INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[browncow15]

[COLOR=FF0000]SURVEY.... Need advice![/COLOR]

What do you all think is a reasonable pay for someone taking care of your chickens while you're gone? 

Specifically, this is an adult.  He will have to drive over 2x a day.  Morning:  Put out feed and be sure water is fresh.    Evening:  Be sure everyone is in and doors closed.  Gather eggs.  Put feed out if needed.


Would you pay by the day?
Would you pay by the "job"  (as in a flat price for a week or weekend?)
HOW MUCH????

I know numbers have been all over the place but I thought I'd add my 2 cents. I pay a family friend $5 per trip to feed, water and collect eggs when we are gone. She lives about 10 mins away.

 

[pginsber]

Vacation pet sitter:
Funny this comes up as we're driving around on our own vacation. We're very fortunate to have fantastic neighbors. Woman next door buys dog biscuits & doesn't even own a dog! She would be personally insulted if we allowed anyone but her watch our dogs. She gets paid with dog snuggles & some type of souvenir. Another family usually cares for the flock. They get paid with eggs, entertainment, & we care for their small pets in return. This summer we have a HUGE Monarch butterfly project going on. Our 2 pet &house sitters are sharing the care of them. Each day we're getting pics & texts about the butterflies released. #72-74 were released this morning. I truly don't know what I should pay for insect care. Perhaps their own pet larvae?

Please share more about this Monarch project. What is it? How did you hear about it? how much did it cost, what were the benefits....etc. Please do tell!

 

[Indyshent]

Vacation pet sitter:
Funny this comes up as we're driving around on our own vacation. We're very fortunate to have fantastic neighbors. Woman next door buys dog biscuits & doesn't even own a dog! She would be personally insulted if we allowed anyone but her watch our dogs. She gets paid with dog snuggles & some type of souvenir. Another family usually cares for the flock. They get paid with eggs, entertainment, & we care for their small pets in return. This summer we have a HUGE Monarch butterfly project going on. Our 2 pet &house sitters are sharing the care of them. Each day we're getting pics & texts about the butterflies released. #72-74 were released this morning. I truly don't know what I should pay for insect care. Perhaps their own pet larvae?

Do tell how I can raise monarchs and other assorted butterflies. What a cool project for kids! I've been trying to boost their population by allowing milkweed to spring up everywhere, but I have yet to see a single monarch this year

 

[iamfivewire]

we have lots of milkweed, but havent noticed any monarchs for a few years
: (

 

[Indyshent]

More news to ponder on from the mini farm:

Saturday, while I was checking my one and only surviving zucchini plant, the mole on my shoulder felt Vermithrax Pejorative (BBB hen) was giving it a look of supreme imperious disgust (which only turkeys can properly give, but which, however, they cannot help but give) and thusly also felt the need to imply it knew where and with whom she will spend Christmas. Her honor and good intentions called into question, she furiously pecked it.

That night, my darling daughter thought she saw a "bug" on my shoulder, and, after much questioning and various medical ministrations by my darling husband, we have discovered that the question of this "bug" has two possible answers:

1) The mole, having been injured by Vermithrax, has now donned a large black and purple Puffalump costume in the hopes that she doesn't recognize it the next time she passes my crouched form.

2) The mole had already gone rogue melanoma, and Vermithrax was just letting me know what a dangerous blight it was on my person (and that it had grievously insulted her honor and good intentions).

After checking the state of this "mole" (if it is still a mole and neither Puffalump nor melanoma), I have discovered a somewhat lessened state of fluff in the costume, though it is still quite dark, large and quite different of appearance than it was a week ago. Only time (and, if time should prove uncooperative, a biopsy) will tell.

Swelling seems to be going down instead of blossoming further, so we're guessing said mole just adopted a Puffalump disguise to ward her off. Still all kinds of funny colors, but these under-skin fireworks seem to be more to do with my DH's ministrations (you know, like jabbing needles into it). thanks very much for the prayers. I hated having that cancer talk with my daughter (would've liked to have waited for that, but she kind of discovered it, then DH brought it up... then it fell to me to tell her what cancer is, that skin cancer frequently looks a lot like what they were seeing, etc, etc).

 

[Indyshent]

we have lots of milkweed, but havent noticed any monarchs for a few years
: (

Blame RoundUp for a 96% decrease in their population. Thankfully, they're rebounding, but they're still down to 20% of the population of even a few years ago. Much help is needed still.

 

[daskhan]

So medical stuff on hold for the moment I have a chicken question
I swapped for some Araucana eggs and she sent ten 6 clearly green four looked blue.. Any ideas? She said they are all Araucanas

 

[iamfivewire]

little mamas boy . . . . .

 

[Faraday40]

We've been raising monarch butterflies for years. I actually dug up some milkweed & planted them in a flowerbed with phlox, echinachea, & columbine. Yes the milkweed takes over, but the other flowers fight back. Make sure you get milkweed from a place where it's considered a "weed" & not a protected "prairie plant." A prairie preserve is not a good place to dig. LOL Don't bother with seed pods - low success. If you ask around someone will likely (& happily) allow you to dig some up.

