Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[Blarneyeggs]

Has anyone got chicks at Pickering Valley Feed?  Love to hear the results.  All my chicks are doing well, but we lost a few of the leghorns in the first few weeks, and I was looking to kinda fill in the ranks a bit, try some different breeds?

I'm getting my five chickies here next week supposedly. I feel so unprepared even for all my studying and reading. Thanks for the input on Pickering Valley. I would have never heard of it except from you guys here. I am really excited for it! . e


I definitely think spring is around the corner, I feel like I hear birds chirping a lot more recently. Anyone else notice that? I feel like my dog is even bouncing off the walls (more than usual). In the salon I used to work at we had "the February Phenomenon" very year. People would come in and want a drastically different style or color. We think it was just because people are bored and cold and ready for spring this time of year and need a change. And it's usually been about 6 weeks from Christmas when they last did any kind of special style.

Back to Chickening.... What is everyone's preferred bedding for new day old chicks?

I start my chicks on paper towels, for traction and no splay leg.

Lost control of the car several times this morning driving the little one to school, only hit one snow bank and no cars. Ice + no brakes = no Bueno.

 

[dheltzel]

Wing, I would look in to some sort of minnow, I had some breeding in a small backyard pond, like 5x8.

However, the fish commission technically limits how many you may posses, add they are considered bait.

Is there anything the government doesn't regulate?

Yes, check out "fathead minnows". Not big enough for people food (well maybe an anchovy substitute -- yuck!).
The nice thing about them is that they are not native to PA (so no Game Commission regs), but are used as bait (so no one will blame you if they get loose and take over the waterways, the fishermen already put them out there). They also come in a xanthic variety called "rosy reds" and you can find them in most pet stores as feeder fish. They are cheap and very tough in a wide range of temperatures. I think they'd be sort of pretty in a stock tank, though the red ones stand out well and are more subject to aerial predation (herons and kingfishers for ex), but I'm guessing that won't be a big problem for you.

 

[beaglady]

gotcha! I have too many to just add a few extra ha ha ha, I will end up keeping them and checking with the local pick up list I guess. I hate local pick ups without a deposit, its like CL, half the time the person doesnt call or show up, pure frustration, thats why I had to have the deposit policy in effect.... that annoys me, its called communication, its not difficult! I had three people with "car issues" in December alone! ha ha ha, you and me both! LOL

II love the people that arrange to meet you to pick up multiple birds, then only have enough money for a few of the birds when they arrive. Meanwhile the poor birds spent their day in dog crates in my car, stinking it up. Perhaps they thought I would have a buy one get two free sale. Wrong.

Back to Chickening.... What is everyone's preferred bedding for new day old chicks?

For the first few days, I put paper towels over shavings. After a few days I pitch the towels and have a bed of shavings ready to go. Like someone else mentioned, the towels are easier on their tiny legs, plus I've had babies not realize the difference between shavings and food, so they ate shavings and died.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

II love the people that arrange to meet you to pick up multiple birds, then only have enough money for a few of the birds when they arrive. Meanwhile the poor birds spent their day in dog crates in my car, stinking it up. Perhaps they thought I would have a buy one get two free sale. Wrong.

 

[SilkieSensation]

 
gotcha!  I have too many to just add a few extra ha ha ha, I will end up keeping them and checking with the local pick up list I guess.  I hate local pick ups without a deposit, its like CL, half the time the person doesnt call or show up, pure frustration, thats why I had to have the deposit policy in effect....  that annoys me, its called communication, its not difficult!   I had three people with "car issues" in December alone!  ha ha ha, you and me both! LOL

II love the people that arrange to meet you to pick up multiple birds, then only have enough money for a few of the birds when they arrive. Meanwhile the poor birds spent their day in dog crates in my car, stinking it up. Perhaps they thought I would have a buy one get two free sale. Wrong.

Back to Chickening.... What is everyone's preferred bedding for new day old chicks?

For the first few days, I put paper towels over shavings. After a few days I pitch the towels and have a bed of shavings ready to go. Like someone else mentioned, the towels are easier on their tiny legs, plus I've had babies not realize the difference between shavings and food, so they ate shavings and died.

