INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Mother2Hens]

Well here is the most recent hatch. Wasn't a great hatch, but ended up being better than I expected. Most are silkies with 2 Birchen Marans and 2 Birchen Marans mixes with either white rocks or naked necks.

And my two silvers/greys from several hatches ago. I'm really loving these guys!

bradselig ~ They are all BEAUTIFUL, but where are their toys and educational materials? There's nothing in those boxes! Not even a piano. Does that mean my Silkies from you have low IQs?

bradselig and Kiniska
I put a bowl with dirt in the back of their cage for them to have a dust bath today. They didn't trust the bowl of dirt, but they were familiar with the "sod" I brought in yesterday since they had scratched it apart. It was a weird coincidence that they suddenly took a dust bath in the sod as though they knew what I was suggesting (I know they didn't, but it was interesting).
It looks like a wreck in the cage-- I was waiting until they were done to do a total re-clean!
Here's a short video of the "baths." Silkie and English Orpington chicks take first dust bath.

The Silkie Splash is the most curious and brave of all of them. The blue Eng. Orp likes to act like she is since she's so tall. haha They are all really cute and sweet. Here's a short video of after the cage was cleaned (so you don't call the health dept. on me!) Silkie & English Orps after dust bath cage cleaned up

 

[Mother2Hens]

hello all from Whitley Co. How do we add the state to our pic? A little about me, my wife and I have golden comet layers right now and we are hopefully going to grow to around 30 this spring. Just bought a hova bator genius and I got three different hatchings ordered, barred rocks and rhode island reds for the first batch and then just ordered a dozen silver laced wyandotte's for april. glad to have found this thread...

raisinemright ~ Welcome to the Indiana Thread! I thought I had caught up on posts, but luckily I went back over some pages and saw your post. I will send you a PM about the map/avatar.
I also posted info on page 2151 at the bottom with the heading: Do you want to be listed . . .

They finally found a green spot .But sure it will be covered later today.

Dreamwalker ~ Welcome to the Indiana Thread!
See page 2151 at the bottom with the heading: Do you want to be listed . . .
Suburban Mom-- hope you saw the info, too.
Peaceful Walls ~ Fantastic freezing fog photos!


jchny ~ Hope your BA cockerel is doing better!

Its amazing how fast the obsession can grab you. I barely had eggs in the incubator and all of a sudden I've bid on Midget White Turkey eggs that would hatch in the middle of my vacation......luckily, I got outbid at the last minute. So to counteract that small victory, I then pm'd the seller and told them I'd be interested in eggs if they ever have any more for sale. If I didn't know you all were a bunch of enablers, I'd be asking for help to curb the addiction. lol.
racinchickins ~ That is pretty funny! And no, there are no rational people on this thread-- only enablers. We're the "bad types of friends" that you're supposed to stay away from!

On the other hand, we're here for people like CRSelvey who posted below that she's having a difficult time waiting until the optimal time to fill her DH in on her plans for new chicks. We need to support Cheryl during this difficult period of waiting.

Originally Posted by CRSelvey
M2H - For some reason, the post you had about working around our significant other's did not copy over here...so I'll just tell you. My DH said he wants a new toy that is fairly expensive and sounds very time consuming. I'm waiting until after said purchase to bring up chicks again. Its all in the timing...I just had to tell him how much the necropsy was, so waiting is good but I might explode in the meantime.

CRSelvey ~ Is this my post you're referring to? I think that our "other halves" like to think that they have some influence in decisions about chickens, even though we know they really don't!! hahaha

And then I posted "A New Season, A New Strategy" for you, but I just saw your post (above) that indicates you already have a premeditated plan in place.

 

[Mother2Hens]

The only advice I have to offer [kabhyper re her Silkie's eye] is to maybe call an avian vet.
Where's M2H and her handy dandy book? (I am just kidding, I know you are really busy taking care of your sick daughter and new chicks).

