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  1. dheltzel

    Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

    Anyone looking for geese? I have young pairs of Pilgrims and Sebastopols available. Geese can add some drama to your life, they are far smarter than the other birds and they know it.
  2. dheltzel

    Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

    Most chicken breeds are on their "Priority Conservation List" and the status they assign is not even close to reality. I was a member briefly before I realized they gave very little attention to poultry. I don't blame them, they serve a niche with the larger animals, but the conservation efforts...
  3. dheltzel

    Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

    Sent you a PM. I still have many chicks this week.
  4. dheltzel

    Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

    I actually have quite a few unsold chicks this week. I tried to accelerate my hatches to meet demand and as a result, I have a lot of blue egg layers every week.
  5. dheltzel

    Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

    Unless the coop is quite large, I would line the inside with plywood, but not add any insulation.
  6. dheltzel

    Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

    I use a gravity wagon parked inside a large shed. It holds over 2 tons of pellet feed, which is the minimum for delivery from the feed mills. Double layer of heavy tarps over the top. 5 gallon buckets with lids are filled from the shute. I have a low plastic stock tank under the shute, and the...
  7. dheltzel

    Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

    The Genetic Hackle roosters are the most mild-mannered of all my roosters. They make great pets and know everything a rooster is supposed to do. As protectors, they are small and will probably not stand up to a hawk, but will be running faster than the hens away from it. Roosters can be a lot of...
  8. dheltzel

    Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

    The Ameraucanas are not sexable as chicks, but the PA Blue Eggers are half Ameraucana. I can figure out getting chicks for you whenever you want them.
  9. dheltzel

    Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

    Not surprising at all. Most breeders make Olive Eggers by crossing an Ameraucana with a Marans. Hatcheries often use Cuckoo Marans pullets with an Ameraucana cockerel to make them black sexlinks. I use California Greys (white eggs) with the Ameraucana to make black sexlinks that lay light blue...
  10. dheltzel

    Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

    @TillyPeeps has had these in the past (Blue Egg Laying Black Sexlinks). She might have a photo. She was instrumental in me bringing these back, she kept asking for them every year.
  11. dheltzel

    Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

    I hatch many breeds all summer. I tend to stop hatching the hybrids whenever demand drops, but this year I expect demand to be high much longer, and the hybrids are the most exceptional layers, so hatching more of them, longer into the summer seems to make sense. The PA Blue Eggers look so much...
  12. dheltzel

    Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

    No minimum, other than what is good for the chicks. All of the colored egg laying breeds have very docile hens. Opal legbar and Ameraucana roosters often develop an attitude, but the girls are all very sweet. Adding just a few pullets can be challenging, as the older ones are often quite...
  13. dheltzel

    Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

    I just added a page for the latest rare breed I am working with. http://welbars.com/rare-breeds/scots-dumpy/ I very rarely name my birds, but the pullet in the pics is exceptional, so she got a name.
  14. dheltzel

    Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

    Corid inhibits the growth of coccidia by inhibiting their uptake or use of thiamine. It doesn't kill them as an antibiotic would, but by slowing their reproduction gives the host time to build up an immune response. This why they say "no vitamins", and it makes some sense in that you don't want...
  15. dheltzel

    Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

    Not a lot of Polish breeders anywhere. Hatchery stock has been disappointing, with a lot of aggression in the cockerels. Shipping is not really very hard on them if you wait until weather is warm.
  16. dheltzel

    Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

    Of course, most of my chicks are picked up by local people, with "local" being relative. I have had people drive from Ohio!
  17. dheltzel

    Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

    Sorting Marans breeders today and turned on the lights for the first time (6 AM to 4 PM). Looks like I will have 4 pens of Marans, each with 4 to 7 hens. That sounds like a lot, but for most of the season, Marans chicks will be oversold and I will have a waiting list, especially for breeders...
  18. dheltzel

    Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

    For people that can have a rooster, and have a pen that is well protected from predators, a genetic hackle rooster and a group of legbars would be a pretty, and productive flock. The hackles are smaller than other breeds, and the roosters are very docile and unassuming. I think they know they...
  19. dheltzel

    Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

    Still sorting birds into breeding pens. Yesterday I put 2 Opal Legbar hens with a Rose Comb Brown Leghorn cockerel. The progeny will all look like brown leghorns with small crests, and lay blue eggs. The F2 generation will produce a lot of interesting combinations that will vary by: Crests -...
  20. dheltzel

    Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

    Thanks for the good thoughts! I often have friends come by to get a tour of the farm. Winter is a harsh time at the farm and everything looks rather drab now, but the birds are flourishing even if the garden is dead and gone.
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