INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[browncow15]

@Minminme I hope your foot heals quickly! Ouch!!! Your pictures make me cringe.

@chick rookie thanks for posting pictures of the sales! I really need to make it out to Rockville sometime to see what cattle are going for. I think we've found buyers for all but a 1/2 of beef! Now they just need to put on another 100 lbs or so.

Since everyone is talking about winter plans already, I've just got a few more birds to be rid of and some minor modifications to the inside of my coop then I should be set. Oh and figure out a way to heat their water this year; I don't think I'll be running out with hot water several times a day like I did last year! I don't mind the snow or the cold to much (LOVE my carharts!) it's what to do with the kids while I'm outside that's the problem!


ETA: glad I'm not the only one up at 3 am!

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Hello ALL! I am new to BYC and to the chicken lifestyle. I am currently just doing my research as to what chickens we want to get (we have 2 kids), and other important tid bits, so any advice/suggestions would be appreciated. Also, I like in Dearborn Country, does anyone know of any hatcheries in this area? I am thinking about getting Wyandottes and Australops. Thank you for you all of your help!
Lisa

and our thread!

I have both breeds. I see several posts to help you already, good luck in your search!

Ok...... I am all caught up! Sorry I haven't been on here lately. I just finished cleaning the house, coops and cages. Will also be having a yard sale Sept.7-Sept.15. At the risk of sounding cheesy, everything must go!

Not cheesy at all! Thats what our thread is for, good luck!

Quote: Agreed! I have 2 hatchery roos that go to jail often. my orps and marans are not a problem.

Thank you so much everyone! I am excited to start this! We are gonna start building a coop in the next few weeks

There is a lot of great coop ideas on the main BYC site! Look here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/2/Coops

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Hatching Humor . . .

Adding another hatching cartoon

 

[chick rookie]

Tomorrow is the day my EE eggs are supposed to hatch. I don't here any peeps coming from them. I hope when the GFI popped and the temp. got down to 80 that it wasn't too cold but it isn't looking too good.

sending good hatching vibes your way we can wait together...

Leahs Mom ~Haha I had forgotten about that one. So clever! Thanks for sharing.
Chickens-- on video or in person are very funny creatures. I'm glad that chicken therapy helped you through a rough time.

@chick rookie ~ You have such a great farm family! Your photos look like they should belong in a children's book.

Good luck with your BJG's hatch. Bonbon had an early bird hatch yesterday, and I don't think any hatched today, but they're not due yet.

@number9 ~ Wishing you a good hatch of your EE eggs!

Hatching Humor . . .


@BryLT3 ~ Please work on a breeding program to keep those cute little pigs from growing larger than a miniature size.

They would be so perfect if they were cat sized.
@EurekaChic ~ The weather is cool; there's no need for central air.

Hope things improve for you!

@Minminme ~ Does everyone in W. Virginia cut grass in flip-flops? hahaha Just teasing you since you've made W.Va. jokes before. I am relieved and amazed that your accident wasn't much worse!! Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Thank you I love both my families but my farm family gives me less trouble I think... lol Hatch is due today so heres hoping

sending you some good vibes too

They are stunning! The double laced Barnevelders are very high on my want list. I love looking at the greenfire site!
Its really not "rehoming" as much as bartering and trading. I like to know where my geese go and will be treated well, so I guess I am slow to move them out. This was a real blessing. I can go and see my babies! They are pretty proud of themselves watching over the flock they are assigned to. I can't bring myself to using a goose as food, they are to me as a pet.
I keep my original geese every year unless there is a serious flaw, or behavioral problem. My oldest trio of white chinese will turn 3 in March. I also keep Brown chinese, and Embden. I rehomed one Embden gander, way too aggressive, even for me. He went to be a flock Gander at another home, and left with one goose hen. They have a large horse pasture and manage a small chicken/duck flock. This was also someone I know well that had fox issues, not anymore!
Had not planned to hatch so many, my sportsman cabinet has been a VERY good investment. My hatch rates skyrocketed, and one of my chinese hens would take every egg she found and hatch it. Angel is a very good mother, so I let her hatch.
The vet, Kyle was the perfect home for this years gosliings. He raises poultry to go to market every year. Hundreds at a time, and rotates his pastures. They are truly free ranged, well fed and very happy birds. Everything is behind electric poultry netting, very impressive operation. Arial hawk attacks were his only issue, hard to net several 10s of acres and still make a profit. My geese have stopped his hawk attacks! He is now seeing zero predator losses

