INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Chaneys Ranch]

Only 2 days behind now, goodnite everyone.

 

[hogster160]

Yes, I feed fermented, and also offer dry full time as choice. They eat both readily. When turkeys are growing up, they need full access to feed all the time, unless a BB variety.
I no longer free range the turkeys with chickens. Way too many issues with adult birds. The turkey hens eventually think all chicken roosters must die

and its always the nicer roos. Every turkey hen here has acted this way! Had too many close calls recently, not worth the risk.

Lovely hens! Just adore the colors.

The two little roo's are in the dog crate in the chicken coop. The turkeys are in the turkey area. Totally separate, except for the 4 hens who wont stay in the chicken yard. I put them in the coup, the fly back over the fence, which is about 7' tall and go back to the turkey area. The poults have no access as they are still locked up, but the hens won't stay in their yard. I've tried all summer to get them back I finally gave up. 2 of them are the ones my roo almost killed. The other 2 are the 2 broodys I had. No rooster on that side, DH hasn't done the deed yet. But I figure with winter coming, they will want to go to the coup to stay warm so I'll try again then. And if DH hasn't taken care of that roo before then, I will. I just don't get him. He's really good to all of the others accept these 2 girls. They won't submit easily to him and I'm not sure why the broodys (who have since laid eggs and is now starting molt) won't stay in their yard. Those 4 sleep totally outside at night.

I just find that I am making ff every two day with these poults, so I'm worried its not really getting a chance to ferment. I'm using a Sams Club icing bucket, 5 gal bucket. It may be time to start fermenting 2 buckets for them. Although that's a good idea to keep dry out for them, I may just do that. First time with poults here, so wasn't too sure. The other turkeys were 4-5 months when I got them. Thanks!

I really wasn't sure on the color myself, lol. I just knew that all the people who had BR really loved their personalities. So that's what I went with. I am so in love with my turkeys! And I think their colors are just beautiful too! Thanks!

 

[chick rookie]

My first female Crested Cream Legbar hatched on Mom's Bday, so it's named after my mom. Of course, when a male hatched, I just had to name it after my dad. I ended up selling my dad's namesake, so I'm not sure how he feels about that. (At least we didn't eat him.) LOL

lol I'm sure you would have heard about it the rest of your life if you had eaten him.....

Drum Roll Please! We have our First Egg!!! Yay!!

While were were out admiring it, my daughter got stung twice. Nasty Yellow jackets. Last year she got swarmed and ended up in ER.

Hubby has the camera at Robotics practice so at the moment the chickens are locked out of the coop so I can get pictures!

Congrats.... I never stop being thrilled about getting a new egg...

GOATS--YES!

We've been tossing around the idea of pygmy milk goats for a year now. We have a list of several pros and a few cons for having goats.

We recently became foster parents of 2 puppies that were recovering from parvo. Now, we're considering becoming permanent adoptive parents of these puppies, because they fulfill some of the benefits the goats would.
For example: the goats (puppies) would be good company for our dog, the goats (puppies) would be good learning experience for DW, we would love the goats (puppies) and give them a good home, etc.

I know if we keep these puppies, we'll not get goats. Maybe that's a good thing, I'm not sure...remains to be seen.

The cons are: you can't milk a dog (ew, gross!), and you can't bring a goat in the house with you at night (again, ew, gross!)

I'm surprised no one has said this before me... You really DON'T want to get a pygmy if you want to drink the milk. I and everyone I know of, say the same thing about pygmy milk... it sucks!!! Sorry but it is bitter and the overall texture is just really bad. Got a friend that tried to make cheese out of it ( she makes cheese all the time and other stuff too ) and she said it wouldn't even set up right, she threw the whole batch away. You want to go with a LaMacha or a Alpine IMO, allot of people like Nubian milk as well as Toggenburg. I have never heard anyone say they liked pygmy milk. But hey, to each their own, just giving a little heads up is all. And I mean no offence to the pygmy owners out there. They are awesome moms and pets.
As far as house training a goat, I am told that they are easier then a dog??? never tried but know of 2 people that have house goats. I did have a potbellied pig in the house and it only took 1 time of letting him know it was a bad thing to poddy in the house and after that he would diffidently let ya know he had to go out and poddy... lol Waking up at 3 am with a SCREAMING pig will really get your attention!!!!
O and btw I love to hear about foster failures its great!! Wish their were more in the world

I smell a foster failure! LOL I would think bringing the goats (dogs) in the house would be a PRO! But then again for me they tend to take up prime real estate on the bed. I tend to toss and turn at night and i have to carefully levitate, flip and land back in my same exact footprint on the bed or I risk squashing a canine or two. The plus side is that they keep me warm when I am too cheap to turn the heat up!

