INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Chaneys Ranch]

itsjustme~ I'm just getting online-- it's been a busy day. I'm happy to help with the map and will PM you.
Re: the discussion about other states~ we have a member who lives over the state line in Illinois I believe.

AATH~ Chicken City looks like fun! Don't worry, I still need to finish painting my year old coop! When I go outside, my hens beg me to take them out in the far back yard (where there's lots of grass unlike the fenced-in yard!), so it's hard to get anything done in the fenced area. I don't want to suffer the wrath of mad hens!

Cluck and Jchny~ Congrats on both of your new broods of chicks!! I'm kinda thinking about putting some wooden eggs in to see if I can get a broody hen who would hatch two eggs. My coop was made for 6 hens and I have 5, but just 4 egg layers. I'm not sure what the story is with my Jersey, but she pretends to lay eggs. I could use a couple of more egg layers since family and friends enjoy the eggs.

If you ever want to try to hatch, I will send some EE your way, GLW or any others I have. When the Lavender orps start to lay, you are welcome to some of those even! I am so grateful for all your help its the least I can do

 

[Mother2Hens]

Hi Everyone. New chicken keeper here and really enjoying it so far. I was thrilled to find this thread and see so many like minded people that I can call neighbors.

Not being one to tiptoe, we started with an order of 25 assorted rare chicks from McMurray. It has been so much fun trying to figure out what we got. Of the 27 chicks they sent, we are pretty sure we know what we have with the exception of 2 hens (well, pretty sure they are hens)

We actually have 4 chicks colored identically. 2 of the chicks we have tentatively identified as Silver Leghorns. The mystery chicks are identical, but have dark/slate/grey colored legs compared to bright yellow for the leghorns. I would also say they have slightly longer legs also.

Here are a few pics:


Here is a good look at one of the dark legged chicks

and now one with yellow legs (We think it is a Silver Leghorn)

And another compare shot with both birds almost cooperating.

The chicks are about 9 weeks old at this point. Any ideas on what they might be?

Welcome to the Indiana Thread! For a new chicken keeper, you really did jump in~ all the mystery assort-pack chicks sound like fun! Thanks for posting the pictures. Our members love to play "Guess the Breed."

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

M2H how old is your jersey girl?

 

[itsjustme]

This is my 2nd time incubating eggs and I have a question. Iv done tons of research but didn't see anything about chicks making a zipper on the side of their eggs? Its on the fat end of the egg near the top but its on the side. Should I leave it alone and see if he figures it out? Id say hes had his hole for about an hour and a half. I can see the white membrane it doesn't look like its drying out so ibdont think that's trappingthe chick in there?

 

[Mother2Hens]

jchny~ Thank you for the offer, and I might take you up on it although you don't need to feel like I am owed anything. The mother hen/baby chick photo is what I would love to experience in real life, plus I could use some extra eggs. The lavender orp sounds appealing because I like "one of each breed" since I am limited on space. I like the lavender chicken colors members have been posting and it seems like Orps are a friendly breed.The other type that interests me is a Swedish Flower hen like Leahs Mom has posted. The frizzle ones intrigue me although I prefer not too frizzley --no matching hat. haha I like chickens that look like chickens just like I like dogs that look like dogs. You know what I mean? Classic looks, I guess. But I will first have to wait until I see if I have a broody hen. I'm just in the dreaming stage right now. : - ) I'll just borrow your goat in the meantime.

 

[Mother2Hens]

M2H how old is your jersey girl?

When a guy traded me the Jersey for one of my surprise cockerels last June, he said she was a year old and that she laid eggs. He said that he had a small flock of hens and that someone had given him Jersey. Well, she never laid eggs, but she laid the weird thing that's on my profile page. It looked like a slimy shrimp with a shriveled egg and she seemed fine afterwards (that's around the first time on got on BYC since I was panicking about her egg). From what people said, I figured that it was a "lash egg," which they said was actually part of her reproductive organs. Off and on for a few months she laid shell-less eggs while on the perch (I guess she couldn't make it to the nesting box). I have some photos of those I'll have to find. A few looked like scrambled eggs. She always seemed fine, though. Last fall she had a light molt and during that time period, she would sometimes rest instead of going out on our field trips. The weird thing is that maybe once a week she sits in a nesting box in that spread out position like she is laying an egg. We figure that she just fakes it to keep her status as head chicken. She even does that pawk pawk pe-yock call that they do after they lay an egg. I don't know... she could be 10 years old! The guy who gave her to me was a real soft spoken nice guy who lives not too far from me, so I don't think he was trying to cull her on purpose, but you never know. I am glad I have her because she communicates like a person and is so big and beautiful.

 

[Mother2Hens]

This is my 2nd time incubating eggs and I have a question. Iv done tons of research but didn't see anything about chicks making a zipper on the side of their eggs? Its on the fat end of the egg near the top but its on the side. Should I leave it alone and see if he figures it out? Id say hes had his hole for about an hour and a half. I can see the white membrane it doesn't look like its drying out so ibdont think that's trappingthe chick in there?

Gee, I hope jchny is still on to help you because I know nothing about hatching.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Quote:
she sounds so sweet! I wouldn't be able to part with her either. And you never know, my EE went almost 8 months and only laid 2 eggs. Now she is daily like clockwork! I think something internal happens and they just shut off a while. Bunny was horribly thin, and very timid. I got her and Mabel free when I bought Bacon, the guy had some chickens and said they were "ugly". Severely over-mated

what a jerk! Poor girls, Mabel is my best layer, and Bunny is almost as good! They just needed to be cared for properly. It may be the same with your Jersey, she may have had a lot of stress where she came, and just hasn't recovered.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Quote:
Wait at least 12 hours before you help.
If the chick is healthy it will be ok

heres a link with a lot of fantastic info on hatching:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-101
hope it helps

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

jchny~ Thank you for the offer, and I might take you up on it although you don't need to feel like I am owed anything. The mother hen/baby chick photo is what I would love to experience in real life, plus I could use some extra eggs. The lavender orp sounds appealing because I like "one of each breed" since I am limited on space. I like the lavender chicken colors members have been posting and it seems like Orps are a friendly breed.The other type that interests me is a Swedish Flower hen like Leahs Mom has posted. The frizzle ones intrigue me although I prefer not too frizzley --no matching hat. haha I like chickens that look like chickens just like I like dogs that look like dogs. You know what I mean? Classic looks, I guess. But I will first have to wait until I see if I have a broody hen. I'm just in the dreaming stage right now. : - ) I'll just borrow your goat in the meantime.

hehe! I hope to have his doe this weekend! I cant wait, she is so sweet!
When you are ready let me know. I have eggs with your name on them