INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Chaneys Ranch]

Moved the chicks out to the coop yesterday after work - figured this stretch of beautiful weather was a good time for them to make the change - they're 5 weeks and had pretty much outgrown the brooder, so it was time. Spent the night worried about my "babies" - and was very relieved to go out this morning and find 16 bright, happy chicken faces greeting me - they think they are in chicky heaven, lol. If they only knew it gets even better - we *should* get the run done this weekend and then their world gets even bigger and better.
Speaking of the run - have decided to do a hoop run - seems like something the kids and I can handle (if DH lets us - something tells me the moment I reach for one of his tools he'll be out there doing it for me --- not that that's entirely a bad thing, lol). Figure this is a good place to get some feedback on how they hold up in our climate. Anyone use hoop houses/runs? Any major changes you've made to the basic plan to accommodate our area? I know one thing I'll be doing is running a couple of hot wires around out around it because the run will be in the pasture and our horses are horrible about using anything that holds still as a leaning post or butt scratcher - so I figure a t post at each corner and a couple in the middle with a wire low and one about horse chest high will keep them at bay and add a layer of deterrence against the neighborhood dogs/other pests.....figure with the posts there anyway I might as well use them to give me anchors for the run too (because DH is convinced it will blow over - no convincing him otherwise).

I know a wonderful lady on BYC name Cheeka in upstate NY..she gets heavy snow and hard winters. I really think she is your "go to" to ask about hers. It looks nice and she has had bitter cold and a lot of snow this year, the "Dome" is still holding well!

As chicken owners, so we ever actually catch a break?
Dita is limping. Here are photos of the bottom of her feet and a video of her walk.

The video...


I checked her over and feel that I was pretty thorough. I must have gone through her feathers several times looking for wounds or discoloration. Nothing, nada, zilch. She has not laid yet today. I first noticed her strange walk yesterday. She did lay a very nice egg in the afternoon.
Any thoughts?

Foot looks ok from what I see in the pics. Watched the video, She overextended, sprained or strained that leg. If you can, confine her so she can't injure it more, give her a few days to heal. She needs some movement, just no jumping etc. Dog crates are excellent hospital wards, LOL.

 

[Mother2Hens]

I would like to formally introduce everyone to the

SINISTER SISTERS (my sons nickname for them)

ROGUE


GYPSY


They get their first puppy shots tomorrow so they will be able to go outside and have their first experience with the great outdoors and chickens.
I do have a few ideas about how I am going to train them to co-exist/protect chickens. But since I really have no experience training puppies period, any ideas and/or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

barb s ~ They are adorable!! All I can say is TRAIN and READ. Make it your new obsession. Puppies are almost like caring for baby humans. Just educate yourself to be a good owner, and they will be wonderful, fulfilling companions!

Dad & I started exploring nursing home placement for my mom this week. We're waiting to get an assessment appointment for her to get the ball rolling. We weren't aware of this before, but before anyone can be admitted to a nursing home in Indiana, Real Services has to do an assessment and there are some papers that the physician needs to fill out. We just figured we could arrangement placement ourselves, but that's not the case! Mom's condition has gone downhill the last month or so & Dad has reached his limit for providing care. She needs 24 hr supervision and it's to the point where neither Dad nor I can get much of anything else done, plus there's more aggressive/violent behavior occurring. A couple nursing homes we'd like to use aren't set up to deal with her advanced Alzheimers so we'll probably be needing to find someplace that provides specific care for dementia -- hopefully a facility that's close to us. We're hoping to get her in place somewhere as soon as possible. It'll be hard to make that move, but it will be a good thing all around.

With all that being said, I'm hoping we may be able to host a gathering up here in the northern part of the state -- maybe August or this fall or next year? Summer is pretty busy and short with all our fair activities & school starting the beginning of August. I didn't feel comfortable offering before with Mom here, but with our situation changing, it's looking like more of a possibility!

