INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Chaneys Ranch]

Loooooong day, but very productive! My bantams have their own coop and run next to the main egg/mixed coop, and the guineas. Will be making breeding pens later, right now they are all just housed in one large coop. Butters was doing his crazy banty rooster dance for all of Reds' ladies, Red was NOT happy about the show!

Except for the brooder all are finally big birds outside! can't be happier

I get my 9 month old doeling goat next weekend, her name is "Sugar"

Another Oberhasli. Expanding the pasture area for my goats tomorrow, they will be next to the hogs pasture. can't wait, all that's left on the list is cows, quail and peafowl! DH told me today he wants to find a blue healer (WOOHOO!

) I want the merle, beautiful dogs!! I think he is realizing we need a LGD.

 

[Mother2Hens]

New Avatar~ I added a map for an easy visual reference to where I am. As I said in my last post, it would be nice if we had a simple map highlighting each member's county that could be located under the avatar area.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Quote: I think its the 50 cent chick deals out there at the farm stores so people get them on a whim ( many of us have done it

). I get dozens of calls/emails from friends when they are going on! Its killing my turnover for sure

There's few people in my area selling chicks, but lots of farm stores. TSC here has stopped finally. Going to repost my ads and add my goslings.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Oops forgot to add, Am playing catch up I fell way behind on reading posts

Saw some beautiful chicks and someone has a little lamb

back to reading!!!!!!

 

[vickichicki]

Originally Posted by cdgualtieri
So how do you keep a dog from chasing/killing your chickens? My dog killed two of mine. :-( I'm so upset. I don't want to have to build a large run/pen as we have so much land they can roam on. Suggestions?

cdgualtieri~ It was good to have you back, but so sorry to hear about your dog killing two of your chickens! Several members gave great advice. German Shepherds and Labs are both wonderful, intelligent breeds, so hopefully your mix can be trained. Keep us posted! : - )

Momma2Silkies~ What breed is your cutie, Mack the cat? I didn't see him listed on your signature.

mememe~ Sweet lamb! vickichicki~ I think a lamb in the kitchen would be handy. I'm surprised you didn't comment on my "squirrel on the bed" photo! haha Also, thank you for offering to help with the map project that StelleKitten from Texas told us about. I will get back to you. As far as my idea about the highlighting the counties we're from, it would be great if it could be added to our signatures, but photos can't be added. I haven't even discussed it with jchny yet since the idea was just floating around in my head.

Idymelissande~ I used a little HandiTak removable adhesive to keep perches steady when I had chicks. I just made sure there wasn't any Tak visible so the chicks wouldn't peck at it. I feel for you guys in the northern part of the state. Summer is just around the corner!

My hens were bummed about the rainy day:

Hmmm, I missed that then I guess... what the heck... Would have definatly said something.

Hmm can it be added to the 'show off stuff' of the signature line? Might have to start a thread so we can each post a single photo so it does not show an entire album.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Quote:
I think the map is absolutely a great idea, as well as a sharing album!

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

DOGS!

Quinstar and bradselig~ Magnificent healthy looking bulldogs and Dobermans! I've always heard good things about those breeds and it's fun to see the different types. Pretty Bouvier, too. All looking happy and spoiled, as they should be.

ShawnaScott~ What sweet photos, especially Scooby the dog with his buddy Dinah the cat! I LOVE Winston. I had a childhood friend with a black shaggy Standard Poodle that was so smart and fun. I haven't seen a white one with dark ears-- it's gorgeous.

animal lover~ That's wonderful that your German Rottweiler is so good with your chickens. I bet that was hilarious to watch all of them play together.

jchny~ Such a blissful picture of your beautiful daughter and precious pug! That type of natural photo is especially difficult to capture. If you don't mind, I'd like to send that to my daughter Meredith who met her, and whose boyfriend has a black pug that's like their joint-custody child. ha





Mapping Members
StelleKitten from Texas: Thought I would post this link for you guys too. A BYC interactive member map! If you are interested we would love to see your dot added. A member named Ken started this map and it has been in use for a while in the Tx thread.


