Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[barbiegirl]

A newbie from Northeast PA! Not new to chickens, just to the board!

Hi neighbor. Welcome from the Poconos!

 

[barbiegirl]

@ Chiqueschicks!
Here they are, official count 18, 7 more pipped and 3 without pip












Omgosh how cute! Love little chicken nuggets lol. Congrats

 

[barbiegirl]

Wow, husbands sure do get a little testy when you forget things like anniversaries, I think I will go visit the chickens for awhile, it is quieter

Happy Anniversary!!!

 

[Jnkbtd08]

Final count. 25/28
Only 3 didnt pip and died.
3 albino chicks all with red eyes.
Best hatch ever!

 

[fisherlady]

Wow, husbands sure do get a little testy when you forget things like anniversaries, I think I will go visit the chickens for awhile, it is quieter

Yep... funny how little things can bug them! LOL

 

[hendricks115]

we're on our second one, our first we lost when he was seven, liver cancer, was like losing our child, hunted and found our second one, this one, we love him to pieces but i swear they bred the brains right out of him lol, hooch, our first was one smart dog, bud, our second, not so much but he is lovable, hooch would bite in a heart beat if he thought you were going to hurt us, bud would probably help lol

Our boy, who turned 8 last month, is pretty smart and very protective. I'd be lost without him. When we had our daughter, we would bring her blankets home from the NICU so he could get use to her smell until it was time to bring her home. For a while, he still wasn't sure about her. He now loves her and follows her because he realizes she is a source of food! I'm pretty sure he would let someone steal the house for a slim jim!

 

[LittleMissPurdy]

Wow, husbands sure do get a little testy when you forget things like anniversaries, I think I will go visit the chickens for awhile, it is quieter

..

.Happy Anniversary....

....flowers & chocolate might help...

....

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

Yep... clean chimneys, have put on roofs (shingled roofs, never done a metal one), have dug foundations and poured cement, laid more block than I care to remember and have built additions from foundation to framing to plumbing to roof. Only thing I don't do is in depth electrical... I can add a light fixture or switch and can wire an outlet, but I don't mess with breaker boxes. I grew up helping my Dad build the house I grew up in... was mixing batches of cement in a wheelbarrow and 'buttering bricks' for him by the time I was 8... learned how to read his plans shortly after so I could keep ahead of him... and never stopped. I was the 'gopher' on any project going on in the area, which meant I had to 'go for this' or 'go for that' but even as a gopher it allowed me to learn more and more until I was able to move up and do things myself. My Step Father is also an awesome carpenter and teacher and I have worked with him on countless projects over the years and can not begin to tell you how much I have learned from him! I wish I had a quarter of his building knowledge! For the past 25 years or so I have always requested tools for birthdays and Christmas and now have enough to allow me to basically build anything I want without having to borrow or rent. Just an FYI... a Framing Nailer is the best tool ever invented!! (although my chain saw is probably a strong contender for that spot also!!) LOL

You go girl!

Need to ask for help, If you know me then you know how hard that is. Husband changed jobs and works 6 days a week, his only day off is Sunday and we are in a Mennonite area so working on a Sunday is a no no.. I have about 12 roosters that need processed and a pen of 50 meat birds that need done within 2 weeks... I really can not get everything done alone and need help, I do not want to push the husband for help, he is on mandatory 10 hour days for all 6 of them till Feb... If anyone can lend a Saturday hand I would send you home with meat ( chicken, rabbit, duck, quail, turkey) or straw bales or something.... ......head hung in shame.....never thought it would be this hard to ask for help and admit that I can not do it all.. Gonna be a long cold winter.

If you haven't processed already and need some help, count me in!

I think they have plenty of nice space to explore in your enclosure. One thing you might want to consider is snowy winter..............I was really glad that I bagged a lot of leaves last year. When we had so much snow it was helpful to open a bag to put on the ground to warm up the surface for them. Also we would go thru snow and then melting periods which would leave cold patches of mud.................so the leaves and some logs to perch on helped to keep their feet a bit dryer and warm.................logs were very helpful . My understanding is that dry and draft free is critical in the winter................with snow and melt and snow and melt and freeze into ice...........it makes it hard to be sure their feet would be dry.

Thanks I think I remember you talking about this last year and I was going to do this well.

