Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[LittleMissPurdy]

LMP, your Turkey coop looks awesome! What's with having a coop before the actual birds have lived in your basement for a month or two?....I didn't think that was allowed.

..no..no birds in the house..try real hard to avoid that again..my rule! The coop is the one DH & I made for the blues when we picked them up last year...you know, quarantine and all, got to keep that Bio-security!!

won't be too long before you ask yourself, why in the heck did i get those raspberries, they're taking over the place

I certainly hope so!!! I wouldn't mind at all having too many berries, is that even possible?!

We were able to find some split-rail fencing 'curb side' for FREE...gosh I love that word!!.....Going to be setting up for awesome raspberry and blackberry supports!!

 

[LittleMissPurdy]

Yeahhhhhhh! Bees!!!!

I know..right?!!!!

..gonna be awhile, need more knowledge and setup$$..but it IS happening!!!

 

[barbiegirl]

I'm sure!! We have to sell a bunch as it is! The broodies are going to have us over run at the rate they are going! LOL
The european Silkies are actually a large fowl bird... though I don't know just how 'large' of a large fowl, I never checked the weight ranges for the europeans.... so what he had may have either had some european ancestory or maybe someone had just bred them larger and larger over a handful of generations to get back the size. They are used as a specialty meat in Eastern cultures, so the larger body size is preferred.

The man had a very heavy accent, we weren't sure from where. Maybe Greek since he grew grapes to make stuffed grape leaves. I don't know where he got his stock from. Miss Sally was able to have 10 silver laced wyandotte eggs under her with no problems. I miss her. I am hoping that the one egg from her I have in my incubator will hatch and it will be a hen!

 

[fisherlady]

. Sending girl vibes your way barbiegirl! I know what you mean about wanting another generation. The pic I posted of the youngsters modeling the shelves a few pages back are Gracie babies.... I had her hatch out 3 of her own last December so I would have another generation after she is gone. I absolutely adore the little hard feathered girl who is in the picture... she follows us all over in the yard and coop asking for treats or attention. The other is a definite boy and the 3rd is most likely a pullet but I'm not positive till it either crows or lays an egg! LOL.

I was worried about keeping a broody line going for our coop when I had her set her own eggs... then the broody explosion happened and 5 of my LF birds all went broody during the winter.... so now I don't think I'll have to worry about if any of Gracie's bunch want to be broodies!

 

[wingstone]

 
are you sure? i know where you might be able to get one or two later on

I'm sure!!  We have to sell a bunch as it is!  The broodies are going to have us over run at the rate they are going! LOL

 
I had a silkie hen that was bigger than my silkie rooster. I don't know if she was a large fowl silkie or part bantam and part large fowl. The guy I got her from had the biggest silkie rooster I have ever seen. He would have made my silver laced wyandotte rooster look small. He tried to give him to me but he was so big and I had a rooster and didn't think they would get along. I really think they were large fowl silkies and not bantam. She laid a large cream colored egg.

The european Silkies are actually a large fowl bird... though I don't know just how 'large' of a large fowl, I never checked the weight ranges for the europeans.... so what he had may have either had some european ancestory or maybe someone had just bred them larger and larger over a handful of generations to get back the size.  They are used as a specialty meat in Eastern cultures, so the larger body size is preferred.

You beat me to it Fisher, I have both mind of silkie, I much prefer the larger European breed..

Keep me in mind if you have any of these silkie you need to rehome

 

[wingstone]

How many of you keep detailed records?
I can only guess when asked the age of most birds and hubby thinks I should pay more attention to record keeping...I really can not give a head count..
Even in the incubator, I am sure if I kept better records I would see a pattern of what works and what doesn't.

Biggest question is how to do this, it is not like I carry pen and paper with me..

Hubby wants me to even keep track of the moving of birds from one pen to another

 

[BullChick]

I know it is a foreign concept in this day and age, but they do still make voice recorders. Very small, and will fit in a pocket.

 

[wingstone]

I had no luck selling extra eggs on auction,,
Anyone here interested in the extra eggs from Friday, sat, sun...can ship Monday morning...make offer and price of shipping..

On average it would be
2 eggs a day from the white scovy pen
4 eggs a day from the bantam Cochin pen
3-4 eggs a day from the white bresse pen ( this is the pen that the purity is in question, I found a bantam Cochin too in here, but I doubt the big boys would of allowed anything)

I can nt set anymore and I hate eating the purges.

 

[stake]

I know it is a foreign concept in this day and age, but they do still make voice recorders. Very small, and will fit in a pocket.

yes they do...google dictaphone....

 

[fisherlady]

How many of you keep detailed records?
I can only guess when asked the age of most birds and hubby thinks I should pay more attention to record keeping...I really can not give a head count..
Even in the incubator, I am sure if I kept better records I would see a pattern of what works and what doesn't.

Biggest question is how to do this, it is not like I carry pen and paper with me..

Hubby wants me to even keep track of the moving of birds from one pen to another

Wing... our 'tracking' is done on our chicken calendar. We have a large calendar hanging near our mudroom. Each day we mark things like # of eggs, date a broody is set with eggs (and what type) and/or if a hatch happens. Also documented are different incidents such as any injuries, new birds, # of meaties, any butchering, sometimes first eggs or first crowing.
We sometimes mark things like buying feed (type and amount) and any medications given to any animal (dogs and cats notes also on this calendar) I also printed off a 1 year calendar (I think time and date.com?) On that one I mark hatches and aging milestones such as 16 weeks, 6 months and 1 yr of hatches or groups. I transfer age info each December to a new calendar that hangs near our computer, it is just for quick references and allows me to see patterns in broody behaviors of some hens. Since we used to only have 2 or 3 hatches a year it was simpler... getting more complicated with us already having 6 broody hatches with 3 or 4 more to go already this year.

Find a big bank calendar or any other free one of decent size (think desk calendar size, and a business desk calendar would work very well for this) and start making notes. You can consolidate info each month or two to a ledger for referring back to over time. DH stashes the calendars and we have pulled them back out to refer to them a year or two later.