INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Chaneys Ranch]

We've got pips!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WhooHooo!!

I pushed her chest back a little a just got a glance, so I couldn't say how many, or where they pipped, but I did see a couple little cracks.

Now we wait.

I am not going to sleep a wink tonight. Be prepared for a lot of me on here tonight.

we can hang out with ya!

Quote:

 

[kabhyper1]

Man, now that I know there are chicks out there, I REALLY can't sleep. I can't win. I just want to see them!!!! Will she get up and poop during the hatch? I don't want her to accidently poo on the chicks.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Quote: Too funny, I have quail hatching! Good luck everyone!

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Oh, man, all these hatches and chick pictures are giving me the empty nest syndrome pretty bad! I don't know if I can make it until May before getting more..! (And poults, too. Gosh, I'm going to have to build a bigger coop.

)

Muahaha, turkey math!

Hello! My name is diana, and I got thrown into chickens Bout a month ago. We have a good sized urban garden and now have 10 birds. I am in the Indianapolis are and actually looking for a home for the one Roo. He is a giro game fowl. I think. He is noisy and is a flight risk. He likes to get up in trees. He is pretty tame once you get him. Him and the two hens were kept in some pretty gross conditions. Any advice on the hens would be appreciated!

and our thread

I would check them over closely, especially for feather mites. Try to post a pic of your roo if you can.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Quote: I do like it on freshly baked cornbread, yummy! Was just thinking about putting ham and beans in the crockpot for tomorrow.

What a crazy but fun egg collecting day. This morning I saw one of my girls up in the loft of the barn. She was singing an egg laying song, so I thought I'd better head up there to look for an egg. There was a box lid on the floor with some straw in it, along with 4 eggs. So I collected those. Then I saw her settle in in on top of the pile of straw bales (with lots of loose straw everywhere from kids playing in it). Sure enough -- there was another nest -- with 15 eggs. She then headed over to another spot close to the floor and settled in. Followed her over -- 11 more eggs! I picked my girl up, held her for a bit then set her in front of me on the straw. She immediately squatted and about 10 seconds later I picked her up again and there was a fresh egg!! This evening I decided to check the loft -- 2 more eggs in the box. I also checked the hay bales stacked in the back of the duck coop. Another nest I hadn't seen before -- this one with 2 small blue eggs -- one of my Easter Eggers has finally started laying!!

All together today I think I collected 47 eggs -- I felt like a little kid on an Easter egg hunt!

dang what a haul!

Lost my best bantam Polish hen Sunday night. She started going down Thursday and didn't respond to any treatment. No idea what was wrong; she acted very much like a chick with cocci, but she was 18 months old. I lost her mother in the spring under much the same conditions, so I'm wondering if there is something genetic going on. Needless to say, I was devastated; she was champion AOCCL at the Bloomington show in September and a truly cuddly little girl. I hope that some of the youngsters from her turn out well and healthy.

Oh I am so sorry to hear. They are very sweet little birds, I just love mine. Even my roo is a nice fella.

 

[Old Salt 1945]

I would never say a fly was lousy. Some of my worse ties caught a lot of fish. I have yet to have a fish tell me that I wrapped my hackle the wrong direction.

They sank and fell apart.

 

[Old Salt 1945]

What a crazy but fun egg collecting day. This morning I saw one of my girls up in the loft of the barn. She was singing an egg laying song, so I thought I'd better head up there to look for an egg. There was a box lid on the floor with some straw in it, along with 4 eggs. So I collected those. Then I saw her settle in in on top of the pile of straw bales (with lots of loose straw everywhere from kids playing in it). Sure enough -- there was another nest -- with 15 eggs. She then headed over to another spot close to the floor and settled in. Followed her over -- 11 more eggs! I picked my girl up, held her for a bit then set her in front of me on the straw. She immediately squatted and about 10 seconds later I picked her up again and there was a fresh egg!! This evening I decided to check the loft -- 2 more eggs in the box. I also checked the hay bales stacked in the back of the duck coop. Another nest I hadn't seen before -- this one with 2 small blue eggs -- one of my Easter Eggers has finally started laying!!

All together today I think I collected 47 eggs -- I felt like a little kid on an Easter egg hunt!

Be sure to candle each egg. Discard problem eggs. Don't sell them, you could irritate a customer with an egg with a blood spot. When you use the eggs, crack each one into a cup and look it over before adding it to your food. Wouldn't hurt to sniff the egg before using it.

They are likely just fine, but no sense taking a chance.

John

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Caught up!!!!

