Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[OneMountainAcres]

No need to beak trim. They will learn after a bit. When my girls were young, I just put them in the coop at night and shut the door. Did that for a few days and they got the hang of it. New chickens learn it from the elders.
A classic! Truth!
Welcome to the Pa thread!
Congrats! They do learn!
I am seriously condsidering this for this year. My poor girls were huddled on the porch more than they should have been. This fall my project is to put a roof on my run and ad some plastic sheeting also. Do you put slits in the plastic so that you don't get a parachute effect?

I wasn't planning on it. I guess it depends on how parachutey it gets lol. My run is already roofed, thank God. I can't imagine it without.

Last year, we wrapped  tarps around the chain link fence to help with the wind. We just put the tarps around the bottom, nothing on the top of the run. We have enough issues with the bird netting becoming full of ice and snow and collapsing it.  We had some nasty, cold windchills last year, -35 burrrr!!!

We hung a tarp on the one side of the run last year because we only had one big one. It worked pretty well but made it rather dark in there. Snow could stop blow in from the other side and my finicky girls revised to walk in it lol

Since this will be my first winter with birds and my run in chain link fencing I was thinking about scouring craiglist for those privacy slates that you put in chain link fencing to see if that keeps out a little wind and snow for them.

That should work pretty well to keep the wind and blowing snow down a bit but is your run roofed? I would imagine it would be pretty dark inside.

 

[Chaos18]

That should work pretty well to keep the wind and blowing snow down a bit but is your run roofed? I would imagine it would be pretty dark inside.

Nope, my run doesn't have any type of ceiling or roofing (besides the wide open sky). All I did was run some chain link fencing around a semi-grassy semi-bushy area that had a couple small trees in it and so far the birds love it. Especially my rooster who likes to find the tallest log/ piece of rotten firewood he can to stand on and crow.

 

[Chaos18]

@Auroradream26. How do you get your turkeys to go back inside there "coop" after letting them out to play and eat bugs? After there quarantine I would like to be able to free range the turkeys with the chickens.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Hi Everyone,
Just saw this on FB and thought I would post it, for all those looking to finance their operations, maybe it would be a viable option for some.

New Farm Storage Financing Options For Meat, Dairy, and Eggs from the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition:



http://sustainableagriculture.net/blog/farm-storage-loan-expansion/

SS:

Good to hear from you....hope you get back on your feet...

you too @stake

Any ducks for sale near Pittsburgh? Only looking for 1-2 females!!!!!!!!

Hi! not here!

Thank you! Would you insulate your chicken coop? Trying to gather enough information before we make a decision.

We have mostly pallet coops, straw stuffed is great insulation, we actually dusted the straw with a little preth dust and we also added common Groc Store borax on the bottom skid "shelf" before adding straw. So its insulation and a bug protector as well. "Permethrin Dust is often used in pet kennels, vegetable and flower gardens and is an excellent alternative to using Sevin Dust and its cheeaper! Permethrin Dust is safer than other dusts, when using on pets or in vegetable gardens." Lowes carries a big generic BAG of Preth and its cheap! Some people cheaply stucco their pallet buildings, we used board on the outside and open on inside. There is a link to our pallet coops and how we made them in my signature. nice for a few birds but go bigger if you want a lot and you will!

We also add Ag Lime to our coops floors before adding bedding, after adding bedding we dust the top with a bit of preth. Ag. lime has an antibacterial quality, dries out and holds oders down big time, and also it makes it easier to clean. We never had bugs and NEVER want them on our birds, so every cleanout gets done correctly or my husband doesnt eat for a month! We have scheduled wormings every three months as well, I am OCD but my chickens love us for it and it shows. Its not that much more work to have a prevention schedule!

CAUTION with Lime! Don't purchase the wrong kind! most ag stores will give you the correct kind if you tell them why you want it! here is a discussion thread https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/47639/is-it-safe-to-use-lime-in-the-chicken-coop/0_100

Also see my last comment on this long quote

This is T-Bone (Sweetgrass tom), Cleo (Sweetgrass hen) and Thanksgiving and Christmas (who are both either Royal Palm or Royal palm mix). T-bone and Cleo are both a little over a year old and the two guests of honor are right around 4.5 months.

arent they just lovely!!! My dad has a empty Turkey run, I need to talk him into this kind! so pretty!

