INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[kittydoc]

@bearbottom That chicken looks like it would wear combat boots!
@kittydoc ~ Re Idiom "Mad as a Wet Hen"
I'm sure you know that idioms aren't to be taken literary.

At least don't kill two birds with one stone or I will report you to the authorities! haha

I actually looked up the meaning of the saying after we became chicken owners. Apparently, the idiom refers to breaking a broody hen by dunking her in cold water.

Hope everyone north of here (well, that's everyone), is hanging in there during the storms! @pipdzipdnreadytogo ~ I did see news coverage about Ft. Wayne's storm damage. Glad your mom is okay! Has your little duckie been in an actual puddle or is it still a house baby? I was going to repost your photo, but the site is not letting me at this time.

Well now, that WOULD be a mad hen! Broodies are mad enough without being wet! Thanks for educating all of us. Of course I know idioms aren't meant to be taken literally, but it just had to be something else besides "a wet hen" since that doesn't make them mad. Not most of them anyway.

 

[leslea]

We're trying a bunch of new tomatoes this year. One of them is a "currant" tomato--meaning it's the size of a currant (tiny). It's called Broad Ripple Currant tomato. I had a heck of a time locating seeds--which is ironic, because the tomato is heirloom variety from the 1900's, in the Broad Ripple area which is only 10 miles from my house.

These tomatoes were thought to be extinct, until a plant was found growing through a crack in a sidewalk in the Broad Ripple Neighborhood in Indianapolis in 1984. The seedling was transplanted, and since then, they have been propagated, and brought back from the near brink of extinction.

We got our garden out 2 weeks later than usual this year due to vacation, so everything's ripeness is delayed. This one is our first to ripen. They're the cutest, tiniest tomatoes I've ever seen.
The tomatoes taste fantastic. They have a very low acid flavor, very juicy, albeit so, so tiny. This plant is huge, the foliage is tall and bushy, and the little tomatoes grow in clusters of 8. The plant is so leafy that you can't really see the clusters until more than half of them have turned yellow.

I didn't have a dime to provide size scale, so I stuck a nickel in the picture.


How are your tomatoes doing this year with all this rain?

So sorry have been MIA. The fair is over! I think I might have my life back! With 2 kids in 2 completely different things it meant being there all day almost every single day. But my son made it to state with his demo of his U.P. Glove (Unlimited Potential). Sort of a robotic control glove. He worked on it very hard so we are very proud. Of course we all caught a nasty cold during the fair, yet still pushed through and now are feeling pretty lousy.

Very jealous of your gardens. Apparently we are not having a garden this year. First time in years. Right as I was getting ready to plant seeds - 2 months ago we all got sick. Then we got got sick chicks. Between sick chicks, sick people, drastically increases the number of birds on our property and the fair, on top of on going health issues in our house there was not the time or energy to do anything with a garden. Maybe I will still try to plant some tomatoes and peppers REALLY LATE. The first year I had a garden did not get plants in the ground until July so I know I can still get something out of it as long as we don't get a drought! @pginsber my seeds are all for tomatoes and peppers I have not planted before.

On the chicken front: We were very excited to get 9 eggs for the first time!

This means some of our pullets have started laying since we only have 7 hens! Woohoo!

If you live in Indianapolis - Indy Rezone is going to the City Council on July 13th!
With all we have going on I was not able to give an update on Indy Rezone: Almost 2 weeks ago, June 17, DH and I went to the Metropoliton Development Commitee meeting. @Dreamwalker came too. We came away more than a little disillusioned. Six people spoke, 5 against it, the only one for it was on the committee who wrote it – and she even said multiple times that it was flawed. Right before the meeting started she passed over two, 3 inch thick notebooks of changes no one had seen or read. They still passed it on to City Council.DH and I were the only 2 we spoke about the livestock part of things - we also touched on other concerns. The other three had other concerns with it.
The lady who spoke for it was – no better way to say this – deceptive. When asked if this was presented to the public, she said there were over 135 meetings. She was counting anytime any organization or neighborhood in the city said they wanted someone to speak from Indy Rezone. Most (if not all) of these meeting were not publicized in any of the ways they said they would last summer: Facebook, Twitter, the (now non-existant) website. The general public was not informed. So most people with serious concerns had no clue these meetings were happening and could not voice there opinion. Silence on the part of Indy Rezone this past year makes it feel like they are trying to “get something by us”.
Here is a website link: http://www.indy.gov/egov/city/dmd/planning/services/current/Pages/ordinance.aspx

