INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[chick rookie]

Here are the little guys again. Another silver one hatched this morning as well!

Congrats.... they are Awesome

I hope ya'll made it through the storm, we watched your light show from our front porch, from our view it was great.


I got a question, it's probably been asked before, if so sorry for the repeat I must have missed the 1st.
As most of you know I sell my LF eggs for eating. just to help with the feed bill. I have had to drop my prices due to the small sz my girls are giving me. I thought I did a good job of picking all Lg egg layers. All my girls are young and the BJG and the ISA's have been laying for a month now and still I get tiny eggs from them, the only lg eggs I am getting is from my older BYM girls, and they don't lay every day, They are at that age of maybe 3 eggs a week eh. My EE's that have only been laying about 2 weeks have stopped and so have 2 of my Red Sexlink's, I have not changed feed or housing. I know the snake threw everyone for a loop but I haven't see it for 3 days now. I can half understand the ones that have stopped laying ( 10 in all ) due to the snake, maybe they just aren't relaxed yet. But the Small egg thing is not making my customers or me very happy. We all have been waiting on the egg sz to get better and I have dropped my prices by .50c trying to be fair and keep my customers. If this keeps up much longer I will have to buy adult birds and I have NO LUCK at all with that!!! and it is too late in the year to start chicks of a different breed.
Did I pick bad egg laying breeds? Am I doing something wrong, not giving them something something they need??? Please if anyone can help me out here I would be forever in their debt.

I feed: Purina All flock pellets, with a side of free choice oyster and grit. and Scratch once a day for like a treat. Plus plenty of veggies from the garden, and the neighbor gives them veggies and table scrap's as well.

The breeds I have laying right now, ( if you want to call it that ) : BJG small egg, Wellies small egg, ISA's small egg, a few of my LT. Brahmas small eggs, Red Sexlinks have stopped laying, EE's have stopped laying, BR have stopped laying.
What on earth is going on??????? I'm down to 10 eggs a day and 9 of them are Small.

 

[ChickCrazed]

Congrats.... they are Awesome

I hope ya'll made it through the storm, we watched your light show from our front porch, from our view it was great.


I got a question, it's probably been asked before, if so sorry for the repeat I must have missed the 1st.
As most of you know I sell my LF eggs for eating. just to help with the feed bill. I have had to drop my prices due to the small sz my girls are giving me. I thought I did a good job of picking all Lg egg layers. All my girls are young and the BJG and the ISA's have been laying for a month now and still I get tiny eggs from them, the only lg eggs I am getting is from my older BYM girls, and they don't lay every day, They are at that age of maybe 3 eggs a week eh. My EE's that have only been laying about 2 weeks have stopped and so have 2 of my Red Sexlink's, I have not changed feed or housing. I know the snake threw everyone for a loop but I haven't see it for 3 days now. I can half understand the ones that have stopped laying ( 10 in all ) due to the snake, maybe they just aren't relaxed yet. But the Small egg thing is not making my customers or me very happy. We all have been waiting on the egg sz to get better and I have dropped my prices by .50c trying to be fair and keep my customers. If this keeps up much longer I will have to buy adult birds and I have NO LUCK at all with that!!! and it is too late in the year to start chicks of a different breed.
Did I pick bad egg laying breeds? Am I doing something wrong, not giving them something something they need??? Please if anyone can help me out here I would be forever in their debt.

I feed: Purina All flock pellets, with a side of free choice oyster and grit. and Scratch once a day for like a treat. Plus plenty of veggies from the garden, and the neighbor gives them veggies and table scrap's as well.

The breeds I have laying right now, ( if you want to call it that ) : BJG small egg, Wellies small egg, ISA's small egg, a few of my LT. Brahmas small eggs, Red Sexlinks have stopped laying, EE's have stopped laying, BR have stopped laying.
What on earth is going on??????? I'm down to 10 eggs a day and 9 of them are Small.

I highly doubt that the snake has left since it had such success with the coop as a food source. It won't move on easily. My guess is that you have just missed seeing it. I would put golf balls out to try to kill it. It will also take some time after the stressor is gone for them to start laying regularly again, when I moved coops my girls stopped laying for more than a month. As far as the egg size, I think it will take a couple of months before the eggs show a drastic increase in size. I don't think the wellsummers will ever lay large eggs, mine is 4 years old and lays a smaller egg. The other breeds you list should lay a decent sized egg as they age.

 

[Little Ameraucana Mom]

Okay, now I understand. The under tank heater isn't powerful enough to heat the waterer through a paver, I think. My idea was to sit the heater on top of the two pavers, and set the waterer directly on the heater. I can double check if getting wet is a problem, but I don't think a small amount of water would damage it.

