INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Leahs Mom]

Quote:
@pipdzipdnreadytogo

There used to be (and probably still is) a lot of talk about putting DE in the chicken feed because folks thought that it would prevent internal parasites when the birds ate it. I don't think this is true BUT.....

I think that DE was originally put in the feed to PREVENT WEEVILS AND OTHER BUGS from hatching IN THE DRY GRAIN!!!!!

I DO think that is a legitimate use and one time I got a bag of corn that had some bugs hatching in it. I put in about 1/4 cup of DE to the 50 lb. bag and it took care of them right away. And I would use it that way to prevent hatching buggies in the dry grain. I seriously think that was how it was originally used in grain bins on farms and mills that didn't want to use chemical pesticides on their grains. (Not for the purpose of preventing parasites in the intestinal tract of the animals!)

So I DO think it has it's place! And I would certainly consider using it like you are saying (and would definitely have used it to take care of the grain mites) if I were trying to contain an infestation and not use chemicals!

 

[pbirdhaven]

I got shipped paint silkie eggs 3 weeks ago. They hatched. LOL paint silkies are still a mystery, but I should be able to get spots breeding these guys. They are from paint breeding just a little different than I expected.

LAMom could tell you more about it. My understanding is that from a paint pen you can get white, black or paint.

My paint cock had to be put down, so I have a black pair that will be introduced to the paint ladies when their quarantine is up. I've not had much luck breeding paints; one pair gave me 4 chicks, but three of them had color faults in the beaks and feet, so I didn't breed those two together again. Don't know which had the faulty genes, but the guy was mean as a snake, so got rid of him and kept the hen.

 

[Leahs Mom]

It seems that Indiana has gone into Fall hibernation.

 

[Indiana feather]

The use of DE for the bugs in feed hatching sounds like a reasonable use. Really though the more I consider it the use of it to dry the poo actually seems counter productive for the composting process of the deep litter method. I applied some once but don't know if i will again. I really haven't noticed that much odor from my chickens yet . I appreciate hearing the different opinions from everyone on the subject.

 

[Mother2Hens]

Haven't been on here in awhile, but have been trying to keep up with the thread.

Just wanted to say welcome to all the new members, sorry to everyone for their loses, M2H so sorry to hear about Nene, and beautiful pics all.

Thought I would post a few pics of the coops we got over the weekend.
The coop the farthest right came from Tony's (BF) daughter along with the 11 chickens that occupied it. She decided that she was tired of the chickens, so we got them. The 3 smaller coops my sons built for me.


If I remember right there has been a couple people asking about cats in with their chickens. Last year we had a momma cat have 4 kittens out in our coop. She is definitely a feral cat and will still hiss at me on occasion although she is getting better. But she or her kittens have ever bothered the chickens. A couple of her kittens have warmed up to me and want petted and loving every time I go outside now. Anyways, she has had another litter of kittens out there this summer and I wanted to share a pic that I got of them with the chickens

Sorry for the long post.

Hi barb! I was worried about you, but it looks like things have been going well. I love your coops-- and it's amazing that you have all of that green grass surrounding them!
That's cute that your kittens and chickens hang out. My big cats try to avoid my mean, pecking hens! Earlier today I saw my cat, Lionel, outside looking very nervous as several hens started closing in on him. Lionel's eyes pleaded with me to open the door!
Thanks for sharing your photos.

@kabhyper1 Those little fluff balls are so sweet!

@chickiebaby1 Hope things are going better for you and your flock.

