Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[SilkieSensation]

 
  People with quirky hobbies soon learn to give a "reasonable" reason, not the truth. I will never again try to explain to a butcher that the beef heart is to grind up for my tropical fish.

Come to think about it, butchers should learn just not to ask, I bet they get some insane explanations. Of course, I suppose it could be entertaining -- "hey honey, guess that I sold to this lady today . . ."

Love it!


Blarney, I'm sorry for your flystrike troubles. The little poofy-head chicken is a charming consolation, though. Polish?

Yes, Toulbant Polish, we were given 4 eggs...3 hatched. I believe all 3 are boys. I should probably find a Polish thread and see what the experts think. They are 6 weeks and I'm not seeing red on their combs yet, but they all had those baldy wing coverts while feathering in, so I'm thinking cockerels.

I would be interested in 1 of those boys if you decide to part with them. I had 1 egg from Sara hatch this spring, a little roo, and lost him to stress & heat when we moved in June. He was gorgeous & almost ready to go in with the girls too.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

Pictures would be great! I am not sure about letting them free range with my other chickens. I'm worried about the large breed rooster trying to breed them? our rooster is a Speckled Sussex. Also not sure how they would do with larger hens. But I'll try it and if not back up plan: coop would be 6X6 run would be 15X8. Should be plenty of room for about 6.

we have 2 silkies in with the rest of our chickens and or main roo is a Black Copper Marans (big boy!). Our silkies are bigger than bantams but they're still on the smaller end of the scale being slightly smaller than my young golden comets. They seem to handle being mated by the big boys just fine. They actually seem to be his favorites lol (must like the silky feathers lol). That being said, I also have an old English game Bantam pair in with them. My little OEGB is so tiny, like just barely above my marans knees. The poor girl has definitely been mated by my big boy Joel (caught him in the act) but she seems to have had no problems with that. Maybe she's so tiny that he couldn't even step on her lol.

I grew up drinking goat's milk. My brother & I neither 1 could drink cow's milk. Several of my children had trouble with it as babies too. We are actually looking for a doe in milk because we go thru way too much as it is. My 2 youngest can polish off a gallon in less than 2 days if I don't limit them.

The only thing I remember from the goat's milk we got from my aunt as a child was that sometimes it had a bitter taste, which could have been from what the goats were eating or from the bucks having free access to the does. I may be biased tho. I just plain don't like milk regardless of the source.

my husband and kids are the same way. They go through milk like CRAZY! We buy 2 gallons at a time and they're usually or of it by Wednesday or Thursday. I don't drink milk unless I have a huge chocolaty thing with it lol. We were hoping to get a dexter cow to use for milk and butter. I think it would be amazing to have. We don't want a goat though. They seem like too much of a hassle to keep contained lol.

 

[SilkieSensation]

Pictures would be great! I am not sure about letting them free range with my other chickens. I'm worried about the large breed rooster trying to breed them? our rooster is a Speckled Sussex. Also not sure how they would do with larger hens. But I'll try it and if not back up plan: coop would be 6X6 run would be 15X8. Should be plenty of room for about 6.

we have 2 silkies in with the rest of our chickens and or main roo is a Black Copper Marans (big boy!). Our silkies are bigger than bantams but they're still on the smaller end of the scale being slightly smaller than my young golden comets. They seem to handle being mated by the big boys just fine. They actually seem to be his favorites lol (must like the silky feathers lol). That being said, I also have an old English game Bantam pair in with them. My little OEGB is so tiny, like just barely above my marans knees. The poor girl has definitely been mated by my big boy Joel (caught him in the act) but she seems to have had no problems with that. Maybe she's so tiny that he couldn't even step on her lol.

I grew up drinking goat's milk. My brother & I neither 1 could drink cow's milk. Several of my children had trouble with it as babies too. We are actually looking for a doe in milk because we go thru way too much as it is. My 2 youngest can polish off a gallon in less than 2 days if I don't limit them.

The only thing I remember from the goat's milk we got from my aunt as a child was that sometimes it had a bitter taste, which could have been from what the goats were eating or from the bucks having free access to the does. I may be biased tho. I just plain don't like milk regardless of the source.

my husband and kids are the same way. They go through milk like CRAZY! We buy 2 gallons at a time and they're usually or of it by Wednesday or Thursday. I don't drink milk unless I have a huge chocolaty thing with it lol. We were hoping to get a dexter cow to use for milk and butter. I think it would be amazing to have. We don't want a goat though. They seem like too much of a hassle to keep contained lol.

I don't even try to fence goats (no such thing as goat proof fence). I just tie them out on chains or heavy ropes & move them where I want them each day.

