INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Chaneys Ranch]

My Louise is SPECTACULAR. She hatched 10 of the 17 under her, and I hatched 4 of 5 in the incubator. One of the 10 died this morning, so she has 12 under her now with the last one that hatched still in the bator till tomorrow (or Tuesday). I sure hope she can keep them all warm as the night temps are dropping pretty low this week. The first pass at sexing these says I have very few pullets in this batch. Time will tell.

What a proud momma! I just love seeing broodies and babies

Louise is a keeper for sure, congrats to you and her on the hatch!

 

[hogster160]

hogster ~ It gets dark here at 5:00! My chickens are in the coop ready for bed by 4:45. Ugh, it's good I have my chickens to motivate me to go outside everyday, especially if it's dreary. We've been making the most of these sunny days. Sounds like everyone has been busy trying to finish up projects before the snow arrives. Btw, I am impressed that you could go through a hawk attack and processing in one day! I would be back at the "institution." haha Btw, I am thankful that Leahs Mom didn't have an auto video set to traumatize people like me who view chicken as surrogate children.

5 pm yuk, mine are bedding down at 530 and up at 7. Which is about the same time, we change times this far north. They do motivate me, there are still a couple of things I need to do to the garden and their yard. My uncle has a couple of acres, and he's 90. He has tons of trees and can not stand to have the leaves fall on his grass. So He rides his rider lawn mower with hopper attached, calls me and I go down to road to his house with garbage bags. So far I have gotten 54 contractor trash bags full of leave, grass twigs from him mowing. One more trip to go. So the chicken yard is full atm and the garden is almost done. I will probably get another 27-30 bags before all is said and done. Its an all day job to do this. And it really helps out my Uncle. He's my other motivator. Love that man! Oh and the snow comes tonight!

Anyway, I didn't actually see the attack, I'm sure it would have been a lot different if I had. As it was, it was best for her, and didn't matter what I felt or wanted. She was hurting. And thanks, I am pretty proud of my self and husband as well. It wasn't easy, but it needed done.

Leahs Mom is good she knows there are folks here who view chickens are their kids.

Great video! I actually went on to watch more of his too!
It really does stink. Its hard to not lose any. Fantastic work by your dogs!!
My fox run-ins were a nightmare for us. We have since cleared 3 acres of brush and no more problems.
We will be adding a LGD this year.
Its terribly sad for the meatie and I know that terrible feeling when you know the bird cant be saved.
I would be like you on the layer flock. They are top priority to me here.

Lovely flock!

We did as well and used the 2nd part to cut it up. Yes I am very proud of my girls. Oriana had to go and make my day better by not eating her flea pill and allowing Mia to eat 2 flea pills, so we were on dog watch last night as well. ER vet said she should be fine, but to look out for certain things, she slept just fine though.

I remember reading the stories of your fox attacks. I am sure you would have cleaned more acres off to keep the birds safe. I know I would have. I don't see to many fox up here, all though they are here. Coyotes are all over though. My neighbor across the highway hires someone to come and kill them on his acreage, from Jan to April, may have been May he had 80+ kills. I haven't had a problem with them and keeping my fingers crossed.

They are all getting a good once over again in the light of day, I just can't stand the thought of one of them suffering because I didn't see it. Or because I am too new to this, and didn't realize the signs. It does in deed suck to realize when that bird can't be saved. I just knew culling would be best for her. Sad night.

 

[icukeisha]

Well,my two welsummer "pullets" I bought at 2 months old are crowing in the backyard. And I'm pretty sure 2 of the 4 RIR "pullets" will be joining them.

 

[Old Salt 1945]

Well,my two welsummer "pullets" I bought at 2 months old are crowing in the backyard. And I'm pretty sure 2 of the 4 RIR "pullets" will be joining them.

They can join in a crowing contest with my 2 Crested Cream Legbar "pullets" that I bought.

John

 

[Old Salt 1945]

The hawk grabbed hold of her thigh. She was pierced thru on one thigh and had 2 puncture wounds on the underside of her. She also had a puncture wound under and above her wing. All damage was done to one side of her body. Is it ok to eat this meat?

Yes, it is OK to eat the meat with the wounds. I would cook it first, though.

John

 

[Leahs Mom]

So now that she is processed, how long do I need to keep her in the fridge? I tried to skin the feet to use for stock, but it didn't not want to leave the legs, so I tossed them. I kept the back, wings and neck for stock. Heart and liver. Gizzard I didn't want to mess with. She is wrapped in saran wrap in the fridge atm.

Will you eat the meat right away or freeze it for later? I have heard to let it rest anywhere from 48 hours all the way to a full week. The main thing is for it to relax after the initial rigor.

Glad the video helped. I will likely get it out every time to refresh since I've only done it one time! If we have housing next spring we'll do some for meat.