StelleKitten~ Thank you for telling us about the cool state/US map with icons. Maybe we will have a VOLUNTEER step forward who could handle setting this up! (hint-hint) Coincidentally, I have been thinking that it would be helpful to have an Indiana map with counties highlighted where are members are. I think the visual would be beneficial (much like the Google icons map). Wikipedia examples attached. If someone said that they're from Allen County, a quick look at the map shows the area, which is easier to see than a dot on a map for a city. Plus, perhaps several members would appear for a county as opposed to a city. It's just an idea that has been rolling around in my head.

Me too Vicki, I think its excellent. I am a visual person so it helps me a lot understanding where people are.
I don't mind at all if you share my picture, Cassy said its fine with her too, she just loves Sadie too much! I know the girls chatted a lot, she is accepted at IUPUI so she is super excited for the fall!!
I love your Avatar and the map. I hope someone will help us set members up that would like to post the avatar too.

 

[hogster160]

So for about the last 5 weeks, both of my brooder boxes have been out in the garage. 9 -15 weeks old and the other had 6 -11 weeks old. For the last 2 weeks they have been going outside in their temp run split. Its about 10 w x 20 L. each so 20 x 20. 2 days ago i took out the divider. I had places set up for the smaller birds to hide if needed. It went ok. That night back to their brooder. Yesterday they all went back out to their full run all together. They did fine, up until I put some scratch down for them. The older ones attacked one of the smaller birds. Pulled a few tail feathers off. She has a dime size patch of a sore. She was bleeding so I took her out and let her free range the rest of the time we were outside, as even the rest of the little girls were pecking her spot. Hubby put them all together back in their brooders. They all slept well, she doesn't look any worse than she did last night. Do I need to wait longer before I try to put them all together? We have decided to free range them in an area that is 45 x 150. That area is already fenced in and will be theirs. I still need to finish the coop, ugh, and do all clean up of the area of small things. I also have a ton of things coming up this week, gone 2 days then I have 2 younger girls that I will need to watch as mom is looking for day care, so I probably won't get much done this week. I can put a temp fence up to divide them if needed once out side all the time, but man, I figured they would be ok since they were close to each other for so long already. There is a size difference between the two sets of chicks. Do I need to wait until they are closer in size?

Thanks for the help!

Deb

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

[COLOR=B22222]hogster 160 posted:[/COLOR] Mereks, does anyone vaccinate for it? I'm asking because when I got my chicks from Meyers, I didn't know what it was. As I wanted a bird who had little meds from the get go, I only fed med feed for the first 20 lbs of feed. Little did I know that Mereks is deadly. I wish now that I had gotten them vaccinated. I was basically told since there have never been chickens on my property, and I was getting so few, Mereks would be no problem. I am fearful of it after all my reading up on it. How is everyone going to all the meet and swaps and not bring something like that home with them on their clothes or shoes? Sometimes being new to things really sucks, the "what ifs" get a hold and don't let go . I would love to get more chicks, but from reading I should stick with a hatchery. Do I get new chicks vaccinated for Mereks or not? So many dang questions. [COLOR=B22222]hogster~[/COLOR] As a fairly new chicken owner, I can relate to feeling overwhelmed thinking of all the diseases my hens could get and feeling intimidated about all the hatching and buying and trading that many of our Thread members enjoy. And maybe because we are both new to chickens, I would also worry about contamination from going to a swap meet. Additionally, as [COLOR=8B4513]bradselig[/COLOR] mentioned, I don't like the thought of puppy mill types of people selling any type of animal. However, I've never been to a swap meet, but they sound like any organization-- there are both good and bad people involved. [COLOR=008080]Little Ameraucana Mom[/COLOR] only buys birds from certain reputable vendors. me me me mentioned the importance of quarantining new birds. As far as Marek's Disease, maybe other more experience members can comment. When I asked my vet if my chickens needed vaccines, he didn't recommend it since I just have five hens and live in a subdivision. I totally agree with you, too, that I have to have my "daily dose" of chicken therapy-- and I know that all of our crazy chicken loving members agree. (Daily doses lead to weekly support group meetings! haha)

