INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Indyshent]

We have a party tomorrow, so I must bring a Halloween-themed appetizer or dessert. We're having Cheddar ale soup & home made pretzels for dinner tonight, so I decided to see if I could make some spooky shapes. (When kids were in preschool I used this recipe to help them learn their ABCs.) Here's what I made:

Witches' fingers


Spiders





Of course these will all be eaten tonight, but I can make fresh ones for tomorrow.
Option #2:
I make yummy cinnamon buns from scratch. If I find some of those plastic spider rings, I could put one on each bun after they cool.

Does anyone have other fun ideas for Halloween snacks?

My kids are partial to "squid hot dogs" which can easily be rebranded into spider-dogs, etc. Slice one end of a hot dog or other sausage-like cylindrical food (string cheese would work, too) most of the way up to make legs. Depending on how sharp your knife is, you may be able to get more than four legs. I serve them with small bowls or teacups of ketchup and other beloved condiments. Can be served with cute garnishes to make eyes. Others have cut hotdogs into smaller pieces and then stuck spaghetti noodles into them to make spiders and jellyfish.

 

[tmarsh83]

You can do pigs in a blanket but wrap them to look like mummies. We've done that.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

I need some input. I'm struggling to find any good documentation on the recessive white gene to the extent of trying to determine what maybe occurring with my black bantam Cochin pair. The reason is the chicks down isn't just yellow as I would expect. It looks like it would be more of a silver or splash color down. It's just one of those things I want to understand more. So if anyone has any experience with this or have maybe came across a good read on it please "educate" me!

This is my most recent hatch. The first 2 looked the same. They remind me of a lavender, silver blue or splash chick down. Not any white I've seen. I know that once fully feathered they are solid white with no leakage. Thanks in advance!!

What total cuties! I know we have a few folks like @pipdzipdnreadytogo that understands color genetics. There is also a genetic colors calculator but I wasn't able to find the link. ETA found it! http://kippenjungle.nl/kruising.html

Hi, all! Been super busy with classes, but I got a notification that I was mentioned in a post, so I thought I'd stop by and reply. So you know, dominant white causes white or yellow chicks, but recessive white chicks are often silvery, smoky-colored, or even splash-like in appearance. I actually knew of someone who thought they had a splash Cochin rooster from two blue parents because he was splash-colored as a chick, but he feathered in without splashes. He was bred to black hens and produced black chicks, which is impossible by what is known about the blue gene in chickens (splash x black should produce 100% blue chicks). Anyway, long story short, come to find out he was recessive white. Obviously, if the chicks feather out with any other color on them, then another gene is to blame for their color. Though recessive white chicks tend to be off-colored, the adults with recessive white show no other colors. Unlike dominant white, which tends to be 'leaky', recessive white covers completely on adult plumage. (And yes, the chicken calculator is fun to play with. I may or may not pull it up out of boredom sometimes. )

 

[Lengerich Farms]

Question: if I've trimmed the flight feathers, would said hen still be expected to be able to clear a 4 foot fence? Just wondering if I didn't trim them enough or if it was pointless? She walks right at me when I come outside, that's how I know she's gotten out hahaha. I know she'll stay in the yard, I'm more worried about predators. TIA everyone.

 

[Greenthumb83]

We have a party tomorrow, so I must bring a Halloween-themed appetizer or dessert. We're having Cheddar ale soup & home made pretzels for dinner tonight, so I decided to see if I could make some spooky shapes. (When kids were in preschool I used this recipe to help them learn their ABCs.) Here's what I made:

Witches' fingers


Spiders





Of course these will all be eaten tonight, but I can make fresh ones for tomorrow.
Option #2:
I make yummy cinnamon buns from scratch. If I find some of those plastic spider rings, I could put one on each bun after they cool.

Does anyone have other fun ideas for Halloween snacks?

My kids go nuts for cheeseball. You can easily make it look like a brain.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Question: if I've trimmed the flight feathers, would said hen still be expected to be able to clear a 4 foot fence? Just wondering if I didn't trim them enough or if it was pointless? She walks right at me when I come outside, that's how I know she's gotten out hahaha. I know she'll stay in the yard, I'm more worried about predators. TIA everyone.

Possibly so. If you are forced to trim wings, only trim one. Trimming both only slows them down. I leave 2 primary feathers on any bird I trim, farthest out 2 on the wing, so they can still fold the wing naturally.
I found this..
https://www.permaculture.co.uk/readers-solutions/how-clip-chickens-wings-beginners

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Winter planning, moving our tractor coops back by detached garage for a windbreak. Electric source there for a fence charger, and will be behind electric fence. And have the option of heated water dishes but likely will not do it. We are looking at 60/70 degree weather another week yet! Want to have everything ready before winter gets here.

 

[tmarsh83]

Egg production is still in the crapper here. Doesn't make any sense to me, but what do I know?

I switched to fermented feed a couple weeks ago. Birds have taken to it nicely, and it really does cut the feed consumption. Poop is more solid and less stinky too. Very interesting.

Did it as much as anything as an experiment because I'd really like to ferment feed for the meaties we are planning next year. Pretty sure I'll stick with it for everyone though.

Picking up two new birds today as well. I suspect RSL, but we'll see. Friends of ours got some birds, their kid wanted to take care of them, now he doesn't, and predation took a few, so they are down to two left, no charge, should lay any time. Here's hoping they don't wait until spring to start...lol

 

[ellymayRans]

Hi, all! Been super busy with classes, but I got a notification that I was mentioned in a post, so I thought I'd stop by and reply.

So you know, dominant white causes white or yellow chicks, but recessive white chicks are often silvery, smoky-colored, or even splash-like in appearance. I actually knew of someone who thought they had a splash Cochin rooster from two blue parents because he was splash-colored as a chick, but he feathered in without splashes. He was bred to black hens and produced black chicks, which is impossible by what is known about the blue gene in chickens (splash x black should produce 100% blue chicks). Anyway, long story short, come to find out he was recessive white.

Obviously, if the chicks feather out with any other color on them, then another gene is to blame for their color. Though recessive white chicks tend to be off-colored, the adults with recessive white show no other colors. Unlike dominant white, which tends to be 'leaky', recessive white covers completely on adult plumage.

(And yes, the chicken calculator is fun to play with. I may or may not pull it up out of boredom sometimes. )

Thanks pipd!!

 

[CCCCCCCCHICKENS]

Does anyone happen to know what breed of goose this is? My guess was it is just some kind of mix. It doesn't remind me of any geese I have ever seen at shows. Geese aren't exactly my specialty.

Long story short someone just dropped it off. So I guess I have a goose now (which is great,I have wanted one for a long time).