It was a win/win for both of us, and paid for my piglets, and cash to put towards calves. I went from around 40 geese down to 16. I sell a started gosling very reasonable, really enjoy handraising them. He plans to winter them in his barn when his flocks go to market. He will begin hatching in the spring by the adult hens. Geese can live up to 20 years depending on the breed.
The pekin are primarily meant for food here, but I do sell pair, trios etc and barter them also. I also raise Muscovy for that purpose, and for insect control. I really prefer scovies, they are a more personable and intelligent duck IMO, and much quieter. They trill and peep, no quacks! No chicken issues with muscovy drakes either. The pekin is faster growing like a cornish cross chicken in the duck world lol, and I do not trust the drakes around my chicken hens period. Pekin lay year around, Muscovy are seasonal.
Thats fantastic news!!! Adeline is probably pretty happy to be done with it. So glad she's recovered so well.
All guinea keets are striped, even the whites. keets are so timid, you have to really apply yourself to bond with them. Bonding is really important to keep the adults home and tame. I slowly and gently hold my hand in the brooder a lot, usually offer mealies. Grit of course and lots of protein when they are babies. Mine are here for alarms and insect control, and i adore them all! I keep at least 20 if possible year around. Its hilarious to see them find an ant hill, beehive or a snake...they are always busy and always in a big group. My oldest hen Quasey is over 2 years old, and I can still pick her up.
Guinea will pick the bugs off garden plants and not disturb your food, which sure beats using chemicals for bugs. Tomato worms, LOL its too funny to watch!

I always get lots of great info from you ... without even asking... lol thanks

@Minminme I hope your foot heals quickly! Ouch!!! Your pictures make me cringe.

@chick rookie thanks for posting pictures of the sales! I really need to make it out to Rockville sometime to see what cattle are going for. I think we've found buyers for all but a 1/2 of beef! Now they just need to put on another 100 lbs or so.

Since everyone is talking about winter plans already, I've just got a few more birds to be rid of and some minor modifications to the inside of my coop then I should be set. Oh and figure out a way to heat their water this year; I don't think I'll be running out with hot water several times a day like I did last year! I don't mind the snow or the cold to much (LOVE my carharts!) it's what to do with the kids while I'm outside that's the problem!


ETA: glad I'm not the only one up at 3 am!

Its been so long since I have been to the inside sale I couldn't even guess that for you. I know allot of cattle goes through there, that's for sure.

Adding another hatching cartoon

love it... ya think I could get that chicken doc to come help with our hatch?????? lol

 

[chickiebaby1]

Well my DH and the boys started work on our LF winter coop yesterday. We are converting our shed that sits right next to our 55'X70' fenced in garden so they have a nice big space for the winter. I am going to put all my bantams in the coop the big girls are using now. and they will all get to "free range" in the garden over the winter.

Here's the start of the project:

An inside view:

We are going to put a run/tunnel on this side that leads to the garden. The pop door will be towards the middle.


One question: Should we mow down the garden, or just let the chickens "mow" it down for us? We have already started letting them in and they seem to love finding all the treats.

