INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[funnyfarmmom]

I tried to post over the weekend but my phone decided not to cooperate. Stupid thing lol.

I wanted to mention that last Friday dh had a car for sale and a young lady came up from Dubois to buy it. While we were chatting she told me that she and her bf both work for Farbest down there. She said they are already working on repopulating the depopulated barns. Her boyfriend has worked major overtime in the past 2 weeks scrubbing and sanitizing to get them ready. She didnt say where they are getting the new turkeys but I just thought that seemed awfully quick in terms of making sure the disease is gone. I feel awful for the birds they put down but Im still selfish enough not to want my birds to catch AI because they didnt sanitize enough and brought it back to the area.

As far as hatching this year, I'll be hatching Barred Rock, Buff Orp, Rhode Island Reds, White Leghorn, and my little Orpinghorns . I hope to have some Lavender Orp and Easter Egger chicks from Janet soon lol.

Ive never ordered chicks mail order, but I did drive to a small hatchery not far from me last summer for chicks. Ive heard a lot of people say they love these people but I had a very bad experience. Since they do ship, I thought I'd give my experience. It was Akers Hatchery and Eggs in Salem. I had spoken with them before hand to make sure they had what I wanted and went after 10 buff orpington and 10 barred rock chicks. When I got there they had chicks in 4 different brooders. Every single one had dead chicks in it that were being trampled by the others. All of the chicks (well at least the ones he put in the boxes for me) were coated in feces and smelled horribly. Its a 40 minute drive from me and was the middle of summer but two died on my way home. Over the next week, all but 3 died. Out of 20. I ended up treating those last 3 with Corrid and they made it. I had them in a broodbox inside my house, they were never exposed to any other birds or the ground here. When I tried to let the people know it took them a week to get back with me because they had been busy showing goats and they told me they hadnt noticed any more chick losses than normal. They did offer to replace the losses then but I was afraid to bring anymore of their chicks here so I opted out. Thats when I started trying to hatch my own. Ive lost a stray chick here and there but never like what I saw there and my chicks have never been in that condition. That said, again Ive heard other people were happy with them. Idk.

Happier news- we have baby bunnies! I havent disturbed the nest enough to take pictures or even get a count. Just noticed this morning mommy had pulled fur over the top of the nest so i stuck a finger in there and sure enough, there was a warm wriggly body . She usually has between 6 & 9 kits at a time. I love Spring!

 

[Indyshent]

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.

Trust me, I can say for sure it won't be tempted again...

And that's all I'm saying there.

I have a rough draft for a Writing in the Sciences paper due this afternoon been working on it since last night... which is why I've been on here, of course!

Regarding the hawk, I didn't hear nuthin' *wink*wink*nudge*nudge*

You may want to look into having your flock tested for disease. Many respiratory diseases come and go in times of stress, such as moving to a new coop, and unfortunately will leave sufferers as carriers of that disease, silently spreading it. If you have any avian vets in the area that will see poultry, they should be able to help with collecting samples for tests and know where to send them.


P.S. Dark Brahmas are just gorgeous, I'd be tempted as well. I do have a Light Brahma in my chick order this year, though. Not as pretty as the darks (in my opinion), but I'm excited nonetheless; I've never owned a Brahma before.

I you like Cochin, you''ll love Brahmas. Brahmas are essentially better-laying Cochins with peacombs that come in fewer recognized colors. It's hard to get really good quality ones because hatcheries (especially with Light Brahmas) are very likely to throw standards out the window and try to boost egg counts, which results in smaller hens (better feed conversion though) and occasionally meaner roosters. All the mean ones I've ever heard of were Light Brahmas from less reputable sources.

Dark Brahmas are a blessing and tremendous pain in the tush, depending on what you want to do with them. Breeding them for show is difficult because good genes in one sex make for crappy phenotype in the opposite gender (gotta love silver penciled genetics). If you're not looking to them for show breeding and just want incredibly fluffy, heavy, hardy, sweet natured birds who try to get in your house all the time and seem to think they're people, well, Dark Brahmas are the way to go.

