INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[julie0477]

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I have some that hatched today.  They are straight run.  I have not got all of them out of the hatching drawer yet though. 
Production red hen x heritage RIR roo  There might be a few sumatra chicks too.  I'm planning to keep any blue chicks but I think I saw a few  darker splash ones.  Maybe a black star rooster I'm waiting for it to fully dry out.  It would be free, as I have no real use for it.  The production chicks are the cheapest.  The sumatras are a bit more.

I just need a cheap cheep lol anything that hatched today would be great. I just need a buddy for this little thing.

 

[flyladyrocks]

Lactose intolerant people are supposed to be able to drink raw cow milk too. The pasteurization destroys the enzymes (lactase) needed to be able to digest the lactose. (Not to mention denaturing the proteins, weakening the calcium bonds, etc. etc. etc..... I'm a cheese maker so I know some of the problems with pasteurization and how it renders milk pretty useless in most ways...)

I actually know some lactose intolerant folks who can drink raw with no problem.

I am a huge supporter of raw milk, just wish it was easier to get in the middle of the city (and the government did not take away our right to buy it for human consumption). We love raw milk and my husband will be excited to hear he can drink it! We will be visiting my best friend, she lives on a farm and we get raw milk when we are there (and farm fresh eggs), we get rather spoiled and come home and eggs and milk taste so wrong!! I will refrain from getting in the pasteurization soapbox b/c I have a feeling I will be preaching to the choir!

 

[julie0477]

Yes I agree raw is the best for so many reasons. Fortunately there is a place close by here that sells it. It is expensive though. I'm going to try goat milk this fall when my goat kids. Not sure that I'll like it but my little girl LOVES goat milk. Go figure!

 

[raisinemright]

We hand milk and consume or Nubian milk (when the baby's are not using it all)! It's healthy and if you think about it humans have been milking animals for how many years vs humans pasturizing it? I'll take the raw whole milk any day. Another plus to goats is they are just awesome to own. Love watching them be goofy!

 

[PeacefulWalls]

I want to ask a lazy question, so I'll call it a poll.

What's your favorite meat bird? And why?

I'd offer six options, but there are so many dual-purpose breeds I wouldn't know which to include or not. I know about CornishX and Dorkings, and Marans are good too, right?

What do you like to eat?

I haven't raised meat birds yet, but I want to -- just need to figure out housing for them if I want to keep them separate from my layers. I would love to be able to get some this summer yet... When I do get meat birds I want to order Freedom Ranger Chickens from Freedom Ranger Hatchery in Lancaster County, PA. This is the description of the birds from their website:

Perfect for free range environments, these tri-colored or red feathered chickens grow to 5-6 lbs in just 9-11 weeks. Baby chicks for sale each week.
Our Freedom Ranger broiler chicks are a great alternative to fast-growing white broiler chicks or slow-growing heritage breeds. Freedom Ranger chicks grow at a moderate rate, reaching their peak weight of 5-6 lbs in 9 to 11 weeks. These active, robust chicks are suitable for free range, foraging and pasture environments and produce tender, succulent meat with more yellow omega 3 fat and less saturated fat than fast growing breeds.
Our Freedom Ranger chickens feature either red or tri-colored feathers and have yellow shanks, skin and beaks. They are an active breed and thrive when allowed to free range, scratch and dust bathe in natural sunlight.

 

[CCCCCCCCHICKENS]

Plymouth rocks are great dual purpose birds. Though hatchery don't get nearly as big as breeders so a hatchery or may not be worth it. I can weigh in on how they taste though, never ate chicken that wasn't from a grocery store....I know sad. But they have great tempers, lovely personalities, and grow at a good rate

 

[number9]

my babies love milk no matter their age. I'm still not sure that milking a goat would be any easier then nursing though. But late at night when I know I will be up past midnight and up at least 2 more times before 6 am, a goat sure starts looking good. Then if I look at our unmowed grass I really want a goat.

Editing to wonder if a goat would deter hawks.

Also editing to ask if anyone knows if blu kote is safe for scrapes and such for little boys. We ran out of the pain reliever spray and I don't want to attempt to rub in anything on a toddler.

If I had a nickel for every time my mom put purple medicine on us growing up I might have enough to go to Starbucks.

Doc had a fit said that you can't tell if you are getting infection.
Always worked on are dogs too.

 

[Thriftymom6]

This is a little off topic! I put into lock down tonight, 7 Wheaten Maran & 5 mixed breed eggs tonight. Started off with 15 Wheaten Marans and 6 mixed breed eggs but 8 maran's and 1 mixed was not fertile so hopefully these will hatch out ok. I have another broody Muscovy hen sitting on 8 eggs! These little post usually get past over pretty quickly, but I figured I would still post the news on here in case anyone is interested

Of course we are interested

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Evansville here....kinda new to "backyard chickens" we have 33 in our coop!

and our thread

just jump in and have fun!

I need to get a dust bath set up in the coop. They're doing a pretty good job wallering up their run, but I'd like them to have something indoors for rainy days and winter time.

So I scored an awesome plastic parts bin. It's about two feet by two feet wide and a foot and a half deep. It's heavy-duty plastic, half an inch thick, and when it's half full of dusty stuff, the whole flock won't be able to tip it over.

I've read that a lot of people use peat and ash, some add DE and some don't, some use sand or various other things. I like the idea of peat because whatever goes in the litter will just make more compost for me later. I was trying to think of a way to sift ash from my burn pit in the back yard, but honestly I put some nasty stuff in there that I don't think would be good for chickens, even after it's burned down.

Then I remembered that I only use hardwood lump charcoal in my grill, (Kingsford is for people who like eating kerosene burgers. Guhnasty.) and because I'm really lazy, I haven't dumped the ash can under it in a very long time. :-D

So the moral of the story is that being a slacker pays off in unexpected and delightful ways!


ETA: If anyone is paying as much attention to me as I secretly think everyone should, you will have noticed that almost all of my posts are edited. The reason is that I foolishly submit my rough drafts, then five seconds later I re-read them and find several things I want to change. Then five minutes later I find several more. For example, this is my fourth edit on this ETA alone. Now you know. I'm sure you'll sleep better for having that mystery solved. ;-)

Nice score!! That should work great. Hehehe You are as bad as I am. I always retype and add more stuff lol! Or multiposted and missed adding a comment, ugh.
I use ash from our campfire pit but not from the burnpile for the crap type stuff, like poisonous plants. My guys have a truck cap that they dust bathe under. I toss sand every so often, ash, even outside dirt to freshen it. It also serves as a broody area for my scovies. Am adding a second one when I rebuild my egg coop this year.
We use the hardwood too, looks like real wood chunks burned. Can't beat the flavor.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

I was just about to toss these eggs. Because I was thinking this hen was way over due to hatch! But I sure am glad I didn't look what we have

One little Muscovy duckling!!! I have not messed with these eggs at all besides counting them! This is her first time going broody. Mallory seemed to know what she was doing. She had around 20'ish eggs under her at the beginning and she would push out the bad ones. She would roll them all the way out if the barn. So I figured I would let her do her thing! I really didn't know when she started to sit so the hatch date was a guess! And like I said I was getting to the point I wanted her out of the broody trance. But I guess Mallory is a good momma. Hope we have a few more in the morning!

hatching vibes to you!!! They are at least 35 days to hatch. Many of mine go past 40 days. If they don't smell, be patient. I have 2 broodies this year and letting them hatch. I have no fingernails left! 6 hens and a lot of stashed eggs, ugh. I love them, just a friendly loveable duck breed.