Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[Brittany7]

Hi All,
Just spotted (ha ha puny) the beautiful Harlequin Dane pics, and hadn't realized do many chick people are Dane people too.
We currently have Ivan, our fourth Dane, and a whopping 190 lean pounds. He's about to turn five, and has just started having cardiomyopathy. We're crushed, and hate being on this roller coaster... We've had two close calls that required CPR...but no congestive heart failure at all. Expensive meds, and a very bored dog that is sick of being kept to a walk constantly. Our last Danes made it to 9 (cancer) and 14.5, so this is a new world for us. Anybody have experience?

This is our first dane. Shes 2 and healthy...knock on wood. we havent had any issues with her...we have more problems with our mutt seizures and some other problems. When I always thought mutts were suppose to be healthier. Storm is only 110-120lb maybe. Shes not as big as I have seen some!

 

[tweetr1979]

Australia NSW yeww

Yay another aussie, boo you're not a QLD'er

Susquehanna Valley!!!

Union County here!

 

[Blarneyeggs]

 
*Annie- your coop looks good! Coming together very nicely..and just to let you kn ow right now..you WILL always be changing and adding or re-vamping that coop so don't be too OCD about things.. ....it will never "really" be "done"..hey, don't hate the messenger..just letting you in on "the know"...what I "know" now and that is helping to keep the wallet light ....
(Hind-sight is ALWAYS 20/20!!!)


*Lisa- I think the more we can 'do' for ourselves the better!
We had just put in a dwarf peach this year. Have dwarf apple and cherry ordered for the spring. We went with the dwarf because we are small people..ie-me..and the easier things are  the better!! We do have the room for standard size trees, just don't want/need them. You do have to watch for 'cross-pollination' of some species, you will have to look into which specific ones, especially in a smaller area with little 'elbow room'.  Same goes for the berries, i am just learning some of this too, this is the first year for berries with us...We stick, well..more like "jam" alot into our  veggie-garden..haha, but we don't have to weed alot because of things being "full"....I would love to know more about the Hazelnut bush..sounds awesome! I used to have a small orange tree, it did fruit,but it needed so much light..it was very finicky for me and the fruits weren't very sweet..kind of bitter ..maybe I did something wrong . Anyway, i am not really interested in citrus, just the other kinds of fruit now..
As far as the 'chicken meat' goes..have you thought about raising a few broiler for yourself? Since you do like to eat chicken..nothing wrong with that!! They don't "hang around" as long as the layers..you don't/wouldn't have to give them names.. ...and then you could have a full freezer of your own birds! (You would know what they ate and how they were treated)...which is what alot of people are concerned about

I am alittle behind on the posts so...sorry for the " back ward' reply.. .

thanks for your post.

are you really a "little person"  or just shorter in stature?   It doesn't really matter I am just curious due to your comment.

I want dwarf trees because I want keep one on the deck and may need to move it indoors for winter so it cant be too big.
Plus I don't have that much sun space.

I have a red raspberry patch that has been going pretty much on its own.   I want to tend to it better. 
[COLOR=000080]Would it be a bad idea to transplant some of the small plants on the periphery into containers and move them indoors ..........or should I just wait for spring[/COLOR][COLOR=FFD700]?[/COLOR]
[COLOR=000080]I want to expand my raspberry patch to all along the side of the house.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=00FF00]RE :  meat birds................It sounds like a good idea.........but the problem is I may get attached to them!  someone  else would have to "process" them .........if they just wrapped them up like the grocery store maybe I could pretend I just went shopping?    Its kinda a weird thing....................It would be healthier etc....................just cant eat my friends..[/COLOR]

Hope Danielle doesn't mind me answering, she's just teenie, she is also pretty, so the name suits. So no, not really a 'little person' just small.

QLD'er? . Must be an Aussie thing.

 

[tweetr1979]

Hope Danielle doesn't mind me answering, she's just teenie, she is also pretty, so the name suits. So no, not really a 'little person' just small.

QLD'er? . Must be an Aussie thing.

Qld'er - Queenslander (what I am lol)
NSW, New South Wales - QLD & NSW have a bitter football rivalry lol

 

[LizardCat]

In another note, caught a field mouse in my basement....threw him outside and the girls went wild...pretty interesting ......

Dinosaurs. Freaking DINOSAURS.

 

[Kiomey]

So my broody hen was given eggs after the sharpsburg swap and they are due to hatch today. I went in about a minute ago to check and saw the silkie under the nest box, where the other hens have taken to laying while frizzle was brooding. Pulled 8 warm eggs from under her. Then pulled a live fluffy peep!!! Must've fallen from the box! Bless broody silkie to the rescue. Der told me to give it back to frizzle but I wanted to let blue keep it! Not sure which is the right call... :/
Counted 3 more under frizzle as well as several other eggs pipped.. exciting! Who wants some barnyard mixes? Lol eye-candy!

