INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Chaneys Ranch]

Here are some pics of my critters.

The yard is 64' x 64'. The tarp is for shade. The coop is inside the barn. It is 8' x 16'.



14 week Blue Cochin rooster. I have 2.


14 week Silver Laced Wyandotte pullet. I have 5.


14 week Jersey Black Giant pullet. I have 4. Note the metallic blue-green sheen on the black feathers. It is really striking in direct sunlight.


18 week Buff Orpington pullet. I have 5.


14 week. Gold Laced Wyandotte pullet. I have 4.


14 week Blue Cochin pullet. I have 3. 2 Buff Cochin roosters in background.


14 week Pearl Guinea male, I think. I have (I think) 2 males, 1 female.


Another 14 week SLW pullet.


18 week Gold Laced Wyandotte rooster. I have 2.


14 week Indian Runner ducks. I have 4 Blue, 2 Chocolate, 2 Fawn and White.



John

Quote:

Here's a shot of the nipple water bucket. Easy to do. Drill holes. Screw in nipples so that they just barely compress the silicone washer.




I rotated the original, but when I loaded it to BYC, it reverted to the unrotated version. Tip your computer.

The top is just sitting on the bucket, not snapped down. Hang it so that the chickens can walk under it without having to duck.
Note the rope length adjuster. Use a bucket with a wire handle (bail). Plastic bails will eventually crack and break. Any chicken standing under the bucket when this happens will also break.



John

Awesome pix as always John! Your runners look pretty awesome! Guinea hens say buckwheat, buckwheat? and have really small waddles. Cocks are super aggressive and annoying, tictictic tic tic tic UGH!

Quote:
My youngest DD did that too. I just did not understand it at all. I could not wait to get my DL

Quote:
I have to admit when I took my youngest DD for her license I had tears. The super sweet BMV lady I always talk to was in tears too, our kids went to school together. I don't know her name. Looking back, I should have asked, the moment realizing that my last child was grown and my nest, empty was very painful. What next? My birds

 

[Too Fast]

Here I go again... Seem to do a lot of whining here of late.

I received a stunning little addition to my flock yesterday thanks to the lovely pbirdhaven. He was a gorgeous pale splash bantam cochin with lots of comb at 10 weeks. Put his fuzzy butt into the quarantine pen and he ran around eating all the grass, scoffing the grain and picking at a water melon. Paying no attention to the girls who had lined up like soldiers at the fence line to check him out.
I was in heaven

He is cute as a button, does not seem flighty because of the girls...perfect!

Roll on night fall. Around 20 mins after dusk I pop my back porch flood light on and step outside. The quarantine pen fence is completely crushed. About 5 feet from the pen is my new rooster, mauled to death.
I have cameras on my house and it happens right after it gets dark. I can barely see the chicken on the camera running around frantically, but without the lights on I can not see what it attacking him. I have come to the conclusion it was a dog by how trashed the fencing was and the fact the little guy had a single bite and a broken wing but was left intact.

I am so frustrated and angry with myself and I feel like a big let down on pbirdhaven for giving me such a beautiful bird... I may just scream

Wow the loss on the first day really sucks. Sorry to hear about this and other people's losses as well. We've lost a beautiful New Hampshire to natural causes, but not anything from attacks. Our coop/run is a fortress. I do worry about the free ranging now tho, since we've seen so many hawks in the area, one even landing on our coop and walking around the run checking for weaknesses in the fencing.Q

The giant sunflower made me think of this. Did anyone see the tallest corn stalk in the horticulture building. It was 17 feet 3 inches! The tallest sunflower was somewhere between 12 and 14 feet.

Well our sunflower isn't 12-14 feet tall, but I measured it last night and it is exactly 11 feet. Tallest one I've grown, I think.

 

[Too Fast]

John your set-up really looks great. Do the ducks fly away? I've wondered that about people raising ducks. Do they all eventually fly away? Will they come back months later? Or do only some types of ducks leave? More importantly, do you have tinfoil hats for them?