But some of the weeds are pretty high, I just figured they would all die back eventually and then the girls can take care of the rest.
Hope everyone has a great Sunday!!!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Well the silver based silkies are sold. But I am now offering another trio. Not sure exactly what their coloring is, maybe blue cream (previously called porcelain)? Regardless they are beautiful! Roo was hatched this spring, hens will be 2 in spring. Hens did look better but haven't molted yet. Both currently broody. Pm for more info. One of the hens (other wouldn't get off nest)

Roo

These three wouldn't happen to be siblings to the believed-to-be porcelain Silkie I got from you last year, would they? Oh, that's so tempting!!

I tried the plastic strips last year ( I think Chickcrazed had the ideal? ) it didnt work for me, good luck. I dont have a top on my runs either and I have a big tree right in the middle, DH says he has a plan...............

Don't say that! Actually, what kind of plastic did you use for the strips? I was going to use the shower curtain plastic for it, but I'm reading now that it should be something more stiff like clear car mats. Not sure how I'm going to get that to work...

They are stunning! The double laced Barnevelders are very high on my want list. I love looking at the greenfire site! Its really not "rehoming" as much as bartering and trading. I like to know where my geese go and will be treated well, so I guess I am slow to move them out. This was a real blessing. I can go and see my babies! They are pretty proud of themselves watching over the flock they are assigned to. I can't bring myself to using a goose as food, they are to me as a pet. I keep my original geese every year unless there is a serious flaw, or behavioral problem. My oldest trio of white chinese will turn 3 in March. I also keep Brown chinese, and Embden. I rehomed one Embden gander, way too aggressive, even for me. He went to be a flock Gander at another home, and left with one goose hen. They have a large horse pasture and manage a small chicken/duck flock. This was also someone I know well that had fox issues, not anymore! Had not planned to hatch so many, my sportsman cabinet has been a VERY good investment. My hatch rates skyrocketed, and one of my chinese hens would take every egg she found and hatch it. Angel is a very good mother, so I let her hatch. The vet, Kyle was the perfect home for this years gosliings. He raises poultry to go to market every year. Hundreds at a time, and rotates his pastures. They are truly free ranged, well fed and very happy birds. Everything is behind electric poultry netting, very impressive operation. Arial hawk attacks were his only issue, hard to net several 10s of acres and still make a profit. My geese have stopped his hawk attacks! He is now seeing zero predator losses It was a win/win for both of us, and paid for my piglets, and cash to put towards calves. I went from around 40 geese down to 16. I sell a started gosling very reasonable, really enjoy handraising them. He plans to winter them in his barn when his flocks go to market. He will begin hatching in the spring by the adult hens. Geese can live up to 20 years depending on the breed. The pekin are primarily meant for food here, but I do sell pair, trios etc and barter them also. I also raise Muscovy for that purpose, and for insect control. I really prefer scovies, they are a more personable and intelligent duck IMO, and much quieter. They trill and peep, no quacks! No chicken issues with muscovy drakes either. The pekin is faster growing like a cornish cross chicken in the duck world lol, and I do not trust the drakes around my chicken hens period. Pekin lay year around, Muscovy are seasonal.

Oh, I gotcha. Yeah, it's easier to let go of them, I'm sure, if you know they'll have a good home. Angel sounds very sweet. So with your Pekins, do you even free-range them together with your chickens or can they not be trusted then, either? I'm not sure if I'll be ranging my duckies, at least at first, but I will most likely have at least one male in the mix. They will have a separate run (and I plan on covering their run with bird netting, since Call ducks can fly!), so they would only be able to mingle with the chickens during free range if I do free range them.

Well my DH and the boys started work on our LF winter coop yesterday. We are converting our shed that sits right next to our 55'X70' fenced in garden so they have a nice big space for the winter. I am going to put all my bantams in the coop the big girls are using now. and they will all get to "free range" in the garden over the winter. Here's the start of the project: One question: Should we mow down the garden, or just let the chickens "mow" it down for us? We have already started letting them in and they seem to love finding all the treats. But some of the weeds are pretty high, I just figured they would all die back eventually and then the girls can take care of the rest. Hope everyone has a great Sunday!!!

