INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[cdgualtieri]

Got my first coop built. Hoping to acquire my hens this weekend. They won't be shut up in the run except at night. We have a safe enough plot for them to free range.

 

[Crafty chick]

Got my first coop built. Hoping to acquire my hens this weekend. They won't be shut up in the run except at night. We have a safe enough plot for them to free range.

. VERY NICE! They will be happy hens!

 

[Crafty chick]

For those of you that do FF~ my hens FF has white thready stuff on top and smells SUPER sour. I didn't feed it to them this morning.... what happened to it? What did I do wrong? The babies FF seems fine.

 

[pinkbumblebee]

Brand New to BYC!! New Palestine, Indiana. Anyone close by?

 

[AATH]

Brand New to BYC!! New Palestine, Indiana. Anyone close by?

I live in newpal.. Well technically cumberland but close enough.

 

[animallover2202]

animallover~ I'm sure you will do well! That's a great idea to ask the poultry leader to help. If she can't help tomorrow, it doesn't have to be tomorrow, does it? If it were me, I would definitely want someone to hold Ms. May and an experienced person is always good. I didn't realize that Ms. had both an infected toe and foot. Is Mr. Frizz over his fungus problem? I guess he's grouchy from his health and from relocating. I'm sure when he is feeling better he will express his appreciation. haha That's also a good idea to take photos! It documents your experience, and it could help others dealing with ailing chickens. : - )

i dont have to do it today but i want to get it over with and Mr. Frizz fungus problem is getting better

 

[sirbuster]

Hello new to all of this I got 19 red pullets and 2 golden turkeys for my birthday. We have a coop and run ready for them. They are in a box in my living room right now when would be a good time to move them outside. I have been on here reading everything I can. Help if you can I want them all to live I love them all !!

 

[jhfamily5]

I went for feed & came back with 2 Australorp pullets (3 dys old) & 2 Mystery breed & sex Bantams. I an trying to learn how to sex by wings & decide if they're Cochins. Any ideas?

Cutie Pie! Looks like a little cochin (could be a d'uccle but really looks cochin to me-hard to tell from the pic but color usually gives d'uccles away) but give it a couple of weeks on the sex. Usually you can tell by 2-3 weeks with cochins. I personally have never found the "feather method" to be reliable but would love to know if it works for you. Still curious about it.

I got my six toed silkie form tsc, not sure that ranks quality... Cute all the same

They should only have 5 toes so that would definately rank it as pet quality but won't affect the chick at all as far as being a pet. We tend to keep oddballs like that from time to time and just don't breed them. It can be bred out but not worth the risk of passing on bad genes. Enjoy the adorable little fluffy butt!

will they sell you just one if it is the only one left?

If you talk to whoever handles the chicks the most, they will usually let you just take the last few stragglers (providing you are only after bantams or one certain breed of LF). It isn't your fault they don't have "6".

I got one brad. I asked the silkie thread what kind it was, and they said "smutt". Lol

That is funny! Smutt just means a "whatever" color. Usually very pretty but while pure silkie, it isn't any standard or recognized color. It is a lot more honest to call it "smutt" than to make up a name for it and pass it off as something it isn't. The only time it would matter is when showing or breeding. If you aren't looking to do that, smutt is fantastic because they are different. I personally love "different". Silkies can hide all kinds of colors in their genes. It is so exciting to watch them hatch because every once in a while you get a color that is WAY different and out there. They are sometimes "Like a box of chocolates...". lol

unfortunately no. All I'd want is the silkie and possibly 2 other banties that maybe porcelain d'uccles. I don't like their 6 chick minimum

Lol, it amazes me how rude some of the breed threads are. I might call them tomorrow and see if they still have it.
are you asking how to identify a silkie? If so, number of toes, other than feathers everything else is black, fluffy, etc

I have extra silkie and porcelain d'uccle chicks and live in Brownstown if you are interested. The silkies I hatched myself from my own flock (They are pet to a little better than pet quality so better than hatchery stock-I have several colors) and the d'uccles I ordered from Cackle Hatchery and they got here yesterday. I had ordered 10 self blue and 10 porcelain but they called and said the self blue were no longer available due to a bad hatch and I had them send me all porcelain. PM me if you are interested and I will send you my number. I have enough to share and don't mind helping you out so you don't need to take a minimum.

