Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[dheltzel]

What is a spare incubator, that is just not right...

Sounds like fun, will you get he chicks that hatch or does the families keep them.....

I expect to get them back, but if they want the keep them I don't mind. I'm not planning to give them anything really valuable, though the definition of which breeds are valuable might change over time.

Most of these families are homeschooling and it will be part of their science lessons. I'm providing mostly white eggs (leghorn x ameracauna) so they candle easily, but will put a few others in too (from our easter egger's for ex). I expect to field a lot of questions, but will also suggest they research and post questions on BYC. Getting information is also part of the "curriculum", and I will suggest they keep good records and record weights to track water loss. Some parents will require a lot from the kids (especially the older ones), others will let them figure it out on their own. My hope is that all the kids will gain an understanding of where their food comes from. Might even get some new chicken hobbyists out of this.

 

[wingstone]

I will try to get some pics tomorrow, but wondering why some of the white rocks are developing black spots, they are hatchery stock so who knows what they may be crossed with in the past...

 

[fisherlady]

I will try to get some pics tomorrow, but wondering why some of the white rocks are developing black spots, they are hatchery stock so who knows what they may be crossed with in the past...

We have one CornishX chick who has done this... it is in the group that is about 4 weeks old or so... maybe 6 black feathers on it's neck and back. I figured it was a recessive trait from some sneaky roo who managed to get into a breeding pen a few generations ago... or maybe from a dark cornish who was used generations ago in developing the breeding stock cornish....

 

[heatherscooby77]

I am still new to turkeys, but I am going by what the Turkey Talk people say, and what I am getting from pretty much everyone. Lower protein is not recommended for turkeys. 30-32% is "best" if you can find it. When someone asked again about chick feed, it was said that while BBW/B may be okay on it for two weeks or so, it isn't enough for turkeys.
I stopped fermenting the feed. I am thinking about doing it again after tomorrow (I will be selling another dozen or so chickens).

I was not aware that you were talking about turkeys.............. I give them a 22% for 4 weeks, then they get the grower finisher. If you are going to do FF, you don't want to do the 30-32%. The FF helps them digest better, and that would be way to much protein. In my opinion. I plus, I think they will crap it out really fast.............. I only ever have had heritage turkeys. So it might be different for the bbw/b?!? I would hate to see you lose any, or have leg problems.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

I use the large Rubbermaid buckets, I stir once a day due to work schedule and it has never been a problem...I leave a couple inches in each bucket to keep the ferment going and just add to it.

Stir twice a day, and if you cover it, only with a towel/screen to keep bugs/critters out. It needs to breathe to ferment.

Thanks I started it yesterday so I have about 2 days until I get to try it out. I'm excited!

 

[chiques chicks]

Thanks I started it yesterday so I have about 2 days until I get to try it out. I'm excited!

Yeah, uh, I'm lazy. I stir it when I mix it. I leave some in the bucket ever day as starter. Mine is s thick loaf, and one starting it one day and staying to use it the next should be fine in this weather. Wait two or three days and it might be too fermented.

Wait, if you use the right yeast instead of ACV as starter and ferment for a few days it has other uses besides chicken feed

 

[DylansMom]

Anybody local interested in a Double Laced Barnevelder cockerel? We are in south central PA, I bought some eggs on ebay and hatched 4 chicks looks like 2 are roos. According to the breeders on the Barney thread they are a pretty decent line( C. Ledford? ) They hatched the day after Easter. If you have any interest let me know, otherwise he will go on CL. Thanks!

 

[wingstone]

I use the large Rubbermaid buckets, I stir once a day due to work schedule and it has never been a problem...I leave a couple inches in each bucket to keep the ferment going and just add to it.

Stir twice a day, and if you cover it, only with a towel/screen to keep bugs/critters out. It needs to breathe to ferment.

Thanks I started it yesterday so I have about 2 days until I get to try it out. I'm excited!

I would start it now, even if you just lay some on top of the dry food, it may take them a few days to realize that they are suppose to eat the wet stuff....sometimes birds are not very smart

 

[SilkieSensation]

Between wingstone and I we can probably fill all your wants! And the scary part is, I'm just as close as she is, I'm on the Milton Grove side of Mount Joy.


I have ducks in the incubator, and baby rabbits when you feel the need, lol.

