INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Chaneys Ranch]

Well, I guess we are going with muscovies

. But we really want hatching eggs so that Leah's little girl can watch them turn into babies. So if anyone decides to sell any eggs let one of us know please!

Sounds great! Once my girls get going I will post for sure. It just depends on location also and who is closest! They are a 35 day hatch. here is a good read on the breed focus
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1070028/duck-breed-focus-muscovy
Very well put together by @sumi

Quote: Come spring, I'll let him free range in the back yard. But I won't be out there trying to catch him or any of the others to lock in a coop at night. It really would be free ranging and eating the food the goats dropped. Goats are messy eaters. I'd use the $5 to get some food for the free rangers but not a ton clearly. But my yard is full of things chickens like to eat, lots of worms and other bugs too.

One thought for you also, if you kept your buck in a separate area, or even a fenced area, he could help act as a predator deterrent! My hawk problems have dropped to zero with most of my flocks in with my livestock. Its working out very well.

 

[cganote]

Hi Hoosiers!

Anyone near Bloomington? I'm looking for a Muscovy drake for the Spring! My scovie males are always the first to go missing - is it that they are more fearless, or slow? I lost mine a couple of weeks ago =(
I have extra hens, though!

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Hi Hoosiers!

Anyone near Bloomington? I'm looking for a Muscovy drake for the Spring! My scovie males are always the first to go missing - is it that they are more fearless, or slow? I lost mine a couple of weeks ago =(
I have extra hens, though!

Welcome to BYC and our thread!

I have several, but am in pendleton, ugh.

 

[pbirdhaven]

Reuby-Roo What a great gentleman.


If anyone needs to rehome roosters this year, for $5 I'll grant them a yard to free range in and live a great life. The $5 would cover a bit of their food. And they could help me with the remainder of the composting that needs to be done here.

I have an overstock of Marans cockerels that will be going to the freezer unless anyone wants some. Would be happy to bring you a couple if you still want them.

I've been very sick lately and not been online for what seems like forever! Finally forced myself out of pjs and bed today to get out of the house and back to normal! So sad to hear of everyone's losses.

Ive had a few more myself. I had a turkey hen kill 2 juvies and have 1 grown roo all tore up. Caused him to end up with both feet/legs frozen solid. I had to put him down. So sad. 2 more female ducks disappear! 1 remains with the 2 drakes. Ive tried getting them to the garage with no luck. Being very sick and very cold didn't help. Things have just been a mess around here really! I have just wanted to curl up and cry ... but no time for that.

These constant extreme temps are just too much! Worst winter ever with the flock.

On a good note, the awesome brooder my DH got me for xmas is just that, awesome! ! The chicks i placed in there 12/28 i swear have quadrupled in size! They are sooo quiet it's crazy. Happy beautiful silkie chicks. Ive heard 1 crow already which is crazy to me. Ive never had a silkie crow so young! Now if i just knew which one it was! Haha! I got a few out tonight to look them over and out of the 6 i am pretty sure 2 are males. Of course only time will tell. I will likely post some pics of them tomorrow.

I hope everyone stays warm and healthy! !

Hope that you're feeling better! I'm sorry for your losses.

So as if the hawk hasn't been enough stress, our neighbors have a visitor over or something who keeps letting their young Beagle run loose across the road to our property.

My mom and brother have warned them several times to keep it off our property and it doesn't change. It's getting really frustrating to have to consider whether the Beagle will be back when I have to get my hens set up for the day, on top of watching out for the hawk.

Why do people get these dogs anyway?! Editing to add, not that there's anything wrong with Beagles, I mean why do they get dogs if they're just going to let them run loose and not pay attention to them?!





Also, here is Elda begrudgingly tolerating Crash yesterday. I really think Elly is a little bit afraid of the little ducky.

Crash just wanders around test-nibbling everything, not even paying attention to what Elly's up to.




And Crash, because she's adorable.



"Are you taking pictures of me?! CHEESE!"

I agree--Crash is adorable. Love her pictures!

We had a loss last night, am assuming possibly "flip" (heart attack). I realized our pet turkey Vermie (BBB turkey) was not out with the turkey flock, and wasn't anywhere to be seen. Oh no..Vermie is so people friendly, she is like the shadow behind you. Immediately went searching. It was as if she tucked her head, and went to sleep under the roosts in the old coop. No wounds, sign of injury or illness. She just didn't wake up. Anyone thats met her knows her, she was so much a cuddly girl and a real pet.
There will be no more broad breast variety here, I just can't take the emotional loss. Her "sister" has been calling all day looking for her.

Baby and mommy


My little mummy

Most beautiful girl I've ever met

Mommy has been up walking around and everything so I think she's fine my sister posted on face book a picture of her son when he was born and my little Raelynn and holy cow they look exactly the same lol
A lot more pictures on Arjay kelevra's fb page other people got other pictures like first family picture

Congrats on your lovely girl!