 

[LittleMissPurdy]

Qld'er - Queenslander (what I am lol)
NSW, New South Wales - QLD & NSW have a bitter football rivalry lol

football as in "soccer"?

hahahha....I do realize how serious those matches get!!

Dinosaurs. Freaking DINOSAURS.

I was just tell the DH that the Partridge was making the same noise that the "Velociraptors" in the movie "Jurassic Park" made when they were 'talking' to each other...raspy-purring...it was creepy...really, I had my back turned away from them, hanging out of the coop...cleaning it out...when all i hear behind me was THAT!!!

...creepy...

Hope Danielle doesn't mind me answering, she's just teenie, she is also pretty, so the name suits. So no, not really a 'little person' just small.

QLD'er?

. Must be an Aussie thing.

Thank you Blarney.....okay, the check is in the mail

..hahhaa...hey, your pretty easy on the eyes yourself!!

...hahahha ...
I think the "PC" term for my situation is "vertically challenged"

Hope you & yours fared well throughout these last couple days

...

 

[LittleMissPurdy]

So my broody hen was given eggs after the sharpsburg swap and they are due to hatch today. I went in about a minute ago to check and saw the silkie under the nest box, where the other hens have taken to laying while frizzle was brooding. Pulled 8 warm eggs from under her. Then pulled a live fluffy peep!!! Must've fallen from the box! Bless broody silkie to the rescue. Der told me to give it back to frizzle but I wanted to let blue keep it! Not sure which is the right call...

Counted 3 more under frizzle as well as several other eggs pipped.. exciting! Who wants some barnyard mixes? Lol eye-candy!

congrats!! they are sooo cute!!

....

 

[cherlmerlchick]

Hello from south of Pittsburgh!

All of a sudden, "raising chickens" doesn't seem so crazy......my sister in law in AL called and asked me about it and then at work everyone wanted to know about it. I was feeling kinda alone since I only know of 2 other people who have chickens. I grew up with chickens so I knew a little bit about them. My family and I love them and could watch them all day. I finally have a hobby!....and as a bonus I get eggs. I currently have 2 flocks....3 month old chicks and 3 year olds. Of the older flock - I have 3 RIR +1 one mean Roo, 2 BRocks, & 3 Silkies. The youngsters are 2 Australorps, 1 Buff Brahma, 3 more BRs, 4 Buff Orpingtons + 1 nicer Buff O Roo.

I posted a question on how the flock will get along when I combine them in the spring. I guess I will be swapping out the roosters if my Buff O stays friendly. The RIR roo is pretty aggressive. For now, I have 2 identical coops with separate runs, but I would like to open the enclosure to both coops. I am wondering how that will work. ? The coop/runs now have separate doors.....could I keep both coops or will the chickens want to all sleep in the same coop? I think they will only hold 12 chickens (in each coop). I maybe should have planned it better, but chickens are addicting. I never thought I'd want more than a dozen or so. Anyways.... I love keeping chickens and reading this forum, but I have so much to learn.

My Coops



My Chickens




Cherl

 

[LisaYolkUm]

*Annie- your coop looks good! Coming together very nicely..and just to let you kn ow right now..you WILL always be changing and adding or re-vamping that coop so don't be too OCD about things..

....it will never "really" be "done"..hey, don't hate the messenger..just letting you in on "the know"...what I "know" now and that is helping to keep the wallet light

....
(Hind-sight is ALWAYS 20/20!!!)

*Lisa- I think the more we can 'do' for ourselves the better!
We had just put in a dwarf peach this year. Have dwarf apple and cherry ordered for the spring. We went with the dwarf because we are small people..ie-me..and the easier things are the better!! We do have the room for standard size trees, just don't want/need them. You do have to watch for 'cross-pollination' of some species, you will have to look into which specific ones, especially in a smaller area with little 'elbow room'. Same goes for the berries, i am just learning some of this too, this is the first year for berries with us...We stick, well..more like "jam" alot into our veggie-garden..haha, but we don't have to weed alot because of things being "full"....I would love to know more about the Hazelnut bush..sounds awesome! I used to have a small orange tree, it did fruit,but it needed so much light..it was very finicky for me and the fruits weren't very sweet..kind of bitter

..maybe I did something wrong . Anyway, i am not really interested in citrus, just the other kinds of fruit now..

As far as the 'chicken meat' goes..have you thought about raising a few broiler for yourself? Since you do like to eat chicken..nothing wrong with that!! They don't "hang around" as long as the layers..you don't/wouldn't have to give them names..

...and then you could have a full freezer of your own birds! (You would know what they ate and how they were treated)...which is what alot of people are concerned about

I am alittle behind on the posts so...sorry for the " back ward' reply..

.

which chicken broiler breeds would you all recommend? and how long do you raise them until?

how do you keep from getting attached?

One thing that might help is if I got the same breed so that they would look similar and then seem less like individuals...........not sure if you know what I mean?