Well the leaves are sure flying here. Running my leaf catcher like crazy to store them for the winter.
makes for great bedding! The goats & pigs love to munch all the maple leaves.
Really works well for deep litter too.
Going to cut the field and gather it. Hay prices are way down, will get a big load stored before winter.
My Sebright girl is laying regular, and the OEGBs, Will still be hatching them, otherwise just quail.
I actually got to turn off an incubator this week! Left one regular rail and the rest are all quail rails in #2. #3 will still be for hatching.
I can't believe how tiny the OEGB eggs are, I have a few quail eggs bigger than them!
When my polish start to lay, I will hatch them too. Really pleased with them, bearded, muffed and just adorable

All 3 breeds are infrequent layers, 2-3 times a week so far at best. My silkie hen will be laying soon too, will be the same for her, if I understand correctly.
Late February it all starts over! I plan to let my scovies and chinese geese brood their own next year. Goose eggs take a lot of room!
Muscovies are a 35+ day hatch so it really ties up room too. Looking forward to getting my sportsman cabinet

Pleased that I do have a pekin drake, heard the raspy quack from him again today

He is 11 weeks old now, still no curled drake feather.
He will have 5 ducks so will be a very happy boy. Would like to find one more drake so I have a backup.

 

[toodlesmom]

The Isbars, Breda, Light Sussex, Coronation Sussex and Swedish Flower Hens I ordered from Walt's Ark. I just added Silver Sussex to the order. They have American, Australian and Canadian lines of Sussex. You can pick the line that you want or get a mix of lines, which is what I did. Very nice to deal with. My chicks will be arriving in May. I'm soooo excited. I also just ordered 3 Buckeye and 3 German New Hampshires from Sunbird Farms. Waiting on confirmation and delivery date on them. I think that I will be getting them sooner than next spring though. Maybe when you are ready for some New Hampshires I will be able to help you out.

We bought an old farmhouse on 2 acres of ground this summer. The house needed quite a bit of work done to it before we could move in so we have been working on that. Its been a long process as we are doing all the work ourselves. It's amazing how everyone just disappears when you need help but if they need help they expect you to drop everything to help them. Anyways, we are finally getting close and hope to be moved in by the end of the month. The property already had an 8 x 8 chicken coop on it and my sister gave me a 10 x 12 shed turned chicken coop that we moved over there a couple of weekends ago. Both need work done to them, but I hope to be able to at least get them ready for the chickens this weekend. I think that since my DF's son is who is moving into our current house that I should be able to get a lot of help because I have already informed them and my DF that I am not moving without my chickens.

My DF is a wonderful man. He doesn't care how many chickens or animals that I have. He loves the fresh eggs we get. He doesn't get to eat the chickens though. Our goal is to become totally self sufficient. Having grown up farming and raising farm animals he knows that you have to have good quality stock in order for it to pay off. So he's all for the Heritage Breeds of chickens as long as I don't go to far overboard at one time.

I do have a question both breeders that I am getting chicks from vaccinate for Merak's and none of the chickens that I currently have are vaccinated. Is this going to be a problem? Okay I have two questions. If I do end up getting the Buckeye and New Hampshire in the next couple of weeks how long do I need to keep them quarantined from my other chicks?

Sorry for the long post guess I got a little carried away.

I looked up Sunbird Farms, and their German New Hampshires are EXACTLY what I want! I had been admiring and coveting birds just like them only yesterday and wondering how to get a pair! Would you be willing to grow out a pair of pullets and sell them to me? Or should I grow out a half-dozen chicks and sell the surplus? They ought to sell easily enough - they are gorgeous! They are good for both eggs and meat, and are so different in appearance and temperament from the American NHs. I think they would be a really smart breeding investment. Heritage chickens are becoming quite desirable.

Your fixing up an old house is familiar to us. We bought this house nearly 28 years ago - moved in on our 2nd son's third birthday - and have been rehabbing it ever since! Now things that we did 25 years ago need to be redone while we still have stuff we never have gotten around to! It is a big old place, built as a double in 1892, that we opened into one huge house. It is known by kids all over the neighborhood for having a slide between the first and second floors. We had two identical sets of stairs since it was a double, so we floored over one and made a slide. We are finally getting a bunch of work done now that all the kids have flown the nest, and we either will sell our nice old house or live in it awhile longer, but with it completed at last. I'm a collector, and it's full of cats, stuff, and memories.

Someone else more experienced will have to fill you in on your vaccination and quarantine questions. There are lots of good and helpful people on this thread!

 

[Too Fast]

What a crazy but fun egg collecting day. This morning I saw one of my girls up in the loft of the barn. She was singing an egg laying song, so I thought I'd better head up there to look for an egg. There was a box lid on the floor with some straw in it, along with 4 eggs. So I collected those. Then I saw her settle in in on top of the pile of straw bales (with lots of loose straw everywhere from kids playing in it). Sure enough -- there was another nest -- with 15 eggs. She then headed over to another spot close to the floor and settled in. Followed her over -- 11 more eggs! I picked my girl up, held her for a bit then set her in front of me on the straw. She immediately squatted and about 10 seconds later I picked her up again and there was a fresh egg!! This evening I decided to check the loft -- 2 more eggs in the box. I also checked the hay bales stacked in the back of the duck coop. Another nest I hadn't seen before -- this one with 2 small blue eggs -- one of my Easter Eggers has finally started laying!!

All together today I think I collected 47 eggs -- I felt like a little kid on an Easter egg hunt!

Now that sounds like a lot of fun. What a haul, 47(!) eggs.