Hey all I am getting very close to getting my girls into their coop. I am looking for Diatomaceous Earth to use in my coop litter and run.

Do you use DE?

Where do you get it/order it from?

What do you pay for it? I don't want to pay too much if you more experienced people have found a great deal out there!

Jchny~ my silkie loves to eat! Always in the middle of the bowl (FF). I am just hoping it will be my broody. It loves to be held. It looks big compared to my other bantams??? Would that be part of being "smutt"? Maybe the hatchery was breeding other breeds to make them bigger? Idk

Hatchery silkies are usually a lot bigger than better quality ones and develop a lot faster too. Hatcheries usually breed for quantity and not so much for quality. My silkies are ALWAYS broody. I love hatching with broodys but here lately I am having to break them of it to save their health. They are practically killing themselves to set.

They are hatchery quality...not for showing. So it depends on what you like. If you like the show quality birds you see here (like I did) - you won't be happy with hatchery birds.

Anyone going??? We will be there. I'm sure Judy will be there also ????

http://gatewaypoultryshows.com/

WELCOME
TO THE GATEWAY POULTRY SHOW
APRIL 13th. 2013

MONROE COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS
5700 W. AIRPORT ROAD
BLOOMINGTON, IN

The DH and I are taking the kiddos. Can't wait!

I've read a lot of contradicting info and finally thought, why not ask people from my area!
When is a good age to put my chicks in their coop? We have 3-4 weekers now that we are raising inside. I live south of Bloomington if that helps.

When they are around 5-6 weeks they should have most of their feathering across their backs and just under their necks (Unless they are silkies in which case they develop slower and need to be more like 8+ weeks) and be fine to move outside. Those feathers are what they "fluff" up to hold in their body heat. As long as the weather isn't too nasty or changing back and forth from hot to cold (like this last week) they should be fine to go out soon. Chickens in general can't handle sudden wide temp variations well and young chicks have even more trouble. If the temps dip back down a lot at night again, keep them out there but give them a heat lamp (secured so it won't be a fire hazard) as a supplement but only at night. When it starts to warm up each morning, turn it off. The more even you can keep their environment the better. If it is 60-70 degrees at night they are just fine but if it suddenly dips down to 39 the next night, they need the extra heat. That is just my opinion and what works best for us. We are in Brownstown so not too far from you. This weather has been giving us whiplash!

We also found out some of out guaranteed pullets may be roosters, how soon will I be able to tell? They ate Rhode Island Reds, Plymouth Barred Rock, and two that came with the barreds buy have tan to copper stripes on wings and black legs...

Last year, 3/3 Barred Rock Pullets- 1/1 Light Brahma pullet- 1/2 Dark Brahma pullets from TSC were all COCKERELS! UGH!!! I was so frustrated. I know straight-run chicks are a "crap shoot" but when I pay extra for "pullets" and get that many boys it ticks me off. One or two...it happens but 3/3 was ridiculous. This year we have been dead on with our "pullets" so I hope you have the same good luck. You can usually tell by 2-3 weeks in most LF breeds. Bantams the same unless they are silkies. Then 6-8 months if they are good quality and 3-4 months if they are pet/hatchery quality. If you post pics on here we can try to help you guess.

 

[ellymayRans]

Whereabouts are you located? I should have an incubator ready to go by next weekend.

I'm in Martinsville. Just 1 1/2 miles from 37 or Hospital if you're familiar.

 

[ellymayRans]

Got my first coop built. Hoping to acquire my hens this weekend. They won't be shut up in the run except at night. We have a safe enough plot for them to free range.

Love it, absolutely adorable!