Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[AnneInTheBurbs]

Quick note on the gardening. If anyone would like to try Jerusalem Artichokes (Sunchokes), I'd be happy to send anyone starters if you can pay shipping or pick them up. I have more than I need and they are super easy to grow. Send me a PM if you are interested. They grow like crazy and can spread easily, so they are best grown away from your main garden in a restricted area. I bet they would make great Chicken treats.

They are not like regular artichokes, they are more like a knobby, nutty potato. Can be eaten raw like water chestnuts, baked, roasted, fried, mashed, etc.

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

Chicken question: My coop is primarily done, but my run is not. Any tips for a successful run setup?

 

[SilkieSensation]

Wing:

I think you need to re-name your farm to "Camp Kenmore"....boot camp for wayward Cornish......

Ok guys. We managed to drag ourselves up off our butts and out of this gloomy house to work on the coop again. We're on the last wall frame and it's the one with the door for the chickens to go in and out. We have a few scrap pieces of wood that we were thinking of using up but we need to make sure it'll be big enough. Is an 11" x 16" Good enough size for them to go in and out?

I usually do 12x12 for chicken & 24x24 for turkey & geese. Ducks can make do with 18x18 unless you have a huge scovy drake who needs the 24x24.

I never measured my entrance, just eyeballed it. I should measure today, I isn't tell if my Australorp is huge or if she is just older than the rest!

I finally got the little stinkers. I couldn't take it anymore.

I just candled! The embryos look like "put in water to grow" animals you buy at the dollar store! They've about tripled in size from yesterday! They were just doing somersaults in the eggs! There were two very dark, porous-ish eggs that I had. I marked them and a green egg with a penciled X 3 days ago because they were my undecided, wait-and-see eggs. The two dark ones both have big, healthy, kicking embryos inside! The green was clear.

I'm just so excited 14/15 eggs are viable.

*not counting my chickens before they hatch*

Best of Luck!

Meadville, PA here!  Let me know if you're local 

Welcome to the fun!

Just candled my eggs..... still have 25 chicken eggs developing! I have four duck eggs in there doing great also! I am so glad I bought the fan assembly for my gator, it has helped so much in keeping the temps correct.

. You go girl!

Yeppers, just got back in....its raw out there...and I have gotten my peas in on St Pat's day for years....it will be a challenge this year...I still have some patches of frozen ground and after today it'll be getting colder.....

My raised beds still had a layer of ice underneath the straw. So I will be starting seeds inside soon. . I have tons so Jerusalem Artichokes (Sunchokes) stored in the beds, and if I can't get them out before spring, I will be overrun with them!

so how many country boys do we have on here??? .....and I couldn't help it sally, this one is worth it...

Can you PM it to me?

That's funny! NOW it shows up...lmao

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

I missed it! I think it went away already!

 

[GR Chicks]

Meadville, PA here! Let me know if you're local

Welcome from Armstrong Co.

 

[BullChick]

Chicken question: My coop is primarily done, but my run is not. Any tips for a successful run setup?

Let the chickens eat all the grass, then decide between straw in the run when it gets muddy (I have not tried this yet, but I was told it works).
Or cement the run, and just toss leaves, or whatever on it for the girls to dig through (the cement means you know when to stop digging when you are cleaning).
And, last thought is add gravel.
As for the run itself, get those metal stakes with the fence hooks, and just put the fence up like that. Bird netting on top, and you are done!

 

[troyer]

Chicken question: My coop is primarily done, but my run is not. Any tips for a successful run setup?

Just be sure to make it twice as big as you think you need it.

 

[chiques chicks]

Hard to see, but I counted three baby bunnies in the box

 

[Katt66]

Let the chickens eat all the grass, then decide between straw in the run when it gets muddy (I have not tried this yet, but I was told it works).
Or cement the run, and just toss leaves, or whatever on it for the girls to dig through (the cement means you know when to stop digging when you are cleaning).
And, last thought is add gravel.
As for the run itself, get those metal stakes with the fence hooks, and just put the fence up like that. Bird netting on top, and you are done!

Except for the straw part I'm all with you there. Straw is revolting when it gets wet. Actually draws and holds moisture but doesn't absorb it. I'd actually forgotten exactly how much I despise straw and why since it's been years since we've kept horses and sheep. I was quickly reminded this past winter when I got a bale off of a friend and threw it into my run. D:

What I've experimented with so far is
Aspen chips... loved them to death! Started with them, went to other things and am now back at Aspen chips in the run and coop and will remain with that forever.
Straw...it all needs to be burned and destroyed and removed from the face of the earth! D:
Sand...was nice to clean but when it gets wet, sticks to their feet and just didn't do the same thing as the aspen chips.
Grave...worked like the sand, nice actually to clean, etc. But I just like the fluffiness of the aspen chips and the fact that it actually composts with the manure and turns into gorgeous black dirt.


And on another note... for those who've enclosed and winterized their runs, when do you "unwinterize them"?
My chickens are meticulously removing the plastic I enclosed their run with a bit at a time. Though it's got little peek holes in it here and there now I am hesitant to take it down since it does still provide some wind and draft protection even though it's now holey enough to stand at the altar and do mass on Sunday. XD

So, do you all wait till it's above freezing and staying that way? I am afraid if I leave it on too long they're be too warm in there with the sun blazing in now.

 

[wingstone]

Quote: I hear they taste a little different

Quote: I try to avoid straw in any open area, it turns the ground into a layer of cement, and also stinks everytime it rains.