I know that feeling... lol aint it great........

I have no turkeys or turkey experience, but I can help you with the chicken part of this.

I use Ivormectin pour-on, but I have read where a lot of people have recommended using Wazine first. It's totally up to you, though, on which you use. I think Wazine is safer for younger birds, but it isn't as strong and can't be used often as the worms will become immune to it. It only works for round worms. Ivormectin is stronger and covers a variety of parasites, internal and external, but again I think Wazine is safer for younger birds.

Wazine has 2 strengths, 17% and 34%. I think I see 17% more often. The dosage for Wazine 17 is 2 tablespoons per gallon, provided for 24 hours. I imagine for Wazine 34, the dosage would be half that.

If you do go for the Ivormectin, the dose is 1/2 cc for large fowl and 1/4 cc for bantams and younger birds, dropped directly on the skin under the wing or on the back of the neck. I don't remember for sure, but I believe the youngest I have used Ivormectin on was around 4 months. (It's sad I don't remember, I was just posting this info not that long ago.

) I'm not sure I would go much younger than that.

I'm not sure if there are different species of round worms for birds than for mammals, so I can't answer your question about the cat. For the doves, though, the only thing I can think of to do is to shoo them out and cover the pen with bird netting to keep them out.
Uck, yeah, I have a few hens that are practically bare at the moment. I'm just glad they're doing this now! I had one hen, rest her soul, that would molt between December and January! That was what finally did her in--being naked during winter weather.

On the topic of coccidiosis, are these adult birds that have been exposed to the ground before now? If so, they are likely not suffering from coccidiosis as they should have built up an immunity to the inactive cocci in the soil and have a strong enough immune system to fend off the active cocci in the wet weather. I would not treat adults for coccidiosis unless I was positive that was what they had, since the two most common meds for coccidiosis are either very harsh on the gut or actually blocking nutritional uptake. Just my opinion there. My girls huddle a lot when it's raining, too. Maybe they're just glum?

And I am still jealous of that barn of yours! I wish I had a nice, big building to put all my birds in for the wintertime! It'll be interesting to see how this winter goes with the usual two coops, plus quarantine over the winter with the ducks I will hopefully find next month.

I was told by my vet that dogs can get worms from my chickens so I guess a cat could too???? As far as your flock sitting around all puffed up, my do the same thing in bad weather ( rain especially ).
I have been lucky so far and not had any winter time molts, knock on wood, I hope my luck holds.

Ugh, this semester has been unnecessarily stressful thus far. My first calculus test had a full 20 points banking on one problem in which I had to remember how to extract an equation from my graphing calculator, and I couldn't for the life of me remember how to do it. (Yup, I know how to now! Probably will never forget how to after that!

) I've been all doom and gloom since last Tuesday, when the test was taken, as a result. The good news is I got pretty much everything else right and managed 78% on that test. I don't feel so bad for losing out on that question now.

Fortunately, German, the class everyone has been telling me is so tough, hasn't been so bad.

That's my stress-free class this semester. (Well, okay, I get nervous about tests no matter what the subject, but otherwise I haven't had issues in German!)

I've said before, but having the birds to come home to has really helped me keep it together. Love my biddies.

Speaking of, Sora, my unwell red sexlink hen, is back in action and acting as if nothing happened. Naughty girl probably won't learn from this experience, I'm sure.

But oh, well.

hope school gets better for ya, just don't get too frustrated, my grand farther always told be to think about everyone in class sitting in their underware... lol

Is this what I would buy for the Ivomectin? http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/ivomecreg;-(ivermectin)-pour-on-for-cattle-250-ml?cm_vc=-10005

I went there tonight and was just as lost. LOL. I ended up buying some Safeguard. But I can't use it on birds that are in molt and mine are just starting molt. So I will go exchange it tomorrow. I also read that I should not worm birds younger than 4 months, so the smaller ones will have to wait, turkeys too. Do I need to clean out the coup and such? I just find it weird that I have no birds who acts sick, they are all out and about in the yard doing normal chicken things. Just that one spot of worms. l be worming them because if those are in my birds I want them out. YUK.