 

[PeacefulWalls]

we are all enabling each other lol! Other people just don't understand us

.
At least I don't get eyerolls from my youngest DD anymore.
Oh, I have a rabbit now BTW. Doe- her name is Hitler. Any cage mate mysteriously turns up dead.
She lost her happy home when a very upset youngest DD found her little boy bunny executed.
She then found out after the fact this is the 3rd time Hitler has struck.. bad girl.
We will be home #4 in a year.
So since she is a california white... I see bunnies on the list for winter.
Breeding will be monitored, and she will not be left alone with a buck. My only worry is the kits.
Has anyone had a doe like this before, do I need to assume she will harm the kits?
I used to hunt wild rabbit, and raised new zealands years ago. I don't know if I can face the food chain thing now tho.
Gonna see if it works out for us. My oldest DD has a buck already too. Anyone have an extra new zealand buck?
The cross produces a hefty rabbit that grows fast. I am not concerned with SQ, just temperament and bulk.
I remember using calf manna to supplement fast growth and size.
Any advice/experience, links to check out are welcome and appreciated.

Your doe is acting normally. Does are very territorial. Whenever you do a mating you always need to take the doe to the buck's cage. If you take the buck to her cage, there is a good chance she will attack and kill him. That's one of the first things we teach our beginning rabbit 4-Her's when we talk about breeding. Rabbits are typically housed alone, because they can fight/are territorial. However, we have left sisters or a mom with a daughter together for quite some time when they have started out that way from birth. But I would never put a new rabbit in as a cage mate with one that has been housed alone -- it may seem like she's a Hitler rabbit, but it actually is a normal/expected response. You'll need a second cage for a second rabbit. (I'm sure, of course, that here are examples of exceptions to this.) Some people do colony raise rabbits, but that's a whole different thing and not a confined cage set up. When it comes to having kits, I would not worry about her attacking them, as it's not the same situation as introducing a new, grown rabbit in her space. If a doe would attack her kits, there's usually a specific/unique reason for it. Is the rabbit friendly to you? We have a rule in our barn that the rabbits that lunge or attack/bite us get to take a one way trip to freezer camp!

5 pm yuk, mine are bedding down at 530 and up at 7. Which is about the same time, we change times this far north. They do motivate me, there are still a couple of things I need to do to the garden and their yard. My uncle has a couple of acres, and he's 90. He has tons of trees and can not stand to have the leaves fall on his grass. So He rides his rider lawn mower with hopper attached, calls me and I go down to road to his house with garbage bags. So far I have gotten 54 contractor trash bags full of leave, grass twigs from him mowing. One more trip to go. So the chicken yard is full atm and the garden is almost done. I will probably get another 27-30 bags before all is said and done. Its an all day job to do this. And it really helps out my Uncle. He's my other motivator. Love that man! Oh and the snow comes tonight!

You're right smack in the middle of the lake effect watch aren't you? Elkhart county is just expected to have a coating or so, according to last night's forecast on WNDU. Stay safe with the snow -- build a snowman for your chickens & post a picture of them together! I am so jealous of all your leaves. Our land was a cornfield before we built here and our trees were just planted last year. Needless to say, we're lacking leaves. I used to work tons of them into my garden beds and I would so love to have them again for that and now for the chickens. I know there's plenty out there at other people's houses but I don't have time to collect them door to door!

 

[Leahs Mom]

OH...Thought I'd add that I think that culling or even processing birds for meat seems like it will always be an emotional thing that I'm not sure I will ever be able to say I "enjoy". Never even thought I'd try my hand at it but I felt that if I were going to have chickens that I needed to know how and be able to do it as part of taking responsibility for the well-being of the flock.

When I was growing up our animals were all "friends"...not farm animals. It's been a real shift for me in thinking to view my animals as "farm animals" that are for the purpose of feeding the family. I've made a point of making a direct effort of making that transition in thinking but it was/is not an easy transition! I'm sure I'll always have some of the chickens that are "pets" - ones that have that special place which is different than all the rest.

And I definitely know that there are LOTS of folks that relate to their chickens as pets only and will always relate to them that way. I think that having pets that give you healthy eggs and a great deal of enjoyment is wonderful!

When we had our hands-on training to process chickens with our friends, the chickens we processed were complete strangers to us so it wasn't like taking one of our very small flock of layers that we are "buddies" with and processing them. I know there will come a day when that will be necessary as I won't just keep them when they aren't productive (unless one is a special "pet"), but I really think that will be a very hard thing to do.

I heard of two families that made a "pact" regarding processing their old laying flock. They decided that when the time came, each would process the other's birds rather than process their own. That way it wouldn't be so personal since they had very small flocks...and when you have a very small flock you really "know" those birds personalities, quirks, etc., which kind-of endears them to your heart. I thought that was a very interesting idea and one that has a lot of merit if you're going to process your old layers.

One thing I am sure of. That no matter their "end", I have given my birds a very good life, the best feeds and housing I can afford, etc. I think that is true of most of us that have backyard flocks.

 

[Leahs Mom]

PW - I'm right on the edge of lake effect but last I heard it's supposed to go more southwestish rather than direct west and possibly totally miss our area. Our gift to hogster

 

[Leahs Mom]

Hogster - on the coyotes, do you know how much your neighbor paid to have someone take them out? And was it just a hunter he knew?