I will post more about Indy Rezone later today. We are so behind on everything - house chores, yard, chicken chores. So much to do, I don't have the time for a longer post at the moment!

Thought I would post this picture. I took it at Aldi. DD is already brainstorming for 4H projects for next year and is talking about doing one on the egg shortage and egg price increase. @Faraday40 we kinda have an egg shortage - with the egg price increase more people want farm fresh eggs than we can provide eggs for and still have some for ourselves!

Today has been such an emotional rollercoaster. Grandma ffinally lost her battle again lymphoma and passed away this morning. Received a call and was offered the job I've been interviewing for. Only issuetheey can't offer me what they thought they could in pay. So I have less than 24hrs to get back with them if I want to accept the job or not. Part of accepting the job willrlikely be me sselling the house and relocating closer to fort Wayne. I will be renting until I get to the position I want which may require relocating four of state.

So with that all being said I am going to be going through and starting to sell off my complete flock. This is going to hurt the most lol. I will be getting pictures and prices this week if weather cooperates. So be on the look out for what I have for sale!

We're trying a bunch of new tomatoes this year. One of them is a "currant" tomato--meaning it's the size of a currant (tiny). It's called Broad Ripple Currant tomato. I had a heck of a time locating seeds--which is ironic, because the tomato is heirloom variety from the 1900's, in the Broad Ripple area which is only 10 miles from my house.

These tomatoes were thought to be extinct, until a plant was found growing through a crack in a sidewalk in the Broad Ripple Neighborhood in Indianapolis in 1984. The seedling was transplanted, and since then, they have been propagated, and brought back from the near brink of extinction.

We got our garden out 2 weeks later than usual this year due to vacation, so everything's ripeness is delayed. This one is our first to ripen. They're the cutest, tiniest tomatoes I've ever seen.
The tomatoes taste fantastic. They have a very low acid flavor, very juicy, albeit so, so tiny. This plant is huge, the foliage is tall and bushy, and the little tomatoes grow in clusters of 8. The plant is so leafy that you can't really see the clusters until more than half of them have turned yellow.

I didn't have a dime to provide size scale, so I stuck a nickel in the picture.


How are your tomatoes doing this year with all this rain?

One of my plants is growing. The other is barely growing. The third got broken by a dog. If they produce any tomatoes I will be thrilled! The little currant tomatoes look lovely! I love that backstory!

So sorry have been MIA. The fair is over! I think I might have my life back! With 2 kids in 2 completely different things it meant being there all day almost every single day. But my son made it to state with his demo of his U.P. Glove (Unlimited Potential). Sort of a robotic control glove. He worked on it very hard so we are very proud. Of course we all caught a nasty cold during the fair, yet still pushed through and now are feeling pretty lousy.

Very jealous of your gardens. Apparently we are not having a garden this year. First time in years. Right as I was getting ready to plant seeds - 2 months ago we all got sick. Then we got got sick chicks. Between sick chicks, sick people, drastically increases the number of birds on our property and the fair, on top of on going health issues in our house there was not the time or energy to do anything with a garden. Maybe I will still try to plant some tomatoes and peppers REALLY LATE. The first year I had a garden did not get plants in the ground until July so I know I can still get something out of it as long as we don't get a drought! @pginsber my seeds are all for tomatoes and peppers I have not planted before.

On the chicken front: We were very excited to get 9 eggs for the first time!

This means some of our pullets have started laying since we only have 7 hens! Woohoo!