I've got a call into my vet, who in turn had to do an emergency surgery so she hasn't called me back. Waiting to see about my other animals. I will probably just take a poo sample down tomorrow and have them checked out. I'd rather play it safe.

Thanks so very much for offering your advice. It is very much appreciated!

I'm sorry that you lost one to an odd molt time. Mine were hatched in January and molted in Nov and Dec last year I think (could have been Oct and Nov.) I'm glad they are starting earlier this year. My chicken yard is too large to try to cover, I suppose I will just knock down any nest I see in the trees before the eggs get laid. I do try to shoo them away, hopefully they will stay away.

Deb

I fought the wild birds all winter last year, I have a lg. run too, but I am putting Deer netting up this year, got half of the run done and all of my sm pens covered. I just buy a pack of the netting a week, I need about 3 more pks I think and I will be done. NOT feeding those dang birds this year, I refuse, my feed bill tripled last year and this year I have 2x the chickens, don't even want to think what my feed bill would be if I have to feed the wild birds as well!!!

More pics!

Huka Kairakau the Silver Lakenvelder. She had just stretched and I guess she forgot to draw her wing back in.

(I had to trim her wing when she was younger because she was flying the fence. She hasn't molted yet, but it should regrow when she does.)




Huka again, rockin' the eyebrows.

Welsummer Mabel! I think she's the only one of the babies this year that actually willingly poses!




Georgette the Black Copper Marans. This is one bird I don't think I'd want to meet in a dark alley.

Tilde the Swedish Flower Hen. Her crest seems so much larger in person!



She looks like she's wearing a winter hat in this one.

Violet the Bielefelder, hurrying over for attention! (Or food. Yeah, she was probably after food.

)



A better look at Vi's color. She's so pretty, and has such soft feathers!




Elda the Silver Gray Dorking! I love how she feathered in!

Such a pretty young lady!



Elly again, checking out my Indiana BYCer shirt.

Elly snuggled up next to me while her twin, Kit-kit, waits her turn.

These two are the sweetest little ladies!




That's all.

I have so many birds and a lot of pictures I took just didn't make the cut. I got a picture of Sora, but she must have moved as I hit the button because it was out of focus.

But like I said before, she's doing fine.

Loved all the pic's, I want some BCM's next year, thinking about getting some hatching eggs and letting one of my broody's take care of the hard stuff.
Watch I wont get a broody next spring...

just the way my luck goes... I'm fighting 2 broody's right now, 1 just hatched out 3 a week ago, and next spring when I want them to go broody???????????

Yup, that's the right stuff. There's also a generic brand in a yellow box, which might be cheaper.

According to what I was reading shortly before I replied to you, Wazine has specific instructions for chicks as young as 4 weeks. However, I do agree that the youngsters probably don't need to be wormed yet. I think I only wormed my younger set the one year because they were at that 'maybe' age and we had plenty of the Ivormectin so we just went ahead and did it.

Definitely take a sample to your vet! Then you can know for sure what you're dealing with. While you're there, you can talk to them about what they recommend for worming chickens and other poultry, too.

And yeah, poor Cricket. She literally lost most of her feathers when she molted and was practically bare, save for her wings and head. Every year, she struggled, so I think it was a matter of time. Still, I wish I had acted sooner and just brought her in. She was my camping chicken.

Camping just wasn't the same this summer without her.

Anyway, the rest of my girls do fine, especially if they molt early. I think only about half or fewer my girls go through hard molts like that. A lot of my girls have nice, slow molts and I hardly know they're molting until I start noticing them looking cleaner and shinier. They can keep that up as far as I'm concerned!

Sorry about your camping chicken, I know what ya mean about not being the same, My camping buddy was a dog. He was a very special boy and I miss him still to this day. ( been gone for 3 years )

We are seeing older calves as high as $3 a pound for a beef bull calf! Last year, I got mine at week old for $65 each. they were about 65 pounds! We got holstein and jersey mixes. (dairy bull calves) More folks are doing it, so the price is going up.We save the cost of processing by doing all the animals ourselves. I did Wilbur's (hog) worming today, along with my 4 piglets. Once the withholding date has passed, we will plan a weekend to process. You and DH are welcome to come up for it, Jsummer's DH plans to come also. It really helps to see the process, then you can decide for yourself if its something you want to undertake.
Honestly, much of its no different between species..just the size of the animal and packaging time. I do grind a lot of meat due to my parents diets. DH is building a smoker to cure meats. Huge difference in the pork flavor and meat quality comparing to commercial pork.

