INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[hoosiercheetah]

Hey guys, if any of you knit or crochet, we will have our alpaca yarn back from the mill in a few weeks. Let me know if you want some soft hypoallergenic yarn! Also I'm hatching silkies and I can't keep them all, so if anyone wants some cute fluffy gifts this year for someone special, I'll have some ready in the next months or two.

I was literally just reading posts about people having silkies in LF flocks. I'd like to get two silkie hens for my daughter. The timing is perfect; I'll be adding other chicks at the same time.

Of course, since you live two hours away, I'm not sure that will work.

Also, I do knit. And sometimes I do super soft hats for chemo patients. Message me your price per skein. ;-)

 

[kabhyper1]

I was literally just reading posts about people having silkies in LF flocks. I'd like to get two silkie hens for my daughter. The timing is perfect; I'll be adding other chicks at the same time.

Of course, since you live two hours away, I'm not sure that will work.

Also, I do knit. And sometimes I do super soft hats for chemo patients. Message me your price per skein. ;-)

I will know skein weights when I get it in a couple weeks so I can let you know then. I can meet half way for chicks the only thing is with silkies theres not a guarantee on sex as chicks. I have some 5 month olds Im still not positive about lol! I'll touch base with you when I know more on both yarn and chicks. I have some hatching tomorrow.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Hey guys, if any of you knit or crochet, we will have our alpaca yarn back from the mill in a few weeks. Let me know if you want some soft hypoallergenic yarn! Also I'm hatching silkies and I can't keep them all, so if anyone wants some cute fluffy gifts this year for someone special, I'll have some ready in the next months or two.

I have given up crocheting for a bit. BUT I'll admit that the alpaca yarn was the softest yarn I worked with. The only thing that came close to it was some lambs wool from a private farm. We got our alpaca wool from a lovely yarn store south of us. I always liked going there. I think I enjoyed the feeling and buying of the yarn as much as the making of the projects.

 

[hoosiercheetah]

Is it just me or has the thread been quiet?

Placed my order with Ideal. Now I get to sit on the edge of my seat until December. Yay!

 

[Leahs Mom]

Is it just me or has the thread been quiet?

Placed my order with Ideal. Now I get to sit on the edge of my seat until December. Yay!

It has been quiet. We're probably all outside trying to get things ready for winter.

I haven't hooked up the water heaters yet so the water was frozen this morning. I brought it in tonight because it's supposed to be in the 20s again. But then I have a whole week - if the forecast is correct - before it goes below freezing again so I have until next weekend to get that in order.

We do church on Saturday nights instead of Sunday morning since our church has a meeting on Sat and it's hard to get someone to stay w/my dad on a Sunday morning (we take care of my elderly dad that has to have someone with him all the time). So...I'm hoping that we can get the tops on the barn kennels tomorrow and then I can work on moving them in there and setting up the heated waterers just once instead of doing it for the hen shed then having to move it all over to the barn.

 

[hoosiercheetah]

Ya, I want to set up at least one heated waterer for days when it stays below freezing all day long. Mostly I'll just swap them out in the mornings as needed. I'm out there every day opening the coop anyhow.

 

[Evewon]

Who heats their coop? Not including water heaters.
I've been doing a lot of reading here, but hard to get answers from people that live in the same state.
It was 27 this morning in the coop. Not sure to heat our coop or not..

 

[auntwht64]

I am a little nervous because I found 3 eggs yesterday from my Easter Eggers with little brown spots. Are the eggs ok? Are the girls ok? Also do you take chickens to the vet? I was worried maybe the cold could be the problem.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Who heats their coop? Not including water heaters.
I've been doing a lot of reading here, but hard to get answers from people that live in the same state.
It was 27 this morning in the coop. Not sure to heat our coop or not..

[COLOR=900000]There is absolutely no reason to heat your coop unless you have chicks or tiny bantams. Adult, large fowl chickens, as well as most bantams, will be absolutely fine even in the coldest temps we get here. As a matter of fact, it's better not to heat the coop as it allows your birds to acclimate and prepare themselves for the cold. Birds that are in heated coops tend to grow less downy feathers and generally be less prepared to face cold than those that are acclimated, and if the power goes out for any length of time, your birds could suffer from going from a heated environment to a cold one.

What I recommend for those concerned is to observe their birds and judge by their behavior whether they need heat or not. It's probably healthier and safer for them to do without, but if a bird is obviously struggling (for example, stumbling or losing its balance, sleeping more than the others in its flock, just generally not acting right), then it's better to intervene and move just that bird to a heated environment.

On the topic, I have spent some weeks gathering information in regards to this, and have compiled it onto a page--one I consider to be a work in progress as of yet, but that has a lot of information that could help you make your own conclusions on whether or not to heat your coop. Enjoy. [/COLOR]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/...led-look-at-the-question-of-supplemental-heat

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Okay well it's upto you really. You can breed offspring to parents, but it's not recommended you do so more than 5 generations. My suggestion would be to add some blacks to your paints. Bred to your partridge you will not get correct colors.

[COLOR=900000]I can't help with paint genetics, but yes, offspring to parents for a few generations is a widely used form of breeding to promote the genes that breeders want to promote. I believe the only thing frowned upon for this is sibling to sibling as this tends to lead to more of the undesirable traits coming out. Think of it this way--half of a bird's genetics comes from the bird's mother, the other half from the father. If the father is a very good specimen, breeding him to his daughters means that the next generation will consist of roughly 75% of his good genes. If those daughters are bred to another male, their offspring will only receive about 25% of those good genes.

Of course, there is a limit to how much you can do this without weakening your lines, hence only going five or so generations using this method. You do want to bring fresh genes in occasionally. For the purposes of this post, however, breeding one bird back to a parent isn't going to be disastrous. [/COLOR]

Hey guys, if any of you knit or crochet, we will have our alpaca yarn back from the mill in a few weeks. Let me know if you want some soft hypoallergenic yarn! Also I'm hatching silkies and I can't keep them all, so if anyone wants some cute fluffy gifts this year for someone special, I'll have some ready in the next months or two.

[COLOR=000090]Oh, goodness, I wish I could knit or crochet. I have this picture in my mind of chickens in alpaca yarn sweaters...[/COLOR]

I am a little nervous because I found 3 eggs yesterday from my Easter Eggers with little brown spots. Are the eggs ok? Are the girls ok? Also do you take chickens to the vet? I was worried maybe the cold could be the problem.

[COLOR=900000]Do you mean brown spots on the shell or in the yolk or whites? In any of these cases, it's nothing to worry about. Spots on the shell can just be a hiccup in the system or an imperfection in the shell. Inside the egg, these are typically called meat spots and are not harmful at all. I've heard that it's a result of a small vessel rupturing during the development of the egg through the oviduct. Nothing to panic about, it happens (and no, not just in cold weather). You can remove them from the egg if you prefer, though some don't bother. Unless your hens are acting unwell, I wouldn't worry about it.[/COLOR]