Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[mama2my4]

April / Mama4my4 - I think I have 22 of your babies hatched.  I say I think because there are so many babies in my brooder, it's insanity in there.  I believe I have nearly 40 chicks hatched right now.  There are a few more pipped, zipping and even hatched in the 'bator.  I had to open the 'bator up and unload the hatching tray because there was no room in there!

YAY!!!! Oh I am so happy about that!!!

Are you looking for BR eggs or peeps? I have a few peeps I could spare. They are just hatchery stock though.

Ray, where are you at again? My MARANS didn't hatch, so I still need peeps!!!

 

[missydcpc]

i never say much but lurk here. so here is my take from what i have read. ray has beautiful black copper Marians. laying hens can be bought anywhere,good birds are not that easy to find.. nothing wrong with raising a Cornish rock. i have raised them since raising your own meat birds was popular. i can give anyone instructions. i have raised them to the size of small turkey. health issues do not have to be. the poop does not have to be runny and smelly. if you want a good heritage type meat bird. go with a white rock, barred rock, Delaware . the best hatchery bird in my opinion for these heritage type meat birds is mt healthy. if your looking for a true heritage bird that is another story. 
if you want a good healthy productive birds with hardly any health issues feed them right nutrition is 90% of the battle. the other 10% is a healthy environment 

the next thing is buying birds from people. ask questions. if they can;t answer the questions of the type birds they are selling and their practices. DO NOT buy from them  people breed sick birds and the off spring can carry illness or genetically prone to illness birds; a person who sells you a bird should be available to you. i know i am always available to people i sell birds to. i want to know how the birds are doing . in fact i need to know of problems in case my are not up to par.

i am not trying to be an *** at all. i am trying to educate. so all your chicken experiences will be the best they can be. most people quit doing chickens within 2 years. they quit because they were never taught how to care for the birds properly. a chicken is a self sufficient, self sustaining animal that has been around forever with no help. as much as we want to be-leave they need us and care for them. trust me let them loose in a field. the flock will survive , populate and the off springs of the flock will be here long after we are gone.

if you have a question ask or p.m. me. the advice i give is free . 


bruce

Sound advice, all of it, don't think you're being an a** at all. Think you're doing what most of us try to do on a daily basis, educate based upon our experience.

 

[mama2my4]

i never say much but lurk here. so here is my take from what i have read. ray has beautiful black copper Marians. laying hens can be bought anywhere,good birds are not that easy to find.. nothing wrong with raising a Cornish rock. i have raised them since raising your own meat birds was popular. i can give anyone instructions. i have raised them to the size of small turkey. health issues do not have to be. the poop does not have to be runny and smelly. if you want a good heritage type meat bird. go with a white rock, barred rock, Delaware . the best hatchery bird in my opinion for these heritage type meat birds is mt healthy. if your looking for a true heritage bird that is another story. 
if you want a good healthy productive birds with hardly any health issues feed them right nutrition is 90% of the battle. the other 10% is a healthy environment 

the next thing is buying birds from people. ask questions. if they can;t answer the questions of the type birds they are selling and their practices. DO NOT buy from them  people breed sick birds and the off spring can carry illness or genetically prone to illness birds; a person who sells you a bird should be available to you. i know i am always available to people i sell birds to. i want to know how the birds are doing . in fact i need to know of problems in case my are not up to par.

i am not trying to be an *** at all. i am trying to educate. so all your chicken experiences will be the best they can be. most people quit doing chickens within 2 years. they quit because they were never taught how to care for the birds properly. a chicken is a self sufficient, self sustaining animal that has been around forever with no help. as much as we want to be-leave they need us and care for them. trust me let them loose in a field. the flock will survive , populate and the off springs of the flock will be here long after we are gone.

if you have a question ask or p.m. me. the advice i give is free . 


bruce

Well said Bruce!

Welcome to all the new people! Don't forget we have a FB group to. You can PM me for more info on that.