Wow I'm glad I aint tiring to buy beef where you are. The highest it goes at Rockville that I know of is 2.50 and that is rare. My BIL goes and buys alott and he grips if he has to pay more then 1.95. So I hear real quick if it gets any higher... lol I'll double check with him this weekend but it sounds like you guys need to make a trip to Rockville to get your beef.

hatching vibes!

Ugh hear ya, very busy getting ready for winter, and redoing my main coop. I have some sneezes here too, noticed it one of the barred rock pullets. All this sudden damp and cold seems to trigger it!

I do freeze if i get extras backed up too. Need to start doing it since winters coming! I poke the yolks and freeze in ice cube trays. All my extras are going to the piglets right now to get them chubby for winter.

I've even got the sneezes, I think the fast drop in temps has affected animal and human alike. I tried freezing an egg just cause everyone has been talking about it and I have decided that freezing is just not for me. I didn't like it. So far I have been lucky enough to have selling eggs for my reg. customers and to keep us in eggs as well.

I never have too many either. DH's workplace alone I could sell out. I do barter and trade eggs a lot for veges and other stuff. The nurse at my moms dialysis and I trade eggs and her garden veges every week.

X5 i think(?) BROODY! My Australorps are all still broody, 2 of them are trying to hatch air. Really do not want anymore chicks this year.

I found another egg stash Monday in the bantam pen, hidden behind a roost bar support. I snatched them up quick! No more chicks, UGH.

My girls are going to be mad at me today, My egg production has dropped bad so I am going to keep them in the run to find out if I need to go on an egg hunt.

My broody disappeared the same day I saw her on the nest. Came back later that night, and she was just gone. No clue where she is

Hope she comes back soon, probably sitting under a bush someplace.

 

[gunchief25]

Morning all Cockadoodledoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!

 

[Rhandi74]

Good Morning

She is s lovely girl. I almost wonder if she hasn't picked up feather mites. If the shaft and feathers appear stripped thats what it is. Garden grade seven dust will kill the mites.

Thank you for the suggestion. I am going to try seven dust. She just looks awful, I feel so bad.

 

[CCCCCCCCHICKENS]

We are seeing older calves as high as $3 a pound for a beef bull calf! Last year, I got mine at week old for $65 each. they were about 65 pounds! We got holstein and jersey mixes. (dairy bull calves) More folks are doing it, so the price is going up.We save the cost of processing by doing all the animals ourselves. I did Wilbur's (hog) worming today, along with my 4 piglets. Once the withholding date has passed, we will plan a weekend to process. You and DH are welcome to come up for it, Jsummer's DH plans to come also. It really helps to see the process, then you can decide for yourself if its something you want to undertake.
Honestly, much of its no different between species..just the size of the animal and packaging time. I do grind a lot of meat due to my parents diets. DH is building a smoker to cure meats. Huge difference in the pork flavor and meat quality comparing to commercial pork.

Man compared to here that is a great price! I haven't seen anything under about $150 around here for a little feeder calf. You should see how much they want for a full grown angus or pulled Hereford! People are trying to get as much per pound as they can. My dad wanted to get some feeder calves but he didn't want to pay more than $70 a head. I am kind of glad he didn't find any though! They are just too cute, I couldn't butcher them. Especially if he got a brown Swiss, though he probably wouldn't get those for feeders. Did I mention I still have meat chickens from May lol? In all fairness one is still very tiny.

 

[CCCCCCCCHICKENS]

So I'm trying to keep up with the thread! Started new job yesterday. After the first day I was thinking, "What the hell did I do?" Lol. It was only 4 hrs but apparently they weren't ready for me. The district manager didn't have me in the system. So the manager training me tried and messed it up. So she called the IT help desk and then handed me the phone. She said once someone answers hand me the phone. I was on hold for 1.5 hrs waiting for someone to pick up!
We finally got it all straightened out, and by the time I finished up with the paperwork for employment, it was time to go. So today was the first full 10hr day (I'm not used to more than the 8hr work days at lowes. It was a killer lol. I again waited around the first 15 mins. Finally I asked the asst manager if I could help her with anything. I started helping with freight and they finally got all my employee ID info. So they put me on register. The assistant manager showed me how to process a the first sale and told me if I need any help just come find her and she walked away!
So I was shown once how to run a transaction and was set on my own. I guess it's a good thing I pickup in things fast and not afraid to try lol. I wasn't sure if I was doing things right, but figure that's their fault for not staying up with me. Atleast my drawer came out correct at the end of the day lol. Thankfully after lunch it was more hands on and I wasn't stuck on register the whole night.