If you live in Indianapolis - Indy Rezone is going to the City Council on July 13th!
With all we have going on I was not able to give an update on Indy Rezone: Almost 2 weeks ago, June 17, DH and I went to the Metropoliton Development Commitee meeting. @Dreamwalker came too. We came away more than a little disillusioned. Six people spoke, 5 against it, the only one for it was on the committee who wrote it – and she even said multiple times that it was flawed. Right before the meeting started she passed over two, 3 inch thick notebooks of changes no one had seen or read. They still passed it on to City Council.DH and I were the only 2 we spoke about the livestock part of things - we also touched on other concerns. The other three had other concerns with it.
The lady who spoke for it was – no better way to say this – deceptive. When asked if this was presented to the public, she said there were over 135 meetings. She was counting anytime any organization or neighborhood in the city said they wanted someone to speak from Indy Rezone. Most (if not all) of these meeting were not publicized in any of the ways they said they would last summer: Facebook, Twitter, the (now non-existant) website. The general public was not informed. So most people with serious concerns had no clue these meetings were happening and could not voice there opinion. Silence on the part of Indy Rezone this past year makes it feel like they are trying to “get something by us”.
Here is a website link: http://www.indy.gov/egov/city/dmd/planning/services/current/Pages/ordinance.aspx

I will post more about Indy Rezone later today. We are so behind on everything - house chores, yard, chicken chores. So much to do, I don't have the time for a longer post at the moment!

Thought I would post this picture. I took it at Aldi. DD is already brainstorming for 4H projects for next year and is talking about doing one on the egg shortage and egg price increase. @Faraday40 we kinda have an egg shortage - with the egg price increase more people want farm fresh eggs than we can provide eggs for and still have some for ourselves!

People were complaining about the price of eggs at the store this weekend. I didn't realize there was a shortage! Interesting.

Congrats to your child on that invention! That sounds like an amazing achievement.

Today has been such an emotional rollercoaster. Grandma ffinally lost her battle again lymphoma and passed away this morning. Received a call and was offered the job I've been interviewing for. Only issuetheey can't offer me what they thought they could in pay. So I have less than 24hrs to get back with them if I want to accept the job or not. Part of accepting the job willrlikely be me sselling the house and relocating closer to fort Wayne. I will be renting until I get to the position I want which may require relocating four of state.

So with that all being said I am going to be going through and starting to sell off my complete flock. This is going to hurt the most lol. I will be getting pictures and prices this week if weather cooperates. So be on the look out for what I have for sale!

Sorry for your loss, Brad, but congrats on the job offer. Hopefully there will be a chicken run in my future soon.

 

[flyladyrocks]

People were complaining about the price of eggs at the store this weekend. I didn't realize there was a shortage! Interesting.

Egg shortage due to AI and 48 million chickens lost b/c of it. The egg inspector at Aldi said it would be a minimum of 7-9 months before farms even begin to recover and even longer until stores reflect results of recovery. Anything containing eggs will likely go up in price.

So you motivated me I decided to procrastinate all the things I should be doing and see what is the latest in the AI world. Here is what I found:

from http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/disease_information/avian_influenza/
News Update June 26, 2015
USA (HPAI H5N2)
Fifteen additional cases of the H5N2 avian influenza virus have been reported. Two involved wild animals captured as part of surveillance: a snowy owl in Oconto County, Wisconsin, and a Canada goose in Macomb County, Michigan. Six outbreaks occurred in Minnesota at commercial turkey farms in Brown, Kandiyohi, and Renville Counties, and a chicken farm in Renville County. Outbreaks in Iowa included four commercial turkey farms in Hamilton, Sac, and Sioux Counties, a chicken farm in Clay County, and one backyard game bird flock in Sioux County. Nebraska reported an outbreak in a backyard chicken flock in Dixon County. The infected farms have been quarantined, and a total of 1,810,911 birds were culled to prevent the virus from spreading.

