INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Nyla]

Hows the chicken doing?

OH NO! Ana's got the ick. I just don't know which ick. Ana's a 17wk old Buff Orp. Anyone have any direction for me? It's just her eye. It's very swollen and seems a little foamy. No nasal drip, crop is fine, tummy seems fine. We've got her inside and separated from the rest. I have noticed since we brought her in that her poop is VERY liquidy.

From what I've found other places, I should clean her eye gently with some plain water and probably get her some real yoghurt.

Thoughts, suggestions, input, feel goods?

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[Chaneys Ranch]

So I bought two cheap incubators. Then I bought a step up, the incuview. Twice I have left the house and the temp in the cheapos has spiked too 104. I have mixed them to the basement so hopefully that won't happen again. We are only at the end of day 4. If I candle, will I be able to tell anything? Some of the eggs are white and some are light blue. This is my first time incubating. Thank you!

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Excited for you! I started off with 3 Styrofoam bators. After low hatch rates, bought a GQF cabinet incubator the following spring. Normal years we raise a lot of bird species to feed our family. It was an investment, but has certainly saved a fortune in groceries! A good LED flashlight helps a lot to candle eggs. I use a Nebo Pal, 50 lumen light that's rechargeable. Also acts like a charger for your cell phone lol. I can usually see in even darker eggs pretty well with it. Typically you start to see some veining by day 3. The darker the room is the better you can see in.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

My Porter Turkeys are staying outside for the first time tonight. They are 5 weeks old and feathered out well. My adult turkeys had to hang out around them, and Major the tom strutted and gobbled at them all day. Every suspected young tom of course had to strut too, lol. Not many hens in the group. They are in my safest coop and its protected with hot wire. But am nervous, always am when babies go outside.
Love all the gardening posts! Please keep them coming, I have a lot to learn on no till gardening.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Wanted to let everyone know that our neighborhood has seen way too much drama lately, and that our family will likely be moving anywhere else. If you're inclined, please be praying for our family and a neighbor's. A neighbor and friend of ours who is eight months pregnant was stabbed in two separate events in one day, framed by drug dealers who live next door, her dogs and cars impounded, her husband deported due to false witnesses (addicts and dealers again), her house repeatedly broken into and all of her family's belongings stolen--all in the last week. She was stabbed in the face and back and is still recovering but out of the hospital now and having to stay with a brother. Her daughters weren't harmed in the attacks. She thinks they targeted her because of her outspoken opposition to their dealing/using next door.

While searching for my missing golden pheasant, I saw several used needles in a yard behind my house. Did find the body of our missing cat, however. Predators have claimed the pheasant eggs but the hen is safe. We're in such a hurry to get out now that we won't be able to take our birds with us and whatever home we move into won't be zoned for over the limit of chickens, multiple roosters or pheasants. Hoping for somewhere in the sticks but will settle for anything else

I am catching up and just saw this, WOW prayers for safety. My oldest sister lived in Indy for years. Some areas have went really bad, not a good situation for your family. Seriously, look at Madison county. Taxes are lower and a very good school system.

 

[kanina]

Hows the chicken doing?

She's much better. We kept her inside through the weekend and then put her back out with everyone. She walked right back into her place and she's doing great.

 

[kanina]

I am catching up and just saw this, WOW prayers for safety. My oldest sister lived in Indy for years. Some areas have went really bad, not a good situation for your family. Seriously, look at Madison county. Taxes are lower and a very good school system.

Pendleton schools are exceptional and why we chose to buy the house we did. We have all the convenience of being near a town (Anderson) and live just far enough out of the city that our kids will go to to South Madison. MadCo also has great chicken laws.