I just use those small rubber pans, walmart, and tsc sells them, I'm home so can run out every hour with warm water. I know some people can't be home all day to do this. This sounds like it might work. I've heard of the tin pan method also. alot of people use it.

I have the same problem. My thought is to have a bio-security sheet printed up, hand it to them!! I am normally a very social person, and love company.. WHEN I plan for it. I can be quite blunt sometimes and have to watch my tongue! I would never just "drop in" on anyone, totally rude. There is 4 people I would ever just drop in on, family or neighbor. Have considered putting signs up about that too, we already post no trespassing! I also run into customers stopping in unannounced. Some folks also "grace us" with unwanted dogs or cats..

I offer free eggs, chicks etc for summer learning programs etc, and have had a lot of good experiences, but some unexpected visits from there also.
We will be hanging gates very soon. I appreciate return customers, but also expect the courtesy extended to call ahead! There are days I am muddy up to my ankles and others I smell like a chicken coop or hog pen, its part of my daily routine. If I hear my guinea and geese alarming someone or thing is here. I drop what I am doing, ugh! Not so good when you don't expect company! My very good friend keeps insisting I should offer a petting zoo. No thanks, I like the bio-security and not carrying all the extra insurance for it too. I guess that's why I don't sell eggs publicly either, I want to know who is coming and when.
Of course, my close neighbors know my door is always open to them, and their children. But I also know if they are at my door, they need us badly. I will admit I know members of our thread I consider that close of friends too but we have been acquainted a long while now.

I love visitors, but also like to know in advance. BUT I've had people /kids run all over the place, let birds out, go in coops. Most of these are people that come to buy birds. I alwayys try to have them in cages infront of my house to avoid this, but some people still think they can run all over your propery. I'm seriously thinking of meeting people some where. at least the ones I don't know.

Congrats.... they are Awesome

I hope ya'll made it through the storm, we watched your light show from our front porch, from our view it was great.


I got a question, it's probably been asked before, if so sorry for the repeat I must have missed the 1st.
As most of you know I sell my LF eggs for eating. just to help with the feed bill. I have had to drop my prices due to the small sz my girls are giving me. I thought I did a good job of picking all Lg egg layers. All my girls are young and the BJG and the ISA's have been laying for a month now and still I get tiny eggs from them, the only lg eggs I am getting is from my older BYM girls, and they don't lay every day, They are at that age of maybe 3 eggs a week eh. My EE's that have only been laying about 2 weeks have stopped and so have 2 of my Red Sexlink's, I have not changed feed or housing. I know the snake threw everyone for a loop but I haven't see it for 3 days now. I can half understand the ones that have stopped laying ( 10 in all ) due to the snake, maybe they just aren't relaxed yet. But the Small egg thing is not making my customers or me very happy. We all have been waiting on the egg sz to get better and I have dropped my prices by .50c trying to be fair and keep my customers. If this keeps up much longer I will have to buy adult birds and I have NO LUCK at all with that!!! and it is too late in the year to start chicks of a different breed.
Did I pick bad egg laying breeds? Am I doing something wrong, not giving them something something they need??? Please if anyone can help me out here I would be forever in their debt.

I feed: Purina All flock pellets, with a side of free choice oyster and grit. and Scratch once a day for like a treat. Plus plenty of veggies from the garden, and the neighbor gives them veggies and table scrap's as well.

The breeds I have laying right now, ( if you want to call it that ) : BJG small egg, Wellies small egg, ISA's small egg, a few of my LT. Brahmas small eggs, Red Sexlinks have stopped laying, EE's have stopped laying, BR have stopped laying.
What on earth is going on??????? I'm down to 10 eggs a day and 9 of them are Small.

My welsummers lay a good size egg. But I'm not getting many eggs right now, as all of mine are in some stage of molt.

Here are the little guys again. Another silver one hatched this morning as well!

They are adorable

 

[ChickCrazed]

I just use those small rubber pans, walmart, and tsc sells them, I'm home so can run out every hour with warm water. I know some people can't be home all day to do this. This sounds like it might work. I've heard of the tin pan method also. alot of people use it.

I love visitors, but also like to know in advance. BUT I've had people /kids run all over the place, let birds out, go in coops. Most of these are people that come to buy birds. I alwayys try to have them in cages infront of my house to avoid this, but some people still think they can run all over your propery. I'm seriously thinking of meeting people some where. at least the ones I don't know.

My welsummers lay a good size egg. But I'm not getting many eggs right now, as all of mine are in some stage of molt.

They are adorable

All of my older girls are in molt as well. There are feathers EVERYWHERE! Case in point BLRW - she is normally twice as wide as she is now! At least the hens with bad rooster damage will grow feathers back in!