I'm so excited!!! e I got my first green egg today Today's hall so far for the day.

Congrats!

We lost one today, not really sure of the cause... They are ~12-13 weeks old now and all seem to be happy and healthy, except my daughter's 'special' chick - a blue cochin. I had started wondering if she was a bantam because she just wasn't getting as big as the rest of the chickens (black australorps and RIR). I haven't spent much time out there over the last few weeks bc of the new baby, but this week I noticed she just wasn't running around much or getting excited about food like the other chickens. They didn't seem o pick on her, and she did eat, just wasn't 'enthusiastic'. This afternoon I went out and she wasn't in the run.. she was laying in the coop on her side with her head back like she was dead, but she was still moving a little. DH and I tried to give her some electrolyte water and she swallowed it and tried to get up but couldn't. DH tried to help her but she just flopped around the like she was broken. I feel like we could have done more to try to save her, but DH decided it was too late and took care of the rest. She wasn't attacked, but definitely seemed 'broken' (like, wretched into an unnatural position) when DH tried to stand her up - any ideas what could have caused her death? My daughter is heartbroken

So sorry for your loss!

First 6 egg day!

Yay! I love when that happens, but someone went broody again...

I'm so behind on all the posts! 1) To all those who are in the "hunt zone" with the shooter on the run, I hope you stay safe and that they catch that man soon. Such a frightening and tragic situation. 2) Wingstone--- if I were in your region, I would volunteer to help you. I've only killed/dressed a handful of CX (all this week), but I'm pretty handy at killing and butchering a deer by myself (it's pathetic, but I find the deer a whole lot easier to process than trying to dress out a chicken!!). I hope you get all the help you need and the task done, sounds like you've got some good people from here already lined up. 3)AnnInTheBurbs---love the new run! I'm going to start on my ladies' new one this week. I'm playing around with the idea of cattle panels in an arch over the top of the open run (like the one you've built) so that I can put clear plastic on as a roof but leave the sides open in the winter, do minimize the snow and such that will accumulate in their run this year. Any one have any suggestions? 4)To those at Fort Fisherlady----I only wish some place like that existed! So far I have thrown out our microwave (I had cancer and don't want to get it back, so now I'm the nutter who went "green"), and DH just finished restoring an old Glenwood range for me that I found on craigslist for $100----it's a dual wood burning stove with propane! Circa 1930. SO that means the next thing to go is my "normal" stove. We just tonight ditched our fridge and are using a 1920's ice box that I got last week at an auction-----DH built me a 10x10 root cellar in our basement, so between using that and the ice box and the freezer for veggies/meat that I don't wind up canning, we are set. I try and can enough food each season to feed an army. Our goal is homesteading and being able to produce/hunt/raise enough food that we don't have to buy any out of necessity. I have a question that is probably going to sound really stupid-----When a chicken molts, do they legit lose ALL their feathers?? It's been in the 30s at night here, and I know my coop is suitable but I've got visions of cold naked hens, as it's already 1/2 way through September!! I've got 3 ladies who look to be just starting their molt as they've got lots of underfluff showing, and the coop has more feathers than normal on the ground.

Thanks! I do need to install some kind of roofing for the winter. Thanks from the reminder!

A newbie from Northeast PA! Not new to chickens, just to the board!

Welcome to the fun!

Hi from Central P.A

Hello and welcome!

Final count. 25/28 Only 3 didnt pip and died. 3 albino chicks all with red eyes. Best hatch ever!

Awesome! Congratulations on your fantastic hatch!

 

[chiques chicks]

Final count. 25/28
Only 3 didnt pip and died.
3 albino chicks all with red eyes.
Best hatch ever!

I have a feeling the red eye ones may be swedish flower, I forget their eye color. If they are they will begin developing colors as their feathers grow in. Look closely at their wrong feathers and see if there is color there. I only have one white chicken, a silkie mix,and no white roosters, so a white bird from my flock is nearly impossible. If no color, it is likely going to be a lemon Orpington. Probably with some blue in it.

 

[SilkieSensation]

Wow, husbands sure do get a little testy when you forget things like anniversaries, I think I will go visit the chickens for awhile, it is quieter

Hmmmmm...isn't that a role reversal from the norm? Lol