INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[chick rookie]

Since woodpeckers are the only wild bird that I know anything about, here is a Woodpecker Lesson for this evening - lol!

The amazing one that leslea photographed is a Pileated Woodpecker (It can be pronounced both ways-- like Pile-eated or like Pill-eated). And it's the one that inspired Woody Woodpecker's look. There are many varieties, but these are the ones that I see the most often, especially the red-bellied (it's hard to see their red bellies when they are always against a tree!) and the Downy (smaller and fluffier). You're lucky if you ever get to see a Pileated one because I've read that many bird-watcher people have never had the luck to see one in person. We were so lucky to have one live in our far backyard for several years.

Btw, you are absolutely right, jchny, that we shouldn't have our bird feeder near the chickens-- especially after we've dealt with scaly leg mites.

The feeder is in such an otherwise perfect place.

we have only ever seen the Red Head's around her have one that lives in an old dead tree. wont cut it down because of it.


I have an update on my broody hen, She has started eating scratch and layer today and keeping it down. I still have to remove her from her nest but at least she is eating solid food .. AND ...... she no longer wants to kill me when I get near her

 

[chick rookie]

hit the wrong button sorry wasn't finished... Bad news I lost one of my good Buff's tonight!!! that makes 2 in 2 nights. I don't get it??? no signs of fighting or being hurt in anyway. even got a egg from her today. Anyone have any ideals????

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Hi Everyone. I just wanted to share today's chicken adventure I was channeling Mother2Hens and gave my limping chicken, Lucy, a bath and a new crate. She has been limping for several days and I moved her out of the coop when she wasn't able to get back up the ramp herself. At first Lucy was in a smallish cat carrier and while it was ok when she was little, she is now too big. She ended up getting poo all over her backside and I just can't handle that. So...she got the bath first. What an angel she was. I have washed dogs from poodles to bullmastiffs, cats, and guinea pigs, but never a full-sized chicken. She fell asleep in the bath on my arm.


After her blow-dry (on medium), she took a rest on the counter while I cleaned out her area.


Then we went to the store and got her a small foldable crate that I am sure will come in handy when isolating other birds in the future. In the past I have borrowed my friends rabbit hutch, but I have been doing it too much in my opinion.

Then, we made a sling out of remnant fabric I had in the basement and wrapped it around a dishpan so that she could hang to rest her feet/legs. I wish the dishpan was a little deeper though. No, I cant see anything wrong with any part of her legs, but she won't put any weight on the one. I'm really hoping she doesn't have a dislocated hip or something that she can't recover from, but I guess time will tell.



Should I mix some grit or sand into her food?

Also in answer to your question M2H, I ran out of the organic food about 2 days after the really cold weather, but I will keep you posted on the switch. I like your idea of us buying someone's chicken though. There is a farm here in Greencastle that I can buy from, but they do not use organic grain.

If I have a sick rooster is taking it to the vet to be put to sleep my best bet? He is not getting any better at all.

Sorry to hear about the rooster. Do you know someone that can dispatch him for you?
The grit, just offer free choice, or you can mix in food.
ETA didn't realize it was chick grit. Ya, not coarse enough for her.

I could skip toboggan for spring.

X2

On a happy note. I found a breeder willing to supply me with Mottled Java eggs when he has them available!!! I can't wait to get that project off the ground! It will round out my projects for the year.

Eggs: Crested Cream Legbars
Meat: American Bresse - although they are turning out to be good layers too!
Heritage Preservation: Mottled Javas
Just for fun: Turkeys....haven't settled on a variety yet.

Thats awesome! Please, put me on your egg list for bresse, they are very interesting!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mother2Hens


I have been wondering about if any of you who do process chicken can freeze it and sell it to someone like me or CRSelvey who'd like to know where it came from?
Or is that against the law?

Fantastic info~ thanks very much for posting!

Found what else it was!
Quote: Great post also! I am saving these links, and will be good to share on our Facebook page also!

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Bonbon MIssing -- and Found with The Motherload!

I arrived home a little after dark from a meeting and my DH had just gotten home and was going to lock the coop, but noticed Bonbon was missing! I tried not to panic because I had a feeling she was broody. The past week, we've noticed her not being with the others and then showing up later. I had seen Bonbon display an interest in sitting on eggs in the coop one time before. I also had been wondering if she and Adeline were taking a break from laying or if she had a stash somewhere. I hadn't taken time to look around, but had planned to tomorrow. Then she disappeared. Adeline seemed to know where Bonbon was because she hadn't been calling her like she normally would have done. DH and I were both out with flashlights calling her and looking everywhere. We noticed a lone egg by the (covered) swimming pool. I eventually found her inside a big plant of ornamental grass. She was quietly sitting on eggs, and then I looked farther back and saw even more! There were at least 16 of both Bonbon's and Adeline's eggs with a few cracked. DH got some thick gloves to pick up the broody bantam with as though she was a giant condor! She didn't seem too upset, and we put her in the coop next to Adeline. DH was a little miffed that Bonbon didn't answer when called! lol

So, I've said a million times that I'd love to have a broody hen. I do have concerns like kabhyper had about her Cochin -- that she's too young. I guess I will wait to see how she acts. I might be asking some of you about purchasing fertilized eggs. I would have to move her to the garage or basement if I do let her get broody. One amazing thing to note is that a raccoon, opossum, etc. didn't get all of those eggs. Bonbon's nest was located next to the fence in the fenced-in part of the yard. Behind the fence is the open part of the backyard with grass, trees, etc. That area is where the wild animals come from when they visit our fenced-in yard.

