INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Chaneys Ranch]

Quote: It will make you worry. I have a LOT of birds and very few eggs right now. weather changes seem to affect laying too. be sure they have at least 18% protein and calcium.
Thats all you can do but wait....

Hey all! Havent been on here in a while but i need to downsize my flock for the winter. I have several ducks for sale of different breeds. $10 each. Only want to keep 2. 1 is broody at the moment so she cant be sold til the eggs hatch, but i can hold her for someone. I also have several chickens of various breeds for sale only want to keep cochins and 12 hens and 1 roo. must take at least 1 roo with hens depending on number of hens you take. Roos are purebreds. Hens are $10 each and under 1 yr old. Roos are $5. May also have some white chinese geese for sale too $25 each. Please email me at [email protected] since i dont get on here much.

Hey! Good to see you here and hope you get a response! The white chinese geese are an excellent deterrent for predators and will sure sound an alarm! I just love them. We have very rare predator problems with them here, Glad to see you on the thread

hope lil bacon is doing well, we had a pretty stressful evening for them with their vaccinations and tooth clipping..My guys are all sound asleep and really quiet tonight. So glad your DH is a "tough guy" and was able to help with the shots and teeth clipping, My DH was worried he was hurting the piglets, really bothered him, UGH. Hopefully we can get our lil boars castrated in a week or so. Good to see u guys, hope we can get together more.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

wow I'm still trying to figure out how to use the links here but I have read a lot of good information and since I don't plan to start my flock until early spring I will just keep continuing reading and learning

On our member page we have a link to all the abbreviations. Its on my signature, but tell me what you are looking for and will be glad to help

Lovely chicks Brad.

I must say trying to sell a rare breed on CL is more trying than the standard production chickens. I listed my new to me Ameraucana chicks this afternoon at just above hatchery prices but well below hatchery prices counting shipping. Ohh the emails have come in. I have gotten at least 3 different CL users trying to get me to change my price. Only one did I respond to and wow I should have just ignored him. He is why the others got ignored. I even sent him a link to the hatchery page and he was plain rude in his response.

Oh well if I end up keeping all of the fancy pricy chicks I will have lots of blue eggs for my efforts. And if I do sell them then I will have made a profit just large enough to cover our gas to Bloomington and back. So not a gold mine.


Its so true, any laying hen at POL is worth $15, imo. I have sold for less but in a large amount over a dozen. Roos, $5 minimum thats what you pay at the grocery for a whole bird, minimum for birds that are processed.. Ours are free ranged and healthy and were not raised in a cage. Its very frustrating, but know your birds are healthy, and if it comes down to it, can feed your family.

Pictures taken of some of the most recent hatch
Quail galore!

Birchen Marans, lav cuckoo Cochin bantam, and naked neck

Same three with the addition of a poop covered Birchen Marans

Pooped Birchen

Swedish flower hen. Might end up keeping it for my free ranging flock but who knows!

Lav cuckoo Cochin

Another group shot

Oh my! look at all the Adorable lil quail!!! as always love the babies

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Any of you have experience with solar powered motion lights? I've got a couple places I'd like to put them around the coop for help with night security and I don't have access to electic.

http://www.harborfreight.com/60-led-solar-security-light-69643.html

I'm thinking about something like this, not necessarily that exact one (I've not had great luck with HF stuff) but something along these lines.

Motion lights are always good, It will scare off predators for a while. not a permenant solution but a really good start.

morning everyone, chick question, my little babies turned out to be EEs, about a week old they are on day three at home all alive and well eating drinking etc, am I out of the woods as far as one of them not making it? I was in fear of that, that's the main reason I got four, but it looks like they are all keepers I hope! When can u stop worrying?!?

After your first week they are pretty strong. You never know, but usually at that point they will make it just fine.