 

[Leahs Mom]

@jchny2000 @SallyinIndiana

Goats in with the chickens.... Please comment a bit for me on the possibility of a chicken getting trampled underfoot.

When one of you girls can produce 2 wethers for me this spring, there is an area the chickens use that I'd like them to clear out the PI before putting them in their large wooded area.

Are the chickens safe from trampling if I let the goats in their small wooded area with them initially?

 

[SallyinIndiana]

@jchny2000 @SallyinIndiana

Goats in with the chickens.... Please comment a bit for me on the possibility of a chicken getting trampled underfoot.

When one of you girls can produce 2 wethers for me this spring, there is an area the chickens use that I'd like them to clear out the PI before putting them in their large wooded area.

Are the chickens safe from trampling if I let the goats in their small wooded area with them initially?

I lost a couple of very young roosters to the goats last summer. But any adult chicken seems to be fine. This hen will ride on the backs of the goats once in a while and she yells at them if they get too close to her. But it is a large pen, I'm not so sure what would happen if it was a pair of goats in a 20 x 10 chicken pen.

And I'm hoping for kids soon. I really thought I was going to get some this past Christmas but it was not meant to be.

 

[Leahs Mom]

They wouldn't be in a pen - it will be about 1/4 (?) or a little less acre enclosed on 1 side w/chain link, 1 side "no climb" fence, 1 side pole barn, 1 side electronet.

 

[Leahs Mom]

I have enough electronet around here...maybe I should train them to the net and just divide off a section of the little wooded area at a time and keep them separate while they're doing their work.

 

[wheezy50]

So I've been doing some reading about bees and beekeeping b/c I plan to start my first hive this Spring. I came across a couple things I thought I'd share.

1.) Beekeepers of Indiana have a class at Decatur High School (SW side of Indianapolis) 2-27-16. I think its an all day thing, cost $30-50 something depending on options you choose. http://www.indianabeekeeper.com/home

2.) I stopped by the store Agrarian in Indy a few days ago and found out they also offer a beekeeping class end of February. I think their's is only $10 but only a couple hours. She told me they also carry bees and I looked at some of their supplies (hives, frames, etc) Side note, they will be getting their first batch of chicks in Feb 3rd. They have breeds and dates listed on their website, several things you won't find at your typical farm store.

(I'm not affiliated with either of these, just sharing some info!)

 

[Mother2Hens]

@LeahFreeman and @cganote
Originally Posted by cganote
Hi Hoosiers!
Anyone near Bloomington? I'm looking for a Muscovy drake for the Spring! My scovie males are always the first to go missing - is it that they are more fearless, or slow? I lost mine a couple of weeks ago =(
I have extra hens, though!

Frostbite Concerns
This morning when I let the chickens out, which I've been doing later than normal because of the weather, I noticed that my little crazy bantam Cochin named Screech (@ellymayRans ) wasn't herself. She normally greets us with a loud "screech" and races around. This morning, she stayed in the back of the run as the others ventured out to greet the new snowfall. I picked her up and noticed that her poor bald head had some faint white areas, which made me suspect frostbite. I've never had a chicken with frostbite, but have learned enough about it to be concerned. I brought her in to the basement and cracked the door to the outside a little so that the temperature change wouldn't affect her. She didn't eat or drink, so I mixed up some chick electrolytes and carefully gave her some drinks through a little syringe (I always save them from vet visits). Around 20 minutes later, she perked up and ate a few mealworms. Since frostbite is very painful, I looked up aspirin dosages and gave her a quarter of a baby aspirin that I hid in a craisin. She gobbled that craisin right down!

I lightly patted (not rubbed) a tiny bit of vaseline on her exposed skin. About an hour later after I was sure she was eating and drinking and acting normally, I put a heat lamp in the garage where I had made a snow hideaway area for the chickens. Although it's warmer there than the outside, I wanted to make sure Screech was warm enough since she was already stressed. Since I work from home I can regularly check on my hens. (The other hens occasionally peck out Screech's head feathers when she becomes too assertive, but the areas on both sides of her head never have been sore or bloody at all —just bald).

I can monitor the coop's temperature and humidity levels from inside my house, and the humidity levels have been in the 40% range, which is fairly low from what I understand. Since I've opened the coop later than normal because of the recent weather, I've kept a heated water bowl and food in the coop so they have it when they wake up. The water bowl probably doesn't help humidity, but I went ahead and pulled back some weatherproofing at the top to allow more air in the top vents.

This photo doesn't really show the transparent white areas very well since it was taken after she felt better. I'm glad that I noticed from her behavior that something was wrong before she became worse. I can't have anything happen to my little baby Screech!


Just having her inside for an hour brought me back to my senses from yearning for baby chicks! I remembered that having chicks inside the house involves a lot of mess and clean-up time. For me, it was much more enjoyable to have baby chicks when I could at least take them outside during early spring days. It was even better when Bonbon had her own coop when she hatched eggs. I just keep reminding myself to wait!