Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[AnneInTheBurbs]

I had to deal with it once with a younger pullet. She was separated in my bathroom for a week or two. I know they say not to vomit them because of possible aspiration but I vomited her a few times a day to clear it out and it worked. It turned out that she had a bunch of grass causing a partial blockage. I did not restrict her food at all but her blockage was only partial. She ended up recovering fine and was even welcomed back by her broody mama when she went back outside I would check your girls crops first thing in the morning before they've had a chance to eat just to be sure that's what it is.

Thanks for the advice. I checked the other night, and they all seemed to have fairly normal crops. I will keep an eye on it. They all seem pretty happy to be free ranging with a handsome roo. It's so funny, occasionally, the bantam Langshan roo will try to mate one of the girls. It looks more like a rodeo with the big girl underneath screaming. haha!

Hi everyone! I am new to the site, and new to chickens as well. I posted in the New Member section but wanted to say hello to my fellow Pennsylvanians.

I live in Adams county, and am hoping to start a small flock for eggs/pets in the spring. Currently my favorite breed is Speckled Sussex, but really interested in Australorps and Buff Orps, too. I love vegetable gardening, and growing some of my own food led me to the prospect of having my own eggs, too! I had dairy goats in my teens, and still LOVE me some goats, but prefer a smaller livestock this time around.

My biggest challenge will be getting a coop and run ready and predator proof, as I have very poor knowledge and skills with construction and carpentry. There are some people who post coops on Craigslist periodically. I am in a rural/agricultural area and have plenty of room, fortunately. I have a pole building/shed but I think it would be too much work to make it secure for just 4-6 hens. But the possibility is open for the future of the "chicken math" thing happens.

Howdy! As others have said, predator proofing is such an important part. For those of us who have made that mistake, we are extra careful. There are lots of helpful people here, just ask away. i would recommend using your current building shed. You will want more chickens, definitely. I started out wanting 3-4, I now have 20+ and 8 turkeys. *See picture above...

We’ve learned that only one of our girls is laying. Amazingly, she’s maintaining at two eggs per day! Just hope it’s not exhausting her to do so. The other two have yet to start laying.

I cooked and ate one of the eggs from today. Phenomenal! I can’t go back to store-bought ever again.

Awesome to hear about your tasty eggs. However, you have two layers, not just one. It is impossible for a chicken to lay two eggs in a day. It takes them about 25 hours to lay each egg. You may have a "ninja" layer. They go in and out so quickly and quietly that you would never know it if they didn't lay an egg! Some sing the egg song for minutes, some just sneak out. I want to install a camera in my coop so I can keep track of who is laying.

I was at TSC getting my puppy her shots yesterday and was talking to a little girl about how Pearl likes to chase my cats and my chickens. She asks " how many chickens do you have?" Hmm. "Well 18". As soon as the words were out of my mouth I was like "liar." You just lied to that kid.
She said "that's a lot" lol.

Chicken math

We've all been there. The best is when people ask me how many chickens I have, and I sit there and think... "That's a good question... how many do I have??"

So I'm sad to report that our beloved "buttless" chicken passed away last night. After all the care, her rear end did start healing but she fell ill for a day and couldn't bounce back. She was probably over 5 years old and with all the issues she had, I'm sure it was her time to go. Thankfully we rescued her over a year ago and she has had the freedom to roam and enjoy life for so long, much longer than we expected her to live!

I liked this post because you rescued her and gave her a good rest of her life, not that she passed. Sorry you lost her.

Who here makes chicken aprons? How often to you have to remove them?
I have four survivors after the great poodle massacre of 2017---a Buff orp and a production red who were two of my first chicks EVER, my welsummer from Dennis who is still laying a chocolate brown egg every day and my favorite partridge English Orp who is missing a chunk out of her back. I have her indoors and segregated and am SO very grateful to everyone here who posted advice. She is eating and looking much better, even with her blue coated back. I am just realizing that she is going to take a very long time to heal and maybe a chicken apron will protect her back from her flock mates when I reintegrate her?

So great to hear that she is doing better. If she is Blu-koted, she shouldn't need an apron. If you have a rooster, she would need it, however. Feel free to post pictures of her injuries here, sometimes that helps. You should know that since she has been separated from the flock for a few days, they will forget her and you may have some bullying or hazing when she is reintroduced. Just something to keep an eye on.

@Auroradream26 makes great saddles, I have several from her.

I make saddles/aprons



She's doing a great job! The babies are looking really goods too. My silkie hen is sitting now. I left her keep 1 eggs and is developing nicely. This will be her first time as a mom. She only has about 1 week left till it hatches.

Aw, we demand pictures of the cute broody when she has new chicks!

She really is becoming a beautiful bird. She is the oldest pullet by a few days. Considering her aunt in the background didn't start laying until like 30 weeks, I'm not holding my breath waiting for her eggs View attachment 1156840

But if she's beautiful, surely you can wait a little longer.

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

@msladyhawke My little Bantam Langshan Robin started laying! She was squatting for me the other day when I picked her up, so I knew it wouldn't be long. I'm pretty sure the two light eggs on top are from her.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

Aw, we demand pictures of the cute broody when she has new chicks!

Don't worry, I'll post pictures! She's sitting tight and seems to be talking to her egg more lately. She has less than a week til hatch day!

@dheltzel, the cali grey pullet I got from you along the chicken train started laying. She was laying sporadically over the past month but I wasn't sure it was her until today Unfortunately, the shamo passed away. She got some sort of eye infection, that I treated the best I could but it had swollen up and she ended up losing eyesight in that eye. She was having a very hard time adjisting to seeing with just one eye and I think the swelling affected her ability to swallow. I did the best I could for her but by the time the swelling went away and I could get food in to her, it was too late for her to bounce back. She was a very affectionate little thing

On a more positive note, here are some updated pics of my CX outcross babies. They're 5 weeks old now and the two biggest are just over a pound now. They're not huge compared to CX but they are compared to other chicks. They're very healthy, active, love to forage, and comical. I can't wait to see what happens when I cross them back to CX next year!