PeacefulWalls~ Years ago, my Dad had dementia and we went through the process of finding a place-- luckily a new dementia care center had just opened, which was wonderful. It was a relief knowing that he was in a secure place with 24/7 care. Some conditions require professional care around the clock, and Alzheimers is one of them. I hope you can find a place close by, too. It's good to be a familiar presence to the staff even if you're not always one to your loved one who can't remember. Best wishes.

 

[Poulet des Bois]

I'm out of place here, but don't know what else to do but reply to a recent post.
I don't "get" how to start a topic or ?, nor if I'm actually registered as being in NW Indiana, or how to just jump in, meet others, find someone near me, get help, or automatically get to recent activity. Seems to always send me to things years old. Thanks for Any help, Anyone.

 

[barb s]

I'm out of place here, but don't know what else to do but reply to a recent post.
I don't "get" how to start a topic or ?, nor if I'm actually registered as being in NW Indiana, or how to just jump in, meet others, find someone near me, get help, or automatically get to recent activity. Seems to always send me to things years old. Thanks for Any help, Anyone.

You are in the right place. Lots of fantastic people on here to answer your questions You can talk about any subject as long as its within BYC guidelines and family friendly. Your avatar has you located in South Bend so I think you must be registered right. Jchny2000, Bradselig, Mother2Hens, and a couple more I can think of right now have a link in their signatures to the Indiana Members list. You can find people close to you, breeds that people have. You just jump and say hi anytime. At the top of the page you can subscribe to Indiana bycer's. Hope that I've been able to help you some. And welcome.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Okay Eggsperts, Godiva, my Australorp, only lays eggs on occasion. if she is feeling feisty one huge egg every other day. However, she hasn't laid an egg in about a month-ish. Until today. It maybe that the boys antics were stressing her out, and now that Cricket has his own flock at Raisenemrights, which has calmed my boys down, she felt comfortable to lay. Anyway I was so happy when I walked up to her just as the egg dropped, knowing she wasnt laying internally or egg bound. My happiness faded a bit though when I saw her egg. Now I have never seen anything like it, and she does have oyster shell so it wouldn't be calcium def., but this egg was cracked on both sides. It has two soft spots symmetrical on each side. I took pics and then opened it. The yolk looked fine other than a bit of what looked like dirt in it. Here is the huge egg, tell me what you all think. She is about 2 years old.
Next to a normal minorca eggOne side

The other side.

Stress will cause odd eggs. That last pic shows a porous egg for sure. When i start to see my eggs off and some of the other issues, I move out the extra roos from the flock. I really need to set up a bachelor coop again! Having rehomed the extra roo will sure help your hen.
I just put the 4 sexlink roos and a drake in last years grow out coop, they were terrorizing the whole flock. The roosters have no value as breeders, and are not nice birds at all. the drake is an oddball/nutcase and tries to mate chickens, won't even look at the duck hens

He would sneak into the chicken run next to the waterfowl pen, and grab a hen!

So I got a bit of yard clean up done. I only managed about an hour, but I have about 20 feet of landscaping redone and cleaned up. I also planted the broccoli and cabbage I was gifted.
I do have one last batch of brooder babies left. They got to come hang out while I dug up roots and dirt.
I think my mistake with the last 2 groups, that was different than the first group, is that the first group free ranged quite a bit before the coop was ever done. It started with a little 10 min jaunt, which grew longer over a few days.
That's what I'm going to try with these guys. I looked at their "birthdates" and they should be 7 weeks today. Whoot!
So I'm hoping they'll be coop ready by the Saturday after next. Just going to keep an eye on the weather. If it gets cold again, I'll keep them inside longer.

I waited till my new layers were 8 weeks, just moved them all out today. I am still worried and keep going out to check. Had to get them out, the dust was horrible and starting to make me not like chicks, UGH! There were around 26 all together. Grow out coop is full of pullets! So tomorrow will be open the doors and clean out the porch day, YAY!
DH still has to till the soil for me for the garden, but have some plants started already.

