INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[dennislambert79]

I had plans on 2 bulbs in mine so i off set the first bulb and got my thermostat in an angle about 2-3 inches away from 60w bulb. I've seen temp go to 102 and low as 96. It has been holding steady at 99 with no fan so I think I'm not going to add the fan. My next one I make will be bigger, since i ordered a 4 pack of 120mm fans from Amazon. I now have another thermostat because my water heater gave out so i scavenge it.

 

[pbirdhaven]

Hello Indiana Peeps

I'm new to BYC. I moved from Phoenix Az to the Lafayette area. I'm technically in Tippecanoe County. Last year i started my little backyard farm with Khaki Campbell ducks. My hen has started laying so very excited. I decided to expand to chickens. So I'm the new mama of 4 feathered legged bantams and 2 silkies. Excited to my chicken journey!

Sincerely Tina

@tigerlilyAZ and Greenthumb83
Welcome to the thread!
Be sure to check out the members' page--the link is in posts by mother2hens, jchny2000, and others. Let one of us know if you want to be added.

@kittydoc
I bought a used GQF Sportsman incubator and hatcher set several years ago. Both have held up very well until mice chewed the power cord on the incubator, but I'll call GQF and the helpful people there will tell me what I need to fix it.
Dicky's also gets good reviews.

I'm not sure how to copy and paste a quote, because I'm on my husbands tablet lol...but I have to agree with tmarsh. We originally started out wanting 6 hens. It was all we would need. But as soon as we started learning about chickens, watch videos and planning our order, things changed. We already seem to have caught this "chicken math" Our order ended up being for 15 chicks and we are building our coop and run to work for twice that. I already plan to hatch next spring. Even then, I wonder if we are doing enough lol! Good luck with your coop!

I wanted four hens for eggs,but they also had these cute bantam chicks........ I have somewhere around 100 birds now!

 

[Greenthumb83]

@tigerlilyAZ and Greenthumb83
Welcome to the thread!
Be sure to check out the members' page--the link is in posts by mother2hens, jchny2000, and others. Let one of us know if you want to be added.

@kittydoc
I bought a used GQF Sportsman incubator and hatcher set several years ago. Both have held up very well until mice chewed the power cord on the incubator, but I'll call GQF and the helpful people there will tell me what I need to fix it.
Dicky's also gets good reviews.
I wanted four hens for eggs,but they also had these cute bantam chicks........ I have somewhere around 100 birds now!

Yes, I would like to be added. Thank you.

100 birds! Wow! I think my husband may lay an egg himself if I do that. But...then again he seems to be enjoying this almost as much as I am so far lol. So what are your favorites?

 

[Indyshent]

They will make you feel better!

Sorry you missed your poultry show.

Reply by Chick Crazed: Chicks are fun, are safer from a disease standpoint, usually end up friendlier and really aren't hard to raise if you educate yourself in advance. Give them enough space, proper temps and fill their feeders and waterers along with keeping an eye out for a couple common maladies and you are good to go.

@wotkuni If you don't get them as chicks, you'll miss what is known as "Chicken TV" (sitting there staring at their antics). They grow really fast; every day you can see changes. Like @ChickCrazed said, if you handle them from the beginning, they'll be friendlier and it will be easier to give them check-ups if they're used to you. As far as starting with chicks or pullets, feel free to ask as many questions as you can think of and do a lot of research. Chickens are fun!
@Indyshent Oh my gosh, you have so much going on, and of course your health is the most important issue.

That t-shirt is awesome! All the team's merchandise used to just say "COCKS", which is, of course, why so many juvenile boys in middle and high school loved wearing said merchandise.

Regarding obtaining babies versus adult birds, I've noticed fairly little difference in my ability to easily handle bird later. I've obtained lots of juvenile and adult birds later in life, and some of these birds--despite never being affectionately handled before--were much easier to handle, and some are almost feral. I've had similar experiences with babies. Some babies--no matter how much you handle them and how much they see of you--grow up almost wild and flighty. A lot of a chicken's ability to be tamed is in the breeding, I think. While increased handling can build positive associations and trust (even affection), it's not everything. Some birds are just going to be gentle or mean or flighty, no matter what you do.


I've come to the conclusion that I actually prefer getting adult birds for a variety of reasons.

1. You already know what they're going to look like (size, color, gender, show quality, type, comb type, etc). No heartbreaks if the pullet turns into a rooster, or your Ameraucana turns out to be an EE, your olive eggs hatch into ringneck pheasants, or your "show quality" chicks become a bunch of BYMs. It's much harder to dupe a buyer who can see, inspect and interact with the finished product. A partridge Cochin is almost identical to a dark Brahma. BLR looks a lot like blue partridge. Australorps can look a lot like Jersey Giants. BCM can look a lot like black sexlinks.