Quote: I use their food, I prefer Iams for my dog and cats. Use the feed that settles well with any of your animals that you want to improve their diet. Have used Iams for at least 29 years now.. a glug ( maybe 1/4th cup to a 2 gallon bucket) of unpasturized apple cider vinegar "with the "mother" to start it. (heinz, braggs whatever you can find) and add water an inch above the food. stir a few times a day. you can smell when its fermenting a day or 2, smells really good. you want a thick peanut butter consistency.I only feed dry to my goats they wont eat FF..every other animal here gets fermented feed, and they love it. Excellent preventative to many heath problems and allows them to absorb more nutrients from their food.Yep its a lil more work, but worth seeing my livestock healthier,

Is anyone going to be selling processed meat chickens that we could purchase? We are thinking about getting a chest freezer. I'm more and more put off by the steroids, antibiotics, etc. going into meat and would sooner buy from folks I trust.

its a total nightmare to be FDA approved to sell processed and packaged meat. I will sell live birds and help you learn to process yours. Or you can bring yours and I will show you how, at no cost. That's why I raise my birds, pigs, and soon cows.. I want my family to eat healthy and not be effected by the steroid and antibiotic filled food grocery stores offer. I will gladly teach anyone to process. Really feel we all have the right to provide natural food to our families.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Hmm, might have to work on nest boxes...looking a little crowed.

6 hens per box supposedly is good.. yea right

 

[Too Fast]

Thanks, they are saying that because it was about 7pm and I just locked them in. They were out all day. It is completely covered with 2x4 fencing to keep the hawks out. Squirrels get through though. I saw one having snack in the feeder once.

I was thinking about you wanting yours to go inside at night. Do you have roosts outside that are higher than the ones inside? They all usually try to be on the highest roost. Just a thought.

Didn't think about that. The roosts in the coop are about the same level, or maybe higher, but they can't see them from the outside. I guess if I really want them to use the coop, I can take away the outdoor roosts.

 

[Too Fast]

LOL, you are so right i hate missing a single post.
I don't have any but hope someone can answer any questions you have. Its so exciting to add new babies

be sure to share pics!
Mine hate roosting in the coop. usually its my original 8 birds in there if any do. The rest like the big tree branches outside and HATE being in the coop.
Merlin will roost with his girls in their coop, same for Bruce and his ladies. All my GLWs from this year will NOT go in and roost even in the rain.
I think its just the individual birds choice and their ages. I have ladder roosts in there so there is plenty of room, and usually no problems.
Great idea! Shame you can't leave the coke signs, so cool and nostalgic! Sell them for sure, pretty valuable for a collectable.
I have a tall apt sized fridge I have had since 1983. It finally died. Dad wants to make me a cabinet bator out of it...
Its kinda special, since was my first fridge I bought after I was "on my own". I told him yes, and will be looking at plans.
Still getting my sportsman cabinet tho! I want something more dependable when the geese, pekin and scovy start laying in the spring.
My pekin hens are laying now but no drake

that's my luck, always too many hens.

Thanks for the Merlin update. Has he been a good rooster? Is he a father yet?

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Here's our Barred Rock, Bang Bang. Just hanging out with us...



She's looking pretty good so far...

She is quite lovely!

Here is my phone call with a worker from rural king W=worker M=me

W-hi, how many I help you today?

M=Hi, I was just wondering if you had any chicks still.

W=yes we do

M= do you happen to know what breed they are?

W=(asks someone) layers, pullets, strait run, and i'm not sure about the other 3 kinds.

M=ok, thanks that is all i needed.

I get of the fun,WOW. they obviously know nothing. they gave me a catergory and sex. That anwsered my question. Looks like I just might have to go over there today out of curiosity.

They should hire someone that knows what they are talking about.

RK has lost my business, Unorganized, rude and slow. does not care about their customers. Done.

Quote: Best wishes, you will be fine!

Shhh....don't tell anyone!

. Jk. I'm watching and waiting. I'm one of those jerks who wait last minute to bid.

hehe.. me too. I wait at the pc til the last minute

 

[CCCCCCCCHICKENS]

Oops hehe, they needed a bath anyways, right? We had some really strong winds with the storms, thats probably what did it.
LOL, tooo funny! My first roo that attacked me was Butters, my buff silkie. Bit me HARD. He is the official "baby daddy to the new chicks" joining the main flock. Do not DARE look at his chicks, pick up a chick around him. all 20 oz of him turns into a physco killer chicken! He body slams, kicks and bites til you put HIS baby down! He had my laughing so hard, i was in tears He is my oldest DDs favorite chicken. I keep him for her, and the comic relief, and he protects the chicks VERY well from the flock. Even the young jakes are afraid of him!
candle at the end of day three, if any look or smell bad, remove them. if not wait to the end of day 5. Sometime I find the late to hatch have issues, but I give them all a chance.
Excellent post, thank you pipd!
I love this picture soooo much! Those happy little faces, oh my That's what keeps kids healthy, let them be kids and have fun. They wash up so well you would never know.
The clothes, well, not so much, but worth those precious happy smiles anytime.
I bet the alpaca were very insulted by that odor!

tiday is rither day 24 or 25. Suprisingly they do not smell. the stroy about your silkie is halirious!

