Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[fisherlady]

Thoes of you close to Erie. I have chicks that are 27 days old. 10 of them. This is my first winter with chickens. I put them in the barn/coop with a heat lamp and water and such I am just scared they are to cold. Am I being silly or have I messed up? Should I bring them back in side my house? It's like 10 degrees during the day today.

If the chicks haven't been acclimated to the cold by either a broody or by gradual exposure then you have to make sure they are comfortable with the set up, the guys already described how to judge based on their proximity to the light. To improve your chances for a good transition you may set up a draft free area and place a comfy nesting spot in one end with the heat lamp at a comfortable distance for them and food/water at the other side so they have to roam out into the cooler part of the area to eat and drink. doing this will force them to stray out of their comfort zone for at least short times to start getting used to it. If you are doing this though you will have to monitor them closely for chicks getting stuck or lost in the wrong end of the enclosure... sometimes they aren't the brightest.

I just vasolined all my kides combs tonight. my oldest roo hardly has a comb left after 3 years of frost bite of course he's leghorn. but some of my girls stay out in the run on there roost all night watching the voles eat there food. I'n never seen so many as this year.

How are the EE boys doing? Hope you are getting lots of fluffy cheeked little ones!

As far as I know most of my Cubalaya roosters do that on a regular ongoing basis.

Yep, our roos are also 'apartment shoppers' for the girls.... we joke that they are like real estate agents, singing the praises of the great places they manage to find.

 

[troyer]

Yep, our roos are also 'apartment shoppers' for the girls.... we joke that they are like real estate agents, singing the praises of the great places they manage to find.

Right on.

 

[dheltzel]

LMP: Not sure about PA but Ohio doesn't require pwrmits for red-eared sliders. Petshops are only supposed to sell baby turtles "for educational purposes" but there is no documentation required to prove you are a teacher or homeschooling or anything. I have a Peninsula Cooter that is over 12 years old now. She was barely bigger than a quarter when I got her. We added a red-eared slider as her companion over the summer & he's just a little smaller than her but no clue on his age. We have also been looking at a gorgeous Painted Musk to add to the family but are still debating on it. Pokey, our original turtle, has been a member of the family longer than 2 of the children...lol

You are to be commended for providing good care for that long. One "problem" with turtles is that they are very long lived and their keepers often tire of them. I've rarely kept turtles even though they fascinate me, because I don't feel like I can make the sort of commitment they need. I've had baby snappers a few times, mostly to eat culled/dead fish, and to provide a source of entertainment for young visitors. Snappers are very low maintenance due to being entirely aquatic. The undercurrent of danger in dealing with them adds some excitement too, like a tank of pirahna, but in slow motion (except for when they strike at prey).

 

[SilkieSensation]

LMP: Not sure about PA but Ohio doesn't require pwrmits for red-eared sliders. Petshops are only supposed to sell baby turtles "for educational purposes" but there is no documentation required to prove you are a teacher or homeschooling or anything. I have a Peninsula Cooter that is over 12 years old now. She was barely bigger than a quarter when I got her. We added a red-eared slider as her companion over the summer

You are to be commended for providing good care for that long. One "problem" with turtles is that they are very long lived and their keepers often tire of them. I've rarely kept turtles even though they fascinate me, because I don't feel like I can make the sort of commitment they need. I've had baby snappers a few times, mostly to eat culled/dead fish, and to provide a source of entertainment for young visitors. Snappers are very low maintenance due to being entirely aquatic. The undercurrent of danger in dealing with them adds some excitement too, like a tank of pirahna, but in slow motion (except for when they strike at prey).

Mine are also completely aquatic. We got them some feeder fish over the weekend, but usually we just toss a handfull of frozen mixed veggies in about twice a month in winter & weekly in summer. The key is to not overfeed them so that they stay smaller & don't outgrow their tanks. We also toss them nitecrawlers & crawldads as extra treats when we go fishing or wading in the creek. Pokey (12 yr old peninsula cooter) is so tame you can pet her on the nose with no chance of even a nipped finger. Spike (red-eared slider, age unknown) has never tried to bite any of us, but we also don't stick our fingers in his face since we did not raise him. I have no worries that my kids & grandkids will continue to care for them once I am no longer able. We joke that Pokey is more family than the 2 youngest kids since she has been here longer...lol

 

[LadyBehir]

Any one going to the Farm Show? Any one exhibiting?

