INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[hoosiercheetah]

Got everyone out in the yard today, first time in too long. We have a substantial patch of wild strawberries; I was sure they would be all over it. But, it's on the other side of the yard, and they didn't want to go too far from the coop. The chickens were too chicken.


That's right. I said it.




:-D






ETA I'm hilarious, wether you know it or not.


:-D

 

[atrueb00]

The klutz and one of the hairclub for hens clients

I am sorry the hens are dealing with the feather loss, just thought the hairclub of hens comment was so funny!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

I used to keep ducks with my chickens. The larger ducks I wouldn't recommend housing with chickens. The males were always really mean to the chickens. Ducks also love to make a mess. But call ducks were different in my experience. Shy, but much much nicer to the chickens. They didn't like to splash around in the water like the larger breeds did. To me they were like funny looking, less social/friendly chickens that were great at flying. 

I don't have ducks but sure have read about the mess they can make, wet litter, etc.  Take a quick look at this too.... It may be best to house them separately unless you have lots of time to clean your housing...

http://naturalchickenkeeping.blogspot.com/2014/07/ducklings-chicks-and-aspergillosis.html

Ducks are very easy in the warm weather.  Ducklings are overly messy and really really brood better outside. 

Freezing weather requires water in heated dog bowls or lots of trips out with fresh water.  A duck like a dog will get wet and more wet and shake water all over the place.  They will get wet in the run and make their way to the bedding in the coop and shake.  Not horrible in the summer but in the winter wet frozen bedding needs changed almost every day above freezing and new bedding down when temps don't break for over a week.  Duck eggs are very very good.  More rich is the best way i can describe them.  Ducks like to make mud holes that almost look like snake holes.  They are basically digging up bugs.  Those bugs make the yolks really really orange and cut down on feed in the warm weather.  Ducks eat a mountain of wood in the winter.  Ducks eat 5X more oyster shell than hens.  Duck egg shells are thicker but will still break if a toddler tosses them on the floor.

Thanks, everyone, for the info. Of course, I am putting my research in before I do anything, just looking for personal experiences in regards to keeping them. I do know they are messy and wet, and wetness is not good for chickens, so I had no intention of keeping them in the same coop, just possibly in the same run area. I thought I might buy hatching eggs and let Margie sit on a couple while I incubate the rest in an incubator as a backup, so they would at least be raised in the same coop as the girls at first. Also, if I get ducks, they will definitely be calls--small, cute and at least somewhat personable. I'm reading that they're noisy, but I have Guinea fowl, so noise does not scare me. Anyway, I was only thinking of getting a small flock, maybe 3 or 4, so we'll see. I still have a lot of things to consider before I decide if I'm going to go for it or not.

 

[amwchickin]

racinchickins - thanks for the heads up. I forgot to mention I was going to weed out several. She may have been broody for awhile and I really didn't notice it. I'm only up at the farm every three days and my parents just check to make sure there's enough food and water until I get back/check the traps/do a rough head count. Either way, this is a first and I'm just going to let her go and see what happens!

ChickCrazed - Ozzie is such a good roo. He keeps the girls in line and I think having the boys has been very beneficial to the girls' safety. Chewie's eye did clear up. He's back to his wookie-noise making self! Every time he finds something good, those hoots come out and I just bust out laughing!

Well, time to go hang with my peeps and move a broody!

 

[Mother2Hens]

USED CAR in Bloomington/Indy/Evansville areas?

My daughter, Lauren, who is a student at IU has Chronic Epstein Barr disease. She's been using IU's bus service and occasionally a taxi, but she is really needing a car. She stayed in Bloomington this summer and is working at a group home for autistic kids and has had difficulty with bus schedules coordinating with her work schedule. If anyone has one to sell-- or knows someone-- or a good source, please let me know. I don't like the thought of buying one from a random person whose car was in a flood or whatever. You know what I mean.

It's good to have a referral. Thank you!!

 

[atrueb00]

Anyone else read The Chicken Lovers Daily Newspaper? I follow a lot of people with chickens on Twitter and stumbled upon it. Pretty cool resource so I thought I'd share. http://paper.li/simonpickles/chickens

 

[hoosiercheetah]

USED CAR in Bloomington/Indy/Evansville areas?



My daughter, Lauren, who is a student at IU has Chronic Epstein Barr disease. She's been using IU's bus service and occasionally a taxi, but she is really needing a car. She stayed in Bloomington this summer and is working at a group home for autistic kids and has had difficulty with bus schedules coordinating with her work schedule. If anyone has one to sell-- or knows someone-- or a good source, please let me know. I don't like the thought of buying one from a random person whose car was in a flood or whatever. You know what I mean.

It's good to have a referral. Thank you!!

There are a few people I can ask.

I've bought my last three cars on craigslist. The trick is knowing what to look for, and what you're looking at under the hood. If you're good with cars, or know someone who is, it's definitely the way to go. I'd be happy to dig around CL and tell you which ones I'd go look at.


In any case, the first question is always how much do you want to spend?

 

[EurekaChic]

So I have been a BYC stalker for a while now and I JUST found out about these "local" pages.  How cool is this! 

Welcome! I'm pretty new here myself but have found the Hoosiers on this thread to be really friendly and willing to give advice and hints. It's a great community!

 

[bradselig]

I just love this girl!

 

[iamfivewire]

Welcome to the new members - everyone here are great !
Sorry for the members that have had chickie losses lately -
we lost another 3 or 4 today. while DW & i were at work, our neighbor had to chase off a stray dog 3 different times from attacking our birds. 1 RSL dead; 1 Chantecler dead; our silver Iowa Roo is pretty mangled, but still breathing (hopefully will recover, but doubtful); & 1 IaB pullet still missing. 3rd dog attack in a year . Wont bore everyone about this - whats done is done. We let our birds free-range during the day & dont feel it's fair to them to keep them confined, so we know the risks & concequences.