Regardless, get them from a reputable source. All total for Brahmas, I have or have had four Light Brahma hens and one rooster from RK, two Dark Brahma roosters and one DB hen from RK, and, from a backyard seller on craigslist who apparently received from super high quality stock, I received two more LB hens and one buff Colombian roo. Light Brahmas from RK were always of inferior type and temperament to the DBs, but I only kept the first trio for a few months before rehoming them (really nice couple who had lost all but one of their Brahmas when neighbors accidentally sprayed pesticides on them) so I don't know how nice looking they eventually wound up being. The two LB hens I purchased this year are much smaller than the DB hen or the two I got from the nice lady on craigslist. I'd love to know where her birds came from because they're all spectacular, but all of her chickens started as gifts from friends or were broody-hatched in her yard.

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.
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!

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.

They are some super fluffy, gorgeous birds! Can't wait to see some bitties from them.

The tractor design works out really well for you (yay forklifts!)

Praying for your mom and brother, so keep us all updated!

Btw, I remember you using flags from around the world —very classy— to scare away hawks. I can't remember if posted this, but I bought some silver pennant flags online to scare hawks (and horrify my neighbors since my backyard often looks like a used car lot. Haha) The 100' strand has 48 flags ($30). It can be moved around a configured all types of ways to outsmart hawks (possibly). I just hang it around the fenced in part of the backyard where the chickens free range, and I haven't seen a hawk in their area since I got the flags, but I still see an occasionally one beyond the fence. My flock is only allowed in our far backyard when I take them on a daily supervised field trip (you'll enjoy those, too! lol)

at the "used car lot" decorating tips!

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

I've heard one horror story from Ideal. Lady sent of for Indian Runners and was given two exceedingly poor quality Cayuga ducks instead. Everything about the order was wrong; company was unapologetic and refused to make any kind of amends. Ducks didn't lay well at all.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

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.

The way we're set up at the moment, unfortunately, the Guineas are a good distance from the girls. They do kind of share a free-range space, but only if the girls are feeling adventurous and travel quite some way beyond their normal range. Maybe some day I'll win the lottery and build a nice, big barn where they can all commingle...

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 hope so, too!! I have two hens squatting for me again, so hopefully we'll be seeing more eggs as well. By summer it'll be hard to believe we ever had any egg struggles.


On a similar topic, I did try freezing eggs last year for the winter, though not nearly enough. They worked fine for baking and other recipes, though they were a bit unpleasant in appearance and texture for egg dishes. I'll be freezing a few more this summer, hopefully enough to get us through the winter without buying. It'll help to have pullets coming into lay, too, I'm sure.

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!!

Haha, I'm the same way! When we've bought eggs (and let me be clear, we go out of our way to find pasture-raised no matter the price), I just can't bring myself to eat them so I just go without eggs until my girls pick up again. I have one hen laying, but she keeps dropping them off the perches so they crack and get covered in poo. The few that she has laid without breaking or pooing on them, I keep stashing away and they keep being used before I have enough for brownies or cookies or whatever else. Spring can't get here soon enough!

[COLOR=990000]Hatching a Plan[/COLOR]
[COLOR=8B4513]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! [/COLOR]

[COLOR=990000]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.[/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]I remember that one of our long lost members,[/COLOR] @leslea
[COLOR=8B4513] had a bad chick ordering experience with mypetchicken.com.  My intention is not to bash businesses, but share experiences to help make informed decisions. [/COLOR]

I must agree, I would much rather buy from a local breeder, or even not local if they have good specimens of a breed I really want. Unfortunately, in my situation, I can't rehome any of my birds, and that means I can't afford to get straight run chicks and hope that I get a high ratio of females. :/ It is what it is. Anyway, for the past 4 or so years I've bought my chicks from Meyer Hatchery over in Ohio. I can't speak to how well their chicks ship because every year, mom and I make the ~5 1/2 hour round trip to go and pick them up. However, I can tell you that I have never lost a chick from them, that none of my sexed pullets have turned out to be male, that none of the chicks I've received have been the wrong breed, and that their customer service has been awesome. I'm nothing but happy with them.

