INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Chaneys Ranch]

Sad news:
This morning we noticed that our broody is down to 2 chicks. We could not find any sign or remains of the cream colored orp chick on the left. I feel bad for not looking under mama last night, so I can't be sure of what happened Mama broody always takes such great care of them. After the bad T-storms this morning, I can't be sure if a murder scene was washed away or if a predator had take out or if the frightened chick is simply hiding. It's been several hours, so my guess is the chick is not coming back.

Poor DD did not have a good start to the day and now we are leaving for the state fair where she will present her poultry science project. Hopefully I'll have better news to report the next time I log on.

Fingers crossed, its hard losing and much harder not knowing.

 

[Leahs Mom]

@jchny2000 (and everyone!)

Buckeye Boys in the Little House.
I put the 2 extra Buckeye boys in the little house last Thursday and didn't let them go outside until I got the tarps up on the kennel run's side that's toward the main flock. They went out yesterday morning and it is working WONDERFULLY. Really glad I tarped. It's a nice visual barrier and with the main fence between, no one even knows there's anyone to communicate with over there.

The 2 boys in there are at peace and there is LOTS to range around on in there since I haven't used it the last 2 seasons. Since I deep litter the outdoor runs, the soil is full of worms and good bugs and the stuff that has grown up is more than they'll need to "range" on grass even if I keep them in the pen until processing - or going to a new home if anyone is looking for a flock roo.




The main flock area is much more peaceful too.
All the younger birds are roosting in the same place with just minimal squabbles now that the SFH roos are all gone. I am SO GLAD they're gone. We actually had some chicken tacos on Thursday thanks to one of those boys. And we got them just young enough that it wasn't too tough.



Buckeye Girl or Boy?
I am in question regarding one of the Buckeyes that is still in the main flock. There is one that I just can't tell for sure the sex on. The comb hasn't reddened, but the shape of it is questionable whether boy or girl. She/he seems to have a larger body size than the other 2 girls. Also the way she/he carries his/herself seems more masculine. I guess I'll just have to wait and see. Sometimes Buckeyes can be a mystery with that pea comb!

Mr. White Band (Buckeye) is still with the flock (hopefully the only boy) and he is still behaving very pleasantly. He was near me today so I bent down and cupped his chest with my hands and gave him a little rub and he had no complaints. Hopefully he will keep his good demeanor. I saw him catch a worm today and go running but when one of the Buckeye girls chased him and he dropped it, he let her have it with no contest. Good sign, I think.

These boys are 15 weeks old.


ETA: AGE AND FIX SPELLING ERROR

 

[ChickCrazed]

Still available!!! Free Chicken and livestock supplies. 2 Large dog cages, various feeders and buckets. Scrap hardware cloth and wood. Vinyl coated 4 ft fencing. Wood lattice, large piece of vinyl floor. I may even have a rubber livestock trough. Pm me if you want it. Moving and it all must go!!

 

[redring]

I am so worried that may happen. We may very well end up with no roo at all. Granger is already sneak-attacking the pullets any time Blue is out of sight, so I feel he already has that mentality. I do feel it is very likely that he will turn, if I take Blue out. =( If I end up sending them both to freezer camp, I will be on the look out for an Orpington roo. I kinda wish I had gotten some when we got chicks.

Here is a good note for you! I just separated my two roosters. I gave away my top rooster. He was fine and even would protect me from my RIR who is constantly aggressive with me. I was very worried about re-homing my top rooster. But its been a few weeks and everything is fine. In fact the other rooster is actually softer with the girls. So give it a try. Of course I now know I could have kept both as they were fine with each other but I think everyone here is happy with less crowing. Things are fine here and I have a lady with a broody hen she is letting hatch some light blue and olive eggs who is offering the chicks to me when they hatch! Yay!! No idea what her roo is. Should I get light blue and olive layers (assuming there hens)? Im not sure how the breeding thing works yet. Just happy to get to replace my hens that turned out to be roos. LOL! She says she would be happy to give me eggs too if I had a incubator. I don't yet though and I don't think hubby is up for me making that purchase right now.

 

[redring]

Not to interrupt the rooster talk...

But I thought I would share the latest pictures of our covered porch build. We finished the roof yesterday (well, except it doesn't have shingles, just tar paper) and I got a little more hardware cloth up. Since it appears as though we aren't going to have any more rain soon, we're hoping that today we'll finish putting hardware cloth up and get all of the nooks and crannies filled in so that it's predator proof and ready for use!

EDIT: And... So much for that.

Started hearing thunder right after posting this, and now a steady rain has set in... Oh, well...


Anyway, here's where we stopped yesterday:



I'm only pausing to post now because it became evident we weren't going to have enough hardware cloth to finish, so mom had to run in and get more. Works for me, because I already have a blister from snipping hardware cloth today!

Beautifull!!! Yah trying to build our coop but the rain doesn't stop long enough. Excited to have it done. Cant wait to see yours finished.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

It's done!! e Well, except there's still only tar paper on the roof, but it's done enough for actual use!

A quick look around the place. Here is the view from the perches:

This edge ought to get lots of sun once the leaves are off the trees, perfect for wintertime!

I think later on I'll add a perch in this corner for the girls to play on.

There are three doors, one on each wall. One leads to the right, where their gate used to be to go out to free range. This door leads directly out into their yard. (The junky shade cover is still there where it collapsed--but now that the porch is done, I might finally feel okay about getting rid of it!)