[COLOR=800000]Choking Chicken? Anyone had a similar experience?[/COLOR]
I spent part of the afternoon out in the far backyard with my seven girls. Three of the hens are molting-- My Jersey Giant looks like a wreck-- no tail feathers, a bunch missing around her neck, and she's shedding lots of little feathers I had been digging in the dirt with Jersey for awhile and she was her usual conversational self. Then she started opening her mouth like she was trying to swallow (gapeworm is my most feared chicken illness although I didn’t think that was the problem since this suddenly started). I carried her up to the house, but she wasn’t interested in water. I brought out her favorite treat--blueberries. She wanted them, but acted like she couldn’t lean over to pick one up. I figured that she must have something stuck in her throat and I started to feel panicky since it would be difficult to look in her mouth/throat. I held a blueberry close to her mouth and she ate it. That seemed to push down whatever it was! She then ate a bunch of blueberries and was fine. My DH guesses that she had a feather stuck since she’s molting so much and I bet that is what happened. She had taken a dust bath and was grooming herself while we were both playing in the dirt. They make hairball formula for cats-- do they make featherball formula for chickens? 

i dont know aboutcthe whole feather thing but it all seems very possible to me. I had a chicken choke on feeda while back.

She is quite lovely!
RK has lost my business, Unorganized, rude and slow. does not care about their customers. Done.
Best wishes, you will be fine!
hehe.. me too. I wait at the pc til the last minute

i do not talk to workers anymore, i know where everything is. I dont know if you suppose to get the bunnies outwhen you are there, but i have carried bunny around the store with me. what harm could it do.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Ok, non chicken question.

I have netflix. I originally signed up for the free month. I'd keep it for a while then cancel due to the lack of movies on it. They send me another email several months later giving me another free month. I sign back up and then cancel after a few months. Well I'm about to cancel again and considering going with redbox instant. Anyone have this? Is the movie selection any better?

I think I'm about the only person my age who doesn't have satellite or cable tv. I'm just too cheap for satellite (only thing I can get). So I just have the Farmer 5 (abc, NBC, CBS, PBS, and fox which is now like 15 channels since digital over the air came about) and have a Roku. Just curious if redbox instant is worth it (even though they emailed me a free month trial as well I just hate giving debit card number if I don't have to). What about Hulu plus?

I keep netflix for DH, he loves it. We only get dsl here.Satellite is a big rip off, don't do it. they monitor your usage and shut you down if you exceed their max quota of use.
My poor kid would get so upset trying to get her schoolwork in,and they shut us off!

does anybody know if its safe to feed celery to your hens? i checked the treat chart on here, but it doesn't say anything about celery

also hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful weekend! about to go spread some substrate into the little run of my chicken coop.....

I lost rabbits and guinea pigs due to celery, but was a kid.. not sure if i did something else wrong. but remember it being a tragedy.
Talking 40 years ago.

What a beautiful day. Spent most of it putting up new fencing for the goats. Almost tripled our pasture size. Three little goats running 1.5 acres of pasture. Now I need a nap.

OHH bet they are so happy!! I can see them springing on their hind legs now

they are so happy you gave them the new pasture!

 

[hogster160]

thank you for telling me about the place, but 2 hours is too far away. I did find 2 other butchers that are local. Hopefully out of 3 i can find one.

the SF i am talking about passed away a few months ago. I eventually figured out that she hit it on a medal piece on the doir ( in a dufferent pen). there were also no roosts in the pen she wad in at the time. The RO was in a pen that had 3-4 foot of the ground roost. But she roosted on an old hay rack i have yet to take out. none of the others that roost on the hay rack have had an issue. And gloor isnt slippery it has bedding. So o have no idea how ir shar she did bug she managed to mess it up badly.

I didn't realize it was so far from you. Sorry, hopefully the idea gives you somewhere else to look for help though. Good luck with your little one.

Earlier I mentioned getting some red brown modern game bantams next week (if seller thinks they are big enough to ship). Here are some pictures of his stock. I sure hope mine turn out just like these! Mine will be between 2-4 months old.

Oh my those are beautiful birds, and the orange on those roosters! Stunning!

