INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[bradselig]

Okay, y'all, brace yourselves! I got pictures of many of my girls that are in their molts and there's a whole lot of stinkeye in these pictures!

A lot of my girls are tufty and have stopped laying, but a few stand out for their molts. Wynne, one of my Easter-eggers, has kind of gone fluffy. Her sister, Mako, was like this a few weeks ago, but has already grown in her feathers for the most part. Here's Wynne:

It's funny with this bird how she sometimes has the most evil looks, but she's really one of the most gentle birds in my flock. A little bit 'silly' sometimes, though (as in seeing a wall and running into it before she can stop herself ). I didn't get a picture of Mako because she was deep, deep in the gigantic forsythia bush.


Miss Kate the Barred Plymouth Rock and She Who Sleeps Staning Up the Partridge Plymouth Rock are both just starting their molts.

Katykins is kind of shy:

She Who was not comfortable, but let me take her picture (these girls are so pretty ):

Fancy, She Who's 'twin', is not looking so fancy at the moment, but the little diva would not let me get a picture of her! She has been all over me since she started her molt, but as soon as she saw the camera, she was out of there! Wonder why?


My poor little golden Sebrights, Rosie and Amy, decided to do a simultaneous explosive molt. Talk about moody! Rosie's a spitfire as is, but add a bad molt on top of that and you'd better stand back!

Amy:

Poor Rosie the grumpy-grump:

Scooter (otherwise known as Cuter Scooter) had her molt a few months ago and is looking so nice! She decided she didn't like me taking pictures of her molting sisters. "Nothing to see here, nothing to see." (Notice Amy in the background giving me a good stink-eye? )

Some of my other girls have already gone through their molts and are looking gorgeous now. Here's my Easter-egger Merlin, AKA 'Merl-Girl':

And the always lovely Cressida, another Easter-egger in my flock:

I had to save the best for last. Poor Diana. Try not to laugh too hard at her.

Diana's molt doesn't look too bad on the surface.

Yes, there are some pins here and there, but at least she's mostly covered, right?

Oh, the shame...

...For in fact, Diana is not covered in possibly the worst place for a hen not to be covered...

Edited because I don't know what happened to my grammar.

They all look great even if they are missing some feathers! My first hen to molt this year is one of my naked necks. So of course she is already missing the majority of her feathers, now she just looks pitiful! I noticed a large number of (buff) feathers in the flower bed. I figured I lost one of my 2 buff NN to a predator. After calling all the chickens and giving them scratch grains, I was still missing one buff hen. I went looking for the dead carcass or more feathers. However, instead I just found a tailless chicken missing all her feathers on the bottom half of her. She was hiding in the bushes, she must have been embarrassed in how she looked!

 

[Mother2Hens]

We have wondered if our EE cockrel has a similar anomily as this - although he's male / male on both sides (not male / female) , so depending if you look at him from the left side or right side, he looks like 2 different birds with totally differing colors & patterns either side . . . .

iamfivewire~ Interesting article. The description does fit your pretty, I mean handsome, I mean attractive chicken.

I've often wondered if my Black Jersey Giant has some gender issues. The person who gave her to me a year ago June said she was one year old and that she had been laying eggs. Shortly after we got her, she laid a lash egg--probably part of her repro organs. The she layed some scrambled eggs. Since then, she just fakes laying eggs. I've seen her do the sideways rooster dance once. She has one large spur bump. And she's my favorite.

Originally Posted by pginsber
I was on the Rare Breed Auctions website yesterday and saw 'Laughing Chicken' hatching eggs. I thought to myself 'what kind of crazy is this?' So, I went to the website that had listed the eggs for sale (to see if it was real) and checked out their information about the Laughing Chicken, and the Ayam Ketawa breed video. It made me chuckle.
So, I went on to learn more about this breed. Naturally, my research involved YouTube, where I found a few videos that also made me chuckle and smile.

pginsber~ I didn't realize that there was actually a breed referred to as a "Laughing Chicken." Leahs Mom posted that first video of the white one on page 1565 (and another funny rooster video), but I just thought the laughing one was an isolated case! That is crazy! Btw, I couldn't get the turkey video to work. Do you remember the title so I can look it up? Thanks.

