INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Faraday40]

I've been using the new horiz chicken nipples for a week now. So far so good. My chickens previously used vertical nipples, so as soon as I hung the new bucket, they started drinking. Because the old vert nipples dripped a little water as the chickens drank, I placed a pan below the waterer to keep the ice from building up. Every couple days, I'd knock the ice out of the pan.

You can see the pan below with hardly any moisture after a week. Of course we're not into the cold hard winter yet, so I'll report more when the temps drop. I attached my waterer with a chain so I may adjust the height as needed. I have one bantam orp, so she must be able to drink too.



My flock has been cooped up all week b/c of the hawk, so I'm very glad we have the addition this year. The plastic windows are keeping the cold & wet out. Only 3 of my hens are laying, so we're getting a few eggs per week. In a couple weeks the days will start getting longer, so I'm going to skip adding the supplemental light.

Caught a funny pic of Tank & Cuddles today.


Then my jealous camera hog got in the way.
She doesn't understand why anyone would want to take a pic of anything else but her!


Precious just finished her molt & is looking good. She even started laying again.
Molting


Molting


Done! I honestly didn't think she'd ever be pretty again. Those pin feathers must have hurt!

 

[ellymayRans]

Hi all how is everyone today hope everyone had a good day

Thanks and welcome if I missed saying it before now!

Spent the day trying to get Xmas shopping done! Didn't finish but got a good chunk of it knocked out. It was a good day!

 

[ellymayRans]

@Faraday40 very nice pics! I love the photobomber!! Lol!

 

[wrb300]

Thanks and welcome if I missed saying it before now!

Spent the day trying to get Xmas shopping done! Didn't finish but got a good chunk of it knocked out. It was a good day!

Same here trying to get all my Xmas shopping done just need to get 3 items and done.

 

[Leahs Mom]

I put the molting girl out for the last 3 days/nights and she'd doing okay. Still not fully feathered but they are starting to unfurl some (enough to give her some cover). I put her out when it was mid-30s during the day. First night I brought her back in at night. After that I "bit the bullet" and left her out but it was above 30.

Anyhow, she's now out permanently but she's in a separated off area. She was ready to fight for her place, but the wing feathers aren't in well enough yet, so she can't fly from floor to roost. I have logs set up that she can hop up to get there, but when there are roost wars going on she's at a disadvantage and tries to fly up from the floor. Kept hitting herself in the neck. Ouch!

So once the wings come in, I'll let her back in the general population. There is one of the lowest birds that is determined to get rank above her and wants to attack. Can't wait until she's herself. I think she'll but that whipper-snapper in her place in short order.

 

[ellymayRans]

Never realized how pretty these are. do they tame well or hard to keep?  I dont believe i have seen white ones. thanks for sharing !

I did a lot of research and reading before getting them. I started with a young hen. Thanks to @pbirdhaven then about 5 months later I got a 2 year old male from her and penned them together for another month. .then I released her for a few days and he went nuts to be with her. I would bring her back to him every evening. After that I released her then a hour later him and he found her, they both free range and do great! I only have 1 acre but butted up to mature woods. They meander around the edge of the woods but never in too deep. They very rarely visit the neighbors but of the two one has a dog so it's usually only one of the neighbors. In October I acquired the two white peafowl. I kept them penned in the house for a month then released them and they don't leave the hens side. Adopted her as their mother I guess. I'm certain, as I've read plenty of stories, I'm pretty lucky it's really been a smooth transition for all of them. They are nothing like chickens. They are very large birds and even though I have gotten them to eat out of my hand it's a whole other story when capturing them to treat with meds..etc. Ice parasites etc..typical maintenance type treatment is a quite a chore. Now if penned and not free range that would be a bit easier but still a challenge. I think they are much calmer than the chickens. My male is just coming mature at 3 years this spring so while I have experienced the loud calls I'm not sure if it will be all that much worse or not. A lot of people say you either love or hate the way they sound. I do love it! They are no more loud than the roosters or a hens egg song. But that's just my opinion. Lol

The male has never been interested in roosting in the coop. He sleeps in a few different places around the house. Roof, coop roof and the deck railing some nights. The hen changes every now and again but not necessarily with him. She started sleeping in the coop on bad weather evenings when the babes joined her.

They get along just fine with the chickens, cats, dog and kids. I've had some scares when the male grabbed a young Silkie and while holding it he began to kick it but that was brief and didn't injure it. They have also went at a tree with a hawk in it all puffed up honking! It was comical and the hawk did fly off.

Sorry if I gave more information than you were looking for! Hahaha! I just like sharing!

 

[goodb]

Hey fellow hoosiers!

I'm trying to help my next door neighbor. She is looking for 5 or 6 layers to replace the few recently lost to a predator. Does anyone in the north central area be willing or able to sell a few girls right now?

Thank you for your help.

 

[kabhyper1]

Naked birds that look like hedge hogs, locking myself in the silkie coop, 2 bumble foot surgeries, a full day of barn cleaning, and a couple sickly silkies in the house. Yup that sums up my weekend.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Spent some time today teaching my son a bit about Pearl Harbor. From soliders presenting colors to talking with a survivor, it was a good way to honor the veterans and for him to hear a little bit more about the burning and sunken ships as well as the deaths. So many lives lost in under 2 hours. I'm trying to teach my little ones that war is not just something from storybooks. People died, good people, young people,fathers, brothers, heroes to many. It is so easy to forget the cost of our basic freedoms in our daily life or in a fight for more everyday freedoms.

Then we stood in line for oh so so long to get my parents a picture of the children with the mall Santa. Word of advice: They have a new company running the Santa pictures. First one should make an appointment on Simonmalls dot com then show up and expect to wait 20-30 minutes or less instead of standing hours in line. Second they did not give Santa a fan so bring Santa some ice water or other cooling treat. Third, some famileis are turning Santa pictures into family gatherings of multi generations and are taking many many different poses making the line move slow slow slowly.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

What does everyone thing about getting another shirt order together? If we keep it to 1 color, the shirts are not priced too bad once the order reaches 20 of any size assortment. Then shipping to the organizer is free but shipping to each individual buyer from the organizer would cost extra.
There is really no way to get the shirts here before Christmas or even the new year but well before spring break is doable.