This door goes off to the left. It's more for me to get to their pop door easier, because without it, I would have to go all the way around the outside of the structure to get there.

The door that leads out to free range has its lock on the outside so that I can come in first thing in the morning. The other two doors have locks on the inside, because otherwise I wouldn't be able to get into the chicken yard!

We used the non-swiveling locks on the inside because the swiveling kind let the doors move too much when locked. Instead of swiveling them shut, I have carabiners to hold them secure.

We put wire in the peak for plenty of ventilation. If I decide to tarp the walls in the winter, this will leave some ventilation as well.

The walls are 1/2 inch, 19 gauge hardware cloth, secured with screws every 7-8 inches (and closer together on the bottom) and washers to make sure the screws can't just come through the openings on the cloth. The bottom half or so is covered by heavier 2x4 inch fencing, which extends to the ground to keep the hens out from under it as well. I debated doing this for a while, but decided that crawling up under there for eggs didn't sound fun, so it needed to be done.

I'm so excited to put this space to use! It may even have me excited for the wintertime!! Okay, that's a flat out lie, but I am looking forward to not having to shovel snow so the girls can come out of their coop!!

 

[Leahs Mom]

Very nice @pipdzipdnreadytogo

How will you keep snow from blowing into the sides?

 

[racinchickins]

Quote: I never separated my Scovies. I ended up with 15 babies total, and they have the prettiest colors and patterns. They range from a hen who is entirely black with beautiful green highlights to a drake that is very light grey/lavendar with a white head. Everyone who visits have been gushing about how pretty they are.
@racinchickins Did you add from any other breeders? My blue eyed white hen threw some unusual colors. She is sadly the girl that flew into a semi driving past. She had lavender only on her crest. I think you got a few of her hen ducklings. Really wish I could remember where her parents were from!
All my scovies came from you. I really need to decide who I'm going to keep. I will probably offer up some for sale. I'll try to take some pictures. I need to keep it down to two males and 8 or so females.

 

[Indyshent]

Funky news.

Babysitting some of @jchny2000 's grow-up pen babies while coop renovation takes place there. A Buckeye pullet, Tintaglia (lavender/self-blue turkey poult) and my Biele boys have been pulled into a tote in my kitchen while they recuperate. Gave them all Tylan 50 injections last night. The Buckeye girl has already perked up a bit, but one of the Bielies somehow managed to drown in a few millimeters of water (they're about 3 months old). I have no clue how that happened unless he passed out near the teeny waterer. All of these babies got along great, and he was visibly one of the best off of the four of them. Poor little Tintaglia hasn't been drinking or eating much, so I had to stick her. The Buckeye hadn't been eating or drinking well either, so everyone got needles. Not sue precisely what's wrong with the Buckeye, but she has an enormous healing wound on a hip and spends pretty much all of her time huddling, fluffed up and looking miserable. Not taking chance with this sweetie.


Great news is that the sick guineas have really perked up and seem out of the woods. The little guineas are characteristically overreacting to about everything here, which is alternately hilarious and obnoxious in the manner only guineas can properly manage. working on socializing them to the dog, the cat, other birds. The older turkey hens and a few of my little jennies seem to have taken exception to them, and some of the birds most terrorized by the older guinea cock (who was correspondingly rehomed to jchny2000's home) are also afraid or overreacting to presumed hostility to these little guys, who really like to flock with the birds most likely to squeak and run off in terror. I have the babies in a separate area from the other birds, though some of the turkeys get to come out with them occasionally and under supervision.

Moved the pheasants and quail to a new area but had a really hard time moving an obstinate log from the area... so I screwed their house to the top of the log after nearly giving myself a hernia
over two days of struggling with it (DH thinks it weighs about 2/3 of a ton due to its hugeness and waterloggedness). They're digging the sunshine and should be laying a bit more soon (provided the sun can stay out for more than a few minutes). The little guineas act like they want to straight up eat the quail and pheasants, so we'll wait and see if they start calming down.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Very nice @pipdzipdnreadytogo


How will you keep snow from blowing into the sides?

Thanks, I love it! I just wanted to sit out there and admire it all morning! Too bad I had class. :/

I plan to tarp most or all of the south wall (either using something clear like shower curtains or leaving some space at the top for sun to get through) and around the west wall at least a bit. I may or may not just tarp around the entire outside to keep them out of the wind and comfy in there, though. That's the plan, anyway!

Funky news.

Babysitting some of @jchny2000
 's grow-up pen babies while coop renovation takes place there. A Buckeye pullet, Tintaglia (lavender/self-blue turkey poult) and my Biele boys have been pulled into a tote in my kitchen while they recuperate. Gave them all Tylan 50 injections last night. The Buckeye girl has already perked up a bit, but one of the Bielies somehow managed to drown in a few millimeters of water (they're about 3 months old). I have no clue how that happened unless he passed out near the teeny waterer. All of these babies got along great, and he was visibly one of the best off of the four of them. Poor little Tintaglia hasn't been drinking or eating much, so I had to stick her. The Buckeye hadn't been eating or drinking well either, so everyone got needles. Not sue precisely what's wrong with the Buckeye, but she has an enormous healing wound on a hip and spends pretty much all of her time huddling, fluffed up and looking miserable. Not taking chance with this sweetie.

Sorry for your loss, Indyshent. My first thought was that he passed out or died and happened to fall into the water, too... Rather strange.

Glad to hear your Guineas are getting better, though! Try not to hurt yourself out there!