Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[datschicks]

flock getting big at 12 weeks feasting on fresh cut grass

 

[BullChick]

Quote:
Buy a thing of pint jars (about $8) and a Ball canning starter kit ($5-10, depending on which kit). It is all you need for water bath canning. It works for pickles and anything tomato (salsa or sauce. Also a chili starter. No meat). The kit has a jar lifter in it. That is to get the hot jars out of the pot. The funnel is in the bigger kit. The plastic air remover is good too. Never use metal utensils with canning. The metal scrapes the jar, and can cause a crack that causes the jar to break. Also, be sure to never put a cold/room temperature jar into hot water. That is all in the pamphlet that is included with the starter kit.
When you buy your first pressure canner, DO NOT BE AFRAID! Grandma may have a horror story about a canner blowing up, but it is hard to do with today's canners, and even back then (when dinosaurs roamed back in the 1940's) it wasn't too common.

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

I prefer a hen be broody for 10 days or more before getting chicks (14 days is even better), though it can be stretched for experienced hens and some who seem willing to adopt kittens and puppies when they are feeling broody... just watch her behavior closely around hatch time. I had a hen smother a couple of chicks which hatched under her after a short set (about 10-12days) and i realized too late she just hadn't transitioned to hatch mode...she hadn't talked to the eggs the last day or two and just seemed a bit freaked when she suddenly had fluffy chicks when she wanted to sit on eggs. We removed the rest of the eggs and gave them to a broody who was ready to hatch and gave the first hen some other eggs which gave her an extra 2 weeks. She hatched the second group with no problem and was a perfect broody mom to them.

Thanks so much! We are about 2 weeks and 2 days from hatch date, so I may give her a couple.

flock getting big at 12 weeks feasting on fresh cut grass

They are big! It's always amazing to me how much they love the grass.

 

[Blarneyeggs]

south east? south west here, how can we do this?

Me?

I assumed since we are on the other side of the state, that you wouldn't be interested, if you want to travel this far, I can ask the egg project kids of they have any left and forward them your information, and you can work something out. PM me if you are interested. I'm very surprised that the kids have been having trouble placing these birds, especially with egg prices going up.

 

[Chaos18]

Well all of my birds put themselves to bed last night, which I was happy about because I've been having to catch the one Black Australorp and put her in the coop. These are two of my 3 month old SLW girls.

 

[winc564]

Buy a thing of pint jars (about $8) and a Ball canning starter kit ($5-10, depending on which kit). It is all you need for water bath canning. It works for pickles and anything tomato (salsa or sauce. Also a chili starter. No meat). The kit has a jar lifter in it. That is to get the hot jars out of the pot. The funnel is in the bigger kit. The plastic air remover is good too. Never use metal utensils with canning. The metal scrapes the jar, and can cause a crack that causes the jar to break. Also, be sure to never put a cold/room temperature jar into hot water. That is all in the pamphlet that is included with the starter kit.
When you buy your first pressure canner, DO NOT BE AFRAID! Grandma may have a horror story about a canner blowing up, but it is hard to do with today's canners, and even back then (when dinosaurs roamed back in the 1940's) it wasn't too common.

This made me laugh. My grandmother used to can, but my mom never thought it was worth the effort. My grandmother made the best raspberry jelly and we all called it "RB" because that's what she wrote in the jars. (Sigh)

It is not quite as humid today, so it's off to work on the bigger coop. I've been thinking about next year and whether we should hatch eggs or just add a few new started pullets to keep the egg consistency going. I was looking at Freehling Farms and I think it's a reasonable distance.

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

Question time please! I just remembered I can get fertile broiler eggs about a half hour from where I live. I was thinking I could easily throw them under my broody and rest some meat chickens. I just have to find someone to process because I don't think I could do it in my backyard. The neighbors might notice. But if I raised them now, they would be ready in about October, and I wouldn't have to worry about housing them over the winter. Thoughts?




Poo! Hubby says no. He's tired of chicken poop in the backyard as it is.

 

[dheltzel]

Question time please! I just remembered I can get fertile broiler eggs about a half hour from where I live. I was thinking I could easily throw them under my broody and rest some meat chickens. I just have to find someone to process because I don't think I could do it in my backyard. The neighbors might notice.

But if I raised them now, they would be ready in about October, and I wouldn't have to worry about housing them over the winter. Thoughts?

Poo! Hubby says no. He's tired of chicken poop in the backyard as it is.

If you had someone to process them, you could have eaten the roos you had, and probably gotten a lot more. I give away 10 or more at a time because I don't care for processing them. All you have to do it pick them up and take them somewhere - the "where" being the problem.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

Eve (or Adam) was relaxing with me last night out by the fire it's becoming a usual thing for her/him to relax out there with me in the evenings lol

We managed to get 4 more boys processed this morning before hubby had to go to work. There's only 4 left to do from the beginning of the year hatches. There's about 6 young boys in the main coop but they won't be ready for a few months yet. I can't believe how much chicken we have in our freezer this year!

 

[Debby27]

If you had someone to process them, you could have eaten the roos you had, and probably gotten a lot more. I give away 10 or more at a time because I don't care for processing them. All you have to do it pick them up and take them somewhere - the "where" being the problem.

If you have a local butcher.....we have a few around here...i'm sure they would do it for you...for a fee of course..