Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[wingstone]

I am considering, for the first time in the 7 years I have had chickens, keeping the girls locked in their coops all day tomorrow. I have large coops, but need to find something to keep them busy so they don't start picking on each other.

still not considering it.....I think they would freak out if I shut them in....most of mine have never been locked in anything...

If this was a prolonged cold spell of a couple days I might think about it, but since it is only 1 day I have opted to wait and see.

 

[chickenboy100]

Awwww! So sweet!
X2! Great job!

Thank you

 

[sgtmom52]

still not considering it.....I think they would freak out if I shut them in....most of mine have never been locked in anything...

If this was a prolonged cold spell of a couple days I might think about it, but since it is only 1 day I have opted to wait and see.

That is my concern too. They have never been locked in during the day. All 3 runs have large overhangs to keep them dry when it rains or snows and they love being out. I may just open the pop holes but give them each a pumpkin inside the coop and some other treats to try to encourage them to stay in on their own.

 

[SilkieSensation]

Ok, with all the crazy crap going on yesterday I'm not sure how many pages I just skipped. We got all of the animals out except 1 banty hen who escaped & we couldn't catch & my son's cat who came up missing the night before. Thinking a coyote got him before we got home that night. We had been letting them in at dusk but were late getting back.

A friend came with her 4wd & we got 2 of my big cages out to storage. I still have a bunch of fencing, 2 cages we couldn't get & my big outdoor brooder sitting there. Hopefully we can get back out there soon to get them without them causing more trouble. We got the camper & freezer out but got the camper jack knifed in the new driveway when we slid backwards down the hill. I almost went in the creek more than once. We tried calling a tow truck. No one available because of the weather. At almost midnight the neighbor above us on the lane managed to get it unstuck & the neighbor 2 doors below us let us park the camper in his extra driveway.

All animals spent the night in the garage in their cages. JJ has made several trips back to the camper unloading stuff & bringing it up the hill. Now the trick is hurrying to get a pen set up for the animals so I can get them out of the cages to get food & water to them. This shall be fun in the cold, but at least we are all here.

 

[wingstone]

Quote: my coops are inside of a large fenced area, they have always had free run,,,,,,I just think that disrupting that would do more harm than good,,,,,after all they have the option to stay in if they want to.

 

[LittleMissPurdy]

Most of our friends and families have quit even asking!

...... though when they come over for dinners they do often ask 'did I ever meet this one before??'

that is funny!!

needs a caption.

I TOLD you MORE mealworms!!!!

 

[chickenboy100]

Getting ready for the cold tomorrow!

Yes, please, a warmer climate would be nice, could you get me one of them? Thank you.

 

[LittleMissPurdy]

hi everyone its pete from zelienople (butler county) as we all prepair for this crazy cold steamrolling at us is anybody taking percautions for their chickens? i personallly have never put heat in my coop and dont plan on it however -40 is drastic i plan on putiing a bale of straw in the coop, warm water in their feed and fresh water to drink. good luck and stay warm pennsylvania!

no heat..just adjusting the window opening a little.I think it's all about keeping them out of the direct wind/air flow, feeding them well..a little extra protein and oats...carb. them up too right before bed...they are good to go!! Stay warm & good luck to you too!!

Getting ready for the cold tomorrow!

Love it!!!

Hello everyone, CrazyRays from Pittsburgh here.

I haven't posted in a long while. I just wanted to say hello and let you know I am still raising chickens for fresh eggs. I am still getting some days as high as 15 eggs out of 19 layers. Yesterday was just 10.

I've had one loss to predation, one loss to respiratory illness, gotten rid of excess roosters and even eaten a few. My flock stands at 23 total. 8 Barred rock-1 rooster, 7 RIR-1 rooster, 5 Golden Laced Wyandotte- 1 rooster, 2 auracana-1 rooster and 1 single Astrolarp hen.

I was down to just 18 chickens, but on one day I went to 23 chickens, two friends opted out of raising chickens and asked me to take them. I already had the room in my coop and run. That was when I got my green egg layer in the mix. Makes for a great mix of colors in both my flock and my eggs.

I love raising my flock and learned a lot from you guys here on BYC. I have given away all my excess eggs to friends, neighbors and family. It makes me feel good about it. Thanks all.

Chooks look great & love that coop!! Glad to hear you are well CR!!!

 

[Farmer Mike S]

I am considering, for the first time in the 7 years I have had chickens, keeping the girls locked in their coops all day tomorrow.  I have large coops, but need to find something to keep them busy so they don't start picking on each other.

still not considering it.....I think they would freak out if I shut them in....most of mine have never been locked in anything...

If this was a prolonged cold spell of a couple days I might think about it, but since it is only 1 day I have opted to wait and see.

That is my concern too.  They have never been locked in during the day.  All 3 runs have large overhangs to keep them dry when it rains or snows and they love being out.  I may just open the pop holes but give them each a pumpkin inside the coop and some other treats to try to encourage them to stay in on their own.   

Some people are weary about keeping their chickens in, but when you think about it, look at the chickens in factory farms that have like 1 square foot of space each if even that. Now that is cruel, but my point is I think chickens can handle confinement for just one day, I don't think it would cause total havoc. I'm having an issue though that I will soon fix where my 5 chickens have been stuck in the 4x4 coop for a good amount of winter due to the snow and cold. Some of my chickens have created an issue with feather plucking but it isn't that bad. Some advice someone gave me though if you keep your chickens in close confinement is to to hang a head of lettuce. They will peck at it all day and will be occupied by that rather then pecking at each other

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Quote:


I threw out my farm, because they can carry mareks and they are not required to test for it in meal worms before selling them, not something worth feeding to my flock when I have so many other choices. But thats me, I dont judge others I just like to share my experiences and stuff.

When I did them, mine did best on the potatoes and occasional baby carrots and they loved hanging under paper egg cartons or even a pc of wheat bread. I always used unmed chick starter for mine though. Also I think temps should be at least over 65. it took mine quite a while to get a TON of them and just one day the entire box was moving, amazing site.