INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Leahs Mom]

When I first put them out in it they flew over because they didn't recognize it. That only happened for maybe a week that one of them would fly and end up over on the other side then be totally surprised and not be able to get back. After the first week they never did it again.

Even though the mesh size tapers smaller toward the bottom, chicks can still go through it so you'd have to be aware of that.

I had 2 broody raised clutches that never went near the fence. They did go through the permanent fences but never went near the electric net. That's probably because the mamma steers clear of it and so did they.

That first week when they were flying around I think they may have flown into it a time or 2 and possibly got a wattle or comb shock and they've never gone near it again once they figured out what it was.

Also need to say that first week they were fairly young birds - probably about 6-7 month olds - which tend to fly all over anyway.

When the mamma raised her first brood they NEVER tried to fly over that fence. But during that 18 wk - about 7 month old period I'd find them daily sitting on top of the top rail on the chain link fence at the front of their area, and occasionally would fly over that to the other side. (no elec. net on that side of the area). So SOMEONE out there in chickenville must have taught them to steer clear of that fence!

 

[ChickInDelight]

I'd love to see some pictures of your setup! Below is a very rough sketch what I'm thinking. The red represents my neighbors property.The black squiggly line is our driveway. There are a bunch of pines on the right of the driveway but the birds don't really ever wander over there. I think if I run a cattle/horse fence where the purple line is that is all we would need... Thoughts.

You must be thinking of the somewhat rectangular wire fencing. That sounds great. My girls walk through my square stuff. I am surprised yours don't like the pines. At my last rental, EVERYONE enjoyed the pines. Reminds me that if you give them treats where you want them to be, you help your success.

Pics I have on hand are the chick tractor OUTSIDE the chicken area where you can see the square wire fencing (with chicken wire on bottom 3 feet). Two cockerels recently escaped it to get back to the chickies and away from the big girls.




Otherwise, you see my big girl coop SMACK up against the fenceline. The red building is the neighbor's You can see how close all the pleasures are to chicken home. You may also see the 2 doors making a TeePee in the compost area. I have now also painted an AC shell to provide cover /shade. I am still trying to plant things for shade that rival the temptations at the neighbor's.

 

[Minminme]

[COLOR=8B4513]It's 4 hours each way for me, but hey, I'm a Hoosier! I can handle it.[/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513](I'm just teasing you). I believe that Minminme, our West Virginia Hoosier is making the trip.[/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]Just pack up Teddy the Pomeranian and the family, and enjoy a new experience. [/COLOR] [rule]

You believe right...at least that's th plan! I have to see if I can purchase a tent b4 then though (mice ate mine during the two summers it's bn stored). Grrrrr!!!!! I'm going t hav t drive approx 5 hrs one way. EGADS going t have t visit my rich uncle to afford the gas! Lmbo. See ya'll there!

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Quote: my free ranging chickens hope our 5 foot chain link fence. They also look for any holes / bent sections (older fence) and they try to get out. The only reward they get is to walk around on our driveway. no large amount of grass.

Quote: I think he is from your line. Not 100% sure as I had Hardin poultry eggs hatching the same time.
I have a couple of BR / CCL roosters in my free ranging flock. They look nice and dark with a hint of bluish green in a few feathers near their tails. They would be sired by the ebay CCL rooster. I fully expecting them to turn mean as the hen that laid their eggs turned mean. But they do look interesting if you are thinking of a fun to do hatch.

 

[ChickCrazed]

I have had a long week of offsite training for work that has been keeping me busy! It really was inspiring and I am super pumped about my company all over again!! That along with my new website (launching soon!) have certainly kept me occupied. Please let me know if you have birds for sale and want to advertise them for free on a poultry only classified site. I need some guinea pigs and I will give you free advertising for a year if you help me out now! I will be promoting the site like crazy shortly so your ads will get seen!

