Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[stake]

Thought I would jump in here, we are in Broomall and had to get a variance to have chickens and pigmy goats. We were the first in the township (that they knew about) to have chickens in a residential zoned neighborhood We have ten chickens and two goats on 1&3/4 acres since May.

Howdy from Malvern....grew up in Delco....(Ridley Park to be precise)....How hard to get was your variance? I know a bunch of folks on here would like to hear your experiences....

 

[BirdbyGavin1103]

So I just got a text from the wife.




My girls are SCARY.

Ugh ours were worse. I skinned the two roosters I processed yesterday, I have some people interested in the feathers for tying flies, guess the scalding removes the oils that make them buoyant. Anyway, the entire flock was after every skin the second I put it down. I'm sure it was quite the site, me chasing them off, trying to pluck and trying to bag feathers all at the same time.

Annie:

There is a woman on here Sally Sunshine....if you can find her profile and pics etc, she has built a really nice pallet coop....unfortunately she has not been posting here lately....

Here's the link for her pallet coop: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hinkel-haus-made-of-pallets-recycled-wood-pickets

Define 'reasonable'.

Any number that does not make you a chicken hoarder?

Sally has been having connectivity problems with her internet. Should be back up to speed when they get it worked out.

OMG!! I have had this nearly exact conversation with my DH! And yes, they are little dinosaurs in disguise... last week my cat brought in a mouse. He ended up being ganged up on by 3 of our hens and they ended up with the mouse, he ended up thoroughly confused about what had just happened!

My definition of reasonable keeps changing!!

Ugh, our poor cats have to be fed in the house now or else the chickens AND ducks steal their food. Then Buddy and Midnite stare at me as if to say "What the h*** just happened?"

Hello, crazy chicken people!

I haven't been on in over a week, and I am not going to attempt to try to catch up. I know a conversation was started on winterizing coops. If anyone has a link to the video explaining how to make a cookie tin water heater for the plastic waterers, can you please post it? I am sure the new members would greatly appreciate it.
If it was already shared, please disregard this post.
New members, welcome. You can purchase metal water containers that have a base you can also purchase that will keep your water from freezing. You can also get a plastic one for a lot cheaper.
The plastic one is a one-piece unit.
Night, all!

I wanted to let you know everyone has settled in nicely, and seems to be getting along. Goldschlager (the BLRW with the more yellow/golden hackles) has been better with the ladies now that Jäger is gone, to be honest it was a little hairy for a bit since he was being a bit rougher than I would have liked. Gavin named the other one Fred, and we're still trying to figure out names for the other boys. They all still prefer to go over my parents' to forage, but they now come running when I step outside and say "Chickie, chickie, chickie." They know it's snack time! lol

 

[BirdbyGavin1103]

I'm gonna appoligize if I'm repeating myself, haven't had enough coffee to keep threads straight...Well we picked up some more Seramas the other day. We now have (including the ones from before) Frodo the Frizzle, Gandalf, Galadriel, Rosie Cotton, Goldberry, Gimli, Legolas, Aragorn, Esmeralda Took, and Arwen. We should be adding Éowyn and her chicks in a few days, gotta wait for the eggs to hatch. I think I created a monster when I told Gavin he could name the Seramas anything he wanted, now they all need to be Tolkien based...

Here are some pics of the newest additions:
Aragorn
Arwen (bottom) and Esmeralda (top)
Legolas (top) and Gimli (bottom)

The brooding room is now the Serama room...so I guess now I "have" to set up a brooding coop and run lol.

 

[chicksnpygmies]

We had to submit copies of a "site plan" of where our mini barn and barnyard would be located / had to be away from all property lines etc. Also submitted $400 fee and short articles about Pygmy goats being great pets, (females have no odor but males can STINK), and a very nice letter from my in-laws former neighbor, where she raved about the ten years long ago that my in-laws had chickens and Pygmy goats, and how wonderful it was, and that the animals didn't cause any odors or noise etc. Many of the zoning board members showed up unannounced to see our property before the hearing. Township laws do list goats and chickens as allowed animals but only with zoning board approval. (We know of a family that had 4-6 chickens on 1/3 acre or less, in Broomall, for several years until a fox got them all this summer. They didn't know they needed approval and I guess their neighbors never complained.)

We were encouraged to get signed permission from our neighbors. We have 7 adjacent neighbors because of the way our property is situated plus 2 directly across the street. One is very elderly and two properties are behind our back woods so they didn't really count. So of the 6 remaining we got 3 signatures and 2 grouches who showed up at the zoning meeting to object: "Broomall is no place for farm animals" and "I might hear them once in a while IF my windows are open in the summer and if I trim my side of their 40 foot tall arborvitaes". They brought another lady from across the side street who said that forty years ago there were chickens on our property, and once, one got loose and came onto her lawn and "surprised her". (Wow, how awful!)

The zoning board asked us 20 times about smells and what we would do about the manure and mice and flies and about noise and fencing etc. They then adjourned and came back in ten minutes with "YES!" Haha! As the committee filed out afterwards the chairwoman leaned over to us and whispered, "I think this is awesome!"

We are the talk of the town at the local coffee shops, we hear! "Did you know there are people with GOATS and chickens in Broomall!?!" " "No way!" "Yes way!"

The one grouchy neighbor now yells at us for fixing our car in our driveway. He's a little bitter. :-(

 

[PAchickenlover]

I have missed ALOT OF posts. Can anyone give me updates? Here is a pic of my 15 bwjb/frizzle chicks. Had something interesting happen that I never had before, three of the chicks have a "bump"on top of their head, one of those chicks is in the bottom right corner of this pic.

Any idea's what may have caused this?

 

[motherhen71185]

Woke up to a steer ( I don't mean a small steer, we are talking huge angus steer) in the field with sheep and pony. She are scared to death, pony is in love. Lol. BF forgot to tell me that his BIL asked is he could put a steer in our field. Sure hope he is the one paying for the feed!! Ugh... A little notice would have been nice since I am the one who takes care of all the animals.

 

[motherhen71185]

Ziggy....

 

[LittleMissPurdy]

Ziggy....

BBQ at your place??

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

BBQ at your place??

ROFL!

Thank you so much Stake and Birdbygavin! This is really helpful!

 

[LittleMissPurdy]

Woke up to a steer ( I don't mean a small steer, we are talking huge angus steer) in the field with sheep and pony. She are scared to death, pony is in love. Lol. BF forgot to tell me that his BIL asked is he could put a steer in our field. Sure hope he is the one paying for the feed!! Ugh... A little notice would have been nice since I am the one who takes care of all the animals.

Are you hatching anything right now Mother? ..or was that a DUHHH question??

I have missed ALOT OF posts. Can anyone give me updates? Here is a pic of my 15 bwjb/frizzle chicks. Had something interesting happen that I never had before, three of the chicks have a "bump"on top of their head, one of those chicks is in the bottom right corner of this pic.

Any idea's what may have caused this?

I am having a hard time seeing the 'bump'...sorry, I am old...

...do you have a better pic?