So when will you be delivering the completed coop to my place? Kidding, of course! That's gonna be a very nice setup! Definitely let your chickens mow down your garden! They may not be able to get the really tall stuff down, but they'll take care of the rest and have a blast while they're at it!!

 

[Leahs Mom]

I keep my original geese every year unless there is a serious flaw, or behavioral problem. My oldest trio of white chinese will turn 3 in March. I also keep Brown chinese, and Embden. I rehomed one Embden gander, way too aggressive, even for me. He went to be a flock Gander at another home, and left with one goose hen. They have a large horse pasture and manage a small chicken/duck flock. This was also someone I know well that had fox issues, not anymore!

The vet, Kyle was the perfect home for this years gosliings. He raises poultry to go to market every year. Hundreds at a time, and rotates his pastures. They are truly free ranged, well fed and very happy birds. Everything is behind electric poultry netting, very impressive operation. Arial hawk attacks were his only issue, hard to net several 10s of acres and still make a profit. My geese have stopped his hawk attacks! He is now seeing zero predator losses

It was a win/win for both of us, and paid for my piglets, and cash to put towards calves. I went from around 40 geese down to 16. I sell a started gosling very reasonable, really enjoy handraising them. He plans to winter them in his barn when his flocks go to market. He will begin hatching in the spring by the adult hens. Geese can live up to 20 years depending on the breed.

Okay... wait. @jchny2000
Are you saying that GEESE deter hawks and fox???????

 

[atrueb00]

Well once again some of my quotes didn't show up..... the Bee tray thingys were brand new, never been out of the boxes. Much of the stuff I pictured was new stuff.

That is such a good deal then!

Okay...I couldn't resist..... I "think" you meant bio-security..... Danged auto correct....but I'm over here.

LOL thank you for catching that!

Good Saturday evening everyone. I am feeling bored and lonely, lol. Its my own fault though. To everyone who quoted/commented on my injury piçture, Thanks for the Empathy/sympathy. I can't put pressure on it yet so am pretty much being lazy! Going t try t get some chicken time in tomorrow, my husband wouldn't let me outside today,like he could have stopped me had I wanted to go. Doc said no shoes for at least a week and I have no way of keeping chicken poo off my bandages so I'm relying on my stepkids and nephew to do the majority of the chores. I'm hoping I can get my foot into my boots tomorrow there are three coops that need cleaned! If I have to I'll wrap this thing in Walmart bags, lol. Unless someone wants to come help me for a day or two. Oh well just checking in, loving all the fluffy doggies and birdies. Was wondering about peacocks/peahens. Do they sound like a cat screaming when they are seeking a mate?

I hope your foot is feeling better this morning and you are able to get your boots on. The peacocks make weird sounds. Sometimes it is a screech, other times like a horn honking. I'be been told they only do it during mating season.

Ok now that I'm caught up, I get to update things around here. SIL is doing well enough that I don't have to go watch the kido's while DD goes to work. Now I can maybe get some stuff here done before winter I am a little worried about that, had too many delays. Setting up the MF/special needs coop ( 1 coop split in two with separate runs ) putting down a foundation for the new shed coop that will have Silkies in one side and EE's in the other side. Found out ( thank you Google ) that Bantmans need 2 sq. ft eh inside, that works cause they will get 3 1/2. putting more Deer netting on the big run and the MF/ special needs run. O and moving the Silkie gate so I can enter from the backyard like we did with the Laying group, DH says that was a good ideal I had to do that, he likes not having to fight the goats when it is time to feed the chickens.... If he would have listened to me in the first place this would have been done in the first place... Oh well.. BIG NEWS: My broody BJG has 1 chick peaking out from under her wing this morning. I almost didn't go to Cory Creek... They weren't due to hatch till tomorrow So not going to check the rest of the eggs yet. hoping she hatches the 4 I think were good, that way I will know what a good egg looks like the next time I candle some... lol newbie .. you know how it is. Now if ya'll dont mind I have a couple of pic's I like really well ( of my kids ) I would like to share, cause I know we all hate pic's so bad... lol please forgive my scrap heep, I keep stuff I might reuse. Momma Hazel and Hope ( my midget ) she is sleeping against the gate post ??? 2 of my Silkie boys, Romeo is the buff, and this pic is my favorite!! I just think it is awesome... ?? So good night been a tiring day hope everyone is well and have a great day tomorrow peep's

Gosh these pics are awesome!!