 

[Mother2Hens]

Poulet des Bois ~ Bonjour & Welcome! As far as the Indiana Thread, we just have one long thread where people can make a post about a variety of topics. To make conversations easier to follow since topics jump back and forth, "quoting" their post first helps continuity. If you want to respond to a post, you just click on Quote at the bottom right corner of that person's post. Then their post appears in the Reply box at the bottom of the page. You can click under their post to start your reply and then click on Submit at the bottom right corner of the Reply box.

You don't have to quote the person's message before you reply. Or if you want to reply to several quotes in one reply, you can click on Multi. Or you can use copy and paste, too.

If you want to be notified about posts, and linked to the thread, go to your Profile page (see right top of page) I'm attaching an example of mine. Click on your screen name and you'll see a drop down menu. Go to Preferences to set your Notifications.



Here is some other info that might help. If you have any questions, and didn't understand my explanation above, please ask. We are here to help!
See the info below about Click on the link . . .

Do you want to be listed on the Indiana BYC Members’ List?
“Being a member of this thread” just means adding your screen name and flock info, which can be helpful because the list is a spreadsheet format that lets you sort the list by breed, county, or other category. It’s an easy way to find other members who have the same breed you have or who live in a nearby county, etc.

Click on the link (Indiana BYC Members’ List) located below my signature to view the Indiana page. Just look at the bottom of the list page for sorting options.

If you’d like to be added, send a PM (personal message) by simply placing your cursor over my screen name: Mother2Hens, and you will see “Send a PM.” bradselig and CRSelvey (Cheryl) actually add the info, so you can PM either one of them directly, too-- whatever is the easiest for you. A personal message ensures that your info is added. Please send your screen name, county, and city. Also include the following information about each member of your flock: List each species (chicken, duck, etc.), breed (Barred Rock, Blue Cochin, etc.), is it a LF (Large Fowl) or Bantam? If you breed, please include the species. If you have any questions about this thread, please PM jchny2000 (Janet) who is the founder (thread starter) of this group.

About the Indiana Thread~
To participate on the Indiana Thread, we ask that you follow byc.com’s rules for family-friendly posts. We have members of all ages. Our thread is known for being very active, and our members are supportive, respectful of each other’s opinions, interesting, and fun! Please post messages and photos as often as you like! Posts are not limited to the topic of chickens. There is no such thing as a “dumb” question! We have members with different experience levels in a variety of interests. Whatever your questions may be, we should have members who can help.

Indiana County Map for instant member location/Avatars
If anyone would like a map of your county, like the one on my avatar, I will be happy to provide one. If someone wants a combo map and a chicken or an animal for your avatar, I can put that together for you, just PM me. When I read posts, many times I think “Now where are they from?” I look at the city and still have no idea what part of the state they’re from. The map icon with the county in red because you could quickly glance and see where the member who is posting is from. These avatars are not required-- they are just a free service if you’re interested.

AVATAR UPDATES
If members would like me to change the photo(s) on their avatars, just PM me. Someone might have a picture of a chick that has grown into a hen (or a roo!) and would like to update the photo or someone might like something totally different.

BYC Indiana Google Map for detailed information
Cluck Acres (Curtis) set up a Google Map for just us INDIANA BYC’ers. You must first log on to your Google account or make a Google account. (If you have gmail, just use your gmail password). All you have to do is go to this link....http://goo.gl/maps/UShV6 . Here are the directions. You will see the state of Indiana.. Zoom in to where you live and then click on the red button that says Edit. After you click Edit you will see a hand, blue pin point and a zig zag line on the map. Click the pin point and drag it to where you live on the map. After you have placed your pin point then click on it and you can edit your description by adding your county. If you want to change your blue pin point to another icon or upload your own then up on the right of that box click the pin point icon and choose others or upload your own icon. If anyone has problems with this feel free to ask.

