Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[gonehencrazy]

I'm starting to think my chickens are lucky their yard is on the hill side. At least they will dry out quickly!! They will get a river running down the hill when we get a lot of rain. We have managed to slow that some by making a dam and rock river bed. Helps the wash out. We planted a willow tree at the bottom of the hill to help with the water. Doesn't help that there is a spring right at the bottom of the hill. We have a pallet plank that comes out when it's too wet to get to the goat and now chickens. It doesn't help that we get run off right into the driveway from the road too! One spring my dad couldn't till the garden till June because the yard was so wet!!

 

[fisherlady]

anyone else lose power? when the wind woke me, I hopped up and showered just in case... then we lost power. I wish I'd filled the bath. What does everyone else do to prepare for loss of power?

We keep a couple of 5 gallon water containers full in the house all the time...no electric means no water for us.
No problem with heat since my pot bellied stove keeps everything warm. We have bottled gas for kitchen stove so no problem there and we have a generator we can fire up if power is out for more than 5 or 6 hours to keep the freezers cold.
I have collected many oil lamps and coleman lamps over the years so no lighting problem either. Cell phone alarms are always set for wake up for work times so if power goes out overnight we don't miss our usual alarm.

If we are really expecting power outage we will fill a bucket or two and keep them in the bathtub for flushing the toilet.
3 gallon apiece gives us a 'shower' with a camp style hanging bag. Our years of tent camping have us pretty used to minimal luxuries for extended periods...

 

[stake]

anyone else lose power? when the wind woke me, I hopped up and showered just in case... then we lost power. I wish I'd filled the bath. What does everyone else do to prepare for loss of power?

Hey B:

Wind woke me up at 4:00a...really honking....I lose power more than most....I have a small generator that will maintain a 20 amp circuit....I can run either the frig or freezer and my internet,,,or run a couple of smaller things...light bulbs, fan on wood stove....cable tv....I run around the house swapping stuff out with 50' extension cables...if you are on a well, you will lose all water when the well pump goes out....I only lose hot....and I try to save the water in the heater, for a shower on day 2 or 3....

For my two cents....you might think about a larger generator one that can handle 50-60 amps of power, then you can manage your needs from your fuse box....my two cents....good luck

PS: I have hurricane lamps from Walmart with indoor oil for about $10.00

 

[stake]

I was lucky to not lose power. My tub is full. Not in preparation for the power going out though.

The yard is soaked. The water from the house has no where to drain thanks to the constant rain and show. When we have a warm day that the snow isn't melting, my water will go down. Then we get more rain that turns to snow that melts as it rains again. LOL! I was told I was wrong. That I needed a guy to come deal with my septic tank or a plumber for the house. Well, I finally had enough of my tub not draining. I was trying to load myself up with numbers to call (I have problems with getting electricians and plumbers here) and found an article from a septic guy. woo hoo!

MCC:

You might only need to get your pipes (either inside the house, or between the septic tank and the drain field) cleaned out...had that happen to me....idiot septic guy wanted me to dig up the pipes and replace for about 5K only when I refused and called his boss, did they agreed to unclog the roots that had grown though the pipe.....no problem in 10yrs.....my two cents....

 

[Werforpsu]

Happy Monday Y'all!

I tried to read all the posts since Wednesday, the last time I was here...Over 10 pages (my we are a chatty bunch). I got about 5 pages through but then skipped ahead!

We got about 5 inches of snow Wednesday night. I had the "brilliant" Idea to take my kids skiing on Thursday since school was cancelled. The recent warm weather made the skiing terrible at Seven Springs. It was a rough day to drive the 2 hrs to get there, deal with two kids and bad conditions and then drive home. Still, I am glad I got them out at least once this winter.


The chickens are in the coop today. The wind is terrible. It howled through the night and things were blown all over this morning.

Today I am catching up on indoor housework. I have been planning a weekend away with my best friend for the end of Feb. so I have to be ahead of all the 'mom stuff' before then! I also have cookies and finger jello to make today for my kiddos Valentine's Day parties tomorrow.

Hope everyone is keeping warm!

 

[OneMountainAcres]

The wind was crazy last night. We had to kick on the furnace just so our daughter would go to sleep (she's afraid of the wind). We were lucky enough to not lose power at all. For us, that also means no water, no septic pump, and no heat. When we do lose power, we typically go out and fire up the generator just long enough to get some water stored up. Then we get a fire started in the fire place. I can't wait till we have a wood stove.

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

I got the first duck egg of the year! I've been looking, but thought today would be the day. I forgot that the Muscovy lays in the nest box.
Since the three drakes were dropped off, I have not had duck eggs. The drakes leave in four weeks.