Have had a pretty stressful couple of weeks (death in family and other stresses) I was showing this video to a friend this morning which made me laugh hilariously. I'm pretty sure this has been shared here before, but though I'd share it again. Just for fun and maybe to make someone smile!

Thank you for making me smile and LOL first thing this morning!

sending good hatching vibes your way we can wait together... Thank you I love both my families but my farm family gives me less trouble I think... lol Hatch is due today so heres hoping sending you some good vibes too I always get lots of great info from you ... without even asking... lol thanks Its been so long since I have been to the inside sale I couldn't even guess that for you. I know allot of cattle goes through there, that's for sure. love it... ya think I could get that chicken doc to come help with our hatch?????? lol

Love the chicken cartoons!

 

[chick rookie]

These three wouldn't happen to be siblings to the believed-to-be porcelain Silkie I got from you last year, would they?

Oh, that's so tempting!!
Don't say that!

Actually, what kind of plastic did you use for the strips? I was going to use the shower curtain plastic for it, but I'm reading now that it should be something more stiff like clear car mats. Not sure how I'm going to get that to work...
Oh, I gotcha.

Yeah, it's easier to let go of them, I'm sure, if you know they'll have a good home. Angel sounds very sweet.

So with your Pekins, do you even free-range them together with your chickens or can they not be trusted then, either? I'm not sure if I'll be ranging my duckies, at least at first, but I will most likely have at least one male in the mix. They will have a separate run (and I plan on covering their run with bird netting, since Call ducks can fly!), so they would only be able to mingle with the chickens during free range if I do free range them.
So when will you be delivering the completed coop to my place?

Kidding, of course! That's gonna be a very nice setup!

Definitely let your chickens mow down your garden! They may not be able to get the really tall stuff down, but they'll take care of the rest and have a blast while they're at it!!

pretty sure I got the ideal from chickcrazed, might check with her too to see how she did it, but what I did was I got a plain black car floor mat cut 1/2" strips leaving 1 1/2" at top solid and I nailed the top of the mat to the top outside of the coop where the pop door is, I took a little while of me putting the hens through the door myself for them to get the picture. But like I said it only worked about a week and the Starlings had figured it out as well. Sorry to bust your bubble...

but maybe chickcrazed had better luck than I?? I dont remember if she said it worked for her or not.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

pretty sure I got the ideal from chickcrazed, might check with her too to see how she did it, but what I did was I got a plain black car floor mat cut 1/2" strips leaving 1 1/2" at top solid and I nailed the top of the mat to the top outside of the coop where the pop door is, I took a little while of me putting the hens through the door myself for them to get the picture. But like I said it only worked about a week and the Starlings had figured it out as well.  Sorry to bust your bubble...   but maybe chickcrazed had better luck than I?? I dont remember if she said it worked for her or not. 

Well, okay, I guess the next option would be to try and build a treadle feeder. I think that's what they're called? The feeders that have a door that opens only when something at least as heavy as a chicken steps on it. The only thing I wonder about is how well my itsy bitsy Sebright bantams will do with it.

Or this thing. It seems to work, at least, and I don't think the sparrows would have an easy time of getting at it.

I could get a sparrow trap, too, I suppose, although the use of that would be limited to the number of times I empty and reset it...

Any other ideas, anyone?


(P.S., no worries about bursting my bubble. It's all good. Glad to hear it now than to have to scramble for a fix mid-winter. )