2. You already know what the personality is going to be like (broodiness, aggression, protectiveness, disposition, sociability, how it will fit into flock dynamics)

3. Older birds are not likely to be pecked to death. When integrating adults birds, I've never experienced more than minor squabbles as pecking orders get established, However, these squabbles can have disastrous repercussions when it's adult birds against juveniles or babies, which are among God's most fragile creations. In the last week, I've lost two juveniles--not because the adults were even actively trying to kill them--but because they were getting crushed underfoot when adults rushed the feeders or dismounted roosts. I've lost three to drowning, of all the stupidities. The kind of stupid, heedless behavior that will kill juveniles, however, rarely kills adults, who can fend for themselves far better.

4. Older birds are less susceptible to predation. Almost anything can kill a chick, while relatively few will tangle with full-grown roosters (and even fewer will be successful and leave the encounter unscathed). Adults are fiercer combatants and more likely to live through encounters with predators because they can fight, fly, run or all of the above. Some chicken breeds are particularly fierce combatants and have even fended of threats such as hawks, coyotes and dogs. Chicks don't stand a chance against anything.

5. Older birds are typically cheaper, when one considers all of the food, supplies, and time it took the bird to grow up. Quite often, adults can be found for free.

6. Disease poses a major threat to babies. What could be a minor inconvenience or sniffle to an adult can easily kill an infant. Adults have better hygienic practices usually and typically fortified immune systems; chicks have neither. Hatcheries typically vaccinate chicks for some common diseases (like Marek's), but vaccinations do not prevent the bird from carrying the disease (only from expressing the infection in many cases), and--worse yet--hatcheries are often found to be selling or breeding birds which carry highly contagious diseases like MG. As most places don't even test for such diseases, it's still a crapshoot as to whether your supposedly disease-free chick is in fact free of diseases. While free-range adults are likely riddled with diseases and parasites, their robust immune systems are better able to handle the load without symptoms.

7. Almost everyone has been duped at some point or another when the Marans laid lighter eggs than price paid would have suggested, or when the Ameraucana eggs weren't blue, or even when the Cayuga's eggs were gray or white (black-laying Cayugas are really hard to find). When there is 4 months to a year of waiting for that first egg (plus housing, food, other supplies), wouldn't you rather cut to the chase and find out if what you've paid for is actually what you're getting?

 

[tmctlt]

Hello Everyone and Happy Springtime.....TGIS!!!! Haven't posted in forever and far too many pages to read to get caught up. I hope everyone and their critters made it through our rather mild winter here in IN. alright. My wife and I are looking to possibly increase our chicken flock by maybe another 6 chick / chickens bringing us to 14 total. We're hoping to add some EE's / Americaunas and perhaps another pair of Bresse from @Racinchickens if he'll allow us to I'd like to pass a warm welcome to any newcomers to this great and tremendously helpful Indiana BYC'ers page.....while I don't post much, I am on here fairly often gleaning helpful info ( Thanks Everyone!!! )

Paul

 

[Leahs Mom]

I have one Swedish Flower Hen available - 2 yo in May. Laying. Organic, no soy & range fed. If anyone is interested send me a pm for details.

This is a photo of her from last fall.

 

[Crista]

I was out in the coop checking on my girl, again, ( I know you're shocked) and kept hearing this strange noise. Couldn't figure out what it was.

The sound was the eggs clicking against each other as she moved them around.

 

[tmarsh83]

I did move the chicks to a portion of the new coop that I blocked off for them. They're milling around beyond the lights a good bit and not laying under them when they rest. I think they'll be able to sort themselves the next couple nights fine. Not much difference from the garage really.

Really had not noticed how dusty it had gotten in there until I started moving the brooder out. Wowzers.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Yep...that dust is amazing. How such little creatures can make so much dust!

 

[Indyshent]

I'm the stupidest smart person of the day. Normally, it's the kids trying to con me into buying chicks... today, it was all me. Despite swearing up and down that I'd never get more BB turkeys, I got three more today... and a couple Khaki ducks. I miss the eggs, Major Tom is lonely, and the one baby turkey was injured and all alone. Looks like s/he was a cannibalism victim because it's bleeding from the bottom and beak. I could have made it out fine but it kept peeping for somebody, and when I glanced over, I saw its poor bottom... and I just couldn't not get it at that point. Poor little guy just snuggled right in and started the happy poult yawning thing right away... I'm such a sucker. I was going to put it back in with the other ones when I noticed a few of the overcrowded poults were picking on some of the smaller ones... so I picked up another couple for beak issues. The only uninjured one was developing an intriguing buff color to its legs and wing feathers.

The ducks... well, I missed having a couple after all. Khakis do lay like crazy (unless I've got two drakes), and I have missed both turkey and duck eggs. I'm already bracing for the BB turkey heartache, but I just couldn't say no when my lone MW tom has been lost calling like crazy, just moping around all day. I know he has whatever this bug is so I'm sure he'll give it to the new kids eventually. I have noticed that the loneliness adversely affects a turkey's healing from the bug though, so maybe these short-lived kiddos can help him pull through. It wasn't until we took Saphira (the other turkey) away that he succumbed to the bug anyway.