 

[PugNut]

Hi everyone, I'm a few days behind on replies due to being under the weather (where is Fall?!). Thank you for the welcomes and thoughts on a coop. It's all very overwhelming at this point because I am new and have zero skills in that area. I can barely handle a screwdriver.

My pole barn is metal, so my main concern is how hot it gets in summer (no windows). I have a lot of "stuff" around - an old chain link dog run, a wooden rabbit hutch, wooden fence posts from when I had the goats, roll of wire from the goats' electric fence, and welded wire fence (panel with 4"x4" squares, also for the goats I had).

Thanks again for your hellos and I'm enjoying seeing your photos!

 

[Northern Appalachian]

@AnneInTheBurbs

Actually we have ducks, not chickens. We did assume two layers at first, but after a bit of vent inspection, apparently there's just one.

 

[dheltzel]

Hi everyone, I'm a few days behind on replies due to being under the weather (where is Fall?!). Thank you for the welcomes and thoughts on a coop. It's all very overwhelming at this point because I am new and have zero skills in that area. I can barely handle a screwdriver.

My pole barn is metal, so my main concern is how hot it gets in summer (no windows). I have a lot of "stuff" around - an old chain link dog run, a wooden rabbit hutch, wooden fence posts from when I had the goats, roll of wire from the goats' electric fence, and welded wire fence (panel with 4"x4" squares, also for the goats I had).

Thanks again for your hellos and I'm enjoying seeing your photos!

I use a metal pole barn for a lot of my chickens. It is tall and has large openings that go to the roof, so a breeze blows through there all the time. Consider building indoor pens in a protected corner of the pole barn, with a small door out through the metal side, then a predator proof run on the outside so they can come and go through the door. Bonus points if the run is on the north or east side of the building. If it does get hot inside, make the run taller at one end and add roosts for the warmer seasons. This is what I do with the peafowl and it has worked very well.

 

[dheltzel]

@dheltzel, the cali grey pullet I got from you along the chicken train started laying. She was laying sporadically over the past month but I wasn't sure it was her until today Unfortunately, the shamo passed away. She got some sort of eye infection, that I treated the best I could but it had swollen up and she ended up losing eyesight in that eye. She was having a very hard time adjisting to seeing with just one eye and I think the swelling affected her ability to swallow. I did the best I could for her but by the time the swelling went away and I could get food in to her, it was too late for her to bounce back. She was a very affectionate little thing

I'm sorry the Shamo didn't make it. If I get more next year, maybe I'll keep them to try them as backyard layers. I assumed they would be flightly and/or mean, but your experience makes me want to try them.

If you put that Cali Grey in your Lavender Am pen, her eggs will hatch as blue egg black Sexlinks. Pullet chicks are solid black, cockerels are all barred. These have been very solid sellers for me and most people love them.

 

[PugNut]

Consider building indoor pens in a protected corner of the pole barn, with a small door out through the metal side, then a predator proof run on the outside so they can come and go through the door.

Why didn't I think of that?! I was thinking too narrowly. Thanks a million! It's already attached to a "paddock" type area where the goats loafed. It needs to be updated for chicken safety, but the framework (4"x4" welded wire) is there. I will take some pics of the structure and area and share here for more thoughts.

 

[awarmrainyday]

Hi everyone, Cumberland County resident here. Anyone interested in adopting ducks or a rooster(s)? I'm at max capacity!! I have a mixed flock of 8 ducks, 6 are Welsh Harlequin/ Black east Indie call duck ducks that are only a few months old, newly independent from momma. I don't know their sexes. Three look just like daddy the Welsh and two look like momma although much larger, and one looks like a light tan version of a Welsh. Also two- two year old male ducks, one is a khaki campbell and one is a Saxony. All must go together and to a good home only (which is why I don't want to put them on Craigslist). My main flock is all Muscovies (except for mom and dad who were rescues and keep to themselves) so I'd like to keep it that way. The rooster is a Rhode Island Red who was supposed to be a hen, hatched in July from Meyer hatchery and Mareks vaccinated. So far he has been very friendly and I've been handling him regularly to try and keep him that way. We have too many roosters as it is and I don't want to get attached to him like I have my other roosters (the point of ordering female chicks was to give all my current roosters enough females!). I also ordered three bantams in that order in hopes of getting one or two females. I got ALL males. So if anyone has a bantam flock and needs a bantam rooster I would also consider giving up one of the Mottled Cochin bantam roos or the Buff Brahma bantam roo.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

I'm sorry the Shamo didn't make it. If I get more next year, maybe I'll keep them to try them as backyard layers. I assumed they would be flightly and/or mean, but your experience makes me want to try them.

If you put that Cali Grey in your Lavender Am pen, her eggs will hatch as blue egg black Sexlinks. Pullet chicks are solid black, cockerels are all barred. These have been very solid sellers for me and most people love them.

She may have only been friendly because I was handling her constantly and trying to hand feed her but she was extremely sweet and most times preferred to be cuddled and held rather than trying to eat. She would actualy charge the gate of the pen at any hint of it being opened so she could be held. Everything I've read says that they aren't great layers but if you do keep some, let me know how they do.

I plan on pulling Cali in with the lavenders when I do seperate them. I haven't decided exactly when I'll be doing that but probably late December or early January. For now, everyone is just ranging together.