 

[fisherlady]

To anyone who has been using fermented feed... I have a question....

I would be interested in going to the FF but have one possible hitch. We camp through the summer, usually leave Friday after taking care of critters and come back on Sunday. We have set up our feed/water/scratch to allow us to do it without problems so far. Any longer and we have a friend stop and care for the birds.
Now the question...
If you are feeding FF, does it have to be constant/every day? or can the birds tolerate going back to dry food on weekends? I try to minimize changes in feed and routine for any of our animals, so didn't want to 'yo-yo' on the FF thing. Another option I guess we would have is feeding the FF through the non-camping season and going back to dry food in the summer.

Anyone here switch out their bird's feed for weekends or such?

 

[Gardeningmama]

i never say much but lurk here. so here is my take from what i have read. ray has beautiful black copper Marians. laying hens can be bought anywhere,good birds are not that easy to find.. nothing wrong with raising a Cornish rock. i have raised them since raising your own meat birds was popular. i can give anyone instructions. i have raised them to the size of small turkey. health issues do not have to be. the poop does not have to be runny and smelly. if you want a good heritage type meat bird. go with a white rock, barred rock, Delaware . the best hatchery bird in my opinion for these heritage type meat birds is mt healthy. if your looking for a true heritage bird that is another story.
if you want a good healthy productive birds with hardly any health issues feed them right nutrition is 90% of the battle. the other 10% is a healthy environment

the next thing is buying birds from people. ask questions. if they can;t answer the questions of the type birds they are selling and their practices. DO NOT buy from them people breed sick birds and the off spring can carry illness or genetically prone to illness birds; a person who sells you a bird should be available to you. i know i am always available to people i sell birds to. i want to know how the birds are doing . in fact i need to know of problems in case my are not up to par.

i am not trying to be an *** at all. i am trying to educate. so all your chicken experiences will be the best they can be. most people quit doing chickens within 2 years. they quit because they were never taught how to care for the birds properly. a chicken is a self sufficient, self sustaining animal that has been around forever with no help. as much as we want to be-leave they need us and care for them. trust me let them loose in a field. the flock will survive , populate and the off springs of the flock will be here long after we are gone.

if you have a question ask or p.m. me. the advice i give is free .


bruce

Bruce, I wish you would chime in more. I absolutely LOVE your sense of humor. You had DH & I rolling over the Chick Funeral!! In all seriousness, don't be a lurker. Every thread needs a few wise crackers (Baym's another one) to keep things lively!!!

By the way, good sound advice on meaties. See, that's my joke! I wouldn't have a clue!!LOL!

 

[wingstone]

Just put up some new feeders for my flock. Love them so far. Each holds ten pounds of feed, had a nice rolled lip, couple fins to keep them from flinging, and an adjustable feed level you can slide up and Dow to decide how much flow you want. They were baby pig feeders.

now I must go into the old pig/sow room, i remember alot of these being in there.

Quote: pictures or it didn't happen

Let's forget about chicken math for a moment. I just did some egg math. 7 leghorns, 3 dozen eggs a week, 12 more hens of different breeds, 14 bantams (my luck not too many roos) 12 ducklings (sex to be determined) what the heck will I do with that many eggs

and I still want more chicks LOL.

welcome to my reality

Quote: not sure of your location but we do 2 batches of freedom rangers every year, I have never had a problem with health of these birds and they take the heat well.actually I have a 2 year old hen in my layer flock.

Quote: barely enough to make soup for 2, i love my leghorns.

To whoever was told no to a blender:
If you are looking to crack grain, beer supply stores sell a piece of equipment just for that purpose. Whole grain brewers crack their grain before steeping it.

would one of these work on a larger scale, need to fill 55 gallon drums with cracked corn

Quote: there you go again,,,making that red bourbon

Quote: yes,bruce quit lurking in them bushes and come out to talk to us..