Thing is, you're going to hear so many conflicting reports about every hatchery you ask about. I know of many people that are just as happy with Meyer's as I am, but there are also some that are very unhappy and will never order from them again for one reason or another. And I'm sure their reasons for not liking Meyer's are just as valid as mine for liking them. In the end it'll just be easier to pick the closest, or the cheapest, or the one that has the most breeds you want, and just see for yourself how it goes.

I believe it was posted on another thread here at BYC, though it may have been somewhere else, but I saw an edited quote not too long ago that really stood out on the topic of conflicting chickening opinions. It went something like, "The only thing that two {chicken people} agree about is that the third is wrong." This is way, way too true!



P.S. Po was actually a little guy like Screech, not a LF. He was tiny, only bigger than my little Sebrights, which is mainly why it was so impressive that I was getting so many fertile eggs when he was in the flock! He was a handsome guy, though, my little puffball...

@pipdzipdnreadytogo
[COLOR=8B4513]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.[/COLOR]

Aw, yeah, Miss Rangi was my little shoulder-hopping trouble maker when she was younger. She sadly grew up into a very meek, shy hen, and she often gets picked on in the flock, so she tends to stay in the background. Whenever I do get pictures of her, you can tell she's petrified by the attention, poor girl. :/ I think this is my most recent of her, from last year:

She is doing well this morning, by the way. Not coming out of the coop for anything, but well otherwise. I think she may have strained some muscles, because she was holding her wing funny yesterday with no signs of a break in it, and today she seems a bit stiff in general. I'm thinking she may need a little aspirin for the pain. Or maybe a deep muscle massage... while lounging across a pillow and being fed treats by hand, of course... My poor baby!

I have a rough draft for a Writing in the Sciences  paper due this afternoon been working on it since last night... which is why I've been on here, of course! 

Regarding the hawk, I didn't hear nuthin' *wink*wink*nudge*nudge*


I you like Cochin, you''ll love Brahmas. Brahmas are essentially better-laying Cochins with peacombs that come in fewer recognized colors. It's hard to get really good quality ones because hatcheries (especially with Light Brahmas) are very likely to throw standards out the window and try to boost egg counts, which results in smaller hens (better feed conversion though) and occasionally meaner roosters. All the mean ones I've ever heard of were Light Brahmas from less reputable sources.

Dark Brahmas are a blessing and tremendous pain in the tush, depending on what you want to do with them. Breeding them for show is difficult because good genes in one sex make for crappy phenotype in the opposite gender (gotta love silver penciled genetics). If you're not looking to them for show breeding and just want incredibly fluffy, heavy, hardy, sweet natured birds who try to get in your house all the time and seem to think they're people, well, Dark Brahmas are the way to go. 

Regardless, get them from a reputable source. All total for Brahmas, I have or have had four Light Brahma hens and one rooster from RK, two Dark Brahma roosters and one DB hen from RK, and, from a backyard seller on craigslist who apparently received from super high quality stock, I received two more LB hens and one buff Colombian roo. Light Brahmas from RK were always of inferior type and temperament to the DBs, but I only kept the first trio for a few months before rehoming them (really nice couple who had lost all but one of their Brahmas when neighbors accidentally sprayed pesticides on them) so I don't know how nice looking they eventually wound up being. The two LB hens I purchased this year are much smaller than the DB hen or the two I got from the nice lady on craigslist. I'd love to know where her birds came from because they're all spectacular, but all of her chickens started as gifts from friends or were broody-hatched in her yard. 