As a disclaimer, I'd like to first state that I am not a vet--what I am about to say is based entirely on lots of my own research, and I would suggest that anyone reading this do their own research to make sure that what they end up doing is right for their flock. I do not vaccinate for Marek's for one reason--I am fairly sure my hens that were feed store chicks were not vaccinated. It's my understanding that birds vaccinated against Marek's can also shed the virus and infect birds that are not vaccinated. Marek's is a nasty disease, and I don't like the thought of it getting into my flock, but I'd prefer not to bring it here myself and risk losing any of my birds. The vaccine is only really effective within the first 36 hours after hatching, anyway, or you can bet I'd be vaccinating my girls for it. Whether it is worth it to have the hatchery vaccinate really depends upon which hatchery--and you'd have to be asking that hatchery about it. Apparently, not every vaccine is effective against all strains of Marek's, but some hatcheries reportedly mix the three vaccines to cover all strains. If it weren't for my situation of having some birds not vaccinated, I would likely vaccinate chicks if it was the mixture of vaccinations to cover all strains. As far as contamination goes--this is exactly why I don't like to buy adult birds anymore. Any adult bird could potentially be a carrier of a disease that it does not show symptoms for. Additionally, any place that has adult birds, or that someone who owns adult birds has been (yes, this includes the feed store!) can be a source of contamination for your flock. There are lots of ugly diseases out there, and if you really want to be safe, you have to be proactive--never wear the same shoes or clothes in the chicken yard or where your chickens may be after you've worn them to a swap meet, someone else's farm, a poultry show, or even the feed store, and vice versa. Of course, there is now way of preventing all contamination, as wild birds and insects can carry some things as well, but you can always do what you can to help prevent your flock from getting sick. As for medicated chick feed, I avoid that as well. The medication in it is just a low-dose medicine for coccidiosis to prevent your chicks from getting it, nothing more. The risk there is that if you bring successive generations of chicks in on medicated feed, the cocci on your property could become immune to the medicine in that particular starter feed and your birds could become infected anyway. I feed the unmedicated chick starter and keep some Amprolium on hand just in case the chicks come down with coccidiosis. However, if you really want to feed medicated starter, you could find out what kind of medicine is in each brand, and switch between brands that use different medicines each time you get chicks.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

So for about the last 5 weeks, both of my brooder boxes have been out in the garage.  9 -15 weeks old and the other had 6 -11 weeks old.  For the last 2 weeks they have been going outside in their temp run split.  Its about 10 w x 20 L. each so 20 x 20.  2 days ago i took out the divider.  I had places set up for the smaller birds to hide if needed.  It went ok.  That night back to their brooder.  Yesterday they all went back out to their full run all together.  They did fine, up until I put some scratch down for them.  The older ones attacked one of the smaller birds.  Pulled a few tail feathers off.  She has a dime size patch of a sore.  She was bleeding so I took her out and let her free range the rest of the time we were outside, as even the rest of the little girls were pecking her spot.  Hubby put them all together back in their brooders.  They all slept well, she doesn't look any worse than she did last night.  Do I need to wait longer before I try to put them all together?  We have decided to free range them in an area that is 45 x 150.  That area is already fenced in and will be theirs. I still need to finish the coop, ugh, and do all clean up of the area of small things.  I also have a ton of things coming up this week, gone 2 days then I have 2 younger girls that I will need to watch as mom is looking for day care, so I probably won't get much done this week.  I can put a temp fence up to divide them if needed once out side all the time, but man, I figured they would be ok since they were close to each other for so long already.  There is a size difference between the two sets of chicks.  Do I need to wait until they are closer in size?

Thanks for the help!

Deb

This sounds to me like a completely normal flock dynamic--my girls get pretty mean with one another when there are treats involved! I imagine the only reason there was an injury inflicted was because of that size difference. You could give them another week or two separated if you think that would be safer for those smaller birds. I would lean toward doing the same, as there are fewer of the smaller ones than of the older ones.

Cover that wound with Blu-Kote and the other birds should stop messing with it. It's the red color that attracts other birds to a wound, which is why a small sore quickly can turn into a pretty nasty case of cannibalization.