INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Leahs Mom]

Us too. I've been shoveling out the run in preparation. As long as mine can see some evidence of ground - like a few wood chips - they will venture out now and then. I wanted to get ahead of the snow and it looks like I'm going to have to do it all over again.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

I'm really sorry to hear that. Was it your HRIR roo? Do you have a backup?

It was my HRIR. I have 2 males left to match up with my 2 females. But right now I'm only using one of the roosters in order to keep more than 1 hen in a breeding pen. I rotate the rooster in for a day then out for 1-2. Basically the rooster spends days Sunday, Wed., and Friday in the breeding pen and the rest of the time in the layer flock to keep his pecking spot. I messed up with the other HRIR rooster by not putting him back in with the layer flock frequently and He did not merge back well. That is why he was out free ranging, to get a break from the other roosters.
But breeding with only 2 hens is in this weather is hard. Today they both laid eggs that were frozen to the point of cracking. It would be nice to be able to set a doz eggs a week and with 3 hens it would have been close but now I'm at two hens and hoping for 7 set-able eggs a week. But that has not happened yet. I did get one RIR chick on the second. While the down is not as dark as i was thinking it would be the incoming feathers are wonderfully dark. I used the toe punch today for the first time. The chick was not happy but got over it rather quickly less than 5 seconds and it was making its purring noise again.

I have you and 1 other IN thread member interested in eggs. There will be a time when I'm not setting this spring. That is when I was thinking of sharing the heritage eggs. They are brown, but not a dark brown, more of the tan from crayola if you can remember kindergarten . With children crayola is quickly becoming my color chart.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Sally - somehow I missed your original post...how did he disappear?

 

[kabhyper1]

Okay so in they came, all silkies are now in the house. I know I am a crazy person. So just to prove we don't live in an actual chicken coop, here are the kids in the den. The broodies are up in the corner in the tote. The 3 month olds are still in the brooder in another room. I am constantly cleaning, but I know they are safe from the oncoming ice age. Tomorrow is makeshift coop building in the barn for the big ones.
Maybe baths this week also. Dirty!

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Sally - somehow I missed your original post...how did he disappear?

He was free ranging while I was at the store on the 31st but DH was home, in and outside that day. Setting up the basement area for possible new chicks. We had our house insurance lady stop by to take pictures of our roof to maintain roof coverage. Without it, the insurance company was going to try and pay very little for storm damage to our roof. (Check your homeowners ins. policy, recent storms are causing insurance policy changes.) For her to get pictures I have to believe she made her way into our yard, it is possible that a gate was open while she was in the yard and the rooster slipped out. She claims to not have seen a single chicken on our property just the barn cat. The gates were closed when I left and when I got home. It is possible she was so into taking pictures she missed both of our coops and the box coop/run thing and the 25*50 foot other run and really did see no chickens hanging out in the coop windows. I guess there is that possibility if she was aiming the camera up and just kind of gradually walking around taking pictures. The other option is that many people have seen my HRIR chickens when they pick up chicks. I have had many people ask me to sell them one but I just couldn't as I only had 6 (now 4). Just maybe the wrong person was told no and happened to see the bird out and no car in the driveway. These HRIR roosters are very easy to catch, my 3 yr old had bear hugged the one that is gone while the rooster was just out and about. Scared the fits out of me, but the rooster just went on his merry way that day. He was quite large, I have trouble believing a hawk or owl could carry him off.
Given the lack of any predator sightings or tracks or feathers from a hawk attack, I don't think it was a non human predator. Still until I can get my flimsy flapping owl back up no more free ranging.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Wow. That is really crazy. Not a trace?

I know some folks that, when they sell birds, won't let people come into the chicken area so they don't see their coops, etc. That is always a little questionable because you wonder if it is for bio-security or if, on the other hand, they may have something unhealthy to hide. Quite a dilemma if you're selling birds and someone may be staking out the place to see what you have.

 

[kabhyper1]

I'm sorry Sally.

Maybe he got scared and hid somewhere. Do you have a call for them, like a whistle or clucking sound he would come to? I hope you find him.

 

[Kiniska]

To the queston about bringing broodies inside, I only did it to keep an I eye on them, and to encourage them to eat and drink. It they are super cold they won't get off the nest to eat and drink, and might poop on their eggs. I just felt less worried having them inside. I candles tonight and out of 9 eggs I think all are developing but 3 so far. So hopefully the girls will have two chicks each at least.

Thanks kabhyper! She hasn't pooed on the eggs and I kick her off 2x a day and make sure she eats, drinks and poos. I take my nice warm toboggan off and cover the eggs while she does her thing. I candled the eggs today and it looks like all ten might hatch!

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Wow. That is really crazy. Not a trace?

I know some folks that, when they sell birds, won't let people come into the chicken area so they don't see their coops, etc. That is always a little questionable because you wonder if it is for bio-security or if, on the other hand, they may have something unhealthy to hide. Quite a dilemma if you're selling birds and someone may be staking out the place to see what you have.

Not a trace, there was no snow so tracks would not be present. But feathers should have been somewhere in the yard. And given that the roo was at least 8 pounds if not almost 9 pounds, I just don't see the hawk flying away with him.
I typically sell to people who are not the least bit interested in visiting my chicken yard. I don't ask why they want chickens but are not prepared to step in a bit of chicken poo. I just take it that they are getting started and will gradually adjust to the larger blobs of a laying hen or worse a broody.
Many times I do get asked if I think they need heat in the coop and the coop is one of the made for 3 from RK or amazon. I tell them no heat once the chicks are outside but not to put them outside until they are fully feathered even on their bellies. There just is no room for a heat lamp and a cooler area in those coops.

I may need to start meeting with people away from my property, but they can still find my house pretty easily our coops are visible from the road. I have thought of giant locks but those are easily broken. For the most part the loss of a hen is only valued at $25 or less but with a breeder roo or hen it is so much more as I'm trying to expand my flock and sell the mixed chicks for feed money. Without that roo in the layer pen, the mixed flock fertility will go down for another 2-3 months. So while I have backup breeders for the HRIR, my layer flock roosters are still quite young and I was using the spare RIR roos to get fertile eggs from the layer flock.

Some one else on the heritage large fowl thread said they would not sell their best breeder for $200 but they also said they would not pay $200 for a breeder as well. It kind of puts things in perspective, sure I would not pay a fortune for a rooster but I do highly value my breeder chickens.

 

[Kiniska]

Wow. That is really crazy. Not a trace?

I know some folks that, when they sell birds, won't let people come into the chicken area so they don't see their coops, etc. That is always a little questionable because you wonder if it is for bio-security or if, on the other hand, they may have something unhealthy to hide. Quite a dilemma if you're selling birds and someone may be staking out the place to see what you have.

I have friends who are very paranoid. They have had birds stolen. One lady even has cameras set up around the house and barn because of it.