INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

Guys, I am so worried! I am a noob with chickens, hopefully much less so than when I bought them, but when I bought them, I was assured that they were all female. I did buy a couple straight runs, but just a couple. Now I fear, in addition to the one Roo I bought, that I have FOUR supposedly "female" Roos. One of my gold wyandottes has a very red (I always forget what that is called, on top of their heads) thing, and the only Roo I bought is a Silver Wyandotte, and his is very red, but the other two are more of a pale pink/peach color. Then my two D'uccles have a very red, very large one, and one of my leghorns has a bigger and redder thing than the other two! I am now looking at the straight runs, and I am just like, Oh God.......I can't even bring myself to take pictures, because I don't know what I'll do if they are boys! They are all very tame, sit on my lap, get petted, etc.
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Well, we bought 4 'pullets' from TSC, 2 amber-links and 2 NHs, turns out they were 75% accurate. Here is an amber 'pullet' at 9.5 weeks old. The four amber birds we purchased were supposed to be girls. Obviously, by the comb (thing on the head) and wattles (things below the mouth) he is a boy. The other four were straight runs, so we knew we had a 50/50 chance. 2 white leghorns (turned out to be pullets) and 2 SLW. You can see the cockerel SLW in this picture also:


If their combs are large and red at an early age, I've found out, they are most likely boys. We are not sure what to do with our boys, but if they are well behaved they can stay. Othewise, off to freezer camp they go.
Bradselig- Let me think on it. I've gone from 4 chicks to 10 in a week. I think DH might murder me if I added another. Do you know if it's a pullet or a cockerel?

Busy weekend! Made it to the Wolf Lake Animal Swap for the first time and wow, was that an experience. So many interesting things and people. I wanted to bring home a couple of these Pygmy's in the worst way. Does anyone know of any other swaps or flea markets in the Michiana area?



Also, we're hoping to move to our new house this weekend and then we'll start building our coop! Any tips or tricks or words of wisdom from those of you who have built your own coops? I've gotten a lot of the materials for free, so we're hoping to do a 6X6 raised coop with an enclosed run and come in around 300-400. I think we can do it, but I know they always end up more expensive than you'd think. Do you think 6x6 will work for my 10 girls or should it be a little bit bigger? We are planning to let them free range when we get home after work and they will have a large enclosed run for the rest of the day. I was also thinking of doing some PVC chicken feeders. Has anyone tried these?
I've learned that optimum space for inside the coop is 3-4 square feet per large chicken. The more the better. Our coop is almost 4.5'x8.5' interior, so a bit bigger than 32 sq ft for our 8 birds, or a smidge larger then 4 sq ft/bird. The run should be at least 10 sq ft per bird, to keep them happy and not pecking on each other so much. We were thinking to keep our coop/run around $350, and ended up with about $1100. Oh well. At least if someone built it for us it'd be probably $2k. The fencing for the run adds up fast. Depends on how secure you want to be. You must bury the fencing all around the run to keep predators out. At least 2 feet down, or at least 2 feet horizontal out so the digging raccoons/coyotes/etc. go somewhere else. Build lots of human access, (we made 2 small clean-out doors on one side, and a large door on the other for us to get in the coop) consider a poop board that slides out, make sure to add a way to open the pop door from the outside of the run. Make sure for plenty of natural ventilation at the top, or they can get sick. Make it predator proof.

Oh and that first picture with the 80s Lincoln, I thought you were going to post some vintage pictures!
 
I need your experience. We are at 7 weeks old with our Gold Laced and Silver Laced Wyandottes. I am wondering if they are male or female????



These are my 7 week old Silver Laced Wyandottes.


These are my 7 week old Golden Laced Wyandottes.

They have a lot of orange and red in their beak and face area, but not so much of a comb or waddle. I am very confused. Hoping for hens! If you need better pictures I can take some more. Thank you!
I'd say the SLW are pullets. We have 2 SLW, and 1 for sure is a boy. Big difference. The girl looks like your 2. See my above post for the boy. He had obvious comb/wattle 2 weeks ago. So, it also looks to me like your GLW are girls. Congrats!
 
Well, we bought 4 'pullets' from TSC, 2 amber-links and 2 NHs, turns out they were 75% accurate. Here is an amber 'pullet' at 9.5 weeks old. The four amber birds we purchased were supposed to be girls. Obviously, by the comb (thing on the head) and wattles (things below the mouth) he is a boy. The other four were straight runs, so we knew we had a 50/50 chance. 2 white leghorns (turned out to be pullets) and 2 SLW. You can see the cockerel SLW in this picture also:


If their combs are large and red at an early age, I've found out, they are most likely boys. We are not sure what to do with our boys, but if they are well behaved they can stay. Othewise, off to freezer camp they go.
I've learned that optimum space for inside the coop is 3-4 square feet per large chicken. The more the better. Our coop is almost 4.5'x8.5' interior, so a bit bigger than 32 sq ft for our 8 birds, or a smidge larger then 4 sq ft/bird. The run should be at least 10 sq ft per bird, to keep them happy and not pecking on each other so much. We were thinking to keep our coop/run around $350, and ended up with about $1100. Oh well. At least if someone built it for us it'd be probably $2k. The fencing for the run adds up fast. Depends on how secure you want to be. You must bury the fencing all around the run to keep predators out. At least 2 feet down, or at least 2 feet horizontal out so the digging raccoons/coyotes/etc. go somewhere else. Build lots of human access, (we made 2 small clean-out doors on one side, and a large door on the other for us to get in the coop) consider a poop board that slides out, make sure to add a way to open the pop door from the outside of the run. Make sure for plenty of natural ventilation at the top, or they can get sick. Make it predator proof.

Oh and that first picture with the 80s Lincoln, I thought you were going to post some vintage pictures!

I think the 'real' ratio is supposed to be 90% for sexed. Although I have been reading about people with their 0%

My original 10 girls, I ended up with 1 boy. I like those odds. I think with all my new chicks right now I have 1 definate rooster (heard him crow, he sounds like a broken alarm clock). I beleive the other 14 are all girls, although I may have to wait a while to sex my silkie.
Need to stop temping fate. I have not decided about the 5 that I got from Brad. Either all girls or all boys... I do not see any difference in comb.. Ugh...
Need a rooster??
 
Hello you have seen the previous post about BYC members on Google Maps. Well I have made 1 for just us INDIANA BYC'ers. All you have to do is go to this link....http://goo.gl/maps/UShV6 . Here are the directions. You will see the state of Indiana.. Zoom in to where you live and then click on the red button that says Edit. After you click Edit you will see a hand, blue pin point and a zig zag line on the map. Click the pin point and drag it to where you live on the map. After you have placed your pin point then click on it and you can edit your decription by adding your county. If you want to change your blue pin point to another icon or upload your own then up on the right of that box click the pin point icon and choose others or upload your own icon. If anyone has problems with this feel free to ask. Here is a screen shot of what it all looks like.


Got ours on there. You need to log on to your Google account before you can do this. I like this! We can see where in IN we live.
 
Just to let everyone know in case you missed it... CluckAcres has made an interactive map for the Indiana thread.

When you get a mintue go ahead and add yourselves. Note the county you are in when are making the 'notes'.

Zoom into your location. Click 'edit'. Right click your spot and 'add placemark'. Put your user name and note and click 'done'

Link can be found at the bottom of my signature.
 

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