 

[Mother2Hens]

Originally Posted by Mother2Hens
Despite pipd's past warnings about coop fires, I have heat in my coop just as I had last winter. I understand the danger and I am as careful as possible. However, I have what are known as Anthromorphized Domesticated Pets who are my surrogate children since I have an empty nest. They clearly enjoy a little heat after a cold, wet day.

...Just kidding, but I do have something I want to say here.

My birds are Anthropomorphized Domesticated Pets as well, and beloved at that. I would do anything for these birds. I know them individually, I know what each and every one of their temperaments are like, what each one of them likes and dislikes, and how each one prefers to be held (some of them, the answer is not at all, but most have their preferred method). And don't even get me started on Frou-Frou, my darling baby who comes running to mommy when the older hens pick on her and must have her nightly visit to the house ore she mopes on the perches. I don't have any human children of my own (though I have a niece and nephew--talk about the poster children for abstinence). These birds are my children. They are that important to me.

That being said, the difference between our methods of caring for our birds is that I have taken the time to research extensively, and I have made a rational decision about what my birds need. I do not coddle them to make myself feel better in a case where the disadvantages and dangers are greater than the advantages of doing something. I am absolutely sure they appreciate the heat on a cold day. I'm equally as sure that they appreciate getting treats, but this does not mean I'm going to stop feeding them their balanced diet and only give them mealworms and table scraps. As a matter of fact, it would be more rational to provide them with air conditioning in the summertime than it would be to heat a coop. Chickens do far worse in the heat of summer than they do with cold, and this goes especially for many of the breeds you have listed in your signature (Easter-eggers and Wyandottes are practically designed to take the cold with those tiny combs and fluffy bodies).

As much as I can say it, though, I know that I can't make anyone do what they don't want to do. I do my best to educate, and from there it is out of my hands. Your flock, your choices. That is all.

I knew I'd hear from you, Pipd!

I think we actually had this discussion last spring. Here's my chicken parenting routine: I clean and check the coop daily since I live in a subdivision. I have a small flat panel radiant heater that I use when the temps dip below freezing or if they are wet from cold rain. I don't fully heat the coop -- it's just to take the chill off. In case of electric outages, we have a generator although I would not use it anywhere near them because of fumes. We have a gas fireplace in the family room, which is literally a few yards from the coop since the coop is bolted to the back of our attached garage, so if the power goes out during a deep freeze, I would bring them in. I'm a light sleeper who likes the hum of an air cleaner in the bedroom, so I wake up if the power goes out. My son Max who I've mentioned has a Bio degree from Purdue and is one year away from a degree in electrical engineering just visited this evening. He believes that I should not heat the coop unless it's below 20, but he feels that the electrical aspect is as safe as possible although accidents can always happen. I know I am taking a risk of having a coop fire (and possibly a garage and house fire), but I also know that I am taking a fastidious approach to ensure safety. As far as keeping the chickens cool during summer, I use up to four fans, a mister, a large umbrella, and plenty of watermelon, etc. As far as treats year-round, I give them only healthful treats like blueberries, sunflower hearts, mealworms, but know that they mostly need their feed. I feel like I can perhaps be a little overboard as a crazy chicken lady since I have a small flock for the purpose of pets-- and a few eggs are a nice bonus.

This is what is nice about our thread-- we can agree to disagree and have various opinions and methods.

Look for a package in the mail containing hand-knitted chicken sweaters, hats, and booties for your kids!

 

[danand]

Pip- my older girls are molting too! And have NOT been happy at all!! A few are starting to look better and I noticed another one starting today. So bare butts here too! They just look so dejected and abused.

Brad- beautiful babies!! Can't wait to see them as they color out.

M2H- I understand your concern for heating your feathered kids. Last winter was my first time. I was super concerned for my Millie's (1 roo, 4 girls). They were in an open but top covered dog kennel. I did buy a dog bed warmer and put it in their barrel which they all sleep in together and I would turn it off during the day and on at night and cover the opening. They did fine. It is a flat enclosed heater(sealed) and I would put betting over it. My large fowl were in the barn with plastic over the 2 sides of wire and would sleep on top of the nesting boxes together. Everyone did great. I've had more problems from the rain a month ago than the cold last year.