This information is submitted periodically by Mother2Hens

 

[Mother2Hens]

I am a member of a Facebook poultry group too and tonight a guy in Terre Haute posted that he has to get rid of his birds after being told that it is completely legal. Now, I don't have a dog in this fight, but I hate to hear someone is being forced to give up something they enjoy because a neighbor complained. (he doesn't know for sure it was the neighbor but he suspects it) So I told him I would post up here and ask if anyone is in the Terre Haute area or if anyone knows something he can do to fight this? If there are other Terre Haute poultry owns please post up so I can get him in touch with you and you can maybe band together to fight it. He and I would be grateful for any help in the matter.
Chris

Chris ~ Thanks for checking in with the Indiana Thread! Please join us anytime. I am sorry to hear about your Terre Haute friend. I assume that there would be a hearing in front of animal control authorities where he could state his case. If you look at the bottom of my post, you'll see a link to Indiana Members' List where you can see people who live in that area who you could send a PM personal message to. (Not all of our members are online every day and see every post). Another possibility is using change.org to make a petition that could be presented to animal control. Also, there are some threads on BYC like Local Chicken Laws & Ordinances (and how to change them) and you could google similar stories about others who have had to fight for their right to keep chickens. Good Luck and thanks for helping a fellow chicken enthusiast.

lilmizscareall ~ My BR Tweedy started limping several months ago, and I felt certain it was from landing wrong or stumbling, etc. because our backyard is hilly with a lot of landscaping rocks (came with the house lol), so it can be a little treacherous. Since then, her limp has been up and down -- literally and figuratively --haha. Somedays it's not bad and other days it may be a little worse. The problem is that I think it would be more stressful for her if I had her inside in a situation where she had to rest and not use her leg. Plus, I had a lavender orp pullet that actually injured her leg and couldn't use it. Keeping her in a kennel made it worse since it wasn't being used at all-- it was obviously a more severe situation, but I learned that it's better to keep the leg moving when possible. Remember though, that I'm describing my experiences with two chickens with leg issues, which may or may not relate to your chicken's condition.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Here are a few pics of my flock! No they are not huddled under the heat lamp they are huddled around one of the feed trays!! Lol



I think it's a nice mix of colors and breeds. With a few more coming!!

I just love your variety, you will have a stunning flock!

I would like to formally introduce everyone to the

SINISTER SISTERS (my sons nickname for them)

ROGUE


GYPSY


They get their first puppy shots tomorrow so they will be able to go outside and have their first experience with the great outdoors and chickens.
I do have a few ideas about how I am going to train them to co-exist/protect chickens. But since I really have no experience training puppies period, any ideas and/or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Just adorable pups, congrats!!!!! They need constant chicken/flock exposure and bonding.. The birds to be guarded also need constant puppy bonding and exposure too. Traditional squeak toys, fuzzy and fluffy stuff, are a big NO. Rawhide treats are a good choice, rope toys. I trained working and police dogs for protection, attack, drugs, cadaver and even arson dogs. I haven't worked with it since the late 90s but I am sure little of that's changed. Just gradually introduce the pups a little more each day. Keep in mind, the pups are vulnerable and eyes/noses can be pecked. A safety fence may help to protect them until your flock is at ease. They need to see each other a lot. The dogs natural instincts will help you train them.

After about 2 months of not laying, our ducks are finally back in production! It started slowly about a week and a half ago, with just 1 egg daily. This last week we got 2, then 4, then 6, another 6 and today 8 eggs! I sure have missed getting them, but we should be back in business now. I've had some customers waiting. And Sunday is our hatch day for our broody girl if the eggs remained viable. She tended to get up & go exploring a little too often, so not sure what the results will be.

