Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[Farmer Mike S]

Hey neighbor! I do not use lights. My reasoning is - I do not count on my eggs for income, so, I figure that giving the hens a rest during shorter light days so they can spend more time foraging is what works for me. Do I complain come holiday time and I'm getting 2 eggs per day? Heck yes! But it gives me a reason to patronize other farms in the area.

Like Stake I am counting on those Wyandottes to get me through winter.

Cskotek, as always great pics! Sorry to hear you over did it. I feel like this old body just does NOT want to do everything I want it to.

ChippysMom! Everything ok? I assume that frowns face means ya got nothing hatching? Sorry.

Yea I own a produce market so I would get eggs for free anyway so I guess It would make sense to shut them down for the winter

 

[LittleMissPurdy]

..question..Wyandottes continue to lay throughout the winter.. at a reduced rate, but they still lay, being they are very cold hardy..right? That was one of the reasons I leaned toward that breed, also...and Blarney..you would know this cause you have them..Orps....don't they still lay in the winter..slowed down version, but they still lay?...I love those big fluffy butts too!!!

ChippyMom...hey, sorry to hear no movement. I am sorry, I didn't realize the "frowny-face" earlier...

......you are still going to try again?

 

[motherhen71185]

Are you hatching anything right now Mother? ..or was that a DUHHH question??

​I am having a hard time seeing the 'bump'...sorry, I am old...
...do you  have a better pic?

No, the bators are put away till next year I think. I really don't want chicks in the house over winter. Lol

 

[LittleMissPurdy]

Yea I own a produce market so I would get eggs for free anyway so I guess It would make sense to shut them down for the winter

Oh..mannnn...you are very fortunate..or should I say..your Chickens are, all those green goodies throughout the winter....

..I bet it is alot of work though!...running a business is a double-edge sharp thing sometimes..

 

[chippysmom327]

..question..Wyandottes continue to lay throughout the winter.. at a reduced rate, but they still lay, being they are very cold hardy..right?  That was one of the reasons I leaned toward that breed, also...and Blarney..you would know this cause you have them..Orps....don't they still lay in the winter..slowed down version, but they still lay?...I love those big fluffy butts too!!!


ChippyMom...hey, sorry to hear no movement. I am sorry, I didn't realize the "frowny-face" earlier... ......you are still going to try again?

I haven't exactly seen what I know to be movement ever, even at 10-14 days. They were developing though. So I don't really know.

 

[LittleMissPurdy]

No, the bators are put away till next year I think.

I really don't want chicks in the house over winter. Lol

You had me worried about you there for a minute!!!

I always wondered how some of the very , umm "dedicated"..peeps here can handle that...chicks in the house all winter, well..they certainly DO NOT stay small for long!! hahaha
Too much of a commitment for me.

..I will wait till spring for any thoughts of little ones!!...Hope all is well on your end!!

-Danielle

 

[LittleMissPurdy]

I haven't exactly seen what I know to be movement ever, even at 10-14 days. They were developing though. So I don't really know.

they were looking good when you candled?...hey, anything can happen/at any time...that is what drives you crazy with the whole hatching thing.

. I honestly thought nothing was going to hatch for me..I was so surprised. It was day 18...then..pop.pop......pop. ..nothing....I still feel bad for the ones that didn't "happen"...
Is this the first time you incubated ? ...I feel like I am the only one here sometimes that has only done it once...I hope you keep trying, it is an awesome experience. Still..sorry

 

[LittleMissPurdy]

Geesh... where is everybody??

...that might help...

 

[chippysmom327]

they were looking good when you candled?...hey, anything can happen/at any time...that is what drives you crazy with the whole hatching thing.

. I honestly thought nothing was going to hatch for me..I was so surprised. It was day 18...then..pop.pop......pop. ..nothing....I still feel bad for the ones that didn't "happen"...
Is this the first time you incubated ? ...I feel like I am the only one here sometimes that has only done it once...I hope you keep trying, it is an awesome experience. Still..sorry 

Yep. This is my second time hatching. The first one was great. This one... nerve wracking.

 

[stake]

We had to submit copies of a "site plan" of where our mini barn and barnyard would be located / had to be away from all property lines etc. Also submitted $400 fee and short articles about Pygmy goats being great pets, (females have no odor but males can STINK), and a very nice letter from my in-laws former neighbor, where she raved about the ten years long ago that my in-laws had chickens and Pygmy goats, and how wonderful it was, and that the animals didn't cause any odors or noise etc. Many of the zoning board members showed up unannounced to see our property before the hearing. Township laws do list goats and chickens as allowed animals but only with zoning board approval. (We know of a family that had 4-6 chickens on 1/3 acre or less, in Broomall, for several years until a fox got them all this summer. They didn't know they needed approval and I guess their neighbors never complained.)

We were encouraged to get signed permission from our neighbors. We have 7 adjacent neighbors because of the way our property is situated plus 2 directly across the street. One is very elderly and two properties are behind our back woods so they didn't really count. So of the 6 remaining we got 3 signatures and 2 grouches who showed up at the zoning meeting to object: "Broomall is no place for farm animals" and "I might hear them once in a while IF my windows are open in the summer and if I trim my side of their 40 foot tall arborvitaes". They brought another lady from across the side street who said that forty years ago there were chickens on our property, and once, one got loose and came onto her lawn and "surprised her". (Wow, how awful!)

The zoning board asked us 20 times about smells and what we would do about the manure and mice and flies and about noise and fencing etc. They then adjourned and came back in ten minutes with "YES!" Haha! As the committee filed out afterwards the chairwoman leaned over to us and whispered, "I think this is awesome!"

We are the talk of the town at the local coffee shops, we hear! "Did you know there are people with GOATS and chickens in Broomall!?!" " "No way!" "Yes way!"

The one grouchy neighbor now yells at us for fixing our car in our driveway. He's a little bitter. :-(

Good to know your township leaders were open to changing things...I think you did a good job... documented support of your neighbors and good documentation on the critters you want to have...kudos....BTW, offer your crankie neighbors a 1/2 dozen of eggs...you may turn them around...also, tell them their grandkids can come play with goats/chooks...my two cents...and congrats..whether you know it or not you set a president....