I found this the most interesting b/c the USDA/APHIS map is not that up to date and either is the other map I refer to (links below).

https://batchgeo.com/map/2015-avian-influenza-outbreaks

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/wps/porta.../sa_detections_by_states/ct_ai_pacific_flyway

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Last few days have been crazy! But had to share the first gosling picture this year

Brown Chinese and likely a hen, will be going to live with my daughter. I have 3 eggs left and they have stopped laying this year, ugh. My geese have had several infertile eggs and quitters, and I am blaming the rain, cold and hot weird weather. Also think they may be too FAT lol, I need to back off on the all flock for the summer! Here she is, just precious! I have plenty of ducklings to keep her company. hoping the last 3 eggs hatch so she isn't alone.

Off to catch up on our thread.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

The repercussions of AI are really starting to show up in the general public. I was at a family reunion this past weekend and had a chance to visit with one of my cousins. She is a dietitian and works as a supervisor over a number of the northern branches of the Miller's Merry Manor nursing homes, planning menus, etc. I'm not sure how long they have been experiencing this now, but she said they cannot get eggs -- or in very limited quantities -- from their suppliers anymore. In her particular settings, they use a lot of eggs as protein sources for their residents. Now she is needing to revise all their menus and figure out how they can make protein available for them -- especially in such an easy to eat/chew form. She had also been told (perhaps from her suppliers -- not sure) that it could take about 18 months for supplies to get back to normal. I'm wondering how grocery store supplies are holding up? I'm guessing anyone with extra eggs could find a way to get the word out and they could be sold. Eggs may become a precious commodity in the coming days and small flock producers will end up being a great resource. Maybe cities thinking about changing their ordinances to not allow backyard flocks may realize the error of their ways and do an about face to try to get as many people as possible producing eggs if we start having shortages in the grocery stores!

I am getting buried in egg requests too. Have divided breeds to start raising my own comets.. White leghorn X RIR. I never seem to learn, keep a few hens for myself lol!

Quote: I really doubt that farm fresh eggs are an option for them. Especially because for those residents who like their eggs "over easy" they have to use pasteurized eggs, which has been even harder for them to purchase in the bulk form they use.
Its really strict, the nursing home both DDs worked at set protocol that all eggs are fully cooked, period. Eww! I like my eggs with runny yolks over easy and lots of pepper! I bet its made some residents unhappy.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Definitely an egg shortage in the Chicagoland area. (Not for our family, though.)

The tomatoes look great. Nothing close to ripe tomatoes for me. With the death of my mom, family illnesses, & an additional 5 funerals, I couldn't plant the garden until early June. I had to buy some plants to make up for lost time, but I at least got something into the ground. On the bright side, we got a bumper crop of cherries & the raspberries should be bursting soon. We got our 1st taste last night!

The rain slightly flooded part of the garden a few times, but for the most part, we're OK. The chickens don't seem to mind all the mud. My white Coronation Sussex has a black beak, wattles, feet & legs with a gray chest. I think she's discovered the fun of digging for worms. My lavender orps are already gray, so they look about the same. LOL I've always joked about wanting waterfowl, so this year between the rain & the chickens, I feel like I already have some.

My adult birds are loving this, and of course ducks and geese.

Not a single tomato anywhere near ripe on our end.

My garden is pretty well hopeless. some corn, potatoes and onion, thats it.

So sorry have been MIA. The fair is over! I think I might have my life back! With 2 kids in 2 completely different things it meant being there all day almost every single day. But my son made it to state with his demo of his U.P. Glove (Unlimited Potential). Sort of a robotic control glove. He worked on it very hard so we are very proud. Of course we all caught a nasty cold during the fair, yet still pushed through and now are feeling pretty lousy.

Very jealous of your gardens. Apparently we are not having a garden this year. First time in years. Right as I was getting ready to plant seeds - 2 months ago we all got sick. Then we got got sick chicks. Between sick chicks, sick people, drastically increases the number of birds on our property and the fair, on top of on going health issues in our house there was not the time or energy to do anything with a garden. Maybe I will still try to plant some tomatoes and peppers REALLY LATE. The first year I had a garden did not get plants in the ground until July so I know I can still get something out of it as long as we don't get a drought! @pginsber my seeds are all for tomatoes and peppers I have not planted before.

On the chicken front: We were very excited to get 9 eggs for the first time!