Once the milkweed is established (usually the next summer), we harvest the eggs by snipping the leaf around each egg. The ants & other insects tend to do harm to the tiny monarch eggs & caterpillars. By putting about 8-10 eggs in a babyfood jar with a paper towel/ rubber band lid, then adding about 1/2 milkweed leaf daily, we get a very good hatch. In the beginning, it's impossible to handle the caterpillars. = only as fat as a thread! We just add milkweed daily until they're big enough to see easily. At about 1 week, we transfer the larvae to a bigger aquarium. As my preschooler explained, "They eat & eat & eat. And poop & poop & poop." For this reason, I like an easy to clean plastic container for daily dumping & refilling with milkweed. When about 4cm long & looking very FAT, the larvae climb upward. I like to have a paper towel covering the top. The larvae attach to the paper towel top & hang upside down like a J. Once they wiggle their skin off (the final molt) & harden into the pretty green chrysails, I remove the paper towel & hang it with a safety pin in our butterfly house. About 10-14 days later, they hatch out butterflies. The kids observe the wings to tell me the gender & of course they must name them. We used to take a photo of each (that way my daughter could have them FOREVER & still let them go). Because we hatch 60-200 each summer, she thankfully gave up on that idea after 2 years.

I use what we have on hand, so the cost is always free. The painted lady kits are very expensive. I recommend using a pop up hamper for a butterfly house. If you have a little talent, use 2 embroidery hoops, some tulle from a fabric store & a cardboard pizza circle to make a fancy hanging butterfly house. (I made a long 10ft cylinder to hang from my classroom ceiling.) There are a few programs that you can sign up for to help track migration, but I feel our hands on approach actually increases their local population. We do not pay $ to participate in those programs, but I have started other families in raising milkweed & monarchs. Last summer we raised 75 at home, but together we raised & released well over 200.

My friend at the zoo likes to make a bouquet of small milkweed plants in a vase with water (under an upside down pop up hamper). She leaves the caterpillars on the leaves. Less fuss, but a lot of poop if you raise the large numbers as we do. Black Swallowtails are another easy to raise & impressive species. Plant some dill & they will find you. The only trouble= we sometimes get parasitic wasps. (Not fun to spend a month raising caterpillars to hatch out a wasp instead.)

My last tip is for taking photos. Take the pics about 1-2 hrs after hatching before they're expert flyers. If needed, dip fingers in sugar water to encourage butterflies to stay on your hand.


Female blk swallowtail (males have yellow)




Male monarch on DD's head (2 black spots on lower wings = male)

 

[ellymayRans]

We've been raising monarch butterflies for years. I actually dug up some milkweed & planted them in a flowerbed with phlox, echinachea, & columbine. Yes the milkweed takes over, but the other flowers fight back. Make sure you get milkweed from a place where it's considered a "weed" & not a protected "prairie plant." A prairie preserve is not a good place to dig. LOL Don't bother with seed pods - low success. If you ask around someone will likely (& happily) allow you to dig some up. Once the milkweed is established (usually the next summer), we harvest the eggs by snipping the leaf around each egg. The ants & other insects tend to do harm to the tiny monarch eggs & caterpillars. By putting about 8-10 eggs in a babyfood jar with a paper towel/ rubber band lid, then adding about 1/2 milkweed leaf daily, we get a very good hatch. In the beginning, it's impossible to handle the caterpillars. = only as fat as a thread! We just add milkweed daily until they're big enough to see easily. At about 1 week, we transfer the larvae to a bigger aquarium. As my preschooler explained, "They eat & eat & eat. And poop & poop & poop." For this reason, I like an easy to clean plastic container for daily dumping & refilling with milkweed. When about 4cm long & looking very FAT, the larvae climb upward. I like to have a paper towel covering the top. The larvae attach to the paper towel top & hang upside down like a J. Once they wiggle their skin off (the final molt) & harden into the pretty green chrysails, I remove the paper towel & hang it with a safety pin in our butterfly house. About 10-14 days later, they hatch out butterflies. The kids observe the wings to tell me the gender & of course they must name them. We used to take a photo of each (that way my daughter could have them FOREVER & still let them go). Because we hatch 60-200 each summer, she thankfully gave up on that idea after 2 years. I use what we have on hand, so the cost is always free. The painted lady kits are very expensive. I recommend using a pop up hamper for a butterfly house. If you have a little talent, use 2 embroidery hoops, some tulle from a fabric store & a cardboard pizza circle to make a fancy hanging butterfly house. (I made a long 10ft cylinder to hang from my classroom ceiling.) There are a few programs that you can sign up for to help track migration, but I feel our hands on approach actually increases their local population. We do not pay $ to participate in those programs, but I have started other families in raising milkweed & monarchs. Last summer we raised 75 at home, but together we raised & released well over 200. My friend at the zoo likes to make a bouquet of small milkweed plants in a vase with water (under an upside down pop up hamper). She leaves the caterpillars on the leaves. Less fuss, but a lot of poop if you raise the large numbers as we do. Black Swallowtails are another easy to raise & impressive species. Plant some dill & they will find you. The only trouble= we sometimes get parasitic wasps. (Not fun to spend a month raising caterpillars to hatch out a wasp instead.) My last tip is for taking photos. Take the pics about 1-2 hrs after hatching before they're expert flyers. If needed, dip fingers in sugar water to encourage butterflies to stay on your hand. Female blk swallowtail (males have yellow) Male monarch on DD's head (2 black spots on lower wings = male)

Love it! I too have allowed the milkweed to grow in abundance here and I've seen 2 monarchs in 2 years. Can you show what to look for to save the eggs and at what time of year?