them!

Our chicks
My favorite red head. She's still learning not to squeeze the chickens. I have to watch her like a hawk around those chicks.


Have a great day everyone.

 

[Too Fast]

^^^Yes the mosquitoes and ticks are out this year. Glad at least no west nile virus yet. And we are watching our chickens like hawks also, especially since there are hawks flying around! Nice to read your report about that the coop is coming along. Cute picture of the red head! Don't squeeze so hard!!!!!!