INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Old Salt 1945]

Okay this may be a dumb question, but what are spent hens?This is just a guess but are they hens that can lay anymore. I have seen ads in the free ad paper that say they have free spent hens and have seen the term used on this thread and byc in general. I'm stumped.

O and for people looking or sellin gchicks or chickens you can look or put an ad in it. To put just a noral add it is free. If you want a border I think it is a dollar. I am pretty sure the headquarters or whatever it is called in located in columbus indiana.

And does anyone on here get the poultry press newspaper? I just bought a subscription in april and am waiting for it to get here. I am thinking I will get one in june. I can't wait!

Spent hens are laying hens whose production falls off to the point that the feed costs more than the eggs sell for.

If she averaged 6 eggs/week and falls to 3, she should head for the stew pot. This usually occurs at 2 to 3 years of age.

Of course, for pets, it is an entirely different calculus.

John

 

[Old Salt 1945]

Rangi decided to fly up and help at the computer today.

"What does this button do?" Unfortunately, that is the power button...

There is a theory that if you had an infinite number of computers and an infinite number of chickens pecking on them that they would eventually type all the works of literature.

The feds, with an infinite supply of money (ours), funded an experiment to test this theory. In a huge building, they set up thousands of computers and thousands of chickens and a cadre of scientists to check their progress. After a couple of years, one of the scientists called out to his counterparts "Come quickly, I think we have something." They read "To be or not to be. That is the guizzenplekascdete52rqweraf."

John

Hope the chick is wearing a diaper. Or has been eating fermented feed for solid poop. Cute though. Lends new meaning to the term "pecking on the keyboard".

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Quote:

lol i can almost believe that John!

 

[Too Fast]

Finally caught up on the thread. I swear this thing grows faster than my chicks!

Welcome to all of the new members! If anyone would like to be added to the member list just shoot me a PM and I'll get you taken care of!

To the thanks for keeping the member list updated you are more than welcome. It really doesn't require that much time in my life.

DH and I spent the weekend building our coop. We got rained out on Monday, which was unfortunate, but it did allow us to get some things done inside the house, though it also means that the ladies are in the house for another week! DH is a bit of a perfectionist and I have a tendency to overdo things a bit, so I guess this is what happens when we try to build a coop together. We're hoping to get the last side framed in tonight and start the roof and sheeting after that.


Alfie, our English Bulldog, thinks we're building him a shade Pavilion.



Sweet Belle checking out her new digs.


First side framed in. Nesting boxes are below with 2 windows above.





DH enjoying his victory for the day. 3 sides done.


And of course, the ladies first day outside!

Looking good! You won't be dissapointed elevating it like you have. We did that also, about 2' off the ground. The chickens love that area. Is the roof going to overhang the high part? Ours doesn't really, and I am going to add on a bit. It helps when it rains and you have to be out there with them.

 

[Too Fast]

Okay, I have a question about getting these crazy chicks to like me. They're about seven weeks old now (I was never given their actual birth date, so it's an estimate) and they still run away from me whenever I go into their enclosure to give them food and water. Any suggestions on getting them to like me faster? The male seems interested, but the rest are super flighty, especially the smallest. They're wyandottes, and I've heard that this breed is particularly skittish.

My DW thinks the chickens like me more than her. My secret is food. I feed them by hand sometimes, so they come around me when we sit out by them. I know you aren't supposed to, but sometimes I get a piece of bread and tear off small pieces and have them come get it from my hand. Only 1 will allow us to pick her up, they others protest if we try but we can eventually catch them. We have 8 total. The white leghorns are the most skittish, more so than our SLW.

 

[Too Fast]

Seeing Quinstar's coop in the making inspired me to take a few pictures of the coop I built.





I decided to make it mobile, so it has wheels and a hitch for the tractor.

Everybody is out front working on the scratch I put down to try to get a group photo.

That's a good way to get the group photo, eh? Nice looking flock.

That's funny, my SLW was the friendliest chicken I ever had. Mine were very skittish of me until I started spending time with them. I have heard to hold them for 15 minutes each, but holding a chicken for 15 minutes is boring, not to mention hard if you have several of them. I usually sit for 15 or 20 minutes a couple of times per day. I put down a towel and sit on it, and then have treats and things that I hand out to them. If you don't want to give them treats, put some feed in your hand. It magically becomes delicious if it's in your hand.

My girls seem to think so, anyway!

Isn't that funny? It really doesn't matter what is in your hand, the chickens find it all magically delicious! They peck at our rings, and when I'm walking around barefoot I hold my feet up and let them look for small bugs or whatever between my toes.

 

[Too Fast]

Rangi decided to fly up and help at the computer today.

"What does this button do?" Unfortunately, that is the power button...

(S)He's a lot bigger than some of the other pictures.

Once again, ''Wow these birds grow so fast!"

 

[vodkalady]

we have 4 wk old chicks and i still cannot hold them either...they certainly me as the food lady and come running to me and when i leave with the empty dish they all chase me to the door...lol. but i still cannot get them to eat out of my hand or let me hold or pet them. i have 14 in all and i can see diff personalities already. a few of the rhode island reds are very curious about me and i think will be very friendly.

 

[Kiniska]

My babies are growing up so fast!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Hope the chick is wearing a diaper.  Or has been eating fermented feed for solid poop.  Cute though.  Lends new meaning to the term "pecking on the keyboard".

None of the above, but she was supposed to be down with the others in their playpen. Rangi's always the first to figure things out (which is why she's such a troublemaker), so of course she had to be the one to fly out and find me.