INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Indyshent]

Hi all my wife and I are in Cloverdale, In west of Indianapolis we have a flock of 18 (10 3 month old chicks 5 new jersey giants and 5 americanas) we also have 25 weisumer and 25 black copper meran chicks coming on Friday Im looking forward to growing my flock and supplying the local area with the super dark chocolate eggs i would like to find some olive eggers too. we have a 200 square foot coup that I just built to replace the 50 year old rat infested one. our goal is to be completely self sufficient. We would like to have hogs and goats as well.

Well, you've come to the right place

I think I have one BCM pullet, a bunch of Ameraucana mixes (Sumatra, Marans) and EEs (but I repeat myself!). The Marans pullets have so far been really sweet and sociable; the Wellies a bit more standoffish. The problem with both Welsummers and Marans is that they (along with blue laced red Wyandottes) have become super trendy, which is death to the breed's standards where hatcheries are concerned. If you're really after dark layers (and the girls you have coming don't do the trick), you may want to try Penedesenca, which lay about the darkest egg known to chickens and haven't been marked as quite so trendy. The two Wellies I have lay markedly different eggs, which, while being darker than all of my other brown layers, weren't necessarily up to the hype either. I'm still happy with them (and I love speckled eggs!). Another nice thing is that they can be fairly reliably sexed by down color at hatch (unlike other dark brown layers).

Olive eggers are a special kind of breeding magic. The only way to know for sure is to watch the egg being laid, pretty much. Lots of people try this with EEs and wait five months or more for something less than olive. Best bet is crossing pure Ameraucana or another pure blue egg layer with a dark brown layer, and crossing those offspring with another dark brown layer (or buying one that you know lays just the right hue of green!). Green eggs happen anytime blue and brown get mixed, but there are a head-spinning number of varieties even green eggs can come in. I only have one green layer, and hers have speckles that can be purple, blue, brown, white or gray. It's crazy, and I can't wait til the little Marans/Ameraucanas are laying!

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Quote: I think I know what it was--that Cooper's hawk. It was back today, about an hour ago. I heard the hens freak over the monitor, more so than they did yesterday. Threw on my boots and literally ran out to check on them. My brother was already there. "It got one of them," was all he said. My heart sank. There were black feathers all over with the characteristic white tip that told me they belonged to Rangi, but no remains to be seen. I hurried in to the coop to check on the girls and count them, and there in the back corner was Rangi.

She is bald up the back of her neck and has a few small bruises and scratches, but is otherwise fine. Just a drop of blood on her comb where it nicked her. Thank goodness!

I also found that Rosie, one of my biddy Sebrights, was missing as I was counting them. My brother has a flashlight app on his phone, so he handed it to me and I quickly found her, literally underneath a pile of hens in the dog crate that Reub used to sleep in. Poor girl must have been trampled in the rush to get into the coop, because she was dazed. I checked her over to make sure she wasn't hurt, and then she shook out her feathers and hopped off to join the other bantams on the roosts. Everyone else seems fine.

The hawk, I don't think it will be back. Hopefully by the fall, we'll have a secure enclosure to keep out any other hawks that get the wrong idea about my girls. I'm still shaky and watery-eyed and I'm not sure how I'm supposed to focus on the German homework I have due tomorrow after all that, but my girls are all safe right now. I think Elda's going to get fed up with me for all the chicken therapy I've been needing, though!

Thank goodness both were ok! My guinea and geese do a lot of good, and the turkey will go after a hawk too! But the sharp shinned hawks are bold. Eventually the guinea will get them, but they sure are a problem. We are laying out plans so everyone is confined, but integrated where my livestock is. All housing will be tractors so they move pastures when the livestock do.

Trying to catch up after a marathon weekend. Sometimes you just need a weekend to recover from the weekend! Spent the relatively warm day working outside doing chicken stuff.

@pipdzipdnreadytogo now that the kids are leaving the windows cracked (like they were instructed!)everyone seems fine. They were locking everything up too tight. It seemed crazy that they were fine when it was 0 outside but got frostbitten when it was 20!
We live smack dab in the middle of the city and have 3 red shouldered hawks. Hope your babies stay safe. Glad there were no losses this time.

@chick rookie your babies are precious! I am officially resigned to the fact that we would need to move to get goats and don't see that happening anytime soon.

@jchny2000 did you find out anything about your brother? Hope your mom is okay.the days after a fall can be hard.

Can't wait to get a silkie roo from @ellymayRans tomorrow. My daughter will finally have her Olaf. She us so crazy excited. It's hard to believe that with 8 roos last year, not a single was a bantam!

So, we have our pack-n-play brooder all set up inside for quarantine, AND we are bowling right next door to RK in Greenwood. They are all set up fir chicks but don't have any. Probably a good thing b/c with everything all set up it would be awefully tempting. Even though I've said I won't buy chicks from a large store!

Speaking of tempting - all of you are tempting me WAY too much. Stop talking about what you will be hatching before they lick me up for being a crazy chicken kady! I will have plenty of my own chicks. I DO NOT need to buy chicks! Really I don't. I must keep repeating that. I will possibly be allowing myself the chickens I first wanted, but pullets not chicks and that is Polish. I so live Polish!