This is another reason I'm wanting to do the wire bottom beginner brooder. If I use 1/8 mesh (the stuff in our styro bators) the babies will be able to walk on it right away without slipping or falling through & it will still allow droppings to fall through into the pan below. No chips to eat. Use fermented feed & they don't kick nearly as much out or lose so much onto the floor. Way less waste & much less mess.

 

[SilkieSensation]

 
[CONTENTEMBED=/t/248345/pennsylvania-unite/36020#post_12855169 layout=inline]II love the people that arrange to meet you to pick up multiple birds, then only have enough money for a few of the birds when they arrive. Meanwhile the poor birds spent their day in dog crates in my car, stinking it up. Perhaps they thought I would have a buy one get two free sale. Wrong.[/CONTENTEMBED]
[CONTENTEMBED=/t/248345/pennsylvania-unite/36030#post_12858378 layout=inline] [/CONTENTEMBED]

I have had that happen. The only time I have handed them the extras was when I had kids getting birds for a 4-H display & donated some extra roos to the project instead of charging for all of them.

 

[wingstone]

fathead minnows it is, hubby seems to like the idea of starting with something simple,,,,,,

will the ducks eat any of these if they are put in their swimming water.

can the chickens have them for the occasional treat

can these minnows eat the mealworms if broken up

can i sell these for bait during fishing season,,,,i know nothing about fishing,,,,who do i target for sales...

will folks with backyard ponds of koi buy these for food.

will they breed and how do they not eat their own young as feed

will I need any filters if done as an aquaponics system,,,,in other words,, are these dirty fish..


so many questions,,,,back to the research

 

[barbiegirl]

Fathead minnows are great. I had them in my koi pond this summer to take care of the mosquito larvae. They bred without any special requirements or any help on my part. I wouldn't encourage koi to eat minnows. I started off with 1 dozen from the pet store and by the end of summer hundreds of them. They come in the red and grey color. They even cross bred with my bitterlings I got for koi parasite control. I just ran my normal koi filtration system. Nothing special.

 

[fisherlady]

fathead minnows it is, hubby seems to like the idea of starting with something simple,,,,,,

will the ducks eat any of these if they are put in their swimming water.

can the chickens have them for the occasional treat

can these minnows eat the mealworms if broken up

can i sell these for bait during fishing season,,,,i know nothing about fishing,,,,who do i target for sales...

will folks with backyard ponds of koi buy these for food.

will they breed and how do they not eat their own young as feed

will I need any filters if done as an aquaponics system,,,,in other words,, are these dirty fish..


so many questions,,,,back to the research

I can answer a couple... we give our birds left over fathead once in a while after fishing trips.... we also feed our chickens boiled fish once or twice a week in the evening as a treat, they go nuts for it and we have never noticed a change in egg flavor, but then again, a couple tablespoons a couple times a week isn't a whole lot.

Check with your local bait stores about supplying minnows to them. In some areas there are testing requirements for bait fish to prevent the spread of diseases carried on fish. (Erie has some strict rules about bait fish from the waterway not being able to be used elsewhere). Pa fish & boat or the bait shops themselves may have info for the person you need to be in touch with to get the right permits/testing. Think of it like NPIP for fish... I don't know the requirements or restrictions for your area.
You most likely won't want the hassle of providing direct to the fisherman because of the hours involved. Most fishermen like to stop on the way to the river to get their bait, so 6am isn't unusual, the bait stores up around Lake Erie open at 4:30 or 5a.m. because of this. Some folks do get them the evening before, but again, that would involve nearly every evening 6-8pm... For your purposes it would make more sense financially and hour wise to sell in bulk to the bait stores and let them dole out the minnows by the dozen. You will loose a few cents per dozen in price (though I think bait store by them by the gallon or pound when buying in bulk) but you won't have to wait on 10 dozen people either.

 

[fisherlady]

When you are selling the fathead in bulk the bigger the fish the more it costs, which is why they sell by the pound or gallon... since it obviously costs more to raise them to larger sizes... but fisherman will pay for it because if we are out looking to catch crappie or trout we use small minnows... if we are out for catfish, yellow perch or other more aggressive fish we buy the bigger minnows.