Thats great news! They new their eggs would freeze so they were waiting

Dad & I started exploring nursing home placement for my mom this week. We're waiting to get an assessment appointment for her to get the ball rolling. We weren't aware of this before, but before anyone can be admitted to a nursing home in Indiana, Real Services has to do an assessment and there are some papers that the physician needs to fill out. We just figured we could arrangement placement ourselves, but that's not the case! Mom's condition has gone downhill the last month or so & Dad has reached his limit for providing care. She needs 24 hr supervision and it's to the point where neither Dad nor I can get much of anything else done, plus there's more aggressive/violent behavior occurring. A couple nursing homes we'd like to use aren't set up to deal with her advanced Alzheimers so we'll probably be needing to find someplace that provides specific care for dementia -- hopefully a facility that's close to us. We're hoping to get her in place somewhere as soon as possible. It'll be hard to make that move, but it will be a good thing all around.

With all that being said, I'm hoping we may be able to host a gathering up here in the northern part of the state -- maybe August or this fall or next year? Summer is pretty busy and short with all our fair activities & school starting the beginning of August. I didn't feel comfortable offering before with Mom here, but with our situation changing, it's looking like more of a possibility!

Alzheimers/Dementia is so hard at times, we both know it. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your Dad, hope they can help your Mom live comfortably. I know what you are dealing with and its a lot to bear at times. My Dad still swears he is FINE and stop griping, leave it alone!
I am very grateful for your post. I have so much to learn about handling the problems that come with both illnesses.
My Dads been up and down too, the heart valve issue is not helping a bit. We are still waiting for his valve.
The rage and confusion is the hardest to see when they have a bad spell, and the emotional crash they have is even worse.
My Mom has said she feels like he is out of control at times too, but isn't ready for him to be in full time care yet.
I want to keep them both home, as long as possible. There comes a point to where its risking their health without 24/7 care.
You are awesome to consider hosting a chickenfest! I will help any way I can.
PM racinchickins, he can tell you the good and bad when he hosted last years event.

I am a member of a Facebook poultry group too and tonight a guy in Terre Haute posted that he has to get rid of his birds after being told that it is completely legal. Now, I don't have a dog in this fight, but I hate to hear someone is being forced to give up something they enjoy because a neighbor complained. (he doesn't know for sure it was the neighbor but he suspects it) So I told him I would post up here and ask if anyone is in the Terre Haute area or if anyone knows something he can do to fight this? If there are other Terre Haute poultry owns please post up so I can get him in touch with you and you can maybe band together to fight it. He and I would be grateful for any help in the matter.
Chris

There is a lot of good threads on BYC, start here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/37/local-chicken-laws-ordinances-and-how-to-change-them
Welcome to our thread, and please invite your friend! Petitions, city hall meetings are a good start. Here are some good points to argue!

One very good point, If INDIANAPOLIS our state capital allows chicken keeping, WHY are the smaller cities and suburbs so behind the times?
Why can't we raise our own chickens and have fresh eggs for our family! And why can't we educate our children to be self sufficient?
This is one subject that really angers me

Do not choose how and what I feed my family and teach my children!
Please let your friend know there are answers, and you can fight it!

 

[leslea]

I'm out of place here, but don't know what else to do but reply to a recent post.
I don't "get" how to start a topic or ?, nor if I'm actually registered as being in NW Indiana, or how to just jump in, meet others, find someone near me, get help, or automatically get to recent activity. Seems to always send me to things years old. Thanks for Any help, Anyone.

Welcome. BYC is such a big place.

 

[leslea]

Almost finished painting the boards for my run. I think I have two "side" ends that'll take about 5 min to do, then they can dry overnight.

Tomorrow we get to start hammering things together! *fingers crossed*

I am so grateful it is finally spring for REAL.



My publicist asked about my next release, if I wanted to do it on May 4th. I realized that if I did that, I would have 3 crazy days in a row: release day, son's birthday, then chicks coming, boom-boom-boom. We'll also have soccer practice that week, soccer game, school, you name it. I'm going to lose my mind, aren't I? I'll have to push the release to the Friday before, I guess, because there is no way I'll be able to get any work done with fluffy butts in my "office."