INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[hbrown322]

Finally warmer weather!! 30 degrees seems so comfortable!
I got out this morning and did a deep clean of the henhouse. The majority of the chicken poop has been frozen solid to the floor of the henhouse & despite my scrapper, I had only been able to get about 80% of the frozen poop cleaned off. I opened the run doors to see if my girls wanted a bit of free range time today, but they looked out, saw there was still snow on the ground & turned back around.

Egg production has been down. My two oldest girls are still getting over their molt. One of them hasn’t laid since September! My welsummer finally started laying, although it’s not consistent right now (Weather related I’m assuming).
My bantam Cochin just laid her first egg. She’s so much smaller than the rest of the flock, I knew her eggs would be small. But I never expected them to be this small!
I first thought it might be a fairy egg, but I am pretty sure they are hers! Golden buff egg far left, bantam Cochin/fairy egg far right.

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

OOOh we changed up our food this weekend. Stephanie at Coomer Farms aided in my attempt to convince DH to change up our food. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I've been running on insanity lately. We've been using Dumor purely out of convenience. We keep discussing a feed mill, and then go to TSC because its quite literally around the corner. I remember last year when we took on my grandma's chooks my grandpa reminded me about this time that the birds didn't like the TSC food and to get it from Rural King. Pfft, birds eat what they get, right? Right? WRONG lol They weren't laying, just like my girls aren't laying and haven't laid any of the three times they've gone on Dumor layer... Come on Kanina, get it together. When we've gone through a no lay period in the past I've dropped back down to finisher and things go back to normal. I choose finisher because I'm generally out of chick food as well and this way I can feed both without feeding layer to the chicks.

DH set out on a mission to find a better feed since the ducks could use something better, and the drake and roosters don't need layer. We decided on an All-Flock from RK, which would be $8+ less a month (provided my feeding estimates are correct) even though the drive is much longer (3 miles vs 23 miles). Then Stephanie told us about a feed mill in Matthews, IN which we're going to check out in the coming weeks. They have some great egg laying recipe, I don't remember what she said the specific name was. She also mentioned that she mixed black oil sunflower seeds and SuperKibble in with it and her girls are laying great. It looked like she didn't even have supplemental lighting, *gasp*

So yesterday I mixed 100# of Nutrena All-Flock with 6# of black oil sunflower seeds, and 1/2# of cat treats (I couldn't find the SuperKibble and they're super high in protein like the kibble). I thought about adding some oats, but I like giving them a bowl of warm oats as a treat (like Quaker Quick Oats). We'll see when the ladies will start laying again. Its been three weeks and my egg supplies are completely diminished. What am I supposed to eat with my bacon and toast???

What is everyone else using? Any suggestions on feeds?

I know nothing about feed. But, I started with Dumor because it was given to me from the previous owners. Then, went to the local feed mill and got some Sauder feed layer crumbles. It's from an Indiana feed mill. I do have one not laying, so I hope it is not harming her. I also feed treats like boss and meal worms. My 3 Isa Browns are laying, but they are just over a year. My EE who is over 2 is the one molting and is not laying. They have no supplemental light.

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

Because they are awesome!

More specifically, they are intelligent, quiet, and I love their mannerisms. The males whisper, and wag their tails a lot, the girls chirp and make other quiet noises, and they all talk together wagging their tails, and bobbing their heads.

Their eggs also are better than other duck eggs (in my opinion). Muscovy eggs have a very thick yolk that you can pick up raw with a fork, and the white is so thick you have to scrape it out of the shell.

Ah. I'm entertaining the idea of having ducks. But, trying to figure out how it would work out and how to get dh on board. Lol

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

Finally warmer weather!! 30 degrees seems so comfortable!
I got out this morning and did a deep clean of the henhouse. The majority of the chicken poop has been frozen solid to the floor of the henhouse & despite my scrapper, I had only been able to get about 80% of the frozen poop cleaned off. I opened the run doors to see if my girls wanted a bit of free range time today, but they looked out, saw there was still snow on the ground & turned back around.

Egg production has been down. My two oldest girls are still getting over their molt. One of them hasn’t laid since September! My welsummer finally started laying, although it’s not consistent right now (Weather related I’m assuming).
My bantam Cochin just laid her first egg. She’s so much smaller than the rest of the flock, I knew her eggs would be small. But I never expected them to be this small!
I first thought it might be a fairy egg, but I am pretty sure they are hers! Golden buff egg far left, bantam Cochin/fairy egg far right. View attachment 1230770

My girls actually came out even though there was snow underfoot. Of course, they are probably tired of their tiny living quarters.

 

[Nyla]

I've been raising ducks my whole life. I've had exotic's to plain commons. Muscovy's have stood out the most to me. I feel a bond with them. Plus they aren't so ski-dish like common ducks. I've raised common ducks from eggs to adults and they still seem ski-dish. When I hatch Muscovy's from eggs and raise to adults they literally stalk me. They will fly up to me and perch on my shoulder or sleep on my window bed waiting for me. They have an amazing personality's. Most of all I love their greetings of waging tails, the bobbing of heads, and their little noises they make.

Why Muscovy's vs another duck?

YES they are!! And I'm glad you're loving Java! He was a really sweet duckling growing up!

Because Muscovies are the BEST!!!

YES!! This time I am keeping them. No more getting rid of them or the chickens. I'm hoping to trade my 5 hens for other hens known for broodiness. My son and I are allergic to chicken eggs so their egg production is useless to us. So far we've been donating their eggs to needed family's near us.

Are you going to keep them this time?