Results were inconclusive from Purdue. Not really sure what to do with that. They never did call me to explain all the big words on the report I got t in the mail 13 days after they started his Necropsy. I would in no way shape or form recommend Purdue for necropsies. Rude idiot students and no customer service along with a price tag higher than the competition, and they don't run half the tests you need to actually get a diagnosis.

I got all my flock vaccinated for Mareks thanks to pginsber! I managed to inject them all with very little drama. Who knows if it helps to do adults or how many were vaccinated as chicks (I got many of them as started or adult birds) but it makes me feel a bit better and it appears I didn't manage to kill any of them! With inconclusive results from the necropsy I will be watching them all closely for a while. I have no idea how much time can pass between birds showing symptoms if it is Mareks. It has been 6 weeks since Gregor first had paralysis and everyone else is fine.

In other news I am dealing with a very broody Blue Laced Red Wyandotte. My first broody. She is VERY determined and I will be putting her in a broody breaker tomorrow. I am not letting her hatch eggs with all the uncertainty over Gregor's demise. Plus she is the most hostile with any new birds, I'm not sure I trust her to be a good mother (especially since she keeps kicking REAL eggs out of her nest to favor the plastic eggs.......not inspiring much confidence....). Also kind of funny, she managed to pick up and move one of her plastic eggs to a new nest (probably trying to see if I will leave her alone in a new nest since I keep kicking her out of her chosen location). I had no idea they could do that! Wonder where she put it while in transit?

 

[Mother2Hens]

Is Nene coming to show off her piano prowess?

pginsber ~ haha I don't think she'd enjoy the car ride. I'll have to take a new video of her playing so you can see how she's improved!

I have found the breeding a mean rooster, gives you mean male offspring. It has happened everytime I used a mean rooster so far. Now almost all my roosters are nice, I still have few that are waiting to have their bad day.

Some people say handling makes them mean. Some say if you don't handle them it makes them mean. I have done both ways and both way work sometimes, and sometimes they don't. I have come to the conclusion that is doesn't really matter how you raise (with the exception of treating them like dirt, because then they are pretty likely to be mean), they are going to be mean or nice, regardless of what you do.

CCCHICKENS ~ That's pretty much the case with kids, too, as far as being born with a particular temperament. You can use techniques to shape their behavior, but they're born with distinct personalities. In Nene's case, I had to channel her energy to playing the piano! hahaha Just for the record -- @CRSelvey has unfriendly Cochins.

Yeah, they're actually really nice neighbors and we get along great, so I'm not sure what to do. My husband doesn't like the idea of "putting a fence between us" but I don't want any more dead animals. He doesn't seem to think a fence will work so I'm hoping someone may have some fence experience I can draw upon.

Quinstar ~ That is just bizarre that nice neighbors would shoot your birds for trespassing without even discussing the situation. Apparently they didn't think you would find out? Or maybe someone else shot them. I know you asked for advice about fencing, but I have to put my two cents in even though it may not be correct. If it were me, I'd go to them and say, "Someone shot Carl! I'm so upset! Do you know who would do that?" If he admits it, I'd say, in a surprised and hurt tone, "Really? I would have thought that you'd talk to us if Carl was causing a problem." That way you are getting your message across, but you're not accusing him or acting out in anger. If you start putting up a fence, you're assuming that they shot your birds, and it makes the situation even more uncomfortable since there's been no communication. It seems like the most important thing is to discuss it with your neighbors. That way the situation is out in the open if you decide to put up a fence. Disclaimer: I am not a trained professional.

One year ago, I went to an auction with my cousin. He ended up buying some chicks and chickens, including 7 day old silkie chicks. He ended up giving them to me and they are one of the best gifts I have ever gotten. I can't believe my chickens are a year old now!

atrueb00 ~ Aww-- and those are your first chickens ever, aren't they? They are beautiful! I'm glad my two are blue since I'd never be able to keep them so clean like yours.

