Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[vicki5112]

Wow, Vicki is right extended forecast is awful....currently 3 degrees and windy in my neck of the woods...its so cold the snow blower wouldn't start.....

That's just way too cold for me! lol It was -1 when we got up this morning but it's up to 5 now, real heat wave going on here...lol At least the wind has died down a bit at the moment here so that's a good thing.

 

[vicki5112]

I understand completely about the 'over protective' thing, our first winter we worried every time it got below 30*, now we open the door and let 'em go. When they are out and get soaked we turn on the heat lamps so they can set under them to dry off, which they do, often times we will see them cycle in and out of the coop through the day, going inside for an hour or so to warm up or grab a bite to eat, then it's back outside to explore and forage for whatever bits they can find... it is amazing just how much they are willing to be out. The only thing they don't like is walking in snow over about 2 inches or so deep, they do prefer to follow the paths my husband clears for them (can you tell he is still a bit overprotective??? LOL)

I am about 45 minutes North of the town of Indiana, closer to Punxsutawney actually, though I am still in Indiana County (by about a mile or so)

I understand completely about the 'over protective' thing, our first winter we worried every time it got below 30*, now we open the door and let 'em go. When they are out and get soaked we turn on the heat lamps so they can set under them to dry off, which they do, often times we will see them cycle in and out of the coop through the day, going inside for an hour or so to warm up or grab a bite to eat, then it's back outside to explore and forage for whatever bits they can find... it is amazing just how much they are willing to be out. The only thing they don't like is walking in snow over about 2 inches or so deep, they do prefer to follow the paths my husband clears for them (can you tell he is still a bit overprotective??? LOL)

I am about 45 minutes North of the town of Indiana, closer to Punxsutawney actually, though I am still in Indiana County (by about a mile or so)

We open the pop door and let them choose, birds with large combs may get Vaseline to protect from frostbite but that's about it. Ours have a partially covered run area with wind blocked (but not completely) by tarping, and part of the run is open with a small shed we call 'the condos' on one end of it... it has 2 levels and pop doors into each level with an 8' plank from a stump to the top floor condo pop door. The teenagers tend to hang out a lot around the condos during the day, even in bad weather. I believe them being able to get out for even short periods of time greatly reduces the stress and nerves in the coop for everyone. The birds don't seem to care about the air temp... it is wind and blowing snow or rain they try to avoid....

My girls won't go out in the snow yet at all, the other week when we had snow & it wasn't as cold, I opened their run door & they got all excited, saw the snow & came to a screeching halt on the door sill....it was so funny. They eat the snow when some blows in their run but they won't go out of their run. They were so funny when they saw their first snow, they were real wary of it, walking all around it then finally Gertie took a peck at it & found she liked it so then Gracie warily took her peck & she found she liked it too. Until the first snow we had a small part of the roof open with just chicken wire on it but when we saw how much snow came in, hubby went to Lowes & bought another sheet of the corrugated clear vinyl roofing & he put it on so now the roof is all enclosed. We can take it off again in summer if we want to but I kinda like how dry the run is now though so we'll probably leave it like it is.

 

[stake]

New Castle here! ^__^

Howdy from Chester Co....

 

[wingstone]

snowy driving question....

these snow drifts are pretty high, just how hard can a bumper hit them before the air bag is set off...

I think about this every time I plow thru one

 

[fisherlady]

snowy driving question....

these snow drifts are pretty high, just how hard can a bumper hit them before the air bag is set off...

I think about this every time I plow thru one

It is determined by how dense the snow pack is and the speed you are moving... the sensors are set to 'pounds per square inch' of pressure for activation. So I wouldn't worry about 'fluffy' drifts much at speeds less than 20 mph, but anything packed by a plow or wet snow (which I wouldn't expect to drift and probably not what you are dealing with) is probably pretty iffy at that speed.

You should be able to Google your make and model of vehicle with question such as '2005 Subaru forester front bumper air bag sensor settings' to see if the info is available online with examples.

 

[fisherlady]

Ferret Mom!

Grew up in Northern Butler Co. , so familiar with some with your area... just let us know what you have and what we can help you find that you didn't know you wanted!

 

[fisherlady]

Well it has finally hit a balmy 5* here, but it is 20* in the coop, so except for swapping out waterers once in a while all is good. I did wait till the temp was 2* to open the pop door, I need to make a 'portico' type cover for the pop door area so there is a secondary barrier to outside air temps. I think a box around the pop door area with another pop door on the side so it wasn't directly in line with the first and maybe a curtain over one of the doors, or clear plastic strips they could push through? The birds are fine with how it is now, but reducing cold air flow would help reduce how quickly the water freezes probably. Will have to dig through scrap pile for building materials but not till after weather warms up! LOL

 

[troyer]

New Castle here! ^__^

Welcome from Lancaster County!

 

[tinychicadees]

New Castle here! ^__^

I'm in New Castle also!

 

[Poetshens]

Preach! I watched a video the other day and it mentioned how the Amish have much lower occurrences of asthma and allergies, and they (scientists, I believe) attribute that to the fact that they are contact with livestock, their droppings and bacteria. Interesting.


Groused, is that a Pennsylvania state bird reference, or just a spelling error? I'm just being a pest.

Support Bacteria! They're the only culture some people have!

.

Gotta say, I love me some snow, but a foot is a heck of a lot!

I must have hunting on my mind.... lol