INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[gunchief25]

I want to thank all those who were concerned about our girl, Sesame.

We took her to the avian vet in Indianapolis this morning, and she believes our assumption of Marek's was correct.

We didn't feel it would be right to make her wait and suffer until we got an appointment at Purdue to make 100% sure.

We had her euthanized there at 11:40 this morning. It seemed like she went peacefully. As peacefully as a creature can. We decided to have it done there because neither of us have ever performed a cervical dislocation, and we weren't too sure about using carbon dioxide as a method.

She was a beautiful butterscotch colored Buff Orpington. She made us laugh. She rocked the coop and run. We miss her, we became too attached (which I guess happens with one's very first 'flock'). We'll be posting pictures of the other girls later and watching them like hawks. We (I) feel we owe it to Sesame.

Thank you again for your concern, it is much appreciated,

Mr Tattoohead

Sesame Chicken (at 13 weeks)

Rest In Peace

Rest in peace

 

[Thunder Chicken]

Sorry about your loss MrTattoohead. Love the picture of her. So sad.

I have a question for the free rangers out there. We had a privacy fence put up last week to hide our birds.

DW has been wanting one for years anyway. I liked being able to see further than our yard but I gave in. Who knows, maybe we can get a dog now. My question is, do you think I can let the chickens out now? It is a 6 foot fence but it is about 5.5 foot at the poles because we opted for the rolling top. Do you think the girls can, or would fly over? I have read that this should be high enough to deter them but I want your opinions. I am thinking about letting them loose this weekend while I am home to see what happens but I don't want to be known as the old man on the block that chases chickens down the street. Here's some pictures to give you a better idea of my setup. I would put them back in the coop/run when I'm not around. Hopefully they will go back on their own.





While I'm uploading, here is a raised bed garden that I built out of a couple of extra fence panels and posts. I told SallyInIndiana about this so I might as well upload it now so she knows what I am talking about. I decided not to go as far back in the yard as originally planned because the fence would be about 2 foot lower. There is a drainage ditch behind the fence. The builder said they would leave the extra and I had a good idea what to do with the leftover cedar. DW has been asking for a garden all summer.



Just need to add dirt.

 

[browncow15]

Racinchickens- bummer about your broody pecking her chick! I know you've said before but where did you buy your electric fence? I'm looking into something so my chickies can still freerange but I can keep the rooster away from my kiddos. Maybe something for my cows too.

 

[gunchief25]

Did you download that off the NSA website?

John

No actually I have a camera on my nesting boxes and one in the run. I went through and watched all the videos when I got home from work. The silly Cuckoo Maran flew the coop at 7:30AM and was outside the run all day. shortly after the Gold Star got in the nesting box and laid an egg.

 

[danand]

Mr Tatoo- I'm so sorry. We have all lost some ( for different reasons) and its hard! It is so easy to get attached to them. Some have more personality than others.

Thunder- the fence and raised bed look great. I now have to keep mine penned up when I'm gone. I let them loose in the barn with 2 open areas , 1 has a 6 ft fence and they never go over it but the other end has a 4 ft farm fence and some will go over it. But they also fly back too. Now that being said, there is no grass left in those areas and they can see where they want to go!! My guess is that you have lots of room and grass and they should stay put!! Hopeful thinking. And mine do go back in the coup on their own,some might need coaxing.

Brad- beautiful birds......again!!!!

 

[gunchief25]

No actually I have a camera on my nesting boxes and one in the run. I went through and watched all the videos when I got home from work. The silly Cuckoo Maran flew the coop at 7:30AM and was outside the run all day. shortly after the Gold Star got in the nesting box and laid an egg.

I gotta hand it to her, she just started laying 7 days ago and she has laid an egg a day.

 

[bradselig]

Sorry about your loss MrTattoohead. Love the picture of her. So sad. I have a question for the free rangers out there. We had a privacy fence put up last week to hide our birds. DW has been wanting one for years anyway. I liked being able to see further than our yard but I gave in. Who knows, maybe we can get a dog now. My question is, do you think I can let the chickens out now? It is a 6 foot fence but it is about 5.5 foot at the poles because we opted for the rolling top. Do you think the girls can, or would fly over? I have read that this should be high enough to deter them but I want your opinions. I am thinking about letting them loose this weekend while I am home to see what happens but I don't want to be known as the old man on the block that chases chickens down the street. Here's some pictures to give you a better idea of my setup. I would put them back in the coop/run when I'm not around. Hopefully they will go back on their own. While I'm uploading, here is a raised bed garden that I built out of a couple of extra fence panels and posts. I told SallyInIndiana about this so I might as well upload it now so she knows what I am talking about. I decided not to go as far back in the yard as originally planned because the fence would be about 2 foot lower. There is a drainage ditch behind the fence. The builder said they would leave the extra and I had a good idea what to do with the leftover cedar. DW has been asking for a garden all summer. Just need to add dirt.

beautiful fence! I have a 5ft chainlink fence. last year the guineas always flew over it and taught the chickens how to. my biggest dog is a chicken killer thus didnt work out very well for the guineas and chickens. I ended up selling the guineas and most of the chickens from last year that learned the bad behaviors from the guineas (crossing the road, flying over the fence, visiting the church goers on sunday morning, etc). this year with my new birds and the few i kept from last year, i havent had one chicken fly over the fence, cross the road, or even visit the church. I think you should be fine.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Sorry about your loss MrTattoohead. Love the picture of her. So sad.

