INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[iamfivewire]

Good Morning my Southern Friends

We were greeted with a few inches of "the white stuff"
(per my weather app, it showed that the snow to rain changed pretty much following the turnpike, & not much of anything around South of Ft Wayne area).
Here's a few photos of what most of y'all's missed out on

:

Tho it's hard to see in the photos, there ARE actual coops & chickies inside the tarp-covered fences L.O.L.
The birds are squawking about being less than impressed by the weather (as if they think I can change that)

Also, I switched/added a few hens/pullets around to new groups for 2017 breeding & hatching - it'll take a few days (maybe a couple weeks)for them to be fully adjusted.
Our breeds for this year :
* Ancona Ducks
* White Chantecler (& Buff/White mix)
* Cream Legbar + Sapphires
* EE's
* 2 groups of Iowa Blues
* Isbar
* Olive-eggers & "barnyard mix"

 

[twoacrefarm]

...

Good Morning my Southern Friends

We were greeted with a few inches of "the white stuff"
(per my weather app, it showed that the snow to rain changed pretty much following the turnpike, & not much of anything around South of Ft Wayne area).
Here's a few photos of what most of y'all's missed out on

:

Ewwwwwwwww! You can keep all that snow! We are supposed to get up in the 50'shower today here in southern Indiana.

 

[Faraday40]

Wonderful photos of the tiny mamma!

I wonder how banties would do with the large breeds I have. If I got some for broodiness, I'd have at least 2 so they have their own little group. Where did you get your bantam orp?

I got her as an egg via the mail from Coastline Poultry. I ordered an "educational assortment" but the other bantam orp egg did not hatch, so my "Cookie" was raised with LF. She fit in fine & because of her fluff, she does not look as small as most bantams. I wanted to hatch her a little friend, but sadly I learned that an animal had killed all of the breeder's bantam English Orps. A few months later, Coastline Poultry decided to close.

The following summer, Cookie hatched some eggs from a breeder in central IL. For fun she threw in a sebright egg. The incubator group only hatched one lonely Dominique. Cookie refused to adopt the Dom chick, so we grabbed a chick of hers (the sebright) to keep it company. The sebright chick was supposed to be kept only until the Dom integrated into the flock, but DD had other ideas. Through some negotiation & training, DD got to keep both chickens. Here's how:

Because we already have 2 bantams, we've stopped looking to add more. There's someone in CA that breeds amazing bantam orps. @Jeremy on BYC If I could not find decent local bantams, then I'd try getting some from him.

 

[RockelleP]

Anyone know of any breeders who raise more natural or organically non gmo near the Indiana mi Ohio area? I'm looking at rare breeds

 

[HoosierSilkie]

Wonderful photos of the tiny mamma!

I wonder how banties would do with the large breeds I have.  If I got some for broodiness, I'd have at least 2 so they have their own little group.  Where did you get your bantam orp?

I don't know where you're located, but I got my Silkies from Akers Hatchery in Salem, IN. It's a family farm and the owner is very knowledgeable. He may be able to help you find what you're looking for. I got the quickest response via Facebook message. Here's the website:
http://www.akershatcheryandeggs.com

 

[Leahs Mom]

Anyone know of any breeders who raise more natural or organically non gmo near the Indiana mi Ohio area? I'm looking at rare breeds

What specifically are you looking for?

 

[racinchickins]

Hey Silkie people....

Are there any Silkies that don't have crests? I'd love a predictable broody but don't like crests!!!!!

My go-to broodies are my silver phoenix hens. They are on the small side but not bantams. They both are reliably broody and great moms. They look a lot like my cream legbar hens, just no crest and dark legs. My worst are my dark cornish. Broody all the time and when I tried to let them sit on eggs, they hatched them out, but ignored the chicks as soon as they hatched. Now they go in the broody breaker cage as soon as they start acting up.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Quote:
@racinchickins
Where did you get the silver phoenix? I seriously just want a couple hens from a broody breed.

I wonder if my new Buckeye ladies will tend broody? They are just coming into lay for the first time so they aren't a year old yet. It will be interesting to see what they do.

 

[browncow15]

Hey all long time no see again!

I'm looking to add a guard goose to my flock but don't need the 15 minimum the hatchery requires. Will anyone have goslings the end of April early may? Preferably roman tufted.

 

[kittydoc]

First chicks of the year started hatching yesterday! I have lavender, black/lav split, regular black, blue, and chocolate (don't know if any are cuckoo yet) Orps. I think the only two girls in my lav pen that were laying were my black splits, since so far I have them in equal numbers. Only two lavs, and they are spoken for, plus any other that hatch from the remaining eggs. A good number of chocolates. I think 10-11 are out, one's drying, and a lav (I think) should hatch today. I still have about half a dozen eggs left that have not pipped externally yet, but know some are alive and kicking.

One little sucker, my first chocolate, went from pip to out and screaming bloody murder in about 90 minutes! It wasn't in the hatching incubator, hence the "screaming bloody murder" part since it clambered over all the other eggs and was alone in a corner with no buddies around.

I have a dozen set to hatch in late February, but doubt all will make it. With these early cold weather eggs, I am never sure how many will hatch.

I wish my SGD cockerel would literally grow a pair and do his part with the girls. He has not crowed, but there is no doubt he is a boy. I've wondered if I isolated him for a bit if that would help or hurt. He is the only male in his pen.

One more question. Since my full English Orp chocolates and chocolate cuckoos are expensive and everyone wants pullets anyway, I have thought about crossing my chocolate cuckoo Eng Orp roo with my black Australorp pullets. If I do that breeding, I can sex them immediately by color when they hatch, and only charge half as much since they are mixes. It would not be ethical to pawn them off as Orps since they wouldn't be, but if you just want some colorful Orp-ish girls, it's an easy to get them. I have 15 black Australorp pullets that should be at POL in 2-4 weeks and my young roo is doing a bang up (LOL) job. If anyone is interested, let me know. I can do pair breedings so I know which eggs are purebred and which are AustralorpOrps. The pullets would all be solid chocolate or chocolate cuckoo. I only have two black English Orp girls in that pen, so I am limited in my ability to create instantly sexable English Orp pullets of those colors.

I'm curious what people would think. Chocolates are not cheap, and chocolate cuckoos are definitely not cheap (English Orps). Half price would be more bearable, though I had strong demand for the English Orps last year.

I should have SGDs later this year, if my cockerel gets in gear before the girls go broody. They really are sweet birds. pipd was right! The cockerel and three girls are all very sweet and gentle, and they are curious, too. Different than Orps in size and appearance, but I think I will keep raising them if I ever get started! They also stay cleaner since there isn't so much fluff. That's a plus. They have also tolerated the cold very well even they are not big birds (compared to Orps) and definitely more sleek.