And lastly, April 1 is when IndyRezone goes into affect. Yesterday DH talked to someone in our city Gov. who has purposely gone above the limit of Chickens to be Grandfathered in. We found that funny.

Okay, I should go be a good mom and actually watch my daughter bowl! The funny thing is she gets a spare everyone she closes her eyes! Take that back, she just got an eyes closed strike!

LOL! Can't help it am very excited over the chocolate orps, what fluffy girls! Chocolate barred roo is so sweet, loving this group.
Brother is ok, they feel its a circulation problem in the leg. So far they have not removed toes. Mom did bruise a bit on her knee from her fall. We keep pushing her to use her walker. Ugh she is so stubborn.
Rooting for your DD WTG!

@pipdzipdnreadytogo I'm sorry to inform you that odds are that hawk will certainly be back. They are very persistent especially if you have bantys tempting them.

Agreed, if the guinea flock you have are out with them, they will really help protect your flock. It will take a large flock to take a hawk, however, we have at least 16.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Hi all my wife and I are in Cloverdale, In west of Indianapolis we have a flock of 18 (10 3 month old chicks 5 new jersey giants and 5 americanas) we also have 25 weisumer and 25 black copper meran chicks coming on Friday Im looking forward to growing my flock and supplying the local area with the super dark chocolate eggs i would like to find some olive eggers too. we have a 200 square foot coup that I just built to replace the 50 year old rat infested one. our goal is to be completely self sufficient. We would like to have hogs and goats as well.

Welcome to BYC and our thread! I keep goats and pigs and love them. Awesome coop, please feel free to share pictures!

Got (what I hope is) all of my German homework done finally! Now I just need to work on my vocab list for the quiz tomorrow.

Which is why I'm here.

Quote:

Totally non-chicken related, but my 5 yr old son was running around the house after school saying, "Saucy! Saucy! Saucy!" I of course stopped him to ask exactly what he was saying. He told me that's how you say gallop in ballet. (meaning chassé or sashay. His Kindergarten program had a visiting dance instructor today.) DD & I had a giggle. Then she joined her brother and the two of kids chanted "Saucy! Saucy! Saucy!" as they danced around the downstairs. It certainly made my dinner prep a little more interesting today.

Aww lol, sounds like so much fun for the kids!

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Looks like the negative wind chills and temps are going away this season for my area. Hoping the long term forecast won't change. Chickens are starting to pick up on egg production, thank goodness! I had to buy store eggs this week

 

[ellymayRans]

Looks like the negative wind chills and temps are going away this season for my area. Hoping the long term forecast won't change. Chickens are starting to pick up on egg production, thank goodness! I had to buy store eggs this week

I used my last 2 eggs for brownies last night!! 0 eggs for a week!! They picked up, sold a dozen to my brother because i had a dozen in the fridge. ..i couldn't tell you the last time i bought eggs...and now nothing! I will not cook anything requiring eggs until I get more! I refuse to buy!! Lol!!

 

[Mother2Hens]

Hatching a Plan
Last night, I avoided our thread because I had an ad deadline, but I took a quick look anyway (very dangerous, I know!). All the talk about new spring chicks is contagious, and I have Spring Chick Fever! I prefer to purchase chicks from our thread members, but some breeds may not be available. Some hatcheries have minimum orders, and I can't order a crate of chicks!

For those of you who have ordered chicks before, if you could comment on good/bad hatchery experiences with business names and locations, it would be helpful for any of us thinking about ordering. I remember that one of our long lost members, @leslea had a bad chick ordering experience with mypetchicken.com. My intention is not to bash businesses, but share experiences to help make informed decisions.

My wish list includes two English Orps, or maybe one English Orp and one Dorking, two Silkies or one of them could be a Sizzle—silver cuckoo, partridge or buff. I found some random photos online. I'm not sure what the red color is called. I'd like a silver double-laced barnevelder, too. (I said this was a wish list, not a realistic list!) Haha

Update on the AI situation in Dubois County:

I think things are settling down. My first testing came back negative, and they will be back to test in a week or so. They finally made it up to my parent's house to test theirs. They live much further away from the original farm, but with people going crazy over this, they have expanded the testing zones. Non - chicken / poultry / animal / common-sense / people drive me insane!!! I can't wait till everything is cleared up!

I think a couple of the silkie babies have frizzle in them. I told the seller to not mark them so I would have a surprise! One of them definitely has some upturned wing feathers coming through!

The incubator has been cleaned up and is ready to go again! What do I want to hatch next...?

amwchickin~ So glad you can breath a sigh of relief—what a scary thought!
I would love a Sizzle or whatever they're called, so that's what you can hatch next!

So i am making the "leap" lol..if thats what you may call it, of raising mealworms.
I know a few of you do. Any suggestions and does anyone here have any that i could buy to start my pop?
There's a person on the BST here that is offering them. Thought I'd check with everyone here first.
I know that @jchny2000 raises them and has offered tips before.