It's definitely different. Not sure if it's good or bad. I know it's always hard the first week or so to get used to, I guess I was expecting a little more coaching but I guess I am forced to learn it quicker this way lol.

Oh my! At least all turned out well.

 

[pginsber]

I'm surprised no one has said this before me... You really DON'T want to get a pygmy if you want to drink the milk. I and everyone I know of, say the same thing about pygmy milk... it sucks!!! Sorry but it is bitter and the overall texture is just really bad. Got a friend that tried to make cheese out of it ( she makes cheese all the time and other stuff too ) and she said it wouldn't even set up right, she threw the whole batch away. You want to go with a LaMacha or a Alpine IMO, allot of people like Nubian milk as well as Toggenburg. I have never heard anyone say they liked pygmy milk. But hey, to each their own, just giving a little heads up is all. And I mean no offence to the pygmy owners out there. They are awesome moms and pets.

As far as house training a goat, I am told that they are easier then a dog??? never tried but know of 2 people that have house goats. I did have a potbellied pig in the house and it only took 1 time of letting him know it was a bad thing to poddy in the house and after that he would diffidently let ya know he had to go out and poddy... lol Waking up at 3 am with a SCREAMING pig will really get your attention!!!!
O and btw I love to hear about foster failures its great!! Wish their were more in the world

Thanks for your insight about goat breeds and milk. We were thinking about pygmy because of their small size--didn't even think about different breeds having different milk characteristics. Guess we hadn't gotten that far in our thought process.

A screaming pig at 3am would wake a person up with a real start! We're still working on the potty training phase, and they get their second set of puppy boosters today.

We have absolutely no good reason to keep these two pups--except that we love them so much. We feel guilty just talking about keeping them, because they would so easily get a forever home.

Usually, we adopt special needs animals. Currently, we have an ancient mean Chihuahua with heart failure, a blind and deaf Cocker Spaniel, and a cat with cardiomyopathy among our old and special needs pack. If we did adopt the puppies, there would be some special needs animals out there going without a home. That makes me sad to think about.

Can you tell I'm trying to talk myself out of adopting them?

Man compared to here that is a great price! I haven't seen anything under about $150 around here for a little feeder calf. You should see how much they want for a full grown angus or pulled Hereford! People are trying to get as much per pound as they can. My dad wanted to get some feeder calves but he didn't want to pay more than $70 a head. I am kind of glad he didn't find any though! They are just too cute, I couldn't butcher them. Especially if he got a brown Swiss, though he probably wouldn't get those for feeders. Did I mention I still have meat chickens from May lol? In all fairness one is still very tiny.

I would have difficulty butchering a brown Swiss, too! ...A tiny meat chicken at 16-20 weeks? If you say so...

 

[Campine]

I'm looking for a chicken friendly dog, my old Pyrenese finally left me last month.

 

[Faraday40]

Can a flock(of 10-15) have more than 1 roo or will that cause more crowing & fighting? (I have a 21 week & 9 week old male.) My 21 week Lav Orp does not crow much at all. (I know he's hen-pecked & not aggressive, so that may play a big part.) I suspect my 9 wk Coronation Sussex is male. My debate is whether to keep all 3 - knowing that the CS is possibly a male - or just one pullet. I will be placing the 3 9-wk-olds in the coop some night this week. (For their entire life, they've been in sight of the flock but in a separate chicken tractor while the flock free ranges.) Yesterday I locked them inside the flock's run, while everyone else was out. At some point I will slip them inside the coop while everyone's asleep, but they're sleeping inside the garage for now. I've always introduced new pullets in this gradual method, but never a cockerel. Will he get killed or plucked bald?

Is there a good chance of the boys getting along (both young) or will they continue to fight for years? We live in a neighborhood. When the crowing is minimal, everyone says they "enjoy" hearing it. I don't want to know what they'll say if I have 2 roos in a daily crow off.