Tomorrow, my son is bringing over some "safety scissors" (his GF is a teacher) to trim my Silkie's feathers so they can see better. His GF read about Silkies on BYC and learned that some people's Silkies died from not being able to see where the food/water was. I'm sure that wouldn't happen to mine since I make sure that I see all of my chickens eating and drinking everyday mainly making sure that the leaders aren't being bullies. However, I would like to trim them because I want them to be able to see better. Do any of you who have Silkies or Polish or breeds with obstructed viewing ever trim your birds?

 

[Mother2Hens]

I do have a question. My girls (at least right now I think they are all girls!) were 8 weeks Monday. We are wondering when it's okay to start letting them free range. We are in the city with a fenced in yard. I already know who will be first over the fence, she is the most inquisitive and adventurous, but the lower chain link is the side with the wonderful neighbors who love them almost as much as we do. The other side has a really high privacy fence that right now I don't think they could make it up on.

Just wondering when we should start letting them explore!

flyladyrocks~ I'm still catching up on the thread, so I'm not sure if anyone answered this, but yes your 8 week olds should be able to free range, but I would supervise them until you feel comfortable that they wont 'be picked on if you have other chickens and that they know where their food, water, and shelter is. In case a hawk flies over, it's good to have bushes or lawn chairs or something that they can dart under.

We have a fenced-in part of the yard where our chickens free range including the chicks that my broody hatched. They free ranged after one week. We attached 3' high chicken wire to the back, bottom area of our neighbor's "alternating board" privacy fence to prevent the chicks from slipping through. As I'm reading posts, I noticed that @ChickInDelight
also uses 3' chicken wire.I think it was Leah's Mom who mentioned before that she attached vinyl poultry fencing to the lower part of a chainlink or field fence to prevent chicks from slipping through.

You believe right...at least that's th plan! I have to see if I can purchase a tent b4 then though (mice ate mine during the two summers it's bn stored). Grrrrr!!!!! I'm going t hav t drive approx 5 hrs one way. EGADS going t have t visit my rich uncle to afford the gas! Lmbo. See ya'll there!

Minminme ~ So excited that you're coming, especially all the way from West Virginia! Maybe you'll win DOOR PRIZES! And you can SELL CHICKEN APRONS! If I had a tent, I'd let you use it. I had too much camping as a child-- in a VW camper with a pop-up top! Too bad we didn't keep it since they're worth a lot now.

You believe right...at least that's th plan! I have to see if I can purchase a tent b4 then though (mice ate mine during the two summers it's bn stored). Grrrrr!!!!! I'm going t hav t drive approx 5 hrs one way. EGADS going t have t visit my rich uncle to afford the gas! Lmbo. See ya'll there!
@ChickInDelight It's good to see that we have an honorary Hoosier from the great state of Virginia!

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

I'm really hoping to get a sportsman soon. I think I may end up selling my homemade cabinet to force me to slow down on hatching and to make me get one by spring. We will see though lol.

lol, its a hard choice on the investment, but has really helped fuel my addiction! I have no problem hatching the muscovies now. The girls are all broody now so am letting them brood their own the rest of the season.
I sold all my old incubators, and still use the home made cooler bator to hatch.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Quote: I think It would be awesome! Would love to have more opportunities to meet up.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

My parents are staying at my place, and I just got a panicked call from my mother that there are new baby turkeys running in and out of the turkey pen, and she is afraid they will get trampled.
I told her there was no way I had new baby turkeys. I've been collecting all eggs and all adults are present and accounted for. So I was wracking my brain, thinking maybe a hen got out and made a nest somewhere, but I haven't noticed any missing. And there are no chickens running around panicking that their babies are missing.
So my mom sent me this:


????? I don't even have ducks.

But they are following the turkeys around. I guess I'll have to wait until I get home from work to figure this out

Oh my! They really look like mallards, but hard to tell as babies.

Here are some pics of the silkies I produced, sold, and purchased back lol. I plan on keeping the blue cream looking one and the partridge with the biggest head poof. The buff colored pair will likely be sold as a trio with my other buff hen as well as the white roo, partridge with smaller crest, and the blue with gold leakage. I have some hens/pullets I can sell with the Roos as well if anyone is interested.

Lovely, especially the blue!