Recent content by harmonyp

  1. harmonyp

    Hay use...

    If you like to use hay, try grass hay.
  2. harmonyp

    How many hens do you replace at once?

    What is their egg output in the longer light months? It's not really fair to expect eggs in winter, unless you are modifying their environment (like putting them under lights). What breeds do you have (i.e., if you are concerned with egg output, are you buying breeds with high egg output?). I...
  3. harmonyp

    Chicken poo

    Very cool! Roses are incredibly addictive, and surprisingly easy to grow (I have NO idea about growing them in PA, but you can google a ton of info about them and I learned a lot on rose forums). They are very hardy - biggest concerns are ensuring they get enough water, but have good drainage...
  4. harmonyp

    Having to start new flock. Do I want another rooster?

    I have yet to have a rooster in with my hens. The last (2nd) flock I started this April, I bought 17 day old pullets from a local feed store (chicken math - 8-10 was goal) . I felt that certainly I'd get at least one or two cockerels, but hatchery did a great job sexing, and I got all pullets...
  5. harmonyp

    Laying Year Round

    My first flock of 6 born during the month of May kept laying through their first winter. With my second flock of 17 born in April of this year, I'm getting from 6 - 8 eggs per day right now, and some are starting to molt. I know they are healthy - I figure mother nature knows better than I.
  6. harmonyp

    Chicken poo

    Compost, absolutely! I have 150 rose bushes (rose math is every bit as much of a "thing" as chicken math! - started out with 3 bushes 10 years ago!) - composted chicken poop is gold to me.
  7. harmonyp

    Laying Year Round

    "What is everyone else doing to help their flock lay during the winter months?" Absolutely nothing.
  8. harmonyp

    Protein in Chicken Feed...An Observation!

    I'm on my second flock (17) of chickens, and I still feel like such a neophyte. With as much as I've read (more opinions, less scientific) on optimal protein content for laying hens, I'm still confused. Up until recently I fed straight purina layena (16% protein), but I've started mixing it...
  9. harmonyp

    Homemade flock block recipes

    You guys have way more motivation than I. I just paid $16 for a 25 lb purina flock block that'll last me months as I just put it in their pen for a few hours, a couple times a week. But your blocks look fabulous!!!
  10. harmonyp

    Feeding crushed eggshells vs oyster shells

    For those of you feeding eggshells, aren't you afraid of the correlation to them starting to eat their own eggs?
  11. harmonyp

    Chickened out on Fermented Feed but ...

    After doing a bunch of reading on feeding fermented feed to chickens, I decided to try it out. My issue is consistency in available temps. My house (and available places to do this) seems too cold in winter, and way too hot in summer. I'm also not able to only give it to them for 30 min at a...
  12. harmonyp

    If you could only keep 3-5 chickens

    Great post, Mimi13. For those of us who have only had one, or a few of a specific breed of chicken, it's tempting (self included) to give breed-personality feedback, but there is SO much variance between individuals. My two Australorps too, had ho-hum personalities (but were super egg...
  13. harmonyp

    If you could only keep 3-5 chickens

    PC&D - I love your Sicilian Buttercup - that and the Creme Legbars are must-try's for me ... someday. 3-5 chickens... ha - first thing would be I'd fall victim to chicken math! my first choice would be to include at least one Speckled Sussex. To me they definitely qualify as "sexy", they are...
  14. harmonyp

    No, I don’t have any regrets about eating animals.

    I do not "regret" eating animals, but I do feel guilt in eating animals when I know they've been likely treated horribly prior to them being converted to food. I wish I could raise my own, but I have found that I just can't eat an animal that I've seen alive - I tried with a catfish I caught...
  15. harmonyp

    Help with ammonia smell

    What is your cleaning regimen? I never smell ammonia or anything that smells like cat pee in my coup of 17 hens.
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