I strongly suspect that 2 of the 3 chicks are boys. They are larger than the for sure cream legbar girl, with thicker legs. Boo.

I have another broody Marans, the sister of the one that tried to go broody a month ago. I am going to leave her and hope she snaps herself out of it.

And, in sad news, I came hope to a dead Bielefelder pullet. They had all been doing great and looked great. She was dead, jammed in a corner of the run with her head under a portion that sticks out. She didn't seem to be stuck (my first thought was that she got stuck and panicked). I don't have any idea what happened and am sad about the whole thing.

 

[number9]

Mother2hens I see your DD goes to HERON. Very impressive. I wish that I could have gone. Very nice school

 

[LonelyPageTurne]

Hey guys I have a gold partridge brahma Cockerel I don't like. I don't want to process him but if no one wants him we will see if he makes a good pot of dumplings lol. He's pretty and not mean but not...good at courting the ladies either. I feel like he's staring at their butt all day and it creeps me out. He's free to anyone here. Nice big fella. Doesn't kind being held.

Also have a blue laced red wyandotte girl from Nittany who has too much blue and incomplete lacing.

If anyone wants either of these let me know we will set something up.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

@SallyinIndiana We have never had trouble with grain mites. We store our feed in clean trash cans with tight fitting lids, and use recycled cat litter containers to take a few days worth at a time out to the coop. Those are sealed at all times except when we are loading the gravity feeding tubes. Have you tried that? Do you have your own feed made at a granary, or do you buy commercial feed in bags?

We have the metal cans that we use to store any opened bags of food. We get our feed primarily from Rural King for the chickens, a mill for the turkey and the goat feed I bought some from the breeder but that will come from a not so close mill ~ Lowes. If it all works out, I'm hoping that we can get our feed from Lowes when ever we need goat feed and from RK when the chicken feed runs out before the goat feed.
We feed our chickens once a day some in the morning and some in the afternoon. Once in a while we feed twice a day to the same pen if the food is gone and the chickens can't be free ranged at that time.
We have a lot of chickens right now with the younger ones we are growing out for food, and the ones I'm growing out for Andrew.

I have the same problem. My thought is to have a bio-security sheet printed up, hand it to them!! I am normally a very social person, and love company.. WHEN I plan for it. I can be quite blunt sometimes and have to watch my tongue! I would never just "drop in" on anyone, totally rude. There is 4 people I would ever just drop in on, family or neighbor. Have considered putting signs up about that too, we already post no trespassing! I also run into customers stopping in unannounced. Some folks also "grace us" with unwanted dogs or cats..

I offer free eggs, chicks etc for summer learning programs etc, and have had a lot of good experiences, but some unexpected visits from there also.
We will be hanging gates very soon. I appreciate return customers, but also expect the courtesy extended to call ahead! There are days I am muddy up to my ankles and others I smell like a chicken coop or hog pen, its part of my daily routine. If I hear my guinea and geese alarming someone or thing is here. I drop what I am doing, ugh! Not so good when you don't expect company! My very good friend keeps insisting I should offer a petting zoo. No thanks, I like the bio-security and not carrying all the extra insurance for it too. I guess that's why I don't sell eggs publicly either, I want to know who is coming and when.
Of course, my close neighbors know my door is always open to them, and their children. But I also know if they are at my door, they need us badly. I will admit I know members of our thread I consider that close of friends too but we have been acquainted a long while now.

That is my thing too. I'm not really ready for just anyone to show up. Or worse we are all trying to get in the car and leave. People see us and just pull in blocking the drive.
The petting zoo thinking people have is what really started this for me. People showing up at times we did not agree on, one group came even after they were told it was a bad time to come and I would prefer them not to come. But they already had the address from not show up earlier at their planned time.

 

[iamfivewire]

Welcome to the "family" @Rhandi74 - a great bunch of people here
@chick rookie : where are you finding all-flock pellets? i can only get it in crumbles around where i live

 

[browncow15]

Momma broody seems to be doing well. She has at least 4 dry chicks under there! So far she's hatched as well as I can

 

[ChickCrazed]

Well, the farmers almanac has officially announced that they are predicting a Winter that is even colder and more snowy than last year.....I am not sure how I can survive another bad Winter. My heated dog bowl waterer did not survive last winter, so I need another option this year and have multiple pens (although I am going to try to get down to 2 pens for winter. I currently have nipple waterers but I don't think there is much I can do to keep them from freezing if it gets that cold again. I also have a bunch of new trees and my last group of new trees didn't survive last winter. Any ideas on how to help these trees through a tough Winter?

I'm also bummed because last Winter killed off all the buds on my fruit trees and I had a pathetic crop this year, another bad Winter means another bad year for fruit.