I have a question for the free rangers out there. We had a privacy fence put up last week to hide our birds.

DW has been wanting one for years anyway. I liked being able to see further than our yard but I gave in. Who knows, maybe we can get a dog now. My question is, do you think I can let the chickens out now? It is a 6 foot fence but it is about 5.5 foot at the poles because we opted for the rolling top. Do you think the girls can, or would fly over? I have read that this should be high enough to deter them but I want your opinions. I am thinking about letting them loose this weekend while I am home to see what happens but I don't want to be known as the old man on the block that chases chickens down the street. Here's some pictures to give you a better idea of my setup. I would put them back in the coop/run when I'm not around. Hopefully they will go back on their own.





While I'm uploading, here is a raised bed garden that I built out of a couple of extra fence panels and posts. I told SallyInIndiana about this so I might as well upload it now so she knows what I am talking about. I decided not to go as far back in the yard as originally planned because the fence would be about 2 foot lower. There is a drainage ditch behind the fence. The builder said they would leave the extra and I had a good idea what to do with the leftover cedar. DW has been asking for a garden all summer.



Just need to add dirt.

I think you will be fine with your chickens unless they want something on the other side of the fence like another chicken or something they think is a treat. But right now is hawk migration, keep your eyes on the sky and a radio on while you are letting them out, at least until they know to watch for the hawks.
The garden bed looks lovely. The corner posts are great. I'm sure you already know this, but to get off to a great start, lay down a nice thick lining of plastic or weed barrier to kill off that grass. Then a thin layer of sand to help with spring drainage issues. Then the dirt, potting soil in the bags is pricey, but standard dirt is not too bad and you can always add chicken litter in the middle. I hope you get a wonderful garden. You may want to put up 4 t posts and surround the garden with deer netting to keep out free ranging chickens once you get plants growing. I can't get over the corner posts they just look so great.

 

[Kiniska]

All these posts of Cream Legbars is killing me. I want one so bad but really don't want to raise chicks again until next fall. Bradselig you better have some eggs ready first thing this spring because I'm gonna be knocking!

Acquisition list for next spring.... CCL, BLGW, & a Blue Standard Cochin. Should round out the flock nicely. I'm sure by that time I'm going to discover some other breeds I want. I only have you all to blame...

On the nesting box topic I currently have golf balls in the boxes. I left the chickens in the run/coop area until about 1 today and will do that for a couple days. Could be they just aren't laying yet. Someday I'll get that million dollar egg.

Am right there with you. I can't wait to get some cream leg bars!

 

[Mother2Hens]

Mr. Tattoohead~
I am so sorry about Sesame. Last month, I had to have my lavender orp put to sleep at the vet because of a leg injury that never improved. A chicken is a pet that we love like any other pet. I'm sure she will be missed. Your story helped all of us by discussing the importance of bio security, what precautions to take, and information about diseases.

kabhyper~ You're lucky that your hens are laying well during this heatwave. Mine think of any excuse to take the day off.
Originally Posted by gunchief25
It seems that my Dominique is not a Dominique at all.
There seems to be an epidemic on this thread of surprise/mid-identified chickens lately!

KristyAZ~ Click on the MEMBERS link under my post to see if there are members who live in the area you are interested in since everyone isn't online all the time. You can PM them.
ThunderChicken~ Nice fencing and raised bed-- and coop! We have a privacy fence around part of our backyard, which is where our chickens and coop are although I take them on supervised visits in our far backyard that's not fenced. Anyway, surprisingly I have never had any of them try to fly over the fence-- even where a section of our fence is only 4' so we can see the rest of the yard. That doesn't mean yours won't -- I don't know if that's a common problem. CRSelvy just puts a ladder by her fence so her blue EE doesn't have to go to the trouble of flying.

CRSelvy~ Thanks for the advice about laying a tarp down before having tons of sand dumped since that hadn't occurred to me. I am going to schedule it for Friday when the heatwave is supposed to subside-- hopefully. My fluffy brown orps are not enjoying the heat. They pant off and on and I have four fans, a mister, bowls of electrolyte water, and I bring cold fruit out every two hours and make sure each chicken gets some.
hogster~ It's good to have you back! Hope you're keeping your broody hen cool. Sorry about the loss of your one hen. That's so smart that you had a necropsy done. Regarding your EE that was paralyzed, but is okay now-- do you have any idea what that was from?