Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[stake]

I think I might have contracted some type of weird disease and I would like to blame my chickens .............or this blog.............or someone?????

You see-----I just got this crazy idea to build my own chicken coop with all repurposed materials..........and raise "just a few" chickens in my backyard.........a small
project...........use low cost items and make it nice and natural for the chickens and acceptable to my surburban neighborhood.

Now..........it seems I am

spending more money an special treats for the girls than their actual food costs.
thinking of interesting décor around the run........just bought some daffodil bulbs and am planning a light sun spring lettuce garden

and today-----a very serious symptom........hope its not .too late for me.....but while at the tractor supply store to pick up some more basic poultry food I bought this item
which cost more than a 50 lb bag of pellets.........

MORE THAN 50 lb bag of PELLETS...............

honestly ----------I don't think the chickens care what type of container their food comes in ...........just that it comes frequently and is yummy
they stand in their food
poop in their food
scratch wood chips into their food bowl............etc etc etc

I have been working on keeping the food bowls upright and free from non-food materials problem regularly.............with mixed results.......and TODAY

I was sooooooo happy when I found this:


its soooo cute! and adorondack swing as a feeder...................wahoo! and my containers fit in................and I think I have this condition or disease really bad like there is no turning back!

Yet I don't think I want the cure either..................

Just sharing!

Lisa:

Did you go to the Parkersburg TSC....either Pickering Valley Feed (rt113) or Tobins (rt352) would be closer...also there's an agway in Collegeville . And, I just found that a place two minutes from me Ushlers on rt30 has feed to, they mix their own...the prices all seem pretty close to eachother....

 

[stake]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WING!!

:

. :

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Bet you thought I forgot!

:

Ditto!

 

[barbiegirl]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WING!!
e
e: e. :. e. e

Bet you thought I forgot!e: e

Happy birthday Wing!

 

[Blarneyeggs]

To add to the chicken fever. I only wanted 4 I now have 8. And I am not sure some spring that I will be able to tell myself no when I see all the chicks in the store......


I have a question?! Is it normal for my chickies to be lazy now that the days are getting longer and colder? They wont come out till later in the morning...like 10-11 am. Sometimes some of them will be roosting in their coop during the day while others are out free ranging. 

Mine are up and out of the coop immediately. What I've noticed lately, is I don't see em ranging..never a good thing. When there are hawks overhead, and there have been a LOT of them, everyone scatters and runs for cover. They have been spending most of their day in the jungle that I once called a garden, or in the woods. Oh, and I thought 6 hens sounded right for our family, looks like I'll be over wintering more than 50, This is after downsizing.

 

[LisaYolkUm]

Lisa:

Did you go to the Parkersburg TSC....either Pickering Valley Feed (rt113) or Tobins (rt352) would be closer...also there's an agway in Collegeville . And, I just found that a place two minutes from me Ushlers on rt30 has feed to, they mix their own...the prices all seem pretty close to eachother....

stake---------I went to Pottstown TSC.........but Collegeville agway.......I will need to check that out........... and Ushlers on rt 30----never heard of it! You are quite the regional source! thanks

I know that my frivolous purchase will likely be abused by the girls................but I succumbed to the marketing forces that are sooooo savy for silly people like me!

I too am working on more practical solutions for easy feeding systems.............I went to the hardware store yesterday to buy a few more pieces for a pvc feeder thing..............but I think my 1.5 inch wide pvc pipe might be too narrow?

does anyone else use pvc pipe feeders...........??

what width do you use?

I want to make a gravity pipe feeder that does not take much room in the coop ..............for pellets.................especially for winter.

I have watched some videos on this yet whenever I go to the store I tend not have notes of all the specifics with me...........imagine that!? Its never quite as easy as described either!

oh to be so technically challenged!

 

[LisaYolkUm]

Mine are up and out of the coop immediately. What I've noticed lately, is I don't see em ranging..never a good thing. When there are hawks overhead, and there have been a LOT of them, everyone scatters and runs for cover. They have been spending most of their day in the jungle that I once called a garden, or in the woods. Oh, and I thought 6 hens sounded right for our family, looks like I'll be over wintering more than 50, This is after downsizing.

6 to 50---------OMG this sounds very scary! I have 4 currently and am imagining 7...............yet am worried when I hear stories like yours..............perhaps my location and smaller yard size and overall layout will limit this condition?

 

[stake]

stake---------I went to Pottstown TSC.........but Collegeville agway.......I will need to check that out........... and Ushlers on rt 30----never heard of it! You are quite the regional source! thanks

I know that my frivolous purchase will likely be abused by the girls................but I succumbed to the marketing forces that are sooooo savy for silly people like me!

I too am working on more practical solutions for easy feeding systems.............I went to the hardware store yesterday to buy a few more pieces for a pvc feeder thing..............but I think my 1.5 inch wide pvc pipe might be too narrow?

does anyone else use pvc pipe feeders...........??

what width do you use?

I want to make a gravity pipe feeder that does not take much room in the coop ..............for pellets.................especially for winter.

I have watched some videos on this yet whenever I go to the store I tend not have notes of all the specifics with me...........imagine that!? Its never quite as easy as described either!

oh to be so technically challenged!

Lisa:

I am using a standard hanging three pound feeder...though at the moment it sits on the ground in the pen....I also put a small glass bowl out in the yard with a small amount of food in it...In the winter I may hang the feeder in coop...I use the same glass bowls for oyster and grit....

 

[LittleMissPurdy]

Morning All!!
Happy Birthday Wing!!

...50 after downsizing...

oh my...hahhaa, plus goats and ducks? do you have ducks Blarney??

...
Would love to have a farmette/farm, could rent out the fields to others...have me some larger animals..

..yeah-yeah!!...I am happy with what I have though. Still planning on the expansion of the coop/run....got the DH looking forward to it too now

, so you know it is only a matter of time

...my plan is coming together rather nicely!!

Question for anyone...been looking at some of these horrific pics of birds going through molt, of course alot look "oven ready"...my question is, could you "remove" them from the yard at this point? They would already be half if not totally featherless.. not as much plucking...and only if they weren't in the process of being wormed...just a curious thought-no one has ever said anything about culling at this point.Thank you

 

[LizardCat]

Lisa:

Did you go to the Parkersburg TSC....either Pickering Valley Feed (rt113) or Tobins (rt352) would be closer...also there's an agway in Collegeville . And, I just found that a place two minutes from me Ushlers on rt30 has feed to, they mix their own...the prices all seem pretty close to eachother....

Pickering has treated me well. If they were just a bit closer, I'd be spending a lot more there!

I've also been treated very well at Tobins, and found thier prices to be a teensy bit lower too. Also closer to me. Dunno where you're at Lisa, but either of them would be a good choice.

 

[wingstone]

I put food inside for the winter and some of the water...I do not use tradition fonts, both me feed and water goes in rubber tubs that can be turned upside down and stomped out if frozen..

Thanks for the birthday wishes...I try to forget those these days...

The reason for suddenly having the questions about processing is that we would like to advertise, BT do not want to draw attention if we are way outside of what's allowed..any suggestions on prices....right now we sell o people we know and it's way below grocery store prices
How much would the general public pay, would they even realize there's a difference with farm raised...

Checked the insurance policies and we are covered if someone should get hurt and try to sue...