 

[fisherlady]

the shelves are simple and can be modified to fit whatever space you have to work with, they can be mounted with eyebolts and coated wire or set onto boards screwed into wall studs or attached to wall with hinges to allow them to be lifted up out of the way for cleaning purposes depending on your set up.

these are two separate shelves which meet at a corner, the cut outs you see against the walls allow for ramps coming up from lower shelves. Notice the sliding latch at the junction which provides the connection and end support for the shelf on the left.

Tools for cleaning, a cat litter scoop works for larger clumps but I cut the bottom out of the dust pan and covered it with two (offset) layers of fine hardware cloth to it to act as a larger sifter for more thorough cleaning. I dump the sifted waste into a 5 gallon bucket and then eventually it is all claimed by co-workers to put into their gardens.

This corner picture shows 2 sand shelves against back wall, lower one doubles as an optional location for egg and broody boxes, in fact a hen is setting on a nest tucked into the dark corner in this pic.

Play sand and PDZ make for a soft and comfy place for the birds to hang out, even when they aren't roosting for the evening, since this picture was taken I added a rounded trim board to the front edge of the shelf to make for a softer and wider spot for their feet to grip.

A few hens modeling the versatility of the shelves... room to roam back and forth looking for favored roosting spot, comfy edge to hang over and watch what is going on below and on this shelf I designed it to be much larger with the angled corner and in the far back corner we placed a 1 gallon waterer with a heat lamp over it to provide thawed water on even the coldest days.

 

[sharron]

how does everyone cook the bone broth ? on the stove or do you put it in the crockpot, any seasonings, veggies?

 

[sharron]

we have 2 silkies in with the rest of our chickens and or main roo is a Black Copper Marans (big boy!). Our silkies are bigger than bantams but they're still on the smaller end of the scale being slightly smaller than my young golden comets. They seem to handle being mated by the big boys just fine. They actually seem to be his favorites lol (must like the silky feathers lol). That being said, I also have an old English game Bantam pair in with them. My little OEGB is so tiny, like just barely above my marans knees. The poor girl has definitely been mated by my big boy Joel (caught him in the act) but she seems to have had no problems with that. Maybe she's so tiny that he couldn't even step on her lol.
my husband and kids are the same way. They go through milk like CRAZY! We buy 2 gallons at a time and they're usually or of it by Wednesday or Thursday. I don't drink milk unless I have a huge chocolaty thing with it lol. We were hoping to get a dexter cow to use for milk and butter. I think it would be amazing to have. We don't want a goat though. They seem like too much of a hassle to keep contained lol.

i had a dexter cow that i loved, her milk was so good, but she didn't give enough milk for everything, wish we had gone with a Jersey (i love cream and they have the highest butterfat) now that we're retired and hubby wants to be a snowbird, we just buy our milk from a local farmer when we need it.

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

Not to be a thread hog...but need to share. My oldest and 2 grands are living with us now and we are going through a LOT of milk. So this morning...I funneled goat milk (FREE and right in the back yard) into the milk carton in the fridge....think they'll notice?.

Love it! Good luck!

@fisherlady thank you for the pics! It's beautiful! You have some lucky girls there!

 

[LittleMissPurdy]

Thanks guys. Had to dispatch the turkey today, he was suffering too much. And now for something a little less depressing...

DD#3's birthday present, kindness of Sara Sweatman:

So sorry for your loss Blarney, hoping your ordeal is over with that nasty stuff. ..On a better note, that is a beautiful bird, love the hair-do..and Happy Birthday to your Daughter!

These weren't 12 weeks old and they all survived, but the mother was 50% Oriental Game. What does this remind you of with the hot weather we're having?

Beautiful Pic !! ...This summer has gone by so fast...wanted to do so much more, never enough time...
Hoping this winter won't be as tough and long..unfortunately, the word is it will be like last year.

 

[LisaYolkUm]

My missing chicken, Esther, is still not back.

I hope she is okay and just having an adventure.

I think if she was back at the coop area this morning, it would have been a better sign.........................

Has anyone ever had a chicken gone away for some time and return????

 

[Blarneyeggs]

Lisa, so sorry. I did have a girl camp out under our porch steps and hatch out a brood, it's a miracle that she wasn't found by a predator during those 3 weeks. I hope your girl is sitting on eggs somewhere close by. I would keep a very close eye on the other girls if I were you, a successful predator ALWAYS comes back.

@Silkie: Sara just rehomed a few Toulbant boys! And sure, happy to pass on a cockerel if they are all cockerels. But aren't you in Ohio? I don't know how I'd get him to you.

PS no one noticed the goat's milk.