INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[HouseKat]

First of all, I want to say Happy Fourth to everyone! I hope everyone has a safe holiday with no firework injuries!!

Second, I am way behind on posts....have had a stressful week and it's not easy trying to take classes,work and raise a 2 1/2 yr old as well. but any hoo

So here it goes....WE HAVE EGGS!!!!! (you u tell i am a total newb???) I am so eggcited because i got the best fourth of july present ever........went out to the coop this morning and found two little perfect white eggs!!!!!!!! YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! my girls are exactly 18 weeks old this week, what a nice surprise. As someone mentioned on here before, if there was a way to cast one of those in gold, i totally would!! I am half tempted to break one open and see what it looks like inside. I knew something was different with my girls because I could tell something was different in their voices!!!
just wondering...since this is the first eggs, when is it safe to start eating them???

ok I am rambling, but I am just so eggcited for these first eggs!!!! Happy Fourth everyone!!!!


my sister thought she would be funny and asked me how i got them to lay a quarter and i said that i just fed them nickels & dimes...lol just a little humor

You could blow one of the eggs and then paint it gold - http://www.marthastewart.com/266591/blowing-out-an-egg

 

[CCCCCCCCHICKENS]

It's a Chick Stick, I bought it at Rural King.

O I have heard about those. Do the chicks like them?

 

[bradselig]

O I have heard about those. Do the chicks like them?

Mine wouldn't touch it, but they smell very good! Lol

 

[CCCCCCCCHICKENS]

Mine wouldn't touch it, but they smell very good! Lol

O.Well at least it makes for a good brooder air freshner lol

 

[animal-luvr92]

I'm working on being a vegetarian -but still eat drink dairy and eat egg products- so just for eggs

 

[BackyardBitten]

You could blow one of the eggs and then paint it gold - http://www.marthastewart.com/266591/blowing-out-an-egg

thanks HouseKat! It'll be a forever reminder of how much that first "golden egg" really cost lololol thanks for the idea and the video!!!

 

[HouseKat]

O I have heard about those. Do the chicks like them?

They ignored it at first, but then once one of them started pecking at it the others started trying to snatch the bits of it out her beak! They eventually all got the idea and they love it. I have them in two brooders now, so I move it back and forth between the two so everyone can get some.

 

[HouseKat]

thanks HouseKat! It'll be a forever reminder of how much that first "golden egg" really cost lololol thanks for the idea and the video!!!

Can't wait to see the finished egg! I think I'll do that with my first egg too.

 

[BackyardBitten]

sorry about the double posting.....but as I was typing that first message about our first eggs, i heard the sound of the "i gotta lay an egg" song. So i hurried up and finished my post, scrambled to put my boots and went out to the coop.....to my delight there was yet another egg!!! so 3 now in total!!! this is so cool now...it's almost like a game of "find the egg!" i would like to say thank you to who ever posted the video of her hen doing the "i gotta lay an egg" song song... because of that video, i was able to distinguish between normal sounds and egg laying sounds!! this is so cool i love this!!!

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Now I'm mad sad and confused 2 of my roosters dyed I was acting healthy yesterday and when I wend to check on them he was dead and 1 was dead in a nesting box

idk what's going on ughh

Can everyone pray that my dad doesn't go blind in one eye he has shingles from his head to his eyebrow and its creeping down to his eye he's a butcher so I cant have him go blind in one eye he's taking meds for the shingles and in a couple of days he goes back to the doctors to see if its in his nerve so please pray he doesn't .....had 1 pullet dye yesterday and 2 cockerels dye today
on the good side I gave Mr. Frizz a bath to get poop off his feet and but he looks cute now

It sounds like yo u are looking for possible causes. I want to make a few suggestions to look into. I don't want you to think I'm picking on you though, I'm just listing a few things. None of them might be your culprit or you might find the problem.
First age is important. Younger chickens and elderly chickens are more likely to die from things that a healthy 1 yr old chicken might survive.
Bugs, with the rain we have been getting at night, mud is increasing in my run making a nice breeding ground for gnats and flies as well as a big stink. We got a fly catching jar thing from TSC for $5 it is working great for the bugs but majorly adding to the stink.
Wild birds can pass on several different kinds of chicken sickness. Not much you can do here. Some recommend keeping feeding and water stations where the wild birds can't get to them. We have ours in our net covered run and the wild birds fly over all of the time and will try to sneak in if they don't see a chicken.
Neighbors using weeds or bug spray and the amount of rain we have had makes it possible for the poisons to travel to your yard. Here it is a trust issue where you have to ask people to inform you when they are spraying and what they are spraying so you can decide if you want to confine your birds for a short time.
Health issues can become a big problem around 3 yrs for many production breads. Heart issues for males eating layer feed, egg bound females if the eggs are getting larger.
Lead poisoning has been popping up here and there on another thread.
Chicks tend to eat their own poo if it is near their food, too much can cause issues. Too much medicated feed can deplete some vitamin or other too resulting in death. Personally I have tried raising chicks both with medicated feed and non medicated feed. I prefer the medicated feed.
Then there is a whole list of chicken killing animals that don't take the chicken and will attack during the day or early mornings.

As for your dad, I will pray he overcomes this and gets healthy very fast for you. Shingles is nothing to be laughed at. it is not an adult version of chicken pox.

Quote: My mom's best friend died a few years a go from Shingles. It can get very serious very fast.