@Sally Sunshine . Nice to see you back! Hope this year is healthier for you! We missed you,

@AnneInTheBurbs you too, and thank you!

Nope, my run doesn't have any type of ceiling or roofing (besides the wide open sky). All I did was run some chain link fencing around a semi-grassy semi-bushy area that had a couple small trees in it and so far the birds love it. Especially my rooster who likes to find the tallest log/ piece of rotten firewood he can to stand on and crow.

We had to cover ours for NPIP but we started to have issues with our WFBS and CCL flying out. The heavy birds did fine staying in the run, the rowdy birds flew out and couldnt get back in... Dummies! lol We just used the same wire as the run and used treated 2x4 ripped down as a cheap top frame for the wire, worked great and we never added a rain roof, although in the winter it would be great because of them not walking in snow, it would get them out more often and less coop cleanout in the cold! unless you do deep litter methods, but I cant seem to let mine go to do the deep litter. They say it works, but never read how healthy it is for them, or if the heat makes moisture and in turn frostbite? Anyone know more about deep litter let me know!

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Just got in my email...... sharing



"Good morning. While I realize that most of the people on my list for poultry info are backyard poultry enthusiasts, not commercial poultry producers, I wanted you to be aware of this opportunity to learn more about what PA is doing to prepare for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI).



Please see the message below and the attached information about an informational meeting that you are welcome to attend. I sincerely agree with the statement in the message below that "we will only be as good as our weakest link" so it is important for everyone to be aware of the situation so that appropriate precautions can be taken to protect your birds and all of the poultry in PA.



Aliza Simeone VMD | Veterinary Medical Field Officer Region VII
Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture | Bureau of Animal Health and Diagnostic Services"

 

[dheltzel]

@dheltzel . How soon can you sex the bantam Cochins? One from the previous hatch is getting bigger quicker, and it looks like it's starting to have a bigger comb. Will try to snap some pics today. Also, what kind of Matams eggs did you give me? I'm just curious to know which breeds are which of the dozen chicks. She is managing, with a little help from me.

I think I remember them sexing out pretty early, can't remember ages. It's a lot easier if you have a group the same age to compare the different birds, assuming that there are some of both sexes.

The Marans are French Coppers, either black or blue. They are easy to distinguish because they have feathers on their feet and yellow fronts. I think they look like penguins. The black/blue ones without any feathers on their legs would be Ameraucanas, those tend to be more uniformly colored as chicks, with very little yellow on them, at least compared to the Marans.

 

[dheltzel]

We hung a tarp on the one side of the run last year because we only had one big one. It worked pretty well but made it rather dark in there. Snow could stop blow in from the other side and my finicky girls revised to walk in it lol
That should work pretty well to keep the wind and blowing snow down a bit but is your run roofed? I would imagine it would be pretty dark inside.

I bought some clear tarps for the sides of my coops last fall. They worked great, but were more expensive than the silver or blue ones. Still much cheaper than fiberglass or plywood. They did do a sort of greenhouse effect and had to be removed (at least partially) fairly early in the spring.

 

[Chaos18]

@Sally Sunshine . Thanks and yes you do need some......specially with an empty run already for them

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

I think I remember them sexing out pretty early, can't remember ages. It's a lot easier if you have a group the same age to compare the different birds, assuming that there are some of both sexes.

The Marans are French Coppers, either black or blue. They are easy to distinguish because they have feathers on their feet and yellow fronts. I think they look like penguins. The black/blue ones without any feathers on their legs would be Ameraucanas, those tend to be more uniformly colored as chicks, with very little yellow on them, at least compared to the Marans.

Thanks! I will try to get some pics up soon to let you see their cute little fluffy butts.

 

[beaglady]

Good to see you back, Sally