Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[OneMountainAcres]

Hubby let me get a couple more. Said if there were any others that I wanted to get it over with all at once lol. My daughter wanted Silkies soooo

Just said Bantam Silkie Mix. I still have to read up. Thinking they're all white? Some have feathered feet and some have fluffier heads. Don't know what that means but I see a lot of pictures in my future lol.

Very cute! I love silkies Were they from tractor supply? What I've found with the hatchery silkies is that they tend to grow to standard LF sized instead of bantam sized.

One of the silkies I hatched from shipped eggs is a really weird color. It's like a blue but has yellowish feathers mixed in, I'll try to get some pictures tomorrow.

Question time! I just collected the first turkey egg I hope to incubate. Do I store them fat end up? I am going to try to collect a weeks worth, and then put them in. Fingers crossed!

Fast end up, just like chicken eggs

 

[yoopergirl1211]

Very cute! I love silkies Were they from tractor supply? What I've found with the hatchery silkies is that they tend to grow to standard LF sized instead of bantam sized.

One of the silkies I hatched from shipped eggs is a really weird color. It's like a blue but has yellowish feathers mixed in, I'll try to get some pictures tomorrow.
Fast end up, just like chicken eggs

And they probably wont be as fluffy right? I read theres a big difference between hatchery and breeders when it comes to silkies. Where does the different size fluff balls on head and feathered/no feathered legs come in? Any rhyme or reason? They are from Tractor supply. I have three of them within half hour of me. I can see it being a problem. I'll try to get some better pics. Curious about color!

 

[FluffyButt789]

This morning I packed up nine birds to go live down south. The injured duck is being given a chance. He will have a pond to swim on (or is it in?), and minnows to catch. He's still as active as the other two, and his new caretakers are okay with feeding him feed soup, and providing extra deep containers.

That's wonderful! I would personally not have given him a chance, but it's great that they will. I hope his beak does grow back!

Fair enough on the distance, didn't know how far "away" you were looking. They might take hatching eggs, which could be shipped--and I know they receive chick shipments, but I am guessing you don't want to ship chicks.

I will be so excited if you have silvers left when the train goes through! I wasn't initially looking for legbars--I wasn't sure I liked some of the crests I saw in pictures, especially of hatchery birds, looking like crazy toupees--but yours are lovely and I'm starting to be won over. For some reason, my blue/green egg layers are on strike at the moments, so I'm jonesing for more. My elderly EE is obviously past her prime laying days, my younger EE, who was one of my most reliable layers, is laying about 1 egg a week at the moment for some reason, my Blue Ameraucana laid about 10 eggs after the winter break then went back on strike (???), and my OE pullet is 26 weeks old and still hasn't laid her first egg. Makes me look forward to the new chicks on the chicken train even more!

My two blue/green egg layers have gone on strike as well. They hate the cold so much! Silly girls. I saw your updated post about them finally giving you some eggs. Hopefully mine will too. The egg carton is looking too bare

Parkesburg, PA TSC has a bin of buff Orps and Autralorps for only $1....just sayin'

Agh I love BO chickens.... good thing I live too far away lol!

 

[BullChick]

That's wonderful! I would personally not have given him a chance, but it's great that they will. I hope his beak does grow back!

Yeah, it's a good reason to process him, but I'm just as happy to not have to. So far, he's full of energy. After several days of bitter cold and lots of snow (it takes energy to stay warm), I'm fairly convinced he's eating.

 

[Prpjewel]

Thanks!  I keep setting eggs every week in the hope that they will be fertile soon.

Fingers crossed

 

[Prpjewel]

Is anyone else freaking out about this a little?

https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDAAPHIS/bulletins/18dd7dc

Actually I am. I ordered chicks from a farm about 1hr away. Should I cancel? Just quarantine? Very nervous but I really want these beautiful chicks.

 

[ad26]

Another cull in Alabama. It might be a good year for tighter biosecurity. Farm stores like TSC buy from hatcheries all over the country. Their corporate strikes deals with hatcheries across the country for regional contracts. Different stores will carry different types of chicks depending on their location, customer base, usual chick sales, which hatchery they're contracted with this year, etc.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-birdflu-usa-idUSKBN16L1UX

 

[dheltzel]

Actually I am. I ordered chicks from a farm about 1hr away. Should I cancel? Just quarantine? Very nervous but I really want these beautiful chicks.

Remember that this is still a rare occurance, given how many flocks are out there and the extreme results of infection. With 50 - 90% (some say 100%) mortality, it is unlikely to go unnoticed in any flock. Even if an unscrupulous breeder tries to still sell chicks from an infected flock, he only has a few days to do so before the rest will sicken and die. This is not a long term, chronic thing like most of the diseases you might encounter.

I wonder why they kill the survivors each time. It seems like selective breeding of the survivors might create chickens that are like waterfowl, just silent carriers.

 

[BachMFD650]

Morning all. Well, blizzard was here and gone. 25" of snow with 3ft snow drifts against the coop and run. Poor girls. I need to try and dig them out today. Glad I tarped it to keep the brunt of the snow out.

 

[Blarneyeggs]

Another cull in Alabama. It might be a good year for tighter biosecurity. Farm stores like TSC buy from hatcheries all over the country. Their corporate strikes deals with hatcheries across the country for regional contracts. Different stores will carry different types of chicks depending on their location, customer base, usual chick sales, which hatchery they're contracted with this year, etc.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-birdflu-usa-idUSKBN16L1UX

This article that you've posted is about low path AI found in Alabama, unfortunately a 2nd outbreak of High Path was found in Tennessee. PA has such strict policies with these outbreaks that I don't worry for my flock as much as I get disappointed when the shows are cancelled. We are currently designing a coop for Call Ducks, it's for a 'Know Your Breed" project my son signed up for at 4-H, at this point, the project leader is leaning toward cancelling the project. No shows have been cancelled yet, in PA anyway, but I feel it coming. I thought I should add, anyone that knows me, knows that I don't do ducks. As it is my son's senior year, I'm wiling to come around for his sake just this once, but it seems as if he won't be doing the project. I think I'll still make the coop and maybe get eggs from a call breeder, I've already got in my head what I want to do and I just can't stop thinking about it.