 

[missydcpc]

[COLOR=B22222]now I must go into the old pig/sow room, i remember alot of these being in there.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=B22222]pictures or it didn't happen[/COLOR]
[COLOR=B22222]welcome to my reality[/COLOR]
[COLOR=B22222]not sure of your location but we do 2 batches of freedom rangers every year, I have never had a problem with health of these birds and they take the heat well.actually I have a 2 year old hen in my layer flock.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=B22222]barely enough to make soup for 2,   i love my leghorns.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=B22222]would one of these work on a larger scale, need to fill 55 gallon drums with cracked corn[/COLOR]
[COLOR=B22222]there you go again,,,making that red bourbon[/COLOR]
[COLOR=B22222]yes,bruce quit lurking in them bushes and come out to talk to us..[/COLOR]

Hey Wing, are you gonna do turkeys for sale again this year?? Can I reserve mine now? I REALLY don't want to have to raise one.....

Also...why is everyone so intent on cracked corn? I feed just shelled corn...and they seem to love it....am I doing something wrong?

 

[Baym]

i never say much but lurk here. so here is my take from what i have read. ray has beautiful black copper Marians. laying hens can be bought anywhere,good birds are not that easy to find.. nothing wrong with raising a Cornish rock. i have raised them since raising your own meat birds was popular. i can give anyone instructions. i have raised them to the size of small turkey. health issues do not have to be. the poop does not have to be runny and smelly. if you want a good heritage type meat bird. go with a white rock, barred rock, Delaware . the best hatchery bird in my opinion for these heritage type meat birds is mt healthy. if your looking for a true heritage bird that is another story.
if you want a good healthy productive birds with hardly any health issues feed them right nutrition is 90% of the battle. the other 10% is a healthy environment

the next thing is buying birds from people. ask questions. if they can;t answer the questions of the type birds they are selling and their practices. DO NOT buy from them people breed sick birds and the off spring can carry illness or genetically prone to illness birds; a person who sells you a bird should be available to you. i know i am always available to people i sell birds to. i want to know how the birds are doing . in fact i need to know of problems in case my are not up to par.

i am not trying to be an *** at all. i am trying to educate. so all your chicken experiences will be the best they can be. most people quit doing chickens within 2 years. they quit because they were never taught how to care for the birds properly. a chicken is a self sufficient, self sustaining animal that has been around forever with no help. as much as we want to be-leave they need us and care for them. trust me let them loose in a field. the flock will survive , populate and the off springs of the flock will be here long after we are gone.

if you have a question ask or p.m. me. the advice i give is free .


bruce

Bruce is a wise soul and a straight shooter.

 

[SilkieSensation]

To anyone who has been using fermented feed... I have a question....

I would be interested in going to the FF but have one possible hitch. We camp through the summer, usually leave Friday after taking care of critters and come back on Sunday. We have set up our feed/water/scratch to allow us to do it without problems so far. Any longer and we have a friend stop and care for the birds.
Now the question...
If you are feeding FF, does it have to be constant/every day? or can the birds tolerate going back to dry food on weekends? I try to minimize changes in feed and routine for any of our animals, so didn't want to 'yo-yo' on the FF thing. Another option I guess we would have is feeding the FF through the non-camping season and going back to dry food in the summer.

Anyone here switch out their bird's feed for weekends or such?

I switch back & forth with my juveniles & meaties. If I don't have enough fermented made up they get dry. (They go through about 3 times as much feed as my layers do.)They do fine that way. I prefer to give them as much fermented as possible, but sometimes JJ forgets to refill buckets after he feeds each time. I just mix exactly what goes in my ferment & give them that instead.

 

[SilkieSensation]

Hey Wing, are you gonna do turkeys for sale again this year?? Can I reserve mine now? I REALLY don't want to have to raise one.....

Also...why is everyone so intent on cracked corn? I feed just shelled corn...and they seem to love it....am I doing something wrong?

Adult birds handle the whole corn ok, as do waterfowl. It's chicks & banties that have a hard time with the whole corn. If it's cracked they are able to digest it faster because it's already partially broken down for them.