Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[BullChick]

Don’t take me seriously. I don’t like the three that come over here, but that’s my problem.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

Still no luck finding my little black ameraucana hen They're logging right next door so if she was over there somewhere, they probably scared her even further away. That IF she's still ok. I did go out and get some pictures today though.

Silkie feathered Ameraucanas

These 3 silkie feathered black ameraucanas are my missing hen's kids (she wasn't raising them)

It was a beautiful day, so naturally, everyone hangs out in the coop

Penciled turkey poults, growing up

Orpingtons and Ameraucanas wandering amongst the wild flowers

And last but not least, The ducklings that we ended up with from my BIL are getting big. I'm still trying to make up my mind on the Khaki cambel. I THINK he's a he but I'm not positive. I know Frankie is a girl though.

 

[BullChick]

I had a quail fly off. I finally found him, but got cocky about his inability to get out of the net. Maaco got him, but didn’t try to eat him. I caught him, and got him in the pen. It was a fun five minutes.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

I had a quail fly off. I finally found him, but got cocky about his inability to get out of the net. Maaco got him, but didn’t try to eat him. I caught him, and got him in the pen. It was a fun five minutes.

I had one get loose a week or so ago. He flew about 20 feet and landed before becoming extremely confused about where he was and what was going on. He ran and kept trying to go through the turkey fencing.....he was too big. He made it all too easy to grab him lol

 

[OneMountainAcres]

AND that quail I was talking about decided that he didn't like me talking about him and took off tonight. Figures lol

 

[BullChick]

 

[BullChick]

We’ve been expecting storms for three days. Besides a few sprinkles today, there hasn’t been anything. Regardless, the internet and TV are out. It flashes on momentarily, but not long enough to do anything.
Duckling isn’t able to focus on more than walking today, so playing games was out, and I couldn’t go outside with her because she was seriously that ... thoughtless.
We watched one and a half Disney movies before she seemed suddenly calmer, and focused. We were able to roast some marshmallows over a small fire, check the apple trees for damage, and she ran through the field of dandelions barefoot. She had a few issues, but I have to refresh fire safety with her. She is only four, and it’s the first time we’ve used this pit. It’s only marked with two short walls at the moment.

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

What space do they need in a coop? Chickens rule of thumb is 2 sq ft per bird, so I'll have 50sq ft extra in my new coop. How much sq ft do turkeys need?

Chickens need 4 ft.² inside. Unless they are bantams. I figured 6 ft.² for the turkey, and used a tote as a nest box.

I was always told 4 Sq ft of floor space per LF chicken (half that for bantams) and 10 Sq ft per turkey (coop) with 12" roost space per chicken. For run space, 10 Sq ft per chicken and probably 25 sq ft per turkey. That being said, i think that's for birds that are cooped all the time. I routinely break those amounts (for the chickens) but they free range all day, every day

You beat me to it. I have close to 40 birds in my coop, and it’s a 12x10 shed. But they only sleep and lay eggs in there. I have to do some serious repairs this spring though. I knew my floor was feeling squishy near the door, but the last time I was in my hands and knees cleaning the coop, my knee went through the floor.

The floor became rotted through from the original roof which I replaced when I got it here. It had an actual hole in the roof, plus a lot of rotted plywood. By the way, the roof hasn’t leaked since I put the new one on!

New here. Anyone in NW PA?

Welcome from the other end of the state!

Welcome! I'm in northern Chester Co, very close to Berks. If you need more chicks, ducks, turkeys, etc, let me know. I have lots to sell right now.

You’re still overflowing? I guess that why we haven’t seen you. Haha!

Spending a muggy afternoon in the coop babysitting a new broody. She is a sex link (sold as an australorpe by rural king, go figure) and is only about 10 months old. She has been faithfully sitting for almost 4 weeks. She got kind of freaked when we sold most of the birds out of her coop last weekend and then moved in a new rooster and 2 hens to that coop and run. There was plenty of space and the new ones weren't bothering her directly, in fact they pretty much ignored her, it just upset her zen or something, lol. So today was hatch day for some incubator eggs we had set. Broodies do all of the raising but DH built a great incubator last year to allow us to hatch important eggs inside and give the newborns to the hens. With so many hens trying to brood together it helped avoid egg arguements, lol. Some of our best old girls still get a real clutch but the incubator evens the numbers for everyone....
Anyway, I am rambling.... lol. We set about a 18-20 eggs from our hens hoping for a few more of the mixed girls like we got last year. They have been awesome hens and definitely good for our self sustaining flock goal. Our white rock roosters are aging so I wanted eggs while we could from them. Only about half were fertile, but probably was good since we only have 1 hen who has been sitting over 3 weeks right now. Although we do have 3 more parked from 7 days to 2 weeks.
So back to the sitting girl. I really want sure how she would be about chicks but so far so good. She is talking to them and hasn't shown any agression with them so maybe her nerves and hormones will settle and she will get her broody back, lol. Fingers crossed! I dont want to have to try to graft them to another hen and I should have about 20 silver pencil chicks next week to give to the other hens anyways. View attachment 1760725
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And of course Mindy is helping keep an eye on things.

Love the pictures and the stories! I’m sure th new girl will fit right in to the mix, she’s off to a good start being such a young broody.

My favorite little black hen has gone missing I released all the breeding pens yesterday and by yesterday afternoon I couldn't find her anywhere. No feathers, nothing. I'm hoping that she'll turn up but it's unlikely. She had issues with recurring wry neck and I think she got disoriented and wandered off. She was the one who would snuggle up to my legs every morning for love and hugs and would close her eyes and just soak it in. I hope I find her but it's not looking good.

I’m sorry you lost your girl. Especially when it’s a favorite...

My one Lavender Ameracauna he from one of @dheltzel ‘s chicks got nabbed yesterday. She was probably near 2 years old. I had been out during the day, and when I came back, the chickens seem disturbed. The I saw the trail of feathers that was pretty extensive. I have the flock in a large fenced in area in the woods now. From the trail of feathers, I could see where the critter had dragged the chicken under the welded wire fencing. I thought it was a hawk, until today when I heard a disturbance, and saw a fox run across the yard towards the woods, thankfully away from the flock.

I will be keeping the dogs out more often, especially later in the day when I noticed this fox. Thankfully, I also have so many logs from the fallen pine trees in the chicken run, so I started to line the bottom of the fencing with heavy logs. I know the fox can scale the fencing, but at least they won’t be able to drag anyone away, and hopefully the Roos can give it a challenge. And maybe I can get a shot in, if I catch it in pursuit. I have one large roo, and one bantam, but I will be keeping at least another rooster for predator awareness. Also, I will be adding more areas for hiding from aerial predators, most likely with old tarps.

 

[BullChick]

See the blue?!

 

[OneMountainAcres]

Yesterday was the Altoona TSC swap. We had such a good turnout! It was great! There were about 10 vendors there and a good crowd. I managed to lighten the brooder load a good bit, sold off all my quail, and sold all the adults except for a silkie roo and an orpington Cockerel. Next swap is next Saturday at TSC in Ebensburg I've never been to that one so I might go and see if I can have just as much luck. I love swap days lol