CCCCHICKENS ~ I already posted all the info I had for kabhyper on page 2134, posts 21336 and 21339. I was just thinking what you suggested to kabhyper-- call an avian vet. Wish we knew more to help.

ChickCrazed ~ So sorry for your bad day(s)!! This winter has been nuts. I'm lucky to not have as much snow as you northerners, but as usual, we had freezing rain for several hours with a little snow. I was out in it (freezing rain feels like needles) trying to coax my hens out from under the deck since it was getting dark. I feel for all of you who have had to deal with relentless snow and having to haul water, etc.

Maybe when everyone thaws out, we can make a list of tips and ideas to help prepare for next winter. No one expected a winter like this one!
Your chicks remind me of my Eng Orps from Kiniska ~ what kind are yours?


Reminder to everyone to please label the breeds in your photos for newbies like me who don't always recognize breeds. Repetition of breed names and photos is a good way for feeble-minded people like me to learn.

raisinemright~ Poor hen-- sorry to hear that.
lilmizscareall ~ Those Black Indian Runner ducklings are adorable!
CCCHICKENS ~ Glad you saved a life today~ and so is your hen!

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

They finally found a green spot .But sure it will be covered later today.

My geese are digging thu the snow for grass. Glad I started fodder.

Hi all,

looking for recommendations on good hatchers. I've seen posts on here from time to time saying that people like to incubate and hatch in separate machines. I'm pretty sure I'm going to want to do that also, as I now have a cabinet incubator and won't want to waste 2 weeks of eggs waiting for the current set to hatch. I have three rows in the incubator, and I can start a new row each week if I can remove the earliest row to a separate hatcher.

So what does everyone recommend to use as a hatcher. I'm probably going with one of the still air incubators. Does one brand work better than others?

I am using an LG still air, leave plugs in. This house is way to drafty but so far, 1 egg out of 40 wasn't viable at 7 days. Have sure hatched a LOT of birds out of it.
It works and is cheap. Just need a room thats stable on temp and humidity.

Quote: I remember reading in Harvey Ussery's book that he was having such a problem with birds at one time that he finally bought a sparrow trap to take care of the problem.

I haven't had the problems yet but I've always filed that in the back of my mind.

Last summer the Robins were coming into the chain link run/kennel early in the morning (pop door still shut to hen shed) and in the evening after the chickens went in. I never saw any go into the hen shed but I didn't want them pillaging in the run, and also didn't want to encourage them to go inside or spread lice or mites! I ended up putting up some of the really cheap netting with zip ties on the south side of the pen - which seemed to be the only place they'd come through. Worked like a charm.

Now this assumes there is a pen out there! I also put it over the top to deter hawks. It is NOT predator proof, of course, but does keep the hawks out and the birds from coming through the chain link for a low price.

This is the stuff I used...100 ft. long and 7 ft. high for a pretty cheap price.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_510599-2313...&pl=1&currentURL=?Ntt=bird+netting&facetInfo=

I bought this. Support it with pipe or wood. Its doing "OK" but not a long term solution, weather will degrade it.
Its worked well with fence thats electric.

Quote: They really need at least 16% protein. Scratch is rarely more than 10%
You will see losses, hens cannot thrive and produce eggs on less for long. They will live, awhile but u won't see many eggs.
I would reduce my flock, and think about what birds I want to work with.
We are kinda in the same situation there, with winter its expensive keeping so many.

Quote: It really does! I had ours strung, set up and a cottonwood limb took it out. So we decided to replace and rebuild.
Electric will stop most predators and sure gives me a lot less stress on my babies.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

So I just went out to get eggs and take some stuff to the compost and I heard my younger rooster crow for the first time! Pathetically but now I'm wondering if him and the older one got into it and that's why the older one is limping?!? I'll have to look closer at them tonight.

Did they have a falling out.. both happening today tells me they were discussing who is who

Sad day we lost one if our Golden comet hens this morning. That leaves us with only 5 layers

I am so sorry

I'm skipping over the last couple of pages so I can post duckling photos!