That's awesome! Does the "drakes leaving" mean that they are going to freezer camp?

anyone else lose power? when the wind woke me, I hopped up and showered just in case... then we lost power. I wish I'd filled the bath. What does everyone else do to prepare for loss of power?

Thankfully no, we didn't here. We do have a generator thankfully, though. We do need to put aside some water in case of that. Although I suppose we could bring buckets in from the hot tub. . I kept worrying about a tree falling on my house or the coop. Love my pine trees, but I do get concerned when the winds are this bad.

The wind was crazy last night. We had to kick on the furnace just so our daughter would go to sleep (she's afraid of the wind). We were lucky enough to not lose power at all. For us, that also means no water, no septic pump, and no heat. When we do lose power, we typically go out and fire up the generator just long enough to get some water stored up. Then we get a fire started in the fire place. I can't wait till we have a wood stove.

Question for you dear! We have a fireplace that came with a Osborne wood stove insert. What are the benefits of having an insert? We've never had a fireplace before so we don't know either way.

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

It think my turkey has officially gone broody. Last night, she was sitting on her two eggs until dusk, when I shooed her off of them. Last night when I checked, she was back at her "nest". This morning, she has been out there all day. It's now noon and there's no egg. I wonder if I I should try to keep her in a bigger nest box in the coop, enclosed in a dog crate. Would that would help her to move where she should Lay and brood? The turkey eggs are due to hatch in about 12 days, give or take. I wonder if I could move her successfully, should I let her have a couple poults (with supervision)? I'll have to see if I can move her to the coop successfully....

 

[OneMountainAcres]

That's awesome! Does the "drakes leaving" mean that they are going to freezer camp?
Thankfully no, we didn't here. We do have a generator thankfully, though. We do need to put aside some water in case of that. Although I suppose we could bring buckets in from the hot tub. . I kept worrying about a tree falling on my house or the coop. Love my pine trees, but I do get concerned when the winds are this bad.
Question for you dear! We have a fireplace that came with a Osborne wood stove insert. What are the benefits of having an insert? We've never had a fireplace before so we don't know either way.

You lucky duck! If we could get one, we would. Having just the fireplace is pretty but it only heats pretty much the room that it's in. It will suck all the heat from the rest of the house and waste a ton of it right up the chimney. With an insert, it radiates the heat outward and doesn't need to suck the air from the rest of the house, providing pretty uniform heat. We looked in to getting an insert for ours but since we have a double wide, or fireplace is practically an insert itself so we can't. We have plans to eventuality year it out and put in a wood stove but even those, we can only get certain types.

It think my turkey has officially gone broody. Last night, she was sitting on her two eggs until dusk, when I shooed her off of them. Last night when I checked, she was back at her "nest". This morning, she has been out there all day. It's now noon and there's no egg. I wonder if I I should try to keep her in a bigger nest box in the coop, enclosed in a dog crate. Would that would help her to move where she should Lay and brood? The turkey eggs are due to hatch in about 12 days, give or take. I wonder if I could move her successfully, should I let her have a couple poults (with supervision)? I'll have to see if I can move her to the coop successfully....

I would not try to give her any poults for her first brood if you're going to let her try. I would let her start with a brood of chicks and let her sit on them the entire time. I had issues last year when Pebbles went broody. She ended up breaking most of the eggs I gave her. When I tried to graft poults to her, she accepted them but wasn't ready to leave the nest because she hadn't sat long enough so they wandered off and died. It took forever to break her and she never did manage to raise any. I think the longest she had a baby was 2 days and as soon as she left the nest with it, I had to take it cause she wouldn't protect it :/ Anyway, the point is, they're not the smartest birds and they're hopelessly stubborn. Id let her start and see if she finishes on her own. I already had to break Mary (BR turkey) because she was trying to sit. I need eggs right now, not broodies lol

 

[stake]

That's awesome! Does the "drakes leaving" mean that they are going to freezer camp?
Thankfully no, we didn't here. We do have a generator thankfully, though. We do need to put aside some water in case of that. Although I suppose we could bring buckets in from the hot tub.

. I kept worrying about a tree falling on my house or the coop. Love my pine trees, but I do get concerned when the winds are this bad.
Question for you dear! We have a fireplace that came with a Osborne wood stove insert. What are the benefits of having an insert? We've never had a fireplace before so we don't know either way.

Anne:

Woodstove inserts will deliver x10 more heat than a fireplace....I have had one (with nice glass windows, a Joutal) for years....great investment...and pretty nice....