She said i came right past you! I caught Ciderpress to Meadow view to try to avoid downtown Manheim. If you're familiar with the area, i live next to the Renaissance Faire (we face the joust field). Anyways, we had Champagne D'Argents for awhile, we really liked them but they are hard to come by it seems. Plus i was kinda screwed over with the doe we bought from some high school student selling rabbits out of her garage. I should of known better . Alot of people seem to do Californians or New Zealand around here. When we first started "homesteading" we tried to stick to more of a heritage breeds- Dominiques were our first chickens, soon followed by Champagne D'Argents. But i'm thinking that is going out the window soon. I liked the coat also, maybe i'll get around to making a nice pair of winter mittens. With two small shadows following me around,  I can dream can't i?! lol. 

On another note, can you free range ducks? Do they put themselves up at night like chickens? We have a nice creek out back that i think they would enjoy but i get the feeling i'll be duck wrangling every night. I haven't read up much on them, but seeing wingstones (she wouldn't give me a price!) i would like a few. 

You need Anconas. Mine are trained to return themselves to the coop before dark or run for the coop when we say "bedtime" if we need to put them in early for any reason.

Now I'm freaked out about salmonella We usually keep our brooder in the kitchen. Opposite side of where we prep food but still. I will be moving it in the basement from now on. My husband is in and out of the house 100 times a day and doesn't take his boots off. We have hard wood floors and I clean them often during the week but my 2 year old is all over the floor all day long. I'm afraid of what germs he is tracking inside the house with his nasty boots.I also keep my egg basket and a gallon milk jug that I take back and forth to the coop under the sink. Please someone tell me I'm over reacting!!

In other news one of our polish chicks died yesterday. They were fine when I left for my son's baseball game and dead by the time we got home. We only got 2 and of course it was the one we thought was going to be a hen. Grrrr! I promised my daughter we would get some polish and serema eggs soon.

Guarantee my kids rarely wash hands after touching chicks. My goofy kids will even go sit in the coop & share their lunch with the birds. My kids have been healthier since we got the birds than they ever were before. I think they have each missed 1 day of school to actual illness in the past 3 years. My older kids were always sick, always missing school. My ex wouldn't even let them have a cat.

Do you keep your eggs in the counter or refrigerate right away?

Mine sit on the counter until no more will fit...then they either go in a pan to boil for deviled eggs or in the fridge after I stuff as many of the freshest ad I can in my bators. I do this about once a week just because I get so overloaded with eggs. There wre about 15 dozen sitting there before I loaded bators this week...not counting the 4 dozen quail eggs. There are still about 9 dozen chicken I need to boil or freeze.

You are not alone, I am in the same type of situation, well the freaking part...our chicks have to be in the house by default, basement floods, she'd isn't secure, and a raccoon recently spotted. Our house is set up with a living/dining/kitchen as the main room and only real living area in the house... And with a half dozen kids running around, well you get the picture... I will be watching to see what responses you get!

So I called the store where we got our chicks, they called mt healthy. And the cdc. They were told the outbreak is over, and if you have had your chicks for a few weeks and not gotten sick, you are either doing really good with the whole cleanliness thing, or the birds are not infected.from what the girl said from the store, it seems this May be a *bit* hyped in the media (since the report just came out, suddenly there are news stories). She said, as wing said, as any of us with chickens know, salmonella is around with chickens, use common sense.
I am thinking that our birds were not infected, as it said in my post, I have a half dozen kids... As vigilant about hand washing with chickens as I am, I am also not ignorant of the fact that I am sure some hands, probably the 2&4 year olds, have not gotten washed....they are sneaky about touching those fluffy butts!

See above...just don't lick the chicks...lol

Wow, you guys haven't been as chatty as usual today. I wasn't on all day and I was only a page and a half behind lol.

I know this has been discussed a thousand times but I can't even attempt to go back through and find it. I just started some fermented feed. I was doing it one way but it doesn't seem to be working out so well so I'm staying the continuous ferment type where you just add more feed and water each day after you take it out. All I need to know is, how often to stir it and do you cover it with anything? I have it in one of those big red buckets that someone posted a picture of before. It's well under water level and I've added ACV.

Stir once or twice per day & cover loosely to keep bugs out.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

I would start it now, even if you just lay some on top of the dry food, it may take them a few days to realize that they are suppose to eat the wet stuff....sometimes birds are not very smart

they're already used to a wet mash. I've been fermenting for a while now, just a different way. Now that it's getting hot out though, my method isn't working anymore. It was getting moldy *yuk*