Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[Jnkbtd08]

Mealworms, mine love them

 

[msladyhawke]

Mealworms, seedless watermelon, spaghetti

 

[bmvf]

Quote: I have checked into Whtmore Farm as it is only an hour and a half drive from me. (below Gettysburg just over the MD/PA border!) I was thinking along the lines your were about crossing them with another breed for dual purpose sex link chicks. However, I would need a market to sell chicks because I'd have too many birds. 15-20 Delaware or NH's would be enough for the family.

 

[LittleMissPurdy]

My girls like fruit..pretty much any kind..strawberries/bananas, , but I think their favorite is oats, they go gaga for it, and any other little tid-bit seed....they will leave the corn for last..not very popular here

 

[fisherlady]

Ours go nuts for boiled fish, or even fresh cleaned fish bones (remains after we filet the fish, but not the entrails)....
other favorites are raisins, unsalted peanuts or hulled sunflower seeds,
watermelon and cantaloupe,
corn (fresh on the ear or rinsed canned/frozen),
apple cores or strawberries,
lettuce and cabbage by the whole head (in the winter, not so much during the nicer seasons when they are out on grass)
meal worms, either freeze dried or live (thank goodness we have our own mealworm farm!)
Our broodies absolutely love when we scatter some finch seed mix for them to scratch for... it is only about 10% protein so we are careful on amounts... the whole flock loves it though.
and anything we happen to have in our hands when we walk outside! LOL


and since we do a lot of our own bird processing we also have our own sort of 'soft food' made out of remnants from that activity. We freeze it in cupcake tins and pull it out through the year as extra protein and calcium treat. (details on processing support thread if interested I can post a link)

 

[dheltzel]

I have checked into Whtmore Farm as it is only an hour and a half drive from me. (below Gettysburg just over the MD/PA border!) I was thinking along the lines your were about crossing them with another breed for dual purpose sex link chicks. However, I would need a market to sell chicks because I'd have too many birds. 15-20 Delaware or NH's would be enough for the family.

My Dad lives 20 minutes from Whitemore Farm, I probably drive near you when I travel there to visit (we go through Abbottstown to Hanover).

If I were you, I'd buy a bunch, whatever you can afford in money, time and space, of Delawares from Will at Whitmore (assuming you can still get them, he sells out pretty fast). Raise them and butcher all but one of the males. I will sell you a male NH cheap (you always get more males than you need). Then you can sell eggs or hatch and sell chicks of pure Delawares or Red Sex links, depending on which roo you use.

 

[wingstone]

Umm, Fisher Lady summed up the bird treats with that last paragragh, I was not sure how to word that one, mine go nuts over that.

Someone explain to me the fascination with sex linked birds,,, I have had a few over the years and they just do not last long term for me... to me these newer breeds like leg bar and rhodebar are just way overpriced also, I am watching to see how they hold their own in flocks, and of course longevity, from what I have seen I can get the same from a leghorn at a much lower cost.....just my opinion but I understand that for some they are pets and for me it is business

 

[Farmer Mike S]

I work at a produce market and I take home some of the slightly tainted veggies and fruit that normally gets thrown out and feed it to the chickens. They love it and it cuts down my feed costs lot. It's a shame a lot of this gets thrown out, and it's not just us, it happens everywhere at all produce markets. We can't give it away because these days someone can eat it and somehow sue for food poisoning. It's all editable but still

 

[wingstone]

Please ignore the part that do not make sense, this tablet and auto correct are both evil


I just read an article about using chicken feathers, It is the only wasted part for me, some of the comments said that the feathers can be ground up and used as a feed???
My feathers go thru the scalder and plucker and are just one big pile of wet feathers, anyone know of a use for these,,,,wonder if I could dry them and use them in the nest boxes, I see the sparrows picking thru the pile after they stat to dry..

 

[GR Chicks]

Wowie ZOWIE!!! Look at this set up!! Very very nice! Okay, so....how do you keep the water clean? I've heard that the water needs to be changed over daily, is this correct? How is it accomplished when you do change over the water? Is there a drain? Not that I would ever EVER get ducks....just curious.

Thanks! Yes we have a basket drain in the bottom of the pool, just like a sink. Since this is not their main source of drinking water, I am only changing once a week currently...... may have to go to twice if it gets too yucky, but so far they just swim for awhile, and get out.

Yeah I said the never ever thing too..... now look at me...lol