Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[OneMountainAcres]

It's been one heck of a crazy couple days for me. We went to the Amish market a few days ago and cane home with over 3 bushels of stuff. I canned 1/2 bushel of green beans, 1/2 bushel of pickled hot peppers, diced and froze half a bushel of sweet peppers, some onions and zucchini. Then I had to figure out what to do with the entire bushel of tart apples hubby decided we needed. I ended up making apple crisp, canning like 4 quarts of apple pie filling, made apple dumplings (DISASTER!) and a big pan of apple cobbler. I dehydrated the rest. On top of that, I made a few loaves of bread and made up a few packs of egg noodles to freeze. I was so mad when one of the dogs swiped one of my fresh baked loaves yesterday. I'm beat and so finally ready for a drink and the weekend lol

 

[stake]

Good evening all:

Regarding the fence/wing clipping, this is my experience:

1, My original six girls, around the age of 20 weeks started to wander and got over my fence(4') without any troubles...I clipped the right wing on all birds and got a roo....
2. Clipping the wings only makes it uncomfortable for chooks to fly...they can if they need to (on one of fox attacks two went to the neighbors yard and on a hawk attack one girl took a chick to the neighbors yard
3. What really keeps the girls in the fence is the rooster....and that they always want to return to the coop....
4. right now non of my chooks even thinks about leaving the yard....the food/water/shade/dusting spots/ and safety areas are all in the yard..
5. both my pens are 5' and only one BC Marans flys out when I leave the door locked....the other doesn't....

On another note, two of my three extra roos have been re-homed....I really didn't want to let go of the Basque; but, he's in a good place and I didn't have enough girls for him....

 

[Jnkbtd08]

Im in south central pa, looking for a laying Easter Egger or fairly close to laying to mix in with my flock of two EE that are 21 weeks.
Anyone know of anyone?

 

[troyer]

What didn't you like about them? They would be similar to Ayam Cemani's. I suspect.

By the time they reached 3 months old the cockerels would fight and kill each other' they were fairly hot headed and a bit crazy.

 

[chiques chicks]

Im in south central pa, looking for a laying Easter Egger or fairly close to laying to mix in with my flock of two EE that are 21 weeks.
Anyone know of anyone?

I may have one about half that age, need to check. It would be Orpington roo over EE hen offspring from a green egg. May be olive egger, or tan, or brown, never know.

 

[Jnkbtd08]

Ohh sounds very interesting. Do you have a picture?
Thats actually great bc I have lavender roo.
Im in neffsville area, where about are you.
How much were you looking to get for her?

 

[emorems0]

Can I join in this thread? We are about an hour NW of Pittsburgh and have 4 black australorps (3 weeks old - we hatched out), a 3 week old mystery chick that was supposed to be a RIR, 3 Rhode Island Reds (4 weeks old, bought a week ago), and a blue cochin (also 4 weeks old, bought with the RIRs).

We have two kids, 6yo and 3yo who adore our chicks although they have trouble being a little rough with them (mostly the 3yo). We also have a medium-sized dog, a Pembroke welsh corgi. The corgi did really well with our week-old hatchlings, but now that they have feathers she's been getting more excited when they start running around. *I was also out of town for a week so she was home with just my husband and didn't get any contact with them, then I came home with 4 new chicks so I don't know how much that had to do with the change. She only tries to sniff them and she's all smiles/tail wagging... no aggression there at all, but when they start running and wing flapping she gets excited and wants to play and give chase. They are in our living room in a baby pool surrounded by a portable dog fence so she can see/smell them all the time. My girls get chicks out to play with on the living room floor throughout the day and the dog is mostly just curious. We have a little chickie run in the yard to take the chicks outside on nice days, the girls go in with them and I've let the dog in there (leashed) with me for 'training'. I let her walk around and sniff, but have her sit or lay down if she starts to get excited. Anything else I can do to help her learn that she can't play with the chickens?

Honestly, I don't see them ever free-ranging with the dog actually, despite having a great yard for it (almost an acre, backs up to a stream & woods). There are many dogs in our neighborhood including 2 directly next door which are often unleashed and would likely kill our flock at the first opportunity.

 

[Housemom408]

I had a finally break down and MOW the chicken run. Why are my chickens not keeping it down? I had 11 Brahmas and 2 ducks until a few day ago when we processed 4 Roos. The run is 10x50. However they are enjoying the cut grass!

 

[wingstone]

CC,
Need more duck eggs,so far everyone that hatched is a grayish metallic color ( really cute). They must be girls cause they are all late and hatching backwards...

Does anyone have mixed breed duck eggs that I can hatch and grow out for market in the fall......I say mixed because I will not be tempted to keep them. And a better chance of a large duck.

Testing out the new feed this weekend, all fermented grains that have been soaking all week.....the birds are still cautious of it and picking out the corn first, then the barley, and only eating the wheat when nothing else is left.

I am headed to auction on Tuesday to get a few board breasted, in the past they have sold in boxes of ten or more, I only want 4 or 5, anyone want the extra.