Pg- loved the last video!! Were they speaking French at the beginning. I died laughing!!! And it was sooo funny to hear them almost crying from laughing so hard!!

 

[bradfield]

Here is my last hatch I had this week. 5 little bantam Cochins of assorted colors. Silly me did write down what the colors were off the egg shells before lockdown, and of course they zipped right through the writing. I was able to piece a few together, but a couple are still a mystery
Group shots

Chick 1-black

Chick 2-mottled

Chick 3-buff columbian(pretty sure of color)

Chick 4-not sure

Chick 5-not sure

I will be building a coop over the winter. Where are the best and safest places to get chicks in your opinions?

 

[bradselig]

I will be building a coop over the winter. Where are the best and safest places to get chicks in your opinions?

Welcome! Honestly it really depends on what chickens you want and how many chickens. Most hatcheries have a minimum # of chicks from 15-25. There are two hatcheries that I know of, Meyer hatchery and Ideal hatchery, that have lower minimums. Meyer is 3 chucks and Ideal is minimum of $25. Hatcheries are going to give you the biggest selection for the cheapest price per chick. They typically aren't "show quality" and have some physical faults such as wrong comb type or wrong leg color.
A second option is to purchase from a feed store in the spring. The store order from the hatcheries I talked about above allowing people to buy small quantities of chicks. If you can only have hens and not roosters, then ordering directly from a hatchery or buying from a feed store would probably be your best bet.
Your last option is to buy from a private breeder. While this wont be the cheapest way, the quality of the chicks are typically much better. Most private/local farm can not sex chicks though, so you will likely be purchasing them as straight run, or unsexed. To help with locating a farm/breeder, go to the link in my signature. Once you open up that page, there will be a link to our members list. It will list the members on this thread (if they chose to be added), where they are located, and what breed of chicks they own.

I have done all 3 with great results. It all boils down to what you want.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

 
[COLOR=8B4513]I knew I'd hear from you, Pipd![/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513] I think we actually had this discussion last spring. Here's my chicken parenting routine: I clean and check the coop daily since I live in a subdivision. I have a small flat panel radiant heater that I use when the temps dip below freezing or if they are wet from cold rain. I don't fully heat the coop -- it's just to take the chill off. In case of electric outages, we have a generator although I would not use it anywhere near them because of fumes. We have a gas fireplace in the family room, which is literally a few yards from the coop since the coop is bolted to the back of our attached garage, so if the power goes out during a deep freeze, I would bring them in. I'm a light sleeper who likes the hum of an air cleaner in the bedroom, so I wake up if the power goes out. My son Max who I've mentioned has a Bio degree from Purdue and is one year away from a degree in electrical engineering just visited this evening. He believes that I should not heat the coop unless it's below 20, but he feels that the electrical aspect is as safe as possible although accidents can always happen. I know I am taking a risk of having a coop fire (and possibly a garage and house fire), but I also know that I am taking a fastidious approach to ensure safety. As far as keeping the chickens cool during summer, I use up to four fans, a mister, a large umbrella, and plenty of watermelon, etc. As far as treats year-round, I give them only healthful treats like blueberries, sunflower hearts, mealworms, but know that they mostly need their feed. I feel like I can perhaps be a little overboard as a crazy chicken lady since I have a small flock for the purpose of pets-- and a few eggs are a nice bonus. [/COLOR]

[COLOR=8B4513]This is what is nice about our thread-- we can agree to disagree and have various opinions and methods. [/COLOR]

[COLOR=8B4513]​Look for a package in the mail containing hand-knitted chicken sweaters, hats, and booties for your kids! [/COLOR]

Agree to disagree. I agree.

It makes me feel better to know you have a backup plan, though I was posting that more to show that even if one keeps their chickens as pets, one doesn't necessarily have to heat their coop for them. Many people do not have a backup plan for if the power goes out, which is when things can go badly in a way that most don't think of. I have heard of chickens dying from the cold after being used to heat for most of the winter. That is one of my largest concerns.


The other is fire, and I'll tell you why. In the era of my chicken-keeping time known as 'Before I Knew Better', I did a lot of stupid things. One of them was to have a heat lamp in my coop without much thought as to cleaning dust off of it or securing it so it couldn't fall down. I thought I would be smart by using a 60 watt bulb instead of the usual big 250 watt bulbs in the lamp--you know, less of a fire risk, right? Unfortunately for me, this did not stop that little bulb from shattering one night. I don't know when it shattered, but it left live wires open for the rest of that night, which could have easily ignited the dust in the air. I thought nothing of it, just cleaned up the bulb and removed it.