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

I've been raising ducks my whole life. I've had exotic's to plain commons. Muscovy's have stood out the most to me. I feel a bond with them. Plus they aren't so ski-dish like common ducks. I've raised common ducks from eggs to adults and they still seem ski-dish. When I hatch Muscovy's from eggs and raise to adults they literally stalk me. They will fly up to me and perch on my shoulder or sleep on my window bed waiting for me. They have an amazing personality's. Most of all I love their greetings of waging tails, the bobbing of heads, and their little noises they make.


YES they are!! And I'm glad you're loving Java! He was a really sweet duckling growing up!


YES!! This time I am keeping them. No more getting rid of them or the chickens. I'm hoping to trade my 5 hens for other hens known for broodiness. My son and I are allergic to chicken eggs so their egg production is useless to us. So far we've been donating their eggs to needed family's near us.

Well, if I ever get serious about the ducks and can convince dh, I will have to come check out your ducks. Ha!

So, if you are allergic to chicken eggs, why do you keep chickens? Can you eat the meat? Or do you just like them as pets?

 

[Nyla]

I use them to hatch my Muscovy's eggs, so My Muscovy's can continue laying.

Well, if I ever get serious about the ducks and can convince dh, I will have to come check out your ducks. Ha!

So, if you are allergic to chicken eggs, why do you keep chickens? Can you eat the meat? Or do you just like them as pets?

 

[Nyla]

So this morning I was out fixing the chicken run door when I herd a "Caah Coo" Sounds! My rooster is finally crowing. Sadly no fertile eggs yet!

Here is a weird thing for the day!
So some of my family moved in with me do to them being evicted. Since they moved in, it is getting harder and harder to find forks! YES Forks! What are they doing with them? Well I went room to room asking for any silverware they "might" have taken to their rooms. Come to find they were stashing them from one another???!!! Who does this? It's silly! I requested all forks back and announced that by no means is food allowed outside of the kitchen/ dining room area. And NO TAKING THE SILVERWARE AND STASHING IT!. I now have signs through out my house saying that... Had guests come over and they almost died of laughing.... The family member's whom moved in with me (4 kids! 1 is 15 years old, 1 is 11 years old, and 2 are twins 6 years old.), are my 3rd gene. Cousins. Their mother currently does not live with me. She rents a 1 bedroom apartment. Here kids will live with me until she gets a bigger place and stable. I thought dealing with a almost 2 year old son of mine was tiring! I was WRONG!
Has this happened to anyone else?

 

[Faraday40]

hoarding forks!! Yes, those signs sounds very entertaining.... or I'm just easily amused by these little things.

No I never had issues with my forks, BUT....
My teaspoons disappear like crazy! When we got married, we had 16 complete sets of silverware and now down to only 8 of the orig teaspoons. (I even bought 2 off ebay a while back but it's just too expensive, so mismatched it must be.) Knives & forks can hold their own, but what's going on with my spoons!? I'm guessing they went on a one way trip inside a lunchbox or my sister helped clear the table when visiting. She has the reputation for quickly scraping plates & silverware into the trash. LOL
BTW- I solved the spoon issue by buying some decent plastic spoons. Only those are permitted in lunch boxes.

I also had 4 different patterns of silverware somehow find their way to our silverware drawer. 2 serving spoons, a butter spreader & a fork. I'm guessing they came along with guests, but I don't recognize any of the patterns. Hey, maybe my extra fork is the one you're missing!

The other problem we more recently developed was disappearing snack containers & bowls. The kids took snacks outside in the summer & then stored them in the fort rather than walking them all the way back inside. (Perhaps they brought some spoons along to keep the bowls company.) DD then started making all sorts of fun DIY concoctions like slime, play dough, silly putty, etc. Of course she used my little lunch Tupperware containers to store and transport her marvelous creations. Just before Christmas break after cleaning out her locker, she returned several moldy containers to me.

Yes kids know how to keep us laughing. I'm also thankful that these "problems" are minor & comical. DD will officially be a teenager soon.

 

[Nyla]

I've been laughing for the past 5 minutes from reading this! I thought my situation was funny! Yours tops it!
When I was little, me and my siblings use to take spoons outside to use as shovels in the dirt! We also use to bury them so we wouldn't get into trouble for taking them outside!

hoarding forks!! Yes, those signs sounds very entertaining.... or I'm just easily amused by these little things.

No I never had issues with my forks, BUT....
My teaspoons disappear like crazy! When we got married, we had 16 complete sets of silverware and now down to only 8 of the orig teaspoons. (I even bought 2 off ebay a while back but it's just too expensive, so mismatched it must be.) Knives & forks can hold their own, but what's going on with my spoons!? I'm guessing they went on a one way trip inside a lunchbox or my sister helped clear the table when visiting. She has the reputation for quickly scraping plates & silverware into the trash. LOL
BTW- I solved the spoon issue by buying some decent plastic spoons. Only those are permitted in lunch boxes.

I also had 4 different patterns of silverware somehow find their way to our silverware drawer. 2 serving spoons, a butter spreader & a fork. I'm guessing they came along with guests, but I don't recognize any of the patterns. Hey, maybe my extra fork is the one you're missing!

The other problem we more recently developed was disappearing snack containers & bowls. The kids took snacks outside in the summer & then stored them in the fort rather than walking them all the way back inside. (Perhaps they brought some spoons along to keep the bowls company.) DD then started making all sorts of fun DIY concoctions like slime, play dough, silly putty, etc. Of course she used my little lunch Tupperware containers to store and transport her marvelous creations. Just before Christmas break after cleaning out her locker, she returned several moldy containers to me.

Yes kids know how to keep us laughing. I'm also thankful that these "problems" are minor & comical. DD will officially be a teenager soon.