INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[lp0311]

Hey everyone. Haven't been on for a while. Well, I have browsed the posts, just not posted. So glad I mowed yesterday, it's not a heavy rain, so I may work outside later. Still need to home 3 young pullets. If anyone is interested let me know. By fall they will be food if not.

what breeds are they and how old? I may be interested!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

@pipdzipdnreadytogo How do you go about integrating your chicks into the adult flock?

My preferred method is 'look but don't touch', where the babies are fenced off from the adults but still visible for a period of time. This works for two reasons, the first being that the babies are there for long enough that the adults just start to ignore them as they're not an apparent threat. The second is that the fenced off area becomes outside of the adults' territory in their minds after a while, and so it becomes a neutral area for the babies and adults to meet. I typically have my babies in an area where they can be seen but not reached for 4 weeks, sometimes more or less depending on the babies. One set I had was only in their pen for a couple weeks before hopping out during the day and integrating themselves for the most part. Some breeds aren't as bold and might take longer before they integrate. I only take the fence down and leave them out in the flock permanently and unsupervised once they're 8 weeks old or older, though, so that they're nice and big and mobile enough to get away if the big girls are being meanies! P.S. Love the Swedish Flower Hens, especially those blues. And small crests, those are good. I now have 4 more Silkies whose crests will probably need trimmed back on occasion, too, along with my boy Reuben and our Tilly bird. Just call me the chicken stylist.

[COLOR=333333]This week has been rough. The loss of my sweet Cuddles is hitting us hard. Although we knew it was coming, we're still crying.[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]Not everything is sad, though.[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]Here's Trouble. She hatched one black orp & I added 2 lav orps the next day. Chicks are 4 days old now.[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333] [/COLOR]

The chicks are precious. One of my silver Sebrights, Scooter, is broody at the moment, too. If I didn't just bring in a bunch of babies (who are MINE, MINE, MINE!) on top of what Margie hatched, I may have been tempted to let her sit on some eggs... Sebrights are awfully adorable broodies.

Finally pulled the duckling out of the bator to get a better look. Oh geez its a doll baby! Not wild type but pied. My first egg laid by my black girl. Note the white dot at one eye. Im pretty sure ive read that an indication of a white head at adulthood.

Hopefully i will have some beautiful peachick pics by the end of the weekend!!!

Oh, so cute!! Can't wait to see the peachick pics, too!!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

My turn for cute pictures! I swear, these babies are already a lot bigger than they were when we got them on Monday. I never said they were allowed to grow up so fast!!

Callette the Silver Gray Dorking, following in Elda's footsteps with being a cutie and an attention hog

Donnie and his pink leg band

Lydda in my hand. She had the start of a pasty bum this morning, but she's all cleaned up now.

Flury, my little Splash Cochin

My little blueberry-butt, Cazzie. I thought she was a black Cochin, but she's getting her little wing pins in and they're actually dark blue!

Izzy the Blue Ameraucana and Rooska the Lavender Orpington. These two already seem to be best buds, probably because they were the two most expensive little princesses of the lot of them. P.S. Rooska is such a doll already, can't believe I waited this long to have an Orpington in my life!

Umru the Light Brahma. She's my big ol' grumpy bear

Endymion the Easter-egger with her little foot in my hand. I cannot stand the level of cuteness in this picture!

Callette, Don, and Cazzie, who WERE posed all nicely until Donnie moved. SIGH.

My little munchkins I love Izzy's face at the middle-ish top of this picture. She jumped!

 

[Leahs Mom]

@pipdzipdnreadytogo
What I'm really interested in knowing is...do you have an outdoor covered run/pen/kennel...or do they just go right outside with the adults with no covered run when they are integrated?

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Oh, I gotcha now. When they are little, usually long before I put them where the adults can see them, they're in a small covered pen that we built years ago that measures 4x8 feet. This pen is usually not big enough for very long, so they have to be moved to a larger area and that's when I put them where the adults can see them. We have so many trees that I can't do much cover if any, so what I usually do is fence off an area with a lot of bushes and low branches for cover, and I'll also throw in a doghouse or put up a tarp tent or other such areas for the chicks to hide under so that there is an abundance of cover. We never have had issues with hawks or other diurnal predators (with the exception of the two hawk attacks of the past two winters :/ ), so it has never been a problem for me to have babies out in uncovered pens with plenty of things to hide under, as long as they are locked up safe in the coop or inside at night. Once they are fully integrated into the flock, they are out free-ranging every day, no cover. Hope that helps!

 

[Leahs Mom]

How do you get them to the outdoor pen? Do you carry them out there or do they have a door to exit from their indoor pen that the elders can't get to?

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

A little of both. When they're small and still sleeping inside the house, they get carried to and from their pen. When they're older and sleeping outside, I fence off the smaller 'addition' side of the coop and it has two pop doors that I can open to their mini-yard or to the main chicken yard.

 

[lp0311]

Anyone in need of a rooster???

 

[lp0311]

what breeds are they and how old? I may be interested!

oh and sorry never mind... but I'd hate for them to become food!

 

[Crafty chick]

what breeds are they and how old? I may be interested!

I have a black australorp, and an ISA brown, also either a barred rock or a buff orpington. Have to have the kids decide between the two. Our coop just won't be big enough after we move next year. Had to get the minimum when I got chicks to replace our old hens. I would love for them to go to a new home. Got them March 1st and they were a day or two? Old.