Are they Cayuga? they are tooo adorable!

Lily has depth perception issues today. It's day 3 of the oral tylan. Could it just be part of her respiratory stuff?

Probably so, if her sinuses or respiratory tract is effected it will affect her balance.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

As suspected would happen, the chickens refused to go through the pop door with plastic, and the coop was filled with even more wild birds that had no problem coming through the plastic. Grrrrrrrrrr. Guess I will be out there in the snow storm tomorrow fighting the next skirmish. Of course the roads are too bad to go out for more supplies and lowes didn't have poultry netting when I stopped today. They clearly don't think anyone buys poultry fencing in the winter. I'm going to have to rig some tarps up on top of the run to temporarily thwart the darn birds from coming through....and with all the snow we are getting my next ordeal will be a collapsed run because of the snow load piling up on the tarp. It is amazing how you see it coming, hope for better and then reality is exactly how you expect To top it all off my heated water dish keeps popping the GFI and was completely frozen over today. Poor girls So I will probably be hauling water all day tomorrow too and trying to figure out how to fix it before I have to go back into the office thursday and friday. Oh, and I am one of those lucky hoosiers that is supposed to be getting 2" tonight, and another 12" tomorrow, and it sure looks like I already have more than 2" so I am seriously afraid to see what tomorrow brings! Is it Spring yet? It sure is difficult to have livestock in the winter. These are the days when I wonder if it is really worth it...I know it is but it is hard to struggle so much for months on end without questioning.

Oh, and in my struggle to get the wild birds out of my coop, two of my chickens flew the coop and my dachshund took a mouthful of feathers out of one or both. She got yelled at and I think they are ok. I worry that they are not and that I missed an injury. And my dog knows I'm mad at her so she has been a nervous wreck all night. We are all an emotional exhausted mess tonight.

There are bad days too. Take a deep breath.

Quote:
No kidding!

Quote: AWESOME egg count! I am like you. its sure worth the end result.
The sportsman is one of the best, sending good hatch vibes

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Quote: It sounds a lot like my BBW turkey. She isnt right yet either.
Tylan is a good product, hope it helps.

 

[PeacefulWalls]

Woo-hoo! Indiana BYCers has 4 of the top 10 posts at the moment!!

 

[ChickCrazed]

raisinemright~ Poor hen-- sorry to hear that.
lilmizscareall ~ Those Black Indian Runner ducklings are adorable!
CCCHICKENS ~ Glad you saved a life today~ and so is your hen!

They are Birchen Marans from Brad But totally unrecognizable in all their feathering awkwardness!

 

[bradselig]

[COLOR=006400]bradselig[/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]~ They are all BEAUTIFUL, but where are their toys and educational materials? There's nothing in those boxes! Not even a piano. Does that mean my Silkies from you have low IQs? [/COLOR]

[COLOR=006400]bradselig[/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]and[/COLOR] [COLOR=CC6600]Kiniska[/COLOR]
[COLOR=8B4513]I put a bowl with dirt in the back of their cage for them to have a dust bath today. They didn't trust the bowl of dirt, but they were familiar with the "sod" I brought in yesterday since they had scratched it apart. It was a weird coincidence that they suddenly took a dust bath in the sod as though they knew what I was suggesting (I know they didn't, but it was interesting).[/COLOR]
[COLOR=8B4513]It looks like a wreck in the cage-- I was waiting until they were done to do a total re-clean! [/COLOR]
[COLOR=8B4513]Here's a short video of the "baths."[/COLOR]  Silkie and English Orpington chicks take first dust bath.

[COLOR=8B4513]The Silkie Splash is the most curious and brave of all of them. The blue Eng. Orp likes to act like she is since she's so tall. haha They are all really cute and sweet. Here's a short video of after the cage was cleaned (so you don't call the health dept. on me!)  [/COLOR]  Silkie & English Orps after dust bath cage cleaned up  

Hey now! They were only in that box for pictures, but I still don't have anything in their brooders.....