I really like the look of it too, considering using it to cover the turkeys coop. We are finishing it, and adding the goose pen next to it. Got my lower wattage fence charger, so am rewiring to add the goose and turkey coops. I may have it done this week!

Beautiful, the tom is stunning!

Thanks, we think so to. They had a rough start to life, we just want to do better for them. Hopefully after their molt (whenever that is) they will look even better.

Choking Chicken? Anyone had a similar experience?
I spent part of the afternoon out in the far backyard with my seven girls. Three of the hens are molting-- My Jersey Giant looks like a wreck-- no tail feathers, a bunch missing around her neck, and she's shedding lots of little feathers I had been digging in the dirt with Jersey for awhile and she was her usual conversational self. Then she started opening her mouth like she was trying to swallow (gapeworm is my most feared chicken illness although I didn’t think that was the problem since this suddenly started). I carried her up to the house, but she wasn’t interested in water. I brought out her favorite treat--blueberries. She wanted them, but acted like she couldn’t lean over to pick one up. I figured that she must have something stuck in her throat and I started to feel panicky since it would be difficult to look in her mouth/throat. I held a blueberry close to her mouth and she ate it. That seemed to push down whatever it was! She then ate a bunch of blueberries and was fine. My DH guesses that she had a feather stuck since she’s molting so much and I bet that is what happened. She had taken a dust bath and was grooming herself while we were both playing in the dirt. They make hairball formula for cats-- do they make featherball formula for chickens?

That is so scary. I saw one of my smaller ee's go after my tom while he was strutting, and pull some of the feathers from his backside. While the toms reaction was funny, those feathers are big for such a small ee. I was worried about her chocking too. I mean really, what can you do for a choking chicken? Very scarey indeed. Glad she was able to swallow it down finally.

I use their food, I prefer Iams for my dog and cats. Use the feed that settles well with any of your animals that you want to improve their diet. Have used Iams for at least 29 years now.. a glug ( maybe 1/4th cup to a 2 gallon bucket) of unpasturized apple cider vinegar "with the "mother" to start it. (heinz, braggs whatever you can find) and add water an inch above the food. stir a few times a day. you can smell when its fermenting a day or 2, smells really good. you want a thick peanut butter consistency.I only feed dry to my goats they wont eat FF..every other animal here gets fermented feed, and they love it. Excellent preventative to many heath problems and allows them to absorb more nutrients from their food.Yep its a lil more work, but worth seeing my livestock healthier,

its a total nightmare to be FDA approved to sell processed and packaged meat. I will sell live birds and help you learn to process yours. Or you can bring yours and I will show you how, at no cost. That's why I raise my birds, pigs, and soon cows.. I want my family to eat healthy and not be effected by the steroid and antibiotic filled food grocery stores offer. I will gladly teach anyone to process. Really feel we all have the right to provide natural food to our families.

We used Iams for years as well but after so many treatments on my dogs and no change, the vet wanted us to free up her diet. Its been a good change for both dogs. Mia finally has fur again. And no raw spots anywhere on her body! Excited!!! Poor baby was so miserable. Broke my heart, and my wallet to be honest. So many trips to the vet. I really should have thought to try changing the food on my own lol Anyway, I'm going to try it and see how it works. I know Mia and Ori love to eat the chickens ff if I leave the bucket in the kitchen too long after I refill the water. Hopefully, it will help the bag last a little longer. Thanks for the info!

I can't imagine all that is required to get FDA approval for selling meat. I think it is very awesome all the help people on this thread have offered to others. This is the way it used to be. Neighbors helping neighbors. Lots of people don't even know their neighbors anymore. Kind of sad. The neighbors to our west, we chit chat with all the time. The ones to the east want to be left alone, so we do. We just redid our neighbors roof on his house. They bought the mats, we provided the labor, them the food. We had a good old time. When my dh was injured on the job and down for 11 months, they cut our grass for the rest of the year (2 acres and for about a month). We help each other out with our gardens, they plant some stuff, we plant others, we pick from both lol. Same with fruit trees. Help yourself! Make an extra pie, we share, too much apple sauce or apple butter, we share. Being neighborly can be an awesome experience. Can be a bad one too. But I get the vibe of good neighbors here. Glad to know there are still good people out there. I know I can't take you up on your offer to help as you are so far away, but just wanted to say thanks, as good neighbors do.