INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[barb s]

ATTENTION ATTENTION

CHICKENFEST 2015 UPDATE​

DATE: SATURDAY, JUNE 27TH, 2015

LOCATION: SILVERWOOD MENNONITE CHUCH, GOSHEN INDIANA

TIME: 11:00 AM TO 6:00 PM

DINNER SERVED AT 1:00 PM (STILL WORKING ON THE MENU, BUT IT WILL BE DELICIOUS)

SOME OF THE ACTIVITIES THAT WE HAVE PLANNED ARE:

FF (Fermenting Feed) Demo
Raising Meal Worms Demo
Rabbitry Demo (From picking a rabbit to processing rabbit, and everything in between) presented by Chloe (Zoann's daughter)

Demos we are hoping to also have are cheese making and aquaponics.

EGG TOSS AND/OR BALLOON TOSS FOR THE ADULTS - WINNER GETTING 25.00 PREMIER 1 GIFT CERTIFICATE

EGG TOSS AND/OR BALLOON TOSS FOR THE OLDER KIDS - WINNER GETTING 15.00 GIFT CERTIFICATE UNDETERMINED YET

SIDEWALK CHICKEN DRAWING CONTEST FOR YOUNGER KIDS WINNER GETTING A PRIZE THAT HAS YET TO BE DECIDED.

50/50 DRAWINGS - MONIES MADE FROM THIS WILL GO TOWARDS CHICKENFEST EXPENSES FOR THIS YEAR OR NEXT YEAR'S EVENT.

DOOR PRIZES - 1ST PLACE PREMIER HEAT PLATE, 2ND PRIZE 50.00 PREMIER GIFT CERTIFICATE, 3RD & 4TH PRIZE 25.00 PREMIER GIFT CERTIFICATE.


WE WILL BE ASKING FOR A FREE WILL DONATION TO ALSO HELP COVER EXPENSES.

RSVP ME (BARB S) WITH THE NUMBER OF ADULTS, NUMBER, AGE AND GENDER OF CHILDREN THAT PLAN ON ATTENDING. THE DEADLINE FOR RSVP'S IS MAY 31ST. BUT PLEASE GET THEM TO ME AS SOON AS POSSIBLE AS THIS WILL HELP GREATLY WITH THE MEAL PLANNING AND ANY GIFT BAGS, ETC THAT WE MAY PUT TOGETHER.

 

[browncow15]

I'll have to see for sure when I open the incubator.  There are some black stars, sumatras, heritage RIR, and just maybe 1 or 2 BLRW.

Thanks, I'll probably pass for now. The BLRW are really the only ones id be interested in.

If anyone has black copper marans, blue laced red wyandotts, cream crested Legbars or salmon favorelle hatching eggs or can recommend a good breeder for any of them please PM me

 

[raisinemright]

He's a good looking steer! Is someone going to show him or is he just for food? Didn't you get a Holstein calf too?

Yeah he was ill when we got him and didn't make it too long. This little guy is food for the freezer, but he does come from very good show line

 

[Eliaria]

It was the 3rd most exciting day for me when I got my green egg for the first time after pining for them for YEARS! My second... the blue egg years ago... and of course, nothing beats your first egg. You only get one shot of that and you never forget it ^_^ I'm hoping to get a few darker olive eggs and for a BCM pullet to magically be dumped in my back yard since I have zero luck with them

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

It's been a really busy week here--we hatched 18 chicks (counting the one in progress and the last egg alive but waiting to pip), and I picked up three English blue Orpington hens.

I don't know what my curse is, but TWO different people who wanted large numbers of Jubilees have blown me off. One bought a large flock of adults without even having the courtesy of telling me. The other one received 10 Mottled Orps for her birthday and is no longer looking for Jubilees. SIGH SIGH SIGH because I set quite a few Jubilees in anticipation of these "orders." I have learned my lesson and will not take any more orders without deposits.

So if anyone would like some very darling Jubilee Orp chicks, I have several available now and more coming!

Its the hard part of raising and hatching. Very frustrating at times, you hear "OH I want this breed" and they don't follow up. I hatch to fit our needs anymore. If I find excess birds I fill the freezer if the buyer doesn't follow thru..

(insert your own expletives here)

Returned the deceased turkey poult because I had to go back for that heat lamp anyway... and got talked into "packing peanuts". I don't even know how many birds I'm up to now.

7 older ducks (two Pekin drakes, one Pekin hen, two Rouen hens, one broody Swedish Black)
+ 2 2-wk-old ducklings (one Indian Runner, one Khaki Campbell. 11-yr-old daughter dubbed the Campbell "Brownie", and my 6-yr-old son named the Runner "Joe".)
9 ducks total

3 BB bronze turkey poults
+1 BB white turkey poult
4 turkeys total

5 8-wk-old chickens
7 7-wk-olds
5 chickies about 3 wks old
2 2-wk-olds
4 two-day-old packing peanuts
23 chicks

I'm overrun now, officially. Don't think I'm going to RK if I can help it--least not until chick days are over. We've lost four chicks all total, and an inordinate percentage of my 'pullets' wound up being boys, which is the single biggest reason we kept acquiring more. Good news is that I'll likely be selling most of them once they get older, and we know what their personalities, manners and egg colors are, which'll take out a lot of the guess work and gambling for all of you lovely people.