As I'm sure you know, small quantities of live ones at pet stores are expensive. I just looked up an order I made at Petco two years ago when I had chicks— 1,000 small mealworms for $19.99. I just looked on Petco's site and they have 1,000 medium for $11.39. Geez, I was ripped off. At the time, I started adding oatmeal or whatever to repopulate them. Then I kept running across articles about allergies associated with raising mealworms, so I decided against it. My chickens love freeze-dried mealworms, but it's getting more difficult to find ones not made in China.
And the discussion about raising Roaches!! That gives me chills!! I don't mind rodents, but roaches—

I bought some fly larva at Agrarian last summer when I was in Indy. It was kinda gross, but the chickens loved it.

 

[Mother2Hens]

@pipdzipdnreadytogo
What a scary hawk story! You used to periodically post Rangi photos as she grew up. I'm so glad that everyone will be okay! You may want to try the used car lot look outside of your coop.

Well great news this morning! I had someone put a deposit on my last 4 rescue pair of peas!
They live almost in Evansville so won't have a chance to get them until the weekend but Oh how happy i am to almost have this all wrapped up!
Seems like forever now and so happy they will have better homes!!
Delivering a pair tomorrow in Indy as well as seeing a silkie roo off to @flyladyrocks!
@ellymayRans Congratulations!! You are a hero for saving abandoned peafowl — how many? 25? What a huge project!

 

[Mother2Hens]

Just wanted to pop in and say hi. Hope everyone is well and your flocks are doing good. I am feeling better and catching up wth all the chores tht have been either put off or only done 1/2 butted cause my help (DH) don't really know. but I am grateful for the help while I was down, dont know what I would have done without him.
But anyway I have really been busy the past few days and haven't even been able to get on and read post let alone reply to anything, so got alot of catching up to do...
Got some pics I hope ya dont mind me showing off, this is part of what is keeping me so busy... lol

warning picture heavy !!!


Elisa May borrowed Boot's coat so she could get out of the house and stretch her legs a bit... she dont like it at all... lol



From left to right: Lilly, Sandy and Joelin. Lilly using Buddy for a spring board.. lol sorry about the mess been packing up our VHS tapes we never watch anymore.



He should have never moved, now he has all of their attention.. lol





Sandy was trying for the chair... ya got to give her an A for effort... lol Then Joelin wanted to take a nap... Sandy had other plans, Lilly was smart, she went to bed away from rowdy Sandy... lol


The only Doe that did not have babies this year, I think they would have been Awesome kids.


Issy wanted her pic took too... and the boys ( Bert and Ernie ) got to see the outside world for the first time Sunday. They wernt to impressed at first, then they found out they could run, jump and do tricks... and it was on like donkey Kong ... lol but as for the normal, by the time I got the camera it was all over.

The kid next to mom is Bert and the one next to the fence is Ernie.
Hope ya'll enjoyed them, now it's off to make bottles for the does. have a great day all.

 

[leslea]

Hatching a Plan
Last night, I avoided our thread because I had an ad deadline, but I took a quick look anyway (very dangerous, I know!). All the talk about new spring chicks is contagious, and I have Spring Chick Fever! I prefer to purchase chicks from our thread members, but some breeds may not be available. Some hatcheries have minimum orders, and I can't order a crate of chicks!

For those of you who have ordered chicks before, if you could comment on good/bad hatchery experiences with business names and locations, it would be helpful for any of us thinking about ordering. I remember that one of our long lost members, @leslea had a bad chick ordering experience with mypetchicken.com. My intention is not to bash businesses, but share experiences to help make informed decisions.

My wish list includes two English Orps, or maybe one English Orp and one Dorking, two Silkies or one of them could be a Sizzle—silver cuckoo, partridge or buff. I found some random photos online. I'm not sure what the red color is called. I'd like a silver double-laced barnevelder, too. (I said this was a wish list, not a realistic list!) Haha

You rang? Good morning, my dear!

Sorry I have been MIA for so long. All is well here. I was just thinking this week I should check in on my Indiana BYC friends and see how everyone weathered the snow. I'm so glad for a melt! All my chickens and guineas are well. No complaints here!

Re: mypetchicken.com, yes, they were awful to me. Between the two orders I placed with them, they didn't get it half correct. Between deaths and roosters I'd have been better off just finding a breeder, I think, despite whatever drive time would have been involved.

And re: the buff silkies you are interested in (that is the reddish one), I got two last year from MPC. They both died. It was awfully disappointing.

The customer service from Meyer hatchery was helpful in figuring out what I was actually sent last year. The Chanticleers they sent me that were supposed to be Salmon Favorelles are now 9 months old and still haven't started laying. Hrmmmmmm....have I turned you off MPC yet? LOL

I have heard nothing but good things about Murray McMurry, though!

As far as I know, I won't need chicks this spring, but if something happens to change my mind, I will probably just buy some from a friend or pick some up from the feed store.

Good luck in your hunt! That frizzle silkie roo in your pics is gorgeous!!!!

 

[Hholly]

I have an order from Ideal Poultry coming this week. I'll tell you how it goes.