As far as the wrinkled egg photo I posted the other day, now I know that it has to be either my RIR or my SLW.

I should have taken a picture of her on the nest, but here's the nest and eggs.

WOW! Thats awesome, I'd say you have an excellent chance hatching later this spring!

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

hit the wrong button sorry wasn't finished... Bad news I lost one of my good Buff's tonight!!! that makes 2 in 2 nights. I don't get it??? no signs of fighting or being hurt in anyway. even got a egg from her today. Anyone have any ideals????

I am so sorry! Where are they at when you find them?

 

[Mother2Hens]

Hi Everyone. I just wanted to share today's chicken adventure I was channeling Mother2Hens and gave my limping chicken, Lucy, a bath and a new crate. She has been limping for several days and I moved her out of the coop when she wasn't able to get back up the ramp herself. At first Lucy was in a smallish cat carrier and while it was ok when she was little, she is now too big. She ended up getting poo all over her backside and I just can't handle that. So...she got the bath first. What an angel she was. I have washed dogs from poodles to bullmastiffs, cats, and guinea pigs, but never a full-sized chicken. She fell asleep in the bath on my arm.


After her blow-dry (on medium), she took a rest on the counter while I cleaned out her area.


Then we went to the store and got her a small foldable crate that I am sure will come in handy when isolating other birds in the future. In the past I have borrowed my friends rabbit hutch, but I have been doing it too much in my opinion.

Then, we made a sling out of remnant fabric I had in the basement and wrapped it around a dishpan so that she could hang to rest her feet/legs. I wish the dishpan was a little deeper though. No, I cant see anything wrong with any part of her legs, but she won't put any weight on the one. I'm really hoping she doesn't have a dislocated hip or something that she can't recover from, but I guess time will tell.



Should I mix some grit or sand into her food?

Also in answer to your question M2H, I ran out of the organic food about 2 days after the really cold weather, but I will keep you posted on the switch. I like your idea of us buying someone's chicken though. There is a farm here in Greencastle that I can buy from, but they do not use organic grain.

If I have a sick rooster is taking it to the vet to be put to sleep my best bet? He is not getting any better at all.

CRSelvey ~ When you said "Then we went to the store . . ." I pictured this scene:



What a sweet girl Lucy is! Be careful using the crate because that is actually how Violet injured her leg last summer. I had her in the basement in a large dog crate with Adeline to quarantine them. Violet caught her leg on the bars at the bottom. I just "Searched the thread" and found the diagram I made to show where the bars are. hogster had replied under my post about the cage that she used cardboard around the edges. I started doing that, and I also kept a towel over the entryway bars at the bottom-- and the door could still shut.



That's cool that you made a sling! I thought about doing that with Violet, but I was afraid I'd screw it up and make it worse.

I mentioned a month ago that my BR Tweedy had a slight limp, and she still has it probably because she doesn't rest it. She can run with a small limp, too! I thought about putting her in a cage to rest it, but it's not really bad and my fear is that inactivity will make it worse like it did Violet's-- it's hard to know because every situation is different. I'm guessing that Tweedy had a rough landing, slid on ice, stumbled on rocks, or something like that. Do you know what happened to Lucy?

As far as your rooster, that's what I'd do, but I'm not in your shoes. Jersey is still at the freezer at the vet until the outdoor temps warm up a bit. Do you have any idea what your roo is sick from? Is he the one you posted about that you had looked through the health book and couldn't find what was wrong? If I didn't need to go to bed right now, I'd look that up. I think you posted that when I was in process of catching up with the thread following Jersey's ordeal.

Does anyone other than Brad have any fertile Coturnix quail eggs for sale that are unrelated to Brads? I will need to buy a few dozen unrelated eggs to add the second bloodline for my males.

HappyHappyHappy ~ There are no birds/eggs left in the world that aren't related to Brad's! Haha! jk

 

[Mother2Hens]

On a happy note. I found a breeder willing to supply me with Mottled Java eggs when he has them available!!! I can't wait to get that project off the ground! It will round out my projects for the year.

Eggs: Crested Cream Legbars
Meat: American Bresse - although they are turning out to be good layers too!
Heritage Preservation: Mottled Javas
Just for fun: Turkeys....haven't settled on a variety yet.

racinchickins ~ Thank you for posting the poultry sales info. Very helpful!

I looked up Mottled Java chickens and they are stunning. I ran across these EE chicken photos online the other day and thought its pattern was pretty-- would it be called mottled? (I'm still on Chicken 101 level!)

 

[Mother2Hens]

chick rookie ~ Good news about your broody hen, but so sorry to hear about your Buffs!

CityHenIndy ~ Your hoarding hens sound like mine. I guess they're stocking up for the winter!

 

[chick rookie]

I am so sorry! Where are they at when you find them?

I first one didn't surprise me cause like I said she was old, I found her laying in a sitting position on the perch in front of the nesting boxes, the Buff was under a year old and was in a nest box. I have not changes any food water or treats. and the supplements are the same and given 2x a week. no bedding is new.

 

[chick rookie]

chick rookie ~ Good news about your broody hen, but so sorry to hear about your Buffs!

CityHenIndy ~ Your hoarding hens sound like mine. I guess they're stocking up for the winter!

thanks, I just don't know what is going on if I go out tonight and find another dead I don't know what I will do.