This means some of our pullets have started laying since we only have 7 hens! Woohoo!

If you live in Indianapolis - Indy Rezone is going to the City Council on July 13th!
With all we have going on I was not able to give an update on Indy Rezone: Almost 2 weeks ago, June 17, DH and I went to the Metropoliton Development Commitee meeting. @Dreamwalker came too. We came away more than a little disillusioned. Six people spoke, 5 against it, the only one for it was on the committee who wrote it – and she even said multiple times that it was flawed. Right before the meeting started she passed over two, 3 inch thick notebooks of changes no one had seen or read. They still passed it on to City Council.DH and I were the only 2 we spoke about the livestock part of things - we also touched on other concerns. The other three had other concerns with it.
The lady who spoke for it was – no better way to say this – deceptive. When asked if this was presented to the public, she said there were over 135 meetings. She was counting anytime any organization or neighborhood in the city said they wanted someone to speak from Indy Rezone. Most (if not all) of these meeting were not publicized in any of the ways they said they would last summer: Facebook, Twitter, the (now non-existant) website. The general public was not informed. So most people with serious concerns had no clue these meetings were happening and could not voice there opinion. Silence on the part of Indy Rezone this past year makes it feel like they are trying to “get something by us”.
Here is a website link: http://www.indy.gov/egov/city/dmd/planning/services/current/Pages/ordinance.aspx

I will post more about Indy Rezone later today. We are so behind on everything - house chores, yard, chicken chores. So much to do, I don't have the time for a longer post at the moment!

Thought I would post this picture. I took it at Aldi. DD is already brainstorming for 4H projects for next year and is talking about doing one on the egg shortage and egg price increase. @Faraday40 we kinda have an egg shortage - with the egg price increase more people want farm fresh eggs than we can provide eggs for and still have some for ourselves!

I hope anyone in marion county can attend. If I can I will be there! Every small bite they take away, is one less thing our kids can learn from. Just a total shame.

@pipdzipdnreadytogo and @kittydoc I am over all this rain too. I have a few pullets/cockerels who absolutely love the rain. It will be pouring buckets and they will run out into it and stand there with their faces in the rain and then excitedly run around in the puddles and swamp in our backyard. They are like little kids - which I guess they are. But I call them the ornery teenagers since they do not want to go into their coop at "curfew" every night.

More rain tomorrow and Friday it looks like. We are having a 10 x 12 shed/coop delivered friday and really need the ground to dry out a little bit!

Mine teenies are being stinkers too. One lil roo, an EE has matured enough he is trying to crow!

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Today has been such an emotional rollercoaster. Grandma ffinally lost her battle again lymphoma and passed away this morning. Received a call and was offered the job I've been interviewing for. Only issuetheey can't offer me what they thought they could in pay. So I have less than 24hrs to get back with them if I want to accept the job or not. Part of accepting the job willrlikely be me sselling the house and relocating closer to fort Wayne. I will be renting until I get to the position I want which may require relocating four of state.

So with that all being said I am going to be going through and starting to sell off my complete flock. This is going to hurt the most lol. I will be getting pictures and prices this week if weather cooperates. So be on the look out for what I have for sale!

Oh my.. Brad I know this is a big life change. Make sure its what you want. I wish you, always the best and we are here for you.

Quote: Awesome links and thanks for sharing!

 

[kittydoc]

Today has been such an emotional rollercoaster. Grandma ffinally lost her battle again lymphoma and passed away this morning. Received a call and was offered the job I've been interviewing for. Only issuetheey can't offer me what they thought they could in pay. So I have less than 24hrs to get back with them if I want to accept the job or not. Part of accepting the job willrlikely be me sselling the house and relocating closer to fort Wayne. I will be renting until I get to the position I want which may require relocating four of state.

So with that all being said I am going to be going through and starting to sell off my complete flock. This is going to hurt the most lol. I will be getting pictures and prices this week if weather cooperates. So be on the look out for what I have for sale!