 

[dheltzel]

Any one going to the Farm Show? Any one exhibiting?

I'll be there Tuesday with my sister, her family, my daughter, and her family - about 11 people. My niece always makes a "wish list" of the poultry she wants.

 

[LadyBehir]

I think my sister and I will be there Thursday.

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

The goats were just obnoxious. They hated the bunny hay, wouldn't eat it, but they'd destroy the coop and bunny cages to eat the bunny hay that was inaccessible to them. Basically, they were just very expensive troublemakers. They shred trees and destroy everything they can. If you could enclose them in a small fenced area, they'd maybe do better, but they were miserable jerks in my nice 3 acre pasture.

Thanks for the advice!

I am just fermenting the commercial feed right now. I do add-in "extras", (oats/dried legumes) from time to time. The closest mill to me is near 45 mins away.
Fermenting is great, lot less waste thrown around and the nutritional benefits...win-win ..it is not very involved either. Many different set-ups for it, just have to find what works best for you, like a lot of things. I am excited to be able to make my own ACV, so I don't have to be spending the extra $$ on the small bottles. That stuff is expensive for what it is...geesh...
omgosh..don't get me started on what these little "starving" hens are eating or "think" they should be eating...mine would eat till they popped!! They are very well fed, but try telling them that:cd
Mine are eating as much as of they were laying...I think they are stashing those eggs somewhere....
I keep mine in an old cooler...I will try to remember to take a pic tomorrow...
I am using a one-gal. bucket, that's it..for seven birds...The bucket and two half-gal.(turkey-hill tea) bottles fit nicely into the cooler..the bottles are for hot water to keep the ferment doing it's thing, and I use hot water in the ferment-mix...
In the A.M., I exchange out the two, now-cold, bottles out for two hot water bottles..scoop out the feed for the birds...add my dry stuff to the bucket, mix, add hot water..set bucket back into cooler w/ the hot water bottles, put the lid back on the cooler & all is good for the rest of the day until the next morning. Now..if it is going to be in the single digits..I may switch-out the water bottles at night just to make sure that nothing freezes..but everything is generally  good to go..the cooler lid may stick in the morning because the condensation froze, but the ferment is just fine, usually still bubbling when i open the cooler. I keep this out in the "chicken" shed right beside the coop I used to keep it in the house, but DH found the smell offensive..to each his own...didn't bother me..but..have to keep'em happy ...
this made DH laugh too! We saw the sign yesterday...When are they supposed to be opening?..I hope that whomever they hire knows at least something in their department, and not just were the restrooms are located..
well my goodness.....you did have an experience!

I'll die laughing if you one day find a secret nest with 300 eggs in it! Seriously though, hoping your girls pick up the pace in the spring.

Sounds like a great fit, you should take it!  You'd love getting paid to help people with their animals. You do it here for free, right?

Really, we should organize an in-store chicken workshop. Compared to the average person buying chicks at TSC, we are all "chicken whisperers".

My big news of the day --- 10 CCL eggs, all hatched, looks like 2 cockerels in there. I keep running in and looking again, I can hardly believe it.
e

Congrats! Can you sex them at day one by color?

 

[dheltzel]

Congrats! Can you sex them at day one by color?

Yes, certain autosexing breeds, like Legbars and Rhodebars, can be sexed at hatch as easily as the sex-link hybrids (ISA browns, black sex links, red sex link, golden comets, etc).

Now that they are drier, there are 7 pullets and 3 cockerels.

 

[stake]

Yes, certain autosexing breeds, like Legbars and Rhodebars, can be sexed at hatch as easily as the sex-link hybrids (ISA browns, black sex links, red sex link, golden comets, etc).

Now that they are drier, there are 7 pullets and 3 cockerels.

DH:

Excellent hatch rate and ratio!....I'm green with CCL envy......