I've been trying to convince my grandparents to move down here so that they don't have to keep fighting their neighbors on having chickens. Get this, in St Joseph County, you used to have to have at least five acres of land in order to keep chickens, but if you live within city limits you can keep six. (Their demonic neighbor called zoning, hence why I'm babysitting four pullets) So they just passed an ordinance that in county you can keep chickens, but you can only have 4 hens per half acre, no roosters, and you have to apply for a permit yearly that cost $20. This permit has to go through the zoning board, then through the humane society, AND then animal control officer has to come out and inspect your set up, and your coop has to be under a certain size or you have to get a building permit. But you can keep 6 chickens on a city lot... MadCo Anderson city limits, if they're considered pets you can keep them, MadCo county limits, R1-R3, you can have 2 animal units per acre of land and a chicken counts as .1 unit. No permits, no neighborhood approval, no bs. So on my half acre lot I can have 10 chickens. I only have 5, but I can have 10. /rant

 

[akorte]

Now that's super cool! I taught middle school sci for many years before becoming a full-time mom. I used to hatch the eggs & then donate the chicks to a local farm when done. (Always leghorns) It wasn't until someone donated a rainbow assortment of eggs that I realized chickens could be sweet & docile. The avatar pic is some of my orig barnyard mix flock. The next year I chose to hatch some lav orps & was hooked! Now I share & spread my orp passion to all the local schools as a guest teacher!

Yeah the #1 reason we chose Orpingtons was their temperament. I know the kids would absolutely love it!

 

[JanetMarie]

I may have to try to sell some cockerels this year once they're grown and have determined their temperment. They're mostly mixed breeds, and since we've been keeping and breeding ones with the best temperments, and don't breed mean hens either, we have two exceptionally good roosters, and have a feeling these cockerels are going to be very good tempered also. They are also very pretty. Will take updated pics to post.

Also will have an Ameraucana cockerel from some hatching eggs that I had purchased from a BYC member.

 

[Nyla]

I'm glad she is doing much better! I know when it happened to my hen, I panicked and wanted to do anything and everything I could to make her feel comfortable in case of death. I staid up the entire night and day that day. But then I came across that VetRx stuff. I went to tractor supply the very next morning and bought it. And it was only $8. Now I have 5 bottles just in case it were to happen again.
I use vetrx on my entire Muscovy flock now when I'm mixing in new ducks. It covers their cents and basically masks them. I found it to help really well with combining! Not to mention it helps their feathers grow, makes feathers look beautiful, aids with wounds, and prevents any "colds". My tractor supply is always out of VetRx. I was lucky to buy the last bottle for my hen when she had the ick. Now I order online to stock up!

She's much better. We kept her inside through the weekend and then put her back out with everyone. She walked right back into her place and she's doing great.

 

[Indyshent]

I'm glad she is doing much better! I know when it happened to my hen, I panicked and wanted to do anything and everything I could to make her feel comfortable in case of death. I staid up the entire night and day that day. But then I came across that VetRx stuff. I went to tractor supply the very next morning and bought it. And it was only $8. Now I have 5 bottles just in case it were to happen again.
I use vetrx on my entire Muscovy flock now when I'm mixing in new ducks. It covers their cents and basically masks them. I found it to help really well with combining! Not to mention it helps their feathers grow, makes feathers look beautiful, aids with wounds, and prevents any "colds". My tractor supply is always out of VetRx. I was lucky to buy the last bottle for my hen when she had the ick. Now I order online to stock up!

Short of respiratory and sinus issues, it won't help with that much. Birds don't sniff each other out, so it's not going to "cover up scents" for flock integration though rubbing menthol products all over everyone's faces might just give them something else to be thinking about. Put Icy Hot on your face and see if you still feel like fighting. Their beaks are very sensitive, so it might even burn.

Birds have very good senses of sight and hearing but can't smell or taste well. Menthol doesn't strictly act on taste and smell though, which us why it can still affect birds by clearing sinuses just like it does with us. With mammals (and presumably birds as menthol products appear to have the same effects) menthol actually triggers cold receptors, just like capsaicin trips heat sensors (and both trip pain sensors). Thus, the bird doesn't need to smell or taste anything with menthol because it's whole body (just like ours) is sensitive to cold. Given Muscovy are particularly sensitive to cold (being tropical non-migratory birds) they might even be extra sensitive to method compared to mallard derived breeds which are far more cold tolerant