Genders being undecided on most, here's the counts:

2 Welsummers (one roo, one hen)
2 SL Wyandottes
1 GL Wyandotte
2 Buff Orpingtons (turned out after the dog killed the BO roo that he was my mom's favorite, so I bought two more as packing peanuts)
3 Australorps (2 pullets, and a straight run packing peanut, but I'm pretty sure it's a pullet 'cause it's already getting tail feathers)
2 Light Brahmas
3 Dark Brahmas
1 Miscellaneous dark red chick (a roo for sure, might be a Barnevelder or OEG but no promises. So far the only sure thing is this: Gorgeous)
1 Jersey Giant (pullet)
6 EEs
23 chickens

You have a full house! I stay far away from any feed store this time of year, no kidding! When I do have to go, I avoid looking at the chick bins

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Meet Sir Loin he is a five month old (today) Charlet steer. Yesterday he weighed in at 480# of pure muscle. This guy is a beast! He was not happy with me at all yesterday, he almost cleared my stall walls!! but has settled down nice today actually somewhat friendly and will sorta let us pet his head.

What an impressive fella!!!!

Got my first green egg today.

Ooooh! congrats!

I have not posted on here for awhile but I have been keeping up. I think I just wen over board on my chicken math( if they all hatch) I just set the following 2 days a go.
2- Black copper Marans
3- lavender Marans
2-BBS marans
6- EE
6- Rhodebars
31- English BBS orps from 2 different breeder.........

if half of them hatch...I'M IN BIG TROUBLE....lol

I am truly very excited to add the color to my eggs basket and the Orpington these came from are VERY nice birds.

Excited for you!

 

[Indyshent]

Its the hard part of raising and hatching. Very frustrating at times, you hear "OH I want this breed" and they don't follow up. I hatch to fit our needs anymore. If I find excess birds I fill the freezer if the buyer doesn't follow thru..

You have a full house! I stay far away from any feed store this time of year, no kidding! When I do have to go, I avoid looking at the chick bins

I'm stuck bringing my children any time I go. Also, I only go to feed stores when I'm needing feed, chick meds or heat lamps. Poultry is the only reason I drive that far out of my way to shop anywhere

It wasn't even the kids that really talked me into the ducks; it was the sweet old great-grandma that was ooing and awwing over the kids as they were trying to catch a duckling. I'd been looking at raspberry bushes and planters when she came over and told me the whole story. Awww. Plus, as usual this year, I'd recently discovred a few more of my gals weren't gals after all and was sorely tempted by the pretty bluish EEs... that had a minimum purchase of six. Didn't want six more, and the nice lady kept finding me in the store, ooing and awwing over my kids, and the kids were ooing and awwing over the ducklings.

Pretty much everything else was strictly my fault for overbuying because I'm a sucker for cute things, and sweet, peeping babies in need of a mommy. Also, poultry purchases were very much tied to my finding either more roos than I paid for or the death of previously purchased chicks. I also told my husband that he could kill some this year if he really wants to. We were on the fence about Bacon last year because of his weirdness with the ducklings. I just couldn't bring myself to actually do it or let someone else do it because, well... he's Bacon. As for my latest buys, they boil down to me falling for a very weak poult and needing packing peanuts, mixed with my youngest son's love of turkeys, my mom's love for the buff Orp that died, my finding yet another roo in my flock, and my husband's desire to actually eat one this year. I'm hoping for hens because I really want to see the famous brooding skills of one and test out some hypotheses concerning wild vs BB turkeys. What can I say, I'm enthralled by poultry, ensnared by my own scientific curiosity and love of omelets

 

[RouletteRun]

I couldn't stand it, five chicks just wasn't enough. I had five Barred Plymouth Rock chicks delivered from efowl.com on Friday, but my little flock looked so small, I couldn't stand it. Yesterday (Saturday), I knew I had to act fast, I went to the TSC here in Anderson and they had ISA Brown pullets with a minimum buy of six, but they looked to be about the same size and age of my Rocks so I went ahead and bought the minimum six after I went back home to do my research on ISA Browns to see if I thought they would be the kind of bird I might like to keep. I added them straight into the brooder with the four day old Rocks and suddenly my mild mannered Rocks became aggressive, and that surprised me considering how well they got along with each other. I shouldn't say they were all aggressive, there were a couple that acted as if the new birds had been there all along and didn't seem to care much one way or the other, but there were two in particular that were very aggressive towards the new chicks, in particular going after their eyes, they weren't doing any real damage and I decided they were going to work it out for themselves to get their pecking order established, but this is the reason I knew if I was going to be adding new birds to the flock, I needed to not wait until there would be a big difference in the ages of the birds, and I thought the younger the better too. The good news is that now that they've had some time together and slept a night together, everybody seems to have figured out their place for the most part and there's not nearly the aggression taking place there was yesterday.

Based upon coloring, and actions, I think one of my Rocks may well be a rooster (another deciding factor towards getting more pullets) and I live in the city. If he is in fact a he, I'd really like to keep him, but I'm worried about the crowing. I've discovered this product on YouTube (

), and it doesn't seem to hurt the rooster at all, but it sure makes his crow a lot less pronounced and I'm considering something like this if he is in fact a he. I'm curious as to anybody with any experience with this or similar product, I'm not interested in harming the bird to keep him quiet, and I'd really hate to have to kill him just cause he's a he.

I'm also having a little bit of a pasty butt problem with the one I think might be a rooster, I've been putting apple cider vinegar in the drinking water, but it doesn't seem to be helping him. It's alright though, I've identified that he's a bird I have to give a little special care to and we're taking care of it, even if he's not a big fan of wet tail feathers. So far, eleven birds and all still alive and active.


Now I have to build a bigger chicken coop this week.

 

[bradselig]

I've noticed pasty butt more of an issue with shipped chicks and feed store chicks (which have also been no shipped at some point). I think the stress is the cause. I rarely have issues since hatching my own. That being said, I've also noticed if the temps are off, i also have issues with pasty butt. Typically if it's too hot. Might double check but I thing your issue with pasty butt is from the shipping.

 

[RouletteRun]

Got my first green egg today.

Congrats on the new layer!
Now all you need is the ham to go with it.