Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[OneMountainAcres]

A good fall cleaning is in order here also, will be getting to in in the next couple of weeks.
Do you have a vacuum sealer? We have one and love it for chicken and fish, among other things.... we cut the bags bigger than needed the first time and wash them and reuse them for slightly smaller amounts the second time. We have kept fish filets for 2 years with no decline noticeable when used. As long as the vacuum seal stays good they keep for ages. We do use zippy bags for short term stuff, but always seems something gets overlooked and ends up freezer burnt.

No, we just use ziplock. Things never stay around long enough to get freezer burnt or go bad. Since our bulldog mix has such bad allergies, she has to eat raw, so the chickens we process are usualy her meals for the next couple days. Someday, after she's gone, we may invest in one.

 

[chickachickayea]

A friend of mine's hatched out some silkies, and he promised me two of those when they are older. Looks like they will be some kind of brown/buff color. My SIL always calls them "sweatpants" with their fuzzy legs and feet. I'll be glad to have a couple more.

Sweatpants!

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What app is that?? That's very cool for data collection! :O

@AnneInTheBurb, you need some showgirls to go with some more silkies

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Oh my goodness look at that little fluffy cotton ball!

 

[OneMountainAcres]

My mom calls the silkies Fuzzy Bathroom Slippers lol

 

[kie4]

What app is that?? That's very cool for data collection! :O

It's called "Egg Tally". I like it the best, good for stats, although "FlockPlenty" has better graphs.

 

[dheltzel]

@dheltzel, that little shamo that you brought for me has become very sweet. I blame the turkey poults that she shares a pen with. Anymore, when I open the pen to feed them in the morning, she jumps up to be held, lays her head on my chest and just closes her eyes lol

That's amazing. She wasn't tame at all when I had her. I guess you are going to keep her then? Let us know how she is as a layer.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

That's amazing. She wasn't tame at all when I had her. I guess you are going to keep her then? Let us know how she is as a layer.

As long as she stays sweet, she'll get to stay. Maybe it's just her way of begging for breakfast lol. Hopefully she lays well. I'll keep you updated.

 

[chickachickayea]

My mom calls the silkies Fuzzy Bathroom Slippers lol

My mom just visited a couple weeks ago and kept laughing at my silkie because she had never seen chickens with "fuzzy legs" - I'll have to tell her about the "sweatpants" a.k.a. "fuzzy bathroom slippers" bahaha

It's called "Egg Tally". I like it the best, good for stats, although "FlockPlenty" has better graphs.

Oooooh cool!

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

@AnneInTheBurb, you need some showgirls to go with some more silkies

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Haha, I think I'm pushing my luck already with the ACs I'm picking up this weekend. Hubby doesn't even know about the Silkies that are coming from my friend.

I haven't been on as often as I would like because things are pretty calm with my chickens right now. Also because of the weather changing and the fall projects we have going on. We have our chicken coop under our upper deck so I think we will tarp the sides of the deck to give the chickens some wind and snow break in the winter. I'll have to take a picture of our setup someday to show off as I love it. I also put an add-on to the side of the coop for nesting boxes so the girls have more room. And there are a few other projects in the house as well. Love to stay busy.



We have a lot of raccoons and skunks around here but they have left the chickens alone. They generally come to eat the cat food we leave out for the wild cats. We just make sure we lock the chickens up good and tight at night. We are having more problems with a dang hawk than anything else right now.

Those hawks are so persistent. Do you have a Roo? They are amazing at watching the skies...

I've been very busy the past couple days with chicken chores. 2 days ago, I competely emptied the coop, pulled all the old shavings out, scraped the poop boards, and knocked down all the cobwebs (there were plenty!). There was a lot more in there than I thought and it seemed to take forever to do but I finished it up. Yesterday, I processed 3 CX including the 2 oldest ones (7 months old) and 1 extra cockerel. 4 more cockerels to go but I need more zip lock bags and more room in the fridge first. Then, at bedtime, I dusted everyone with Permethin since I found a couple lice on a few of them. That was a job and a half! For the first time in months, I actualy got a rough count of how many I have...too many, about 65 (not counting anyone in brooders). I had thought that I'd already narrowed down the flock but it looks like I'm going to have to make some more difficult choices. Someday when I have more room, this many won't be an issue lol.

@dheltzel, that little shamo that you brought for me has become very sweet. I blame the turkey poults that she shares a pen with. Anymore, when I open the pen to feed them in the morning, she jumps up to be held, lays her head on my chest and just closes her eyes lol

Wow! That is a ton of work. I remember, I just did my coop a couple of weeks ago. Even used the shop vac to get into all of the corners. I checked everyone's heiny the other night for lice and such too. A couple had some, but overall not bad.

Did you process the CX yourself? I am going to process my scrawny CCL Roos in a month or so, and I want to do the whole thing by myself. I can do it!

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

Just a little helpful advice for everybody. I found an app-website called Nextdoor.com that has been very helpful. It is a neighborhood based network. It is closer to Craigslits than Facebook, and has been very handy.

In a few weeks I have been able to give away some free items (quickly!), borrow an electric skillet from a neighbor while our stove was not working, and find someone to stop in to check on my chooks when I am away. People have also posted thing such as bear sightings, lost pets, local events etc.

I have met some very nice neighbors this way.

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

One more post! Just had to share these pics of my bantam Langshan duo from @msladyhawke . Batman is so stunning, and I think he and Robin were posing today. He has the most intense green sheen on his feathers. Highly recommend this breed. All the chickens and turkeys love this boulder. There is someone on it daily, usually in the morning. Oh yes, and in the first pic, he is crowing!