Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[fisherlady]

Well, we went to the chicken farm yesterday. It was different than I expected. We didn't get to actually go inside the building because of boisecurity but we were in the room at the end where the eggs came out on the conveyer. There was a great big viewing window there that we could see in. I now know what 10,000 chickens looks like now. They were everywhere! They did not have much space at all but they also looked like they didn't have any issues getting to where they wanted to be. But, like my husband said, he doubts that a chicken on this ends of the building would ever see the other end. They were dust bathing in the litter on the floor and looked generally content though it's not like they knew any better. They did have the doors open for them to "free range" where there were 100-200b outside sun bathing but their free range area was a fenced off area that only went out about 15 ft and then down the length of the building. It was all gravel. The place was very clean though and so were the birds. The people who own it were very nice. They had well cared for horses and pets. Their 7 year old even brought down her favorite horse to take my kids for a ride. Overall, it was a nice visit and am interesting experience. I still feel horrible for the birds but what can you do.

I'm glad it wasn't what you were dreading, and good to hear the birds were able to enjoy at least some 'normal' chicken activities, even if not in an environment we would consider for our backyard flocks.

The more of us who keep our own birds the less need for birds to be kept in the 'factory' type environments...

 

[stake]

GM all:

Had a good day yesterday rebuilding the pen...should be completed today....well, I was sitting last evening (8:00p) sipping on a beer and burning a small fire in the pit when the pooch alerts...I cut him loose and he makes a bee line across the railroad tracks and into the woods....15 seconds I hear a fox scream.....10 seconds more and the dog barks...10 seconds later I hear two more fox screams about 15 seconds apart....1/2hr later the pooch trots up....

the lesson learned is that although there was a ton of activity in the backyard all day and a fire burning the fox was still staking out the chooks....lesson #2 my pooch smelled him at well over 50yds....

 

[fisherlady]

GM all:

Had a good day yesterday rebuilding the pen...should be completed today....well, I was sitting last evening (8:00p) sipping on a beer and burning a small fire in the pit when the pooch alerts...I cut him loose and he makes a bee line across the railroad tracks and into the woods....15 seconds I hear a fox scream.....10 seconds more and the dog barks...10 seconds later I hear two more fox screams about 15 seconds apart....1/2hr later the pooch trots up....

the lesson learned is that although there was a ton of activity in the backyard all day and a fire burning the fox was still staking out the chooks....lesson #2 my pooch smelled him at well over 50yds....

Hopefully you cooked your pooch a hotdog for his good work!

Glad the coop is progressing well for you!

 

[chiques chicks]

@Cindy07

I'm less than a half hour from you. I don't have ducks, but my neighbor does. I could probably get fertile eggs for you depending on what breed you want. I'm not sure what they have, buffs and Rouen maybe? Not sure if they are separated or mixed are the moment.

Pretty sure they hatched a couple last week.

 

[kimalulu]

My broody with one of her chicks. One of the chicks was kind enough to stick her head out for a photo.
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This morning there were two chicks that hatched, one that was zipping and an egg that hadn't done anything yet.

I also have 6 that have hatched so far in the incubator.

 

[Chicken Egg 17]

I am ordering eggs here in a few days for my broody but they are for my breeding pen and so I can show them

 

[dheltzel]

That's awesome! I wish I could find a good supply of pastured eggs in my area, I just don't have enough room for enough chickens to satisfy our egg needs. Plus, I also have friends who would be steady buyers. Plans for the future.... At you doing the chicks more for enjoyment, or some side money also? If you don't mind the personal question.

It's for fun, a hobby that got out of control - as all my hobbies do (I used to have 30+ aquariums and bred thousands of tropical fish, but even as a teenager I had a business and built my own greenhouse for tropical plants, this is the latest in a series of fanatical hobbies). I'm careful never to get financially dependent on a hobby, it takes all the fun out it. All the money goes back to the farm, mostly for feed, I project we will spend over $6000 for feed alone this year, so there has to be some income to keep things afloat.

I'm hoping to diversify the farm for my brother-in-law. He is slowing going bankrupt with dairy and all the government programs and cooperatives are not helping, just dragging out the inevitable. There is not a lot of money to be made in agriculture unless you have millions to invest in very large "vertically integrated" operations. Anyone thinking of starting a business in any type of food production would be well advised to do their homework until they talk themselves out of it. The money is all being made selling to farmers or marketing their products, nothing substantial ends up in the pockets of the guys and gals doing the actual work and taking the risks. I guess you could say that by selling chicks I am trying to move them to the supplier side of the board. It doesn't scale though, to other, less profitable per resource, operations are needed to pick up the slack.

Sorry for the long answer, I blame B-school for my tendency to run on about profit margins and such things.

 

[kimalulu]

I was wondering if some one could explain to me...In auto sexing breeds of chickens, do the females usually have chipmunk stripes and the males have a white dot on or behind their head? I'm mostly interested in bielefelders but was wondering about CCL as well. How do you tell the difference from the males and females in sex link breeds? Thanks for the info!

 

[Cindy07]

@Cindy07

I'm less than a half hour from you. I don't have ducks, but my neighbor does. I could probably get fertile eggs for you depending on what breed you want. I'm not sure what they have, buffs and Rouen maybe? Not sure if they are separated or mixed are the moment.

Pretty sure they hatched a couple last week.

Oh wow I would be very interested in some duck eggs. I have an assortment of ducks so I'm not worried about pure breeds or mix. My incubator is currently up and running. My ringneck pheasants have been laying 2 eggs a day so I have been putting them in the incubator to see if anything comes from that. But I have plenty of space still for some duck eggs. Feel free to PM me.

 

[Redwolf141]

Took my girls outside for a spell yesterday .....my sheltie was not sure what to make of them,I think he wanted to make one dinner....lol. They are 5 weeks old now, I believe they are all pullets, I am still worried that maybe one of the speckled sussex might be a roo.