 

[CCCCCCCCHICKENS]

jchnny- i dont bred dogs. i didnt plan on her having puppies it just happened. i was nt vry happy about it but i can only stay mad so long lol.

 

[Little Ameraucana Mom]

John your set-up really looks great. Do the ducks fly away? I've wondered that about people raising ducks. Do they all eventually fly away? Will they come back months later? Or do only some types of ducks leave? More importantly, do you have tinfoil hats for them?

I have muscovys and calls, they freerange, and none have ever flown away. I've heard of mallards flying away before. But I think that is the only breed I've ever heard of leaving.

 

[pginsber]

Old Salt 1945
Awesome pictures and a fantastic place. Your birds have a great place to play. Your feeder & waterer pictures were nice, too. Thanks for sharing. Pictures always give me ideas. Again, being a city person with a tiny coop and postage stamp sized yard--your setup looks GREAT!!!

Vickichicki
Sorry to hear about your rooster loss. I'm so aggravated by stray dogs. If the dog was hungry and killed for food, that'd be one thing. To just kill for sport is totally another. Hugs to you!

 

[Old Salt 1945]

John your set-up really looks great. Do the ducks fly away? I've wondered that about people raising ducks. Do they all eventually fly away? Will they come back months later? Or do only some types of ducks leave? More importantly, do you have tinfoil hats for them?

Indian Runner ducks don't fly, they run.

Long ago I had mallards. They flew south in a snow storm. Never saw them again. Not likely they survived without a feed bucket.

John

 

[julie0477]

Jchny2000 - you think I am ok to leave them? That's what I want to do but I wasn't sure if that week difference in development would put the others at risk. She's the mom. I suppose I can let her sort it out

Update: I should clarify, she's been on a clutch of eggs that are a week or so ahead of these new ones :/

 

[kabhyper1]

So I am keeping the chickens in the coop and run because of the hawk attack yesterday. Does anyone know how a hawks hunting works? If I leave them in for a few days, will he get bored and move on? I have had them free ranging for months with no issues until yesterday, so Im thinking hes a rogue. The six alpacas are out there with the chickens. The only difference was that yesterday the chickens were in a different part of the pasture away from the alpacas. I am going to try the fishing line thing today. I have a lot of trees to make a nice webbing of it about 12 feet above the ground over the pasture. I cant keep 11 lf chickens in a 4x6 coop with an attached 4x 8 run for ever. they are meant to free range. I think I will leave our dogs outside more for the next few days too. Our fenced in yard where the dogs go is only about 15 feet from the pasture. Any thoughts. I want this hawk gone. I wont kill it. I dont kill things and its illegal
Also ,Old Salt, your chickens are beautiful! We love our Blue cochin roo and our wyandottes

 

[julie0477]

So I am keeping the chickens in the coop and run because of the hawk attack yesterday. Does anyone know how a hawks hunting works? If I leave them in for a few days, will he get bored and move on? I have had them free ranging for months with no issues until yesterday, so Im thinking hes a rogue. The six alpacas are out there with the chickens. The only difference was that yesterday the chickens were in a different part of the pasture away from the alpacas. I am going to try the fishing line thing today. I have a lot of trees to make a nice webbing of it about 12 feet above the ground over the pasture. I cant keep 11 lf chickens in a 4x6 coop with an attached 4x 8 run for ever. they are meant to free range. I think I will leave our dogs outside more for the next few days too. Our fenced in yard where the dogs go is only about 15 feet from the pasture. Any thoughts. I want this hawk gone. I wont kill it. I dont kill things and its illegal 
 Also ,Old Salt, your chickens are beautiful! We love our Blue cochin roo and our wyandottes

are any of them bantams? How old are they? We have hawks around our property. I've never lost a full grown chicken to one but I did lose a ten week old a few weeks ago and I suspect the hawk. Not sure of their hunting habits. :/