BYC Is the best place to be when you have homework due. Gotta have priorities, don't we?

Ah, yes, genetics are fun... As mentioned above, I'm limited to buying pullets only with a select few roosters of my choosing, so the only source I can go to for non-autosexing chicks is hatcheries... And Meyer's only has Light and Buff Brahmas. :/ Our nearby RK had Dark Brahmas straight run as well last spring, along with the cutest little cheeky Easter-eggers (mislabeled, of course) and Khaki and Cayuga ducklings that were real heart stealers... Feed stores are my bane in the springtime.

I am super excited, though, for my 'trial run' into Brahmas! Whether they're to standard or not, I just want pretty and lovable birds for my flock.

 

[Leahs Mom]

@pipdzipdnreadytogo
Do you still have "Miss Gray"?

 

[PeacefulWalls]

I looked out my window a little while ago and saw a couple of robins. I went out to try to get a picture and discovered there were a few dozen robins running around. Signs of an early spring??!!

The other big event of the morning was taking my daughter for her driving test -- she's been eligible since October, but with her schedule and unavailable testing spots we put it off until now. She passed and we now have a new licensed driver -- the day before her 17th birthday! The scariest part, of course, was calling the insurance company to see how much our rates will go up!

We still have my son's flock of Ancona ducks that he would be willing to sell. If anyone's interested, PM me!

 

[Indyshent]

BYC Is the best place to be when you have homework due.

Gotta have priorities, don't we?

Ah, yes, genetics are fun...

As mentioned above, I'm limited to buying pullets only with a select few roosters of my choosing, so the only source I can go to for non-autosexing chicks is hatcheries... And Meyer's only has Light and Buff Brahmas.

Our nearby RK had Dark Brahmas straight run as well last spring, along with the cutest little cheeky Easter-eggers (mislabeled, of course) and Khaki and Cayuga ducklings that were real heart stealers... Feed stores are my bane in the springtime.

I am super excited, though, for my 'trial run' into Brahmas!

Whether they're to standard or not, I just want pretty and lovable birds for my flock.

I'm actually wanting to get out of ducks (too much mess, not social enough), but... Cayuga might prove to be my bane, if I'm (un)lucky enough to bump into them. I really want the black eggs, which are sadly being bred out of them. Plus, the all-black feathers...

I saw one bin of DBs mislabeled as LB pullets. If I'd known then, I would have bought some of those chicks. If I can get 'em separated (or if someone else wants to host and breed them), a Buff Colombian roo over the light hens will result in sex-linked Brahma babies. He's a big, beautiful softy, but he's terrified of the other roosters here (he came from a house with 16 other boys, but I don't think the BLRW and Wun Wun have really accepted him as a brother in wings, so to speak either). Being separated will be good for him, I think.

It's odd because nobody ever picks on Sumatra or the Breda (who's a perpetually sick ninja of a rooster), but Mr. August, the BC Brahma, occasionally gets the eyeball and rough treatment (probably because he runs and freaks out when anyone looks sidelong at him). My. July doesn't freak out for anything, and none of the other Sumatra ever have either, so they wind up being close to top cock of the walk without ever fighting or doing much of anything.

@LonelyPageTurne , I think the bitty EE?/Sumatra mix might be staying here when he's done growing. Can't wait to see what he's going to grow up like. Not sure which month he'll be... He's a really dark blue, with red shoulders and light gold lacing on his saddles and hackles. Maybe Mr. November to help the ladies eat up some cooler months

. Not sure if any of the rest of the babies are boys (all look like girls now, but you never really know). If one of the splash babies winds up turning roo on me, he'll be Mr. April (April showers! They have itty bitty blue "raindrops" on them!). Of course, I have three mutts, and two of them are almost certainly boys. May have to reserve some pretty spring months for those two (thinking March and February maybe. Have to see hos handsome they grow up).

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

@pipdzipdnreadytogo
Do you still have "Miss Gray"?

