Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[Blarneyeggs]

I went out and checked on my broody this morning. I found an egg shell, and then I heard PEEPING!!!! One so far! @troyer The one chick looks black and white or beige, hard to tell, it was still drying! Best Christmas gift ever!!! e

This IS the best Christmas present ever! Congrats. And....pics or it didn't happen.



Merry Christmas my BYC peeps! Love you guys.

 

[chippysmom327]

Merry Christmas !!
Great news about the chicks hatching on Christmas day - congratulations.

The hens gave us a present today - 51 eggs
Maybe they got into the nice weather today.
For their present, I cut up a leftover pumpkin and spread it around for everyone. They ate those big seeds right down.

Thanks! That is impressive! I'm guessing you sell most of the eggs? How many do you think you will get in the summer months?

i got an ecoglow 50! It was much larger than I thought!

Congrats! Sounds like good timing for spring chicks!....

It is perfect for spring!! *rubs hands together*

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

We have over 100 hens, maybe closer to 120 with the young ones that will get to POL in the spring, so hopefully we will be getting a lot more eggs per day when spring comes around.

My niece is in charge of prepping and selling the eggs, with all the proceeds going to her college fund. I like hatching chicks and selling them, and all that money is hers also. Her dad and I pay for the feed and other costs. I'm not sure we are at a break even point yet, even will all the labor "free". but I hope the sale of chicks and started pullets will mean she is saving more for college than the money spent for food and such. If not, at least it's fun.

That's so awesome! What a huge gift to your Niece! And an awesome way to show her how to get creative to avoid debt. And you get easy enabling! Win win!

That's one advantage of an incubator - you can sneak down in the middle of the night and take a peak.

I am jealous of that. I just let the dog out and checked on my broody. Heard peeps...

This IS the best Christmas present ever! Congrats. And....pics or it didn't happen.





Merry Christmas my BYC peeps! Love you guys.

Will post pics as soon as I have her moved and the chicks show their little faces from under her butt!

 

[dheltzel]

That's so awesome! What a huge gift to your Niece! And an awesome way to show her how to get creative to avoid debt. And you get easy enabling! Win win!

We've both met lots of awesome people too. She is home schooled and other families in her cooperative have gotten interested and have hatched chicks in one of my incubators, or taken day old chicks for a few weeks as temporary pets. 2 of the families fell in love with the chicks they hatched and built coops in their back yard to keep them. Kids can really soak up information about topics that appeal to them, and baby chicks are certainly appealing. I'm glad they are learning about chickens, but the bigger picture is a kid that sees they can learn on their own and seek out information from many sources, including personal experience.

 

[troyer]

We've both met lots of awesome people too. She is home schooled and other families in her cooperative have gotten interested and have hatched chicks in one of my incubators, or taken day old chicks for a few weeks as temporary pets. 2 of the families fell in love with the chicks they hatched and built coops in their back yard to keep them. Kids can really soak up information about topics that appeal to them, and baby chicks are certainly appealing. I'm glad they are learning about chickens, but the bigger picture is a kid that sees they can learn on their own and seek out information from many sources, including personal experience.

Right on!! I get a lot of satisfaction out of helping others learn to be self sustaining, not that I know a whole lot about it myself, but at least I had the privilege of growing up on a farm. I can teach what I know and I'm constantly learning. For example this thread has been a great blessing to me in getting other's point of view on a lot of different subjects... I want us to continue sharing what we know. Knowledge is an advantage to all of us.

Here is a 6 month old Sumatra cockerel.

 

[dheltzel]

Right on!! I get a lot of satisfaction out of helping others learn to be self sustaining, not that I know a whole lot about it myself, but at least I had the privilege of growing up on a farm. I can teach what I know and I'm constantly learning. For example this thread has been a great blessing to me in getting other's point of view on a lot of different subjects... I want us to continue sharing what we know. Knowledge is an advantage to all of us.

Here is a 6 month old Sumatra cockerel.

It is great to be able to teach others and also to take advantage of the personal experiences of others. Before the internet and forums like this, learning was a lot more work. Books about chickens existed (probably written at a faster pace than now), but they were limited in scope and detail. Two of my uncles were big into showing chickens and I loved to go help take care of them and listen to them talk about buying and selling their birds. They would, at times, pay enormous amounts of money for champion stock - more than I could have afforded as a kid, but I could go look at these expensive birds and even collect their eggs to be put in his incubator.

Sumatras are on my "some day" list. I love the look, even if they are not as practical for egg production as some other breeds. I would like to raise a bunch and free range them, I think a Sumatra cock guarding his harem in the sun would be awesome to see!

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

We've both met lots of awesome people too. She is home schooled and other families in her cooperative have gotten interested and have hatched chicks in one of my incubators, or taken day old chicks for a few weeks as temporary pets. 2 of the families fell in love with the chicks they hatched and built coops in their back yard to keep them. Kids can really soak up information about topics that appeal to them, and baby chicks are certainly appealing. I'm glad they are learning about chickens, but the bigger picture is a kid that sees they can learn on their own and seek out information from many sources, including personal experience.

That is awesome!

Right on!! I get a lot of satisfaction out of helping others learn to be self sustaining, not that I know a whole lot about it myself, but at least I had the privilege of growing up on a farm. I can teach what I know and I'm constantly learning. For example this thread has been a great blessing to me in getting other's point of view on a lot of different subjects... I want us to continue sharing what we know. Knowledge is an advantage to all of us. Here is a 6 month old Sumatra cockerel.

What a regal looking guy!

It is great to be able to teach others and also to take advantage of the personal experiences of others. Before the internet and forums like this, learning was a lot more work. Books about chickens existed (probably written at a faster pace than now), but they were limited in scope and detail. Two of my uncles were big into showing chickens and I loved to go help take care of them and listen to them talk about buying and selling their birds. They would, at times, pay enormous amounts of money for champion stock - more than I could have afforded as a kid, but I could go look at these expensive birds and even collect their eggs to be put in his incubator. Sumatras are on my "some day" list. I love the look, even if they are not as practical for egg production as some other breeds. I would like to raise a bunch and free range them, I think a Sumatra cock guarding his harem in the sun would be awesome to see!

I agree, at least you know where to find good stock now!

 

[BullChick]

 

[BullChick]

No chicks hatching in the truck, I went home to find mice a few weeks ago. The foam was no match for them.
No pictures of a cooked 34# turkey. My mother cooked him Christmas eve, before I got here (Ohio) and forgot to take pictures before cutting him up. I will be posting pictures of him in a pan (she had one big enough!

) and pictures of large chunks of meat. I knew a little guilt upon the first bite, but was glad I raised him, and would do it again. Only one person at the table didn't know he was fresh. That is funny to me. The kids thought it was cool eating him, and wanted to talk about it. Their father hunts. This was nothing to them.

 

[wingstone]

Making some rough decisions to depopulate..
We all eventually settle into a breed that we want to work with, and I will be going with all Rocks, I figure I have a good start with the whites and the barred, will add other colors as I go that way I still have the color variety and still have the brown eggs that the customer demands..
If I have breeds that you would be interested in let me know I would prefer to part with some as a small flck instead of single birds.
Will be doing the same with the ducks, downsizing to just Muscovy breed, will be getting away from the french white and going with some color in that pen, east indie's will not be staying, if anyone wants to work with them let me know, I only have 1 little girl to offer but you could choose a boy or 2 to go with her.

Time to have direction instead of a mixed flock.