The use of DE for the bugs in feed hatching sounds like a reasonable use. Really though the more I consider it the use of it to dry the poo actually seems counter productive for the composting process of the deep litter method. I applied some once but don't know if i will again. I really haven't noticed that much odor from my chickens yet . I appreciate hearing the different opinions from everyone on the subject.
I think odor is most noticeable when it's rainy. I used to mix a little Sweet PDZ (horse stall freshener) in the deep litter, but then I discovered using Garden Lime, which is much cheaper and works better. It's best not to sprinkle the powder when the chickens are around because of respiratory issues. I mix some into the deep litter and it's also good to put over messy poop in the summer (flies) until you get a chance to clean up the poop (like on a patio). I use a child sized garden hoe in the coop, which is handy to reach/scrape poopy areas where they sleep and handy to turn over/mix deep litter.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

I'm having some roos processed tomorrow. One is an orpington that is 1 1/2 years old. Is he still decent eating at this age? The others were from this spring's chicks so they're fine. Didn't know if I need to have the older roo bagged separately from the others or not. We do occasionally raw feed to our dogs as we have meat available, so he won't go to waste.

I would for sure separate him! I processed a few that were around 8 months, let stand in brine (refrigerated) for 5 days, and were still tough. Think in part thats probably the free range end of it too. I had deep fried, and wound up stew meat so i could still use them, ugh.

In case anyone is interested I'm using Martin's Chicken Butchering southwest of Goshen. She told me on the phone the roos would be $2.25 each to process & the ducks I'm taking would be $6 each (only have 2 or 3 of those). I need some of you chicken processing people to come up here sometime!!

Very good prices! Yes, we really need to get things set up for our fest, it could be included as an event

Quote: agreed.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Quote: The oldest rooster we have eaten was around 18-20 months old. I really just don't keep birds around for too long, yet. Pets are rehomed and others are eaten as soon as they are large enough. I let processed chickens rest (chilled) for at least 3 days but not more than 5. For those roosters that are not 9 week old giant meat birds, I prefer to roast or crockpot them. I'm sure the 6-9 month old roosters from the heritage breeds would make some nice frying and grilling meat but with the dark meat making up a higher share of the meat than a store bought chicken. Some like to Brine as well for the older chickens during the resting period.
My family enjoys the roasted chicken and pulled BBQ chicken so for now I have not been frying or grilling our chickens no matter the age.
Stonykill posted a recipe somewhere for a chicken chowder of sorts that would work great for an older bird. I have made it a couple of times. It reads a lot like a chicken soup recipe but it comes out so much thicker. Great time of the year for soups and chili meals too.

Another hint, is to mark which birds are the older ones before putting them in the freezer. So the freezer bag might read 2014 March Roo 18M.
This is very useful in the spring butchering as many of the backup breeder roosters get processed in the spring here but it is not until fall that I would be making soups.
all very good points!

Quote: Oh my, they are fantastic! We often grind older roo's for burgers, sausage etc. as well. DH loves it, he keeps asking if there are any more mean roosters... told him stop staring at Bruce!

Hi all horseshubob here.I'm just getting back into chickens after 30 years of having no birds I live across the river from Louisville.I'm building a 12\14 lean to ....Just getting started picking up my roofing material today.it's been too long in coming.

and our thread

Exciting to start back up, we were about 28 years without chickens ourselves.

So excited, got up this morning and I have at least 5 out of 15 eggs pipped.

I was beginning to worry, because yesterday was day 21, but with all the power outages it makes since they would be a little slower. I'm just glad something has started to happen. Maybe by the time I get home from school this afternoon I will have some new fuzzy butts.

Hope everyone has a great day!!!

hatching vibes!!

Testing testing

Testing... working!!!!

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Ok here's one my spot for my coop is shady in the winter. Do you people think that will be a problem?

Shade is much better than full sun IMO.

It has been about 4 weeks since getting our new additions! Saturday was such a pretty day I let them outside for the first time. It wasn't long before they were off honking and found my Peahen. It was so funny to watch her run from them but in just a few days she's allowing them to stay with her. Took some pics this morning!

just lovely! I really miss the honks!