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

I would never just throw my dog out there with chickens lol!!! I've been introducing them as chicks to her, so that she can get used to their smell, their sound etc. I've got one of the most well mannered, obedient dogs I know. When I say "stop" she stops. I have no worry as far as the chickens are concerned. As for the fence? Yeah...I kinda figured lol Our chain link is 4 ft, but, it kinda sits on a tiny embankment so it's down to about 3 ft. I didn't plan on letting my chickens free range (building a portable run) until the fence is built. Even then, wings are getting done. Thanks for the tips, but, I promise I do have a FEW marbles left!!   It's great to meet you, btw! 

Marbles? What are those?, .

Depending on the breed, they will clear a 4 ft fence even with wings clipped.

Agreed!

I don't clip wings, a few get out over my 5 ft. fence. I have clipped before, and some still got out.
For the most part mine get out and just hang by the fence. Open the gate and they run back in.

I found this to be true as well, if one gets out, they don't go far. Also, the other girls tend to hover near where the other is roaming.

Yes it was quite the disaster. 3 weeks of chicks in the house and slow introductions to the dogs and in 5 minutes of not being supervised, they broke into my brooder (2 large dog cages attached together) and killed all 14 of them. We were all heart broken. Our second group is 18 weeks old tomorrow. 2 of our dogs can be out with them now but they have to be closely supervised. Our bulldog/rottie mix Sparkles is great with them. She has some herding instincts and seems to understand she can't mess with them but she has found out that they leave behind yummy treats (YUCK!). Rocky (terrier mix?) Will focus on them here and there if they flutter around but he listens to our commands. Sadly, our Siberian husky will NEVER be able to be near them at all. Her prey drive is extremely high and there's been no working with her on it. Just be vigilant and never get too comfortable.

My husbands husky used to (he's in the big dog bed in the sky now...) bark at a bush and birds would fly out. He could catch anything. They are definitely closer to a wolf and have much sharper prey drives than most dogs.

It's been one heck of a crazy couple days for me. We went to the Amish market a few days ago and cane home with over 3 bushels of stuff. I canned 1/2 bushel of green beans, 1/2 bushel of pickled hot peppers, diced and froze half a bushel of sweet peppers, some onions and zucchini. Then I had to figure out what to do with the entire bushel of tart apples hubby decided we needed. I ended up making apple crisp, canning like 4 quarts of apple pie filling, made apple dumplings (DISASTER!) and a big pan of apple cobbler. I dehydrated the rest. On top of that, I made a few loaves of bread and made up a few packs of egg noodles to freeze. I was so mad when one of the dogs swiped one of my fresh baked loaves yesterday. I'm beat and so finally ready for a drink and the weekend lol

You were a busy lady!

Can I join in this thread? We are about an hour NW of Pittsburgh and have 4 black australorps (3 weeks old - we hatched out), a 3 week old mystery chick that was supposed to be a RIR, 3 Rhode Island Reds (4 weeks old, bought a week ago), and a blue cochin (also 4 weeks old, bought with the RIRs).

We have two kids, 6yo and 3yo who adore our chicks although they have trouble being a little rough with them (mostly the 3yo). We also have a medium-sized dog, a Pembroke welsh corgi. The corgi did really well with our week-old hatchlings, but now that they have feathers she's been getting more excited when they start running around. *I was also out of town for a week so she was home with just my husband and didn't get any contact with them, then I came home with 4 new chicks so I don't know how much that had to do with the change. She only tries to sniff them and she's all smiles/tail wagging... no aggression there at all, but when they start running and wing flapping she gets excited and wants to play and give chase. They are in our living room in a baby pool surrounded by a portable dog fence so she can see/smell them all the time. My girls get chicks out to play with on the living room floor throughout the day and the dog is mostly just curious. We have a little chickie run in the yard to take the chicks outside on nice days, the girls go in with them and I've let the dog in there (leashed) with me for 'training'. I let her walk around and sniff, but have her sit or lay down if she starts to get excited. Anything else I can do to help her learn that she can't play with the chickens?

Honestly, I don't see them ever free-ranging with the dog actually, despite having a great yard for it (almost an acre, backs up to a stream & woods). There are many dogs in our neighborhood including 2 directly next door which are often unleashed and would likely kill our flock at the first opportunity.

No you can't join this thread, we're all booked up here. Haha Just kidding! That deserves a smack.. . Welcome! Sounds like you are doing well with your dog. We desensitized our pitbull mix to the chicks and did similar to what you have done. I made sure to send her away if I saw any signs of excitement (ears forward and erect, body stiff, tail wagging, etc. ). A tail wagging is not bad if it is combined with a low head and ears that are back and flat. Eventually I would (carefully!) hold the chicks up to her and if she tried to do anything more than sniff or gently lick, she was sent away. Body posture is key to focus on when doing this. I'm happy to help if you have any more questions. I'm a newbie too though, be warned!