Then earlier this year, someone who, though I don't know all that well, I have a lot of respect for in the way she keeps her birds, had her barn burn down with all of her chickens and a few other animals inside. That was very eye opening to me. Again, I felt deep respect for her as she got up, dusted herself off, and rebuilt--I feel I would have been crippled by it all. And then I thought of that shattered light bulb and how close I came to the same scenario. I researched and researched and researched some more, at which point I came to the conclusions that I am frequently posting here.

I don't want someone to have to have their coop burn down--or for someone to have a close call like I did--in order for them to learn from this experience. This is very real, very scary stuff. So while I am completely against the use of heat lamps (even with those lightless heat bulbs--the ceramic part can fall off and pose a fire risk as well!), I suppose I can't see anything hazardous about the way you heat your coop in regards to fire risk. Just remember to check the length of the cord frequently and dust out the outlets every time you unplug it and even more frequently than that--chickens make a lot of dust!


Mine are solely kept as pets as well, so I do understand wanting to baby them a lot--that's why my girls now have a nice sunroom for natural heat without having to worry about power outages or electrical fires. Need I repost the picture of my barred Plymouth Rock henny, Cricket, in the pink dress? I think I will anyway.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Since we are talking about Mareks disease I thought it might be a good time to bring up a question I had about quarietining.

When you quareitene your new birds what all do you give them or check for?

I just want to see what other peoples methods are of quarintening.

I missed this post, but I wanted to respond to it.

How you should quarantine for the best results (in my opinion):

1. Check the bird over thoroughly before taking it home. You can't catch everything right there when first seeing the bird, but what you can see can make or break a deal. Look for symptoms of respiratory illness (runny nose, sneezing or coughing, goopy or foamy eyes, etc.), signs of external parasites (bald patches, tattered feathers, standing scales on their feet, etc.), and general signs of sickness (diarrhea, skinniness, lethargy, etc.). This is your chance to ask the owner if there have been any diseases that they treated. It is not too late at this point to change your mind. If the bird is clearly sick, don't take it home!

2. During quarantine, watch for the same signs as listed above. Respiratory symptoms, limping or weakness in the legs, and general signs of sickness are what you're looking out for the most. Keep in mind where your birds are in case the symptoms are caused environmentally (for example, if they're kept somewhere dusty, this might cause some sneezing). Being put in an unfamiliar place can often weaken a bird enough that symptoms will show, but sometimes it does not, which is why I recommend the following step.

3. For the last week or two of quarantine, take a bird from your flock and put it into quarantine as well. This is for two reasons, the first being that if the newcomers are carrying something asymptomatically, then the bird from your flock will show symptoms. Unfortunately, this means that both the newcomer and the bird from your flock will need to be culled should there be any signs of illness. The second reason is that if your flock has something that the new bird hasn't been exposed to, it is now exposed and can build up an immunity (or even tell you if you have something nasty in your flock!). If there isn't any sign of illness from either bird, then move on to the last step of quarantine.

4. Do one final check. Look both the newcomer bird and the bird from your flock over thoroughly and make sure you haven't missed anything. This should be done not only as the last step before letting the bird pass quarantine, but also several times throughout quarantine. When I was quarantining Margaret, I gave her a weekly check-up, which is what I would recommend doing as well. If all is well, then you can begin the super-fun task of flock integration!


Some final notes in regards to quarantine: If you have birds from more than one place, unless they have come into contact with one another already (such as being driven home together from a show), they should be quarantined separately. This way, if one is ill, the rest can still go on to pass quarantine because they have not been contaminated. Also, it is best for your current flock if you cull quarantined birds that show signs of respiratory illness as usually these diseases are the worst and leave the bird as a carrier for life.

 

[J3nn]

We raked up some leaves yesterday and threw them in the chicken run. I guess leaves are like crack for them!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Aw, I love that last picture!

I tried the same thing last year, but my girls' run is in a wooded area, so they weren't interested in the leaves I brought in from another part of the woods.