This would make a great coop. I don't have a way to move it but once moved, paint and add the standard chicken stuff and instant coop.
http://indianapolis.craigslist.org/grd/4726048518.html

The floor fell in on our duck shed. It is the coop we are using for the ducks and currently roosters. The chickens that get tossed in with the ducks kind of rotate through out the season. The ducks are great teachers and it was easier for me to combine two growout pens close in age when the ducks were there to monitor the fights. Now I am wondering if I should try to replace the floor before winter or just use a dirt floor. The floor was not covered in vinyl but it had been painted multiple coats of waterproof paint. Our mistake was not paining the floor before putting it in. The water from all of the rain this spring and summer created a moisture pocket under the coop and that underside of the floor rotted out first. I'm just extrememly glad we did not find any mice or other critters living under the rotted floor. I'm also glad it was DH that stepped through the floor and not me.

Yikes! Hope he is ok!

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Quote: Yes, i can vouch for that. I had several large limbs take out my nice secure roof on my main coop's run, and part of my goose coop. Too much snow load on the tree limbs.

Quote: sure, its on eBay...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/221126614408?_trksid=p2060778.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
They have all different sizes, and do custom sizes too.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

[COLOR=900000]We finally got Trudi to swim!!

Tonight, when I went down to get them in for the night, she and Malcolm were both in the pool, like they had gone to water for safety. They are so adorable! Since I began bribing them for their affection with treats, they keep coming over and standing a few feet away from me, eying me so expectantly.

They really love their grains! I'm just relieved that they seem to be taming down pretty well. They don't like me coming to them, but will come to me at least! And they're super cute when they get to eating or swimming or blowing bubbles in the water!

Bad cell phone picture, but here they are as of yesterday. I like how they cleaned up after their trip home. And they're so small!

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precious

Hopefully this will be my last week of 65+hrs of work weeks. Interviewing an asst manager tomorrow, and should be back to the normal 52hr work weeks. Finally feeling like I'm accomplishing things at work, but still a lot of things to do! Hope to be more active here shortly. I'm atleast been able to stay caught up and am reading through the thread daily.

Trying to get the flock situated for winter. I just need some time off to get it all done! I will likely be downsizing a little more. Probably be getting rid of the orps and a few more silkies if anyone is interested. I need to get out there tomorrow and treat them all for internal and external parasites before winter hits. I think I saw live on the orps I recently picked up.

For heat in the modern pens, I'm planning on using flex watt heat tape. You can make it any length you need it and it is paper thin. I will be attaching it to the wall and put plexi glass over it (leaving a 1/4" air gap between heat tape and plexiglass to prevent it from over heating. Then I will mount a perch about 6" or so away from the heat tape on one end and angle it away from the tape so they can choose the amount of heat they need. I'll also put a perch several feet away in case they don't want any heat. Hopefully it works. If so, I will have less than $30 for the heat tape and cord to hook up and then the price of plexi glass. This is for an 8' run! I've been using this material for many years with the reptiles.

Lastly Im in the market for a new vehicle if anyone hears of any. Looking for an SUV around 100,000 miles or less. I have a budget of $8000 (I really prefer not to have a car payment!) Must be 4 wheel drive! Let me know if anyone has anything for sale or knows of anyone selling.

I will tell DH you are looking, he has a knack for finding good deals. Hope things settle down for you, sounds like you are really loving the job!

Quote: Really hope to add a trio next year. If things ever settle down!

I caught my daughter playing Barbies with our little Bantam Orp today.

This is our Bantam Menace: Cookie. Again, I'm not sure why a chicken was needed to play Barbies, but I grabbed my camera. Just too funny.


My daughter & her friends are always using the big fluffy, full sized orps as babies when they play house outside. The bigger ones are my favs b/c they just want to be with us at all times. They like to be lap chickens. Our bantam has more energy & prefers to fly up to a shoulder instead.

this is too precious!

My daughter named her "Cookie" b/c she's small, round, & sweet.
I nicknamed her "the Bantam Menace" b/c of her superiority complex & attitude.
DH calls her "Useless Chicken" b/c of the tiny eggs.

DH keeps joking about Cookie's tiny eggs, but the truth is that she's made 7 eggs in the last 7 days. No other hen is keeping up at this time of year! DH adds that if she makes another 7 eggs, perhaps we can have a single breakfast.

lol, I get some really tiny ones from the millies.