Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[emorems0]

Just popping in to say hello, I've been really busy and neglected all of my online groups... there's no way I can catch up now, so I'll just start fresh here

We processed one of our bourbon red hens to contribute for thanksgiving, she dressed out at just 8.5lbs... we have another to process for Easter and she'll be over a year old at that point, wondering if that will make a difference in weight vs the 9 month old thanksgiving bird. I'm hoping Chester and the hen we got from CC will have a successful brood and we'll have some extra toms for next thanksgiving. If I recall correctly, Chester was about 22 pounds when I weighed him about a month ago, so two toms would dress out to a nice thanksgiving meal for our big family.

 

[fisherlady]

How come people around my parts can't offer deals like that? Nice score

Thanks, hoping it is worth it to deal with the mess in winter, but meat in the freezer for half price is probably worth it...especially since we aren't fishing or camping anyway.

 

[Blarneyeggs]

Would goats or sheep be a better option? I milk the Shetland sheep without issue. Small (about up to my knee), eat your lawn (untreated, of course), hay and mineral and are pretty easy keepers. Plus you get wool

I've also been considering dairy goats or sheep. Goats seem to be the best fit as we have about 3/4 - 1 acre that's mainly brush and weeds, plus the 1 acre of weed & grass pasture. But so far I haven't liked the 2 types of goat milk I've tried (pure Nigerian & pure Nubian), but still seeing about trying other breeds milk (mainly Saanen, Toggenburg, & Boer or Boer cross) So far I haven't found anyone with these breeds to try the milk raw and not mixed with other breeds milk, but still looking as this seems to be the best option as I can't afford to buy/rent more land plus fence it, etc.

I've also looked into dairy sheep since I've heard it tastes similar to cow milk since they also graze, but that it's sweeter and that it makes amazing cheeses. But my family doesn't seem too keen on sheep and I have no idea what the local market is for selling dairy lambs since the closest I can find any is New York. I've also heard that the feed conversion rate to milk is only good if it's a dairy sheep breed, and that even dairy sheep breeds only give about 3/4 - 1 gallon per day and that they don't let down easy (sometimes not at all and they just dry off after their lamb is sold/weaned) and that they have a short lactation.

Since my family drinks/uses a lot of dairy it makes more sense to get an animal that milks out more per milking rather than having to spend more time on cleaning/ sterilizing, milking and carrying for a small herd of goats or a mid size herd of sheep.

We're thinking on either a small standard Jersey (800-950#) and just feed more alfalfa hay (we'd probably still save money considering how high milk prices are) or a mini Jersey or mini Holstein cow. The only problem is finding a breeder that doesn't charge an arm and a leg for a mini just because it's a mini or even just finding a breeder that's close enough.

wow, this is really well thought out and makes great sense. Thank you.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

I need some experienced advice. One of my black copper marans hens that I've had separated and waiting for eggs to be infertile so I can breed is suddenly having problems. She was fine yesterday but today, when checking for eggs, she was laying on her side in the nest, breathing raspy and heavy. I picked her up and brought her in immediately. She was weak, keeps falling asleep, and spit up some clear fluid a couple times. At first, she seemed to not be able to even hold herself up. Hubby and I gave her a 1/2 cc of penicillin. Now, she's wrapped in a towl on my lap. She keeps dropping in and out of sleep but she's holding her head up on her own right now, her breathing seems almost back to normal. She seems a bit pale on her face but her comb looks fairly normal (it looked slightly blue tinged when I first found her like that). Any clues what this could be? Is penicillin a good choice of treatment? I'm not entirely sure what I'm doing. This is a new one for me.

Update: not 10 minutes after writing this, she went into convulsions and passed away

 

[BullChick]

I'm so sorry! (((Hugs)))

 

[fisherlady]

I need some experienced advice. One of my black copper marans hens that I've had separated and waiting for eggs to be infertile so I can breed is suddenly having problems. She was fine yesterday but today, when checking for eggs, she was laying on her side in the nest, breathing raspy and heavy. I picked her up and brought her in immediately. She was weak, keeps falling asleep, and spit up some clear fluid a couple times. At first, she seemed to not be able to even hold herself up. Hubby and I gave her a 1/2 cc of penicillin. Now, she's wrapped in a towl on my lap. She keeps dropping in and out of sleep but she's holding her head up on her own right now, her breathing seems almost back to normal. She seems a bit pale on her face but her comb looks fairly normal (it looked slightly blue tinged when I first found her like that). Any clues what this could be? Is penicillin a good choice of treatment? I'm not entirely sure what I'm doing. This is a new one for me.

Update: not 10 minutes after writing this, she went into convulsions and passed away

I am so sorry

I'm not sure what it could have been, but from what you described it seems it was affecting her neuro, since she was laying on her side and seemed so weak in the muscles (unless she had been sick for a couple of days and was able to compensate for them). Birds don't breathe very well when on their side, so difficulty breathing and poor color which improved with positioning could possibly just have been secondary to her being on her side rather than a primary complaint.
Make sure to eliminate outside factors such as poisoning (from eating something she shouldn't have) and watch for any other birds acting 'off'.
I hope it wasn't something that will effect any of your other birds....

 

[OneMountainAcres]

I'm so sorry! (((Hugs)))

I am so sorry
I'm not sure what it could have been, but from what you described it seems it was affecting her neuro, since she was laying on her side and seemed so weak in the muscles (unless she had been sick for a couple of days and was able to compensate for them). Birds don't breathe very well when on their side, so difficulty breathing and poor color which improved with positioning could possibly just have been secondary to her being on her side rather than a primary complaint.
Make sure to eliminate outside factors such as poisoning  (from eating something she shouldn't have)  and watch for any other birds acting 'off'.
I hope it wasn't something that will effect any of your other birds....

Thank you. I'm going to do an autopsy and see if I can see anything. Someone in the emergency threads said something about possibly being egg bound. I didn't feel anything and she didn't seem egg bound BUT her eggs were very few and far between and now I'm wondering if maybe she could've been an internal layer or something? I guess I'll see what I can see.

She's been in the garage brooder for about a week and a half with her sister Merci. Merci looks fine is acting normal and has been laying regularly for me out there. I'll be keeping my eyes on her.

 

[Chaos18]

Sorry to hear she didn't make it.

 

[fisherlady]

Thank you. I'm going to do an autopsy and see if I can see anything. Someone in the emergency threads said something about possibly being egg bound. I didn't feel anything and she didn't seem egg bound BUT her eggs were very few and far between and now I'm wondering if maybe she could've been an internal layer or something? I guess I'll see what I can see.

She's been in the garage brooder for about a week and a half with her sister Merci. Merci looks fine is acting normal and has been laying regularly for me out there. I'll be keeping my eyes on her.

I'm glad Merci is doing well, during your necropsy be sure to check the crop, not just for content but also for smell, a sour crop could be hidden for a while and basically 'poison' her system until she is overwhelmed.
Fingers crossed that Merci continues to do well.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

I didn't find much though I've never opened up a hen before. We've butchered plenty of roosters. Her abdomen was filled with clear water. Heart looked normal. Liver seemed large and so did the gallbladder. The ceca were both full and kinda greenish. I'd never even noticed the ceca in any butchered roosters but they were very obvious in her. Is that normal? Other than that, I didn't see anything else. Her crop was normal besides being almost empty, no sour smell.