I'm sorry for your loss, Brad, but happy about your job offer. You can find farm/semirural property not far from Fort Wayne--lots of Amish/Mennonites up there. I lived there for a year and enjoyed it. We were going to sell our house, but I started my job in 2007. The bottom fell out of the housing market, and my teenage daughter guilted me into staying here, too, so after a year, I moved back after speinding my time in Fort Wayne in an apartment.

 

[kittydoc]

We've started checking our oldest girls individually to see who's laying and how often. The first one we tried is laying at least some of the really weird eggs we get and always keep for ourselves. She is on the stewing hen list for fall. Baldie is our last Jersey Giant and she wouldn't even be alive if we didn't keep her in the garage the entire winter the year before last. She's an "omega" bird who gets picked on even though she is bigger than everyone but the Jubilees in the big common coop/yard. I won't mind putting some in the freezer this year since I'll have 7 Bielefelders laying by about January, plus a few Orp pullets, too. We only have a list of 3 birds so far who get to live their entire natural lives with us because we just love 'em: Lillian (Australorp named after my late MIL), Sweetie (a very small BO who is more like a puppy than a chicken), and Sam (Ameracauna who is probably the smartest and most curious bird we own). Sam could fly out of the fenced area any time she felt like it, but she never has. We know she can fly that high because she has flown from the ground to DH's shoulder, which is roughly fence height. I have to modify a chicken saddle for her because right now she is living in the family group with LaRue, my lavender Orp roo, and he's wearing her back feathers off pretty badly. I can't even see her when he's on top of her!

But I swear I'm going to lose my mind if it doesn't stop raining. We put our garden in really late this year and can't tell if anything has suffered yet. They are all growing! Our resident bunnies were chomping the leaves of the hot peppers, so DH had to put some chicken wire around the plant cages. They've left the 'maters and squash alone. We also have some volunteers veggies that we're anxiously awaiting identification for.

I don't know why, but DH put in a row of sunflowers. I think they are going to get too much shade when they're grown, but right now they are the tallest plants in the garden.

The best thing is the neighbors did not have thier apple trees sprayed this year to sterilize them, so come fall, the chickens will have a gazillion apples to eat and it won't cost us a thing (we have carte blanche to use them, since they don't spray them for bugs, either).

We also added a few landscaping trees/shrubs. We added three Korean dogwoods with variegated leaves which are gorgeous, and some shrubs with yellow/green leaves, but the shrubs don't look happy. I think they have had their fill of the rain, too. The dogwoods are digging it. We also bought some variegated hostas that are lovely. (See a trend here? I love plants with variegated leaves!)

Here's hoping the excess rain stops soon, but that it's not followed by a hot drought!

 

[leslea]

Egg shortage due to AI and 48 million chickens lost b/c of it. The egg inspector at Aldi said it would be a minimum of 7-9 months before farms even begin to recover and even longer until stores reflect results of recovery. Anything containing eggs will likely go up in price.

So you motivated me I decided to procrastinate all the things I should be doing and see what is the latest in the AI world. Here is what I found:

from http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/disease_information/avian_influenza/
News Update June 26, 2015
USA (HPAI H5N2)
Fifteen additional cases of the H5N2 avian influenza virus have been reported. Two involved wild animals captured as part of surveillance: a snowy owl in Oconto County, Wisconsin, and a Canada goose in Macomb County, Michigan. Six outbreaks occurred in Minnesota at commercial turkey farms in Brown, Kandiyohi, and Renville Counties, and a chicken farm in Renville County. Outbreaks in Iowa included four commercial turkey farms in Hamilton, Sac, and Sioux Counties, a chicken farm in Clay County, and one backyard game bird flock in Sioux County. Nebraska reported an outbreak in a backyard chicken flock in Dixon County. The infected farms have been quarantined, and a total of 1,810,911 birds were culled to prevent the virus from spreading.

I found this the most interesting b/c the USDA/APHIS map is not that up to date and either is the other map I refer to (links below).

https://batchgeo.com/map/2015-avian-influenza-outbreaks

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/wps/porta.../sa_detections_by_states/ct_ai_pacific_flyway

1.8 million birds.