Yup, she's getting along in the flock quite well. Oddly enough, she's one of very few hens that Rangi will push around, but she lets almost no one else push her around, including Reuben.

The most recent picture I have of her was at the beginning of the year, before her latest buzz cut (which was brought on by that hawk lurking). I don't know what her deal is, but she has this magic ability to know when I'm going to give her a trim and she goes into a molt every time! Right now, she looks like she has a mohawk because as soon as I trimmed her a couple weeks ago, I started noticing her neck feathers falling out for the second time this season, and she was molting all over again! Crazy bird! Here she was, 'stranded' in the snow:

I'm actually wanting to get out of ducks (too much mess, not social enough), but... Cayuga might prove to be my bane, if I'm (un)lucky enough to bump into them. I really want the black eggs, which are sadly being bred out of them. Plus, the all-black feathers...   

I saw one bin of DBs mislabeled as LB pullets. If I'd known then, I would have bought some of those chicks. If I can get 'em separated (or if someone else wants to host and breed them), a Buff  Colombian roo over the light hens will result in sex-linked Brahma babies. He's a big, beautiful softy, but he's terrified of the other roosters here (he came from a house with 16 other boys, but I don't think the BLRW and Wun Wun have really accepted him as a brother in wings, so to speak either). Being separated will be good for him, I think.

It's odd because nobody ever picks on Sumatra or the Breda (who's a perpetually sick ninja of a rooster), but Mr. August, the BC Brahma, occasionally gets the eyeball and rough treatment (probably because he runs and freaks out when anyone looks sidelong at him). My. July doesn't freak out for anything, and none of the other Sumatra ever have either, so they wind up being close to top cock of the walk without ever fighting or doing much of anything. 

@LonelyPageTurne
, I think the bitty EE?/Sumatra mix might be staying here when he's done growing. Can't wait to see what he's going to grow up like. Not sure which month he'll be...  He's a really dark blue, with red shoulders and light gold lacing on his saddles and hackles. Maybe Mr. November to help the ladies eat up some cooler months . Not sure if any of the rest of the babies are boys (all look like girls now, but you never really know). If one of the splash babies winds up turning roo on me, he'll be Mr. April (April showers! They have itty bitty blue "raindrops" on them!). Of course, I have three mutts, and two of them are almost certainly boys. May have to reserve some pretty spring months for those two (thinking March and February maybe. Have to see hos handsome they grow up). 

Yeah, I do recall a lot of the bins being mislabeled, like one of silver laced Wyandottes that was labeled 'black lace Wyandottes'. Not necessarily wrong, I suppose, but not exactly correct, either. The Easter-egger thing is a big pet peeve of mine, though, so I guess it stands out to me more.

I love the idea of sexlinked Brahmas! I love the idea of a lot of sexlinks, though. I actually was discussing sexlinked Dorkings with someone on another thread a while ago, talk about a great cross!


Sounds like you're working on a rooster calendar. 'Chickendales'?

 

[Faraday40]

Quote:

Good one!


BTW- that's a pretty hen (when not molting) Perhaps she should go into the Hot Hens Illustrated.

 

[Faraday40]

"Sweetie" is a BIG girl - a Coro Sussex x Lav Orp mix. She just started laying as a Christmas present to us. (1st egg around Dec 24th.)

What continues to surprise me is the SIZE of her pullet eggs. Normally pullet eggs are small & infrequent to start. She's only been laying a month & her pink eggs are bigger than a few of our hens. She's averaging 5 eggs/week.

I compared them to our 3 yr old hen's eggs. The hen's giant eggs weighed 2.86oz & 2.98 oz. (only 2 this week)
Sweetie's eggs are about 2.5" long & ranged from 2.43 to 2.48 oz each. Isn't that kind of large? Should I worry about her getting egg-bound?

 

[charleschicken]

its only 10'x20' but I wanted a lot of chickens!!