INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Chaneys Ranch]

DH brought us home a bigger tractor from Saturdays auction. We are already looking for a baler and a front loader for it!

 

[pginsber]

getting so big! I just adore the NN's!

The Naked Necks are super sweet and curious. They seem to be very tolerant birds.
We also have Aracauna roosters--I chucked to myself thinking about what naked-necked, tailless, mustached babies would look like.

Bet they'd be cute and lay a blue egg, even in the winter time!

 

[Faraday40]

Chicks:
We sold most of the orps - kept one (a week old lav)to grow out - and kept the 4 wk old silkies. Cookie is now down to these 6 chicks, so we let them have some grass time. Thankfully, we finally had a nice spring day!

Melting chicks:

DD still has her bin of bantams in the house. We had a late hatching buff orp who got put with the bantams. She's the sweetest thing but towers over her serama & OEG siblings. I tried putting her outside with Cookie & the silkies. Cookie gently pecked her head. She froze & stayed submissive. After Cookie walked away, the buff pathetically looked up at me. (Probably thinking:, "Why did you put me here?" "Why am I not in your arms?") I caved & she's still in the house with the bantams. I'd prefer they all be in the garage, but the kids are really enjoying holding them.

@ 4 weeks old

 

[Indyshent]

Henny gave up on motherhood for the time geing, but all three other hens are looking into that role now. Doubting more every day that we'll get poults.

Hopefully getting a kitty tonight

 

[faerydust16]

@Faraday40

How does your water container work? I keep seeing it in your pictures and it looks cool!

 

[Faraday40]

@Faraday40

How does your water container work? I keep seeing it in your pictures and it looks cool!

Chicken nipples!!!

They sell them online (ebay & amazon) as well as at farm stores. The ones in the pic are the cheaper vertical ones which I buy for under $1 each. Basically grab some plastic container from your recycle bin & drill a hole in bottom to fit the nipple. Screw in or push in the nipple. (There are 2 types. Push in kind is easier for thin disposable plastic. Screw in type is better for buckets that have thicker, firm plastic.) Make a way to hang it. I usually drill holes at top & bend some clothes hanger wire. If you have a sealed container w/o any air holes, you'll need to drill a small hole to release air pressure (prevent a vacuum) Otherwise, the holes made to insert the hanging wire are enough. We make several of these. They're cheap & great for brooders. I can't stand how messy the standard waterers get and don't want my babies drinking poopy water.

Here's DD making one for her quail:

For the winter, we use the nicer horiz nipples. Mostly because we have a bucket & heater to prevent water from freezing. The horiz leak less & they don't freeze up as easily. They cost a little more, and since we're always giving away waterers we simply buy the reg vertical ones in bulk.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Can't wait! I love those little silkied cochins!

Got any egg pics to tide me over? Maybe a candling photo in a week???




I couldn't find silkied cochin eggs, so I hatched some seramas 4 weeks ago. I did get one silkied serama - but I think male.

4 weeks old:

Here he is next to his buff orp "sister":

Haha, well, it's not too interesting, but here are the eggs all loaded in the Octagon. The tan ones in front are Silkied Cochin (hence SC on the eggs) and the white ones are from my Silver Gray Dorkings crossed to Darwin the Red Dorking (SLD = Sex-Linked Dorking, as I'm hoping the cross will produce. They should be color sexlinked by adulthood with red/gold females and 'golden' or lighter colored males, so the only question is whether it will be visible at hatch.)

Yes, silkied Cochins are incredibly rare. One of the reasons why I made the crazy long trip over to western Chicago in the middle of a busy semester a couple years ago to get them was because I knew if I let the opportunity pass I would never get the chance to get them again. I know that there have been a few farms in the past that have bred them, but they either become inactive online or get rid of their stock for one reason or another. The person I got mine from was selling out of them as well. They just didn't take off like the silkied Ameraucana project did. It's a darn shame, too, because silkied Cochins are the cutest!

Silkied Seramas are on my list. I actually kind of want to own all breeds that have the silkie mutation at this point (although it's looking like the 'woolly' Svart Honas also didn't take off, so they may be as impossible to find as the Cochins are). And Seramas are so tiny and adorable. I agree that you have a little fella, though.





Sorry, I got a bit wordy. I'll end with pictures of my kiddos from yesterday, when they turned 7 weeks old. Looks like I ended up with an even 50-50 split on boys and girls.



And, there's always one in the group, so here is the hugger, Mavis, on my lap.

 

[fezmo]

Wondering if anyone knows where I can buy some adult chickens? I need some more hens because i have more hens than roosters at the moment. Preferably somewhere in Indianapolis?

 

[HamsterStyle]

There are usually some for sale at the knightstown sale barn. It's in knightstown. Not too bad of a drive

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Here's a new one on me, any thoughts? Had a neighbor ask me what breed of chicken lays a red egg. I thought of Marans of course, but she said its red not brown. So i googled it, can't find anything.