Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[OneMountainAcres]

Oh yay!! Lavenders are so beautiful

I totally agree I actualy ended up with 5 lavenders in this hatch. They will get to grow out and replace some of my blacks

 

[Chicken Egg 17]

Newbie question for others in PA,

How old, or at what point weather/temperature wise do you move your chicks outside to the coop here in PA.

Thanks!

Shannon

I wait until the chicks are three months old but I have my baby chicks outside day one if it is nice out

 

[Chaos18]

Newbie question for others in PA,

How old, or at what point weather/temperature wise do you move your chicks outside to the coop here in PA.

Thanks!

Shannon

It's weather dependent all over the place. Typically people will cut off heat all together when they are fully feathered, which is roughly 6 weeks old.

 

[Redwolf141]

I got a wonderful surprise with my hatch today!

And i was starting to think that none of my birds were carriers of the lavender gene! These 3 get to stay here and grow out

That is a good looking hatch...... congrats!!!!!

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

NW. Like way NW.

Welcome to the fun!l

Congratulations to the great easter hatch. My Rhodefelder looks and acts just like bielefelder so far. Her features look identical to bielefelder chicks. And she has docile and quiet personality as bielefelder . She's a big girl that my son called her gaint. She is very different from Rhodebars .

Jealous! Can't wait to have some Bielefelders!

New mama from Eastern Central PA with 9 Silkie babies!

Welcome! Love those silkies! You're very lucky to raise them from chicks.

Welcome all newcomers and Happy easter people! Let me see those eggs!

Wow! Maid you color them yourself.. And how?!

Oops, realized I don't have an albino in my profile pic on here, that's another site!

This is a group from last year. The white one is albino.

How many albino have you gotten so far?

Hi.  I'm Georgette and moved to Forest County from Beaver County a year ago.  Got my chickens Friday.

Welcome! Congrats! You're going to love having chickens!

I totally agree I actualy ended up with 5 lavenders in this hatch. They will get to grow out and replace some of my blacks

They're beautiful aurora. Lucky you!

That is a good looking hatch...... congrats!!!!!

Yours are looking great too.


Can someone please go broody now?

 

[TillyPeeps]

Jealous! Can't wait to have some Bielefelders!

When I got my chicks, the Bielefelder eggs weren't fertile, so I got a Rhodefelder girl instead. It's a great surprise that she's really like a Bielefelder. The only difference is her chest feathers are little darker than standard "salmon" color, more red. That seems the only thing she gets from Rhodebar. She is so gentle that my smallest chick Penny is always following her for protection. All my other chicks are fighting to set pecking order, but no one seems bother her. And she's also very nice to everyone and never fights them.

 

[fisherlady]

Ya I could tell to there wing growth feathering amount as mine are two weeks old two and have the same growth but this isn't my first baby hatch so I examine them as they grow just to make sure they are growing good and feather growth and I add them to my chicken folder once they are older and I get to know there personality to name them so I can add them in but my turkey ran away this morning but she was headed over to my neighbors and since they have chickens and as much as she follows my chickens around I am hoping she is still there

I hope your turkey comes back

 

[fisherlady]

Oh yay!! Lavenders are so beautiful

X 2!

@Auroradream26
Congrats on the lavender chicks, and the silkies! Sounds like you had a good incubator run!

 

[fisherlady]

Newbie question for others in PA,

How old, or at what point weather/temperature wise do you move your chicks outside to the coop here in PA.

Thanks!

Shannon

No 'right' answer to this.... many variables...as already stated it will vay depending on feathering rate and cold hardiness. Also a big factor is your coop set up. A bigger coop with a good draft free corner may be much more chick friendly than a coop which is drafty or only has limited floor space which is out of direct line from the pop door draft.
Heating method/choice can also factor in, some folks can use a heat lamp in their coop, others choose not to, some use brooder plates or heating pads (some claim they are safer, but still a highly risky option if extreme safety measures aren't followed)
In general if you can 'harden' off chicks at a young age then they will feather in a bit quicker and be ready to graduate to the coop a bit sooner. To do this takes space though... you need to raise them in a brooder that is big enough to allow you to set up zones.... you will keep a heat lamp, brooder plate or heating pad at recommended temp for their age in one zone, then a few feet to the cooler zone where you place food and water. The cool zone can be room temp, or garage temp, but certainly would be at least 15-20* cooler than the sleeping zone. You will find they quickly begin spending more and more time in the cool zone.
The warm zone/cool zone set up allows a situation which much more closely mimics a broody. Our broodies provide the warm zone, the rest of the coop is the cool zone in our coop...and our broodies raise chicks in the coop when it is freezing out, the chicks run under broody for more frequent warm ups in cold weather but still are out and about in 30* coop scratching and playing like they don't have a care in the world!

 

[dheltzel]

When I got my chicks, the Bielefelder eggs weren't fertile, so I got a Rhodefelder girl instead. It's a great surprise that she's really like a Bielefelder. The only difference is her chest feathers are little darker than standard "salmon" color, more red. That seems the only thing she gets from Rhodebar. She is so gentle that my smallest chick Penny is always following her for protection. All my other chicks are fighting to set pecking order, but no one seems bother her. And she's also very nice to everyone and never fights them.

I think the Rhodefelder chicks are they cutest looking of all the breeds I hatch, except maybe the Ameraucanas, with their little "ear muffs". They just seem much fluffier than the others, everyone that visits wants to hold one.

I know that's not a major criteria for picking a breed of chicken, but it's nice anyway.

I only have one Rhodefelder that didn't get sold early and it's growing nicely but looks exactly like a Rhodebar to me, so I'm thinking I might have gotten it mixed up in the eggs or chicks and it really is a Rhodebar. Not that it matters, she is destined for our laying flock unless a customer wants a pullet that age (a lot of customers have become friends and I can't refuse their requests, so I keep some random pullets in the batches I raise just in case). In any case, I know she will be an awesome layer, I have 4 Rhodebars and 3 Blue Eggs Sexlinks coming into lay now and they always impress me with their laying ability and personalities. They all tend to get "crotchety" as they get older, but as pullets they adapt well where ever I put them.