INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[browncow15]

My pretty egg basket today. Apparently my Legbars and at least one of my EEs have started to lay again!


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[kabhyper1]

Yay browncow15! Mine are getting back into it also, the cold has set them back a bit though.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

I'd be getting more eggs if they would stop freezing and splitting. Only reason I'm getting 3 non-split eggs a day is because Margie wants to brood right now and is keeping some of the eggs from freezing as a result.



Beautiful egg assortments, y'all!

 

[kabhyper1]

Some of my girls eggs are really dirty, no matter how clean the boxes are they still get poop on them. Feet probably. Any suggestions for safe cleaning? I don't really want to wash them, but my customers may gag if I leave them the way they are.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Some of my girls eggs are really dirty, no matter how clean the boxes are they still get poop on them. Feet probably. Any suggestions for safe cleaning? I don't really want to wash them, but my customers may gag if I leave them the way they are.

I wash eggs that are dirty and put them in the fridge. They do have to warm back up for some recipes. Mayo and bread dough both need room temp eggs.

 

[kabhyper1]

I wash eggs that are dirty and put them in the fridge. They do have to warm back up for some recipes. Mayo and bread dough both need room temp eggs.

Do you use soap? Or just warm water?

 

[Leahs Mom]

Questions, Questions, and MORE Questions:

What is the best way to heat an 8 x 12 shed if I want to use part of it to brood mid sized chicks and part of it as a birthing stall for goats.

Next on goats, if i have 2 does give birth very close together can one nurse the other's kid or will the kids know who to nurse from. I'm hoping that the kids sell fast because I want the milk. Or maybe that one of the moms does the nursing and the other is milked. My children love goats milk and the milk can be used for cheese, soap, even pink eye treatments.

I'll be curious to hear heat recommendations that people have tried. There just has to be a good solution to heat a shed safely for brooding and birthing. I see that the sweeter heaters are used for such uses, but I would want to see one and feel what kind of heat it puts out before purchasing one. I get the feeling that they have to be pretty close to the animals for the heat to be felt. But I'd love to find a heater that can stand up to the dust in a barn and still provide heat that is very fire-safe.

Besides a salimander type heater, what do folks use in garages or workshops? Seems like that could be the answer.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Questions, Questions, and MORE Questions:

What is the best way to heat an 8 x 12 shed if I want to use part of it to brood mid sized chicks and part of it as a birthing stall for goats.

Next on goats, if i have 2 does give birth very close together can one nurse the other's kid or will the kids know who to nurse from. I'm hoping that the kids sell fast because I want the milk. Or maybe that one of the moms does the nursing and the other is milked. My children love goats milk and the milk can be used for cheese, soap, even pink eye treatments.

I'm also looking for recommendations for disbudders / dehorners.

Gramma Sugar was very attentive to Sophie's baby (your Ice Cream doeling)
She was right there even helping with the birthing. She helped dry off the baby and I honestly think she would have nursed her without question. If the does are kept in community housing, I can't see a reason why it won't work. Yours have grown up together, so I believe it should be fine. Do find a method to mark the kids as to who is who's if you do pedigree for the nubians.
I would consider a safe radiant heat thats not forced air, no fans to fail and cause fires or shortages. Ceramic heaters, or oil filled are much safer.

 

[kittydoc]

I have extra eggs just waiting to be washed in my kitchen.  so far only 1 dozen is spoken for.  My layer flock is giving me between 1-2 extra dozens of eggs a day.  It just depends on how many I use for meals and baking. 

I was getting $4 a dozen at one point in 2013.  Then all my hens molted at the same time and all my customers found other eggs.  Now I get between $2 and $3 a dozen.  Because of this, I recommend egg sellers try to get a few pullets late in the summer as they would hopefully not molt the same time as other hens in the flock for at least a year.

Agreed, you don't want to lose customers because of egg shortages. We avoid this by both adding a few young girls annually and by adding artificial light. We never see more than a 10 or 20% molt, which does not affect laying much. If you don't use artificial light then you have to totally repopulate to get normal winter rates, but then you get more when the mature girls pickup laying in late winter or spring.

I know most of you know this, but it bears repeating: pullets less than a year old will lay at top capacity during their FIRST winter, and only that winter, unless you add light the following years. Some mature hens of certain breeds will lay some, without light, but not a lot...and possibly not at all if they molted late in the fall.

 

[kittydoc]

jchny2000, have you tried an oil-filled electric radiator personally? Or has anyone? I would think it safe since there is no way for dust or straw to cause a fire, as long as the cord is protected with conduit. I do wonder how to keep it from being a poop magnet, though. All my roos except the Jubilees have comb frostbite, but I already use heatlamps, block some floor openings at night, and added a ton of insulation. There is still adequate ventilation since nothing is perfectly tight.

Jubilee Orps may be the dumbest chickens ever, but they rock this bitter weather. No frostbite on anyone. Solid egg production. They snuggle very close together for shared warmth. Plus they are superbly fluffy and trap lots of heat like wearing down over wool over fleece.