INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Kiniska]

Do you mind if I repost this on Facebook?  Its good info.

Please do!

 

[racinchickins]

I have 6 poults that are about a month old, and I sure do hope hens strut! The first time I put them in the day pen and the peafowl went to check them out all 6 displayed with either full struts or fanned tail feathers. I definatly do not want the luck I had last year and everyone of them be toms.

That would be terrible luck. Here's hoping for hens for you!

 

[racinchickins]

Now that's a good idea. I did that just now, as we haven't eaten any yet. Waiting for a few more, but this weekend we have some guests coming in and they are curious about the eggs. What is your favorite way to prepare them so they really show off the fresh flavor? (the eggs, silly, not the humans!)
How old are your chickens? Ours will be 17 weeks this Thursday. We probably won't get any brown eggs until late July/early August.

Our chicks will be 17 weeks this Friday. The one that is squatting is an Old English Game. We also have two Silver Leghorns and an Egyptian Fayoumi pullet that are starting to show signs that they are considering gifting us with eggs. We have two Dark Brahmas that based on how slow they developed compared to the others I wouldn't expect eggs from them any time soon. The only other pullets we have for sure are another OEG and a Polish. I expect them to be somewhere in the middle. The rest of the flock is unfortunately given to crowing and other obnoxious acts. We didn't do well on the roo/pullet sweepstakes for our straight run batch. Out of 27 birds, only 8 confirmed girls. I have 4 in the 'Not sure, but probably boy' category, the rest are definitely boys getting more obnoxious by the day. I have two beautiful Blue Laced Red Wyandottes who ruined my fantasies by crowing at each other last week. I was holding out hope they were female. I've had some trouble being sure, since I've never had birds before. If I don't have a definite male and a female to compare, I keep hoping those developing wattles signal eggs and not crows.

 

[vickichicki]

Our chicks will be 17 weeks this Friday.  The one that is squatting is an Old English Game.  We also have two Silver Leghorns and an Egyptian Fayoumi pullet that are starting to show signs that they are considering gifting us with eggs.  We have two Dark Brahmas that based on how slow they developed compared to the others I wouldn't expect eggs from them any time soon. The only other pullets we have for sure are another OEG and a Polish.  I expect them to be somewhere in the middle.  The rest of the flock is unfortunately given to crowing and other obnoxious acts.  We didn't do well on the roo/pullet sweepstakes for our straight run batch.  Out of 27 birds, only 8 confirmed girls.  I have 4 in the 'Not sure, but probably boy' category, the rest are definitely boys getting more obnoxious by the day.  I have two beautiful Blue Laced Red Wyandottes who ruined my fantasies by crowing at each other last week.  I was holding out hope they were female.  I've had some trouble being sure, since I've never had birds before. If I don't have a definite male and a female to compare, I keep hoping those developing wattles signal eggs and not crows.

I think there is a tough time s they ae growing on whether they are boys or girls. As some girls hit maturity their waffles can easily be mistaken for a Roo. Some of my RIR girls have huge waffles that bend over as they are so big. Obviously lacking the tail and hackle feathers, but if you did not know what you were looking for they could all be considered Roo looking.

I have a few about 12 weeks old I am struggling to sex. The vote is still out and I will be giving them a few more weeks. As I could not determine sex earlier on these guys will be staying until I am sure. As the 5 of mine are growing they look identical, so which ever sex they turn out to be, they will all be the same. Fingers crossed for you and myself.

 

[CCCCCCCCHICKENS]

...

Grab a bag of cracked corn and make a trip to a fishing tackle shop and grab some crickets. Feed before the weekend. The corn and fresh bugs make for beautiful golden yolks.
Fried eggs show off the freshness. The yolk should sit high and round unlike the store brought, which lack colouring and are flat.
Scrambled eggs yield a nice dark yellow colour not a light yellow.
For future reference the fresher the eggs the harder it is to peel for hard boiled. I have been working on a perfecting the timing for the fresher eggs but I still struggle to get a consistent peel. Eggs around a month old peel like a dream.

With the eggs you are not eating you should fry up anyway, cook one next to a store egg and see the difference.

As for the best flavour... Ironically I have all these chickens with more eggs than I know what to do with...I don't eat eggs.. Not scrambled, fried, poach, boiled etc... Have to take DHs word for it.[/quote)

I dont eat eggs either! I have had a ton of people ask why i have chickens if I dont eat eggs.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

I just realized that I won't have eggs to sit in my incubator for a while. I have a couple of different sets of eggs in an incubator the last of which will hopefully hatch by July 11th. Then it is looking like it will be at least the middle of September before I have a rooster that will produce fertile eggs.
I guess now is the time to start planning how many chickens I want to keep for winter and when to hatch out the chicks I want to start laying next spring.

 

[pbirdhaven]

I'm having a CHICKEN GARAGE Sale this weekend. I've done these in the past and everyone seem to really like them. Friday and Saturday. After a lot of thought I just have to downsize, I'm not getting any younger and it is just becoming to much work for me. I have a lot I'm letting go. Just keeping enough for us to show on some breeds , but cutting back on all of them.

All are out of show stock.

I'm south of Greencastle, just 1/4 mile off of 40 If anyone would like to come I've tried to start a list on our farm page. https://www.facebook.com/HeavenlySpringsFarm but I'm sure there will be a lot I'll add as I go through them. Probly won't have a full list till they are in cages . !!!!

Oh, Sally, you temptress--just when I'm thinking I need to downsize! Actually, I' ve been wanting a nice pair of black silkies. Every time I think I have them, the color gets brassy, they develop wattles, or whatever else can go wrong.
On FB you mentioned that others sometimes bring birds to sell as well; if okay, I'd like to do that. Be happy to pay commission for the privilege. I have chicks out the wazoo and more in the incubator, mostly from show stock.

 

[pbirdhaven]

My poults are about 8 weeks old now, and no one is strutting. Either they're all hens with no reason to impress anyone or they're developmentally delayed!

Also, either I flunked mousetrap making or my mice are descended from the Wallendas. I made the bucket with a paper towel core, spread it with peanut butter, etc. The first night they ate off the peanut butter and no one fell in the water. The second night they ate the towel core too.

 

[Crafty chick]

2 babes so far!

Mrs. Peeps.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

My poults are about 8 weeks old now, and no one is strutting. Either they're all hens with no reason to impress anyone or they're developmentally delayed!

Also, either I flunked mousetrap making or my mice are descended from the Wallendas. I made the bucket with a paper towel core, spread it with peanut butter, etc. The first night they ate off the peanut butter and no one fell in the water. The second night they ate the towel core too.

do you have a cat? We have had good luck with both cats and roosters eating mice. We also have the flip traps from the dollar store under our sink. Every once in a while a flip trap gets one. They hit us hard when the snow melts and when the fields are harvested. I'm thankful for the barn cat we have now.