INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[PeacefulWalls]

Where did you have yours sheared? Bio secure came here, they were going to Mishawaka the next day though. I wondered if your were in that group.

We went to Crick's Alpaca Farm in Laotto -- only about a 45 minute drive from Goshen. Very nice family & eager to answer some of our newbie alpaca owner questions.

 

[Quinstar]

I know it's not a chicken, but I just found this poor dear with its nest knocked out of my tree and it was lying on the ground. I had to touch it to return it to the nest but now I don't know what to do! I don't know where the nest belongs!!!!

 

[Too Fast]

Best of luck to you as you work with your city ordinance. We recently moved outside the city limits of Goshen so we can have the animals we want. I believe there are persons working on allowing chickens in Goshen as well, but I'm not sure where they're at with it. My husband works in South Bend and they recently passed an ordinance allowing chickens, although I don't know the specifics. South Bend is also now working at changing ordinances regarding keeping bees.

In South Bend they allow 6 hens, no roos, there is a $20 annual permit, the coop needs to be cleaned on a daily basis, the coops must be at least 15 ft from property lines. At least they allow chickens lol.

 

[Old Salt 1945]

I know it's not a chicken, but I just found this poor dear with its nest knocked out of my tree and it was lying on the ground. I hast to touch it to return it to the nest but now I don't know what to do! I don't know where the nest belongs!!!!

Find a nearby tree and wedge it in among some branches. You can use wire or wire ties to attach it if you want. Then leave it alone. If the mother finds and recognizes it, she will take care of it. If not, nature can sometimes be harsh. Natural selection for secure nest builders and all that.
John

 

[Too Fast]

I'll let her know!


That's great! Hope you can help her out. I feel so bad. I'd be devastated if I lost my whole little flock!


Seriously, those Alpacas are cracking me up!

Quick run question as we are drawing up plans to build the coop/run this weekend. How vital is it to bury the hardware cloth 2 feet down? I know that probably sounds like a really lazy question, but our run is going to be 16 x 8 and that is a lot of digging! Just wondering what everyone's experience with it has been.

Yes those funny alpaca necks are making me laugh also!

About the hardware cloth, our hardware cloth and 2'' x 4'' welded wire is about 2 feet high, the other 2 feet are layed out horizontally. I am very confident that no digging creature who will harm our chickens will get thru. Unless you count rats/mice and the disease they could carry.


Above you can see how it started, aaaaaaannnnnnnnnndddddddd above here you can see it getting close to done. I did the horizontal run
board about 2 feet up, to attach the cloth/2x4 wire combo. Then from 2 feet up and over the top, I used the 2x4 welded wire.

You can see on the front side that I didn't get the buried wire up quite 2 feet, and the 2x4 wire was 4 feet down from the top. That's why I have the
2 horizontal boards there.

I did not want to even try to bury the wire 2 feet down vertically in this hard clay soil. I did for the first 6 feet, then gave up and researched other methods.

 

[ldymelissande]

They liked the run so much I found the biggest problem with it. How to get them out of it? I was on my own this afternoon and it was a bit difficult to get them back in the crate.

 

[kabhyper1]

We went to Crick's Alpaca Farm in Laotto -- only about a 45 minute drive from Goshen. Very nice family & eager to answer some of our newbie alpaca owner questions.

We got our alpacas from indian prairie alpacas in middlebury. They might be closer for you if you are ever in a pickle. They are very nice people.

 

[CountryHen19]

I have a question for anyone, everyone-- How many biosecurity measures do you use? I read about everyone swapping chickens and other animals. Do you use only certain boots in your chicken area (and different ones at the feed store, poultry shows, other chicken people property)? Use a bleach foot bath for visitors? I haven't read anything about disease plaguing (only predators ) in this group but I have only been a member for a short time.

 

[CCCCCCCCHICKENS]

I can't wait for my eggs to get here so that I can put them in the incubator. I have some coming from texas and some from virginia. They are suppose to be getting shipped tomorrow.Crossing my fingers they get here safe and sound

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Chickies!! They saw newspaper for the first time today. Their reaction:

Getting closer...:

...And after deciding it was okay:

Little Easter-egger bantam, Hika Ma. Leaning back toward boy for little Ma-Ma...

Rangi

And the little guy, Po.

Anyone know how long it takes before you can tell if a chick is frizzled or not? Po is supposed to be a black frizzle Cochin bantam, but he's from a frizzle X frizzle cross (I'm assuming by the page at the website of the hatchery he came from), so there's a 25% chance he's smooth feathered anyway...