Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[Blarneyeggs]

Kling, congrats! Lucky ladies to get to test out your Taj Mahal coop. I've no idea of the breed, sorry.

 

[14RiceM]

Hey, does anyone know someone in PA that caponizes roosters and does a really great, reliable job? I have a little bantam rooster who has been my buddy since day one, and I don't think I can part with him. But,I also can't have roosters.:/ Ideas? Thanks so much!!

 

[KlingKlan]

Yes. And made me feel so much better when I thought I was going to have to cull my whole flock of babies after listening to all the sensationalism.


@ KlingKlan. I'm gonna say your new girls are production reds or red sex links.

Ok, that was my guess as well. Did a little pic cross referencing of "known" red sex links and was 95% sure. Any guess as to their age? Can you even tell something like that? They seem a lttle on the small side, so I'm really hoping they're still good layers lol!

 

[My peeps]

Need a closer view of the cochin's comb & it's age. Polish is a pullet.
The nice round "afros" are pullets. The roos have a spikier hairdo.

I have a ton of Poliskies (polish x silkie) if you really need some birds with huge hair...lol

Can you post a picture of them? Hubby will kill me but I may need a few of those! Next you need to work on some polish x silkie x frizzles! Holy cuteness! Lol

How far are you moving? It has to be a pain moving all the animals. I remember when we moved here. I only had the 2 kids then and it was such a pain.

 

[SilkieSensation]

yup. I mean... people keeping chicks in their kitchen? It would be more of a miracle if they didn't get sick.

I don't have a problem with folks having them about anywhere in the house... as long as the brooder is kept reasonably clean, isn't over crowded and common sense hand washing is done after handling chicks then it shouldn't matter. If the chick is in your garage or barn and you handle it and then go into the house and prepare a meal without washing your hands it is just as dangerous as having them in the kitchen and not washing your hands. Although I still think folks not allowing their immune systems to ever have to work creates a higher risk of getting sick with more serious consequences. You can't build immunity to all germs, and I realize that... but some folks don't seem to be able to handle even the most basic ones anymore. Antibiotics and antibacterials are awesome things, but horribly over used IMO... If you listen to all of the 'sky is falling' types it is a wonder humans ever survived long enough to discover Penicillin! ... just go get dirty once in a while, get sick once in a while and get over it and go on to the next project....

No antibacterial soap here. Homemade soap instead. Barefoot everywhere, even the coop. We walk back through the grass to scuff the droppings out from between our toes. Kids have been known to sit in the run & share lunch with the birds who were crawling all over their laps. Never once have we been sick because of our birds. We've actually been healthier since getting them.

So we went to Green Dragon tonight and got 4 chickens (even though we wanted 5 lol)... so we are official !!! DH worked VERY hard on the coop & run and he just couldn't wait to have chickens who could apprerciate all his hardwork, so my mixed flock of 5 bubble was burst in a 1 minute flurry of shouted numbers !!! We got home after the sun had already set and daylight was fading, we took the girls from the cage and straight into the coop to explore their new home. My 10 yr old named one and the neighbor girl who tagged along named one, 2 remain nameless until tomorrow. My son named one Zero (not a clue why) and the neighbor girl named the other Miss Peckerton IV, this name has merrit though because that girl has many missing feathers from her back. At first we though it was due to fighting in the box while waiting to be auctioned... but then we got all of them out and could see that 2 of the girls had obviously had "relations" with a rooster on the farm before being put on the auction block hehehe. Now, here's a question, ummm what breed do we have? The auctioneer simply called them Red Hens, but I know better, just not better enough to know exactly what. A little help please?! Sorry about the picture quality.

Production reds, which, unfortunately, do not typically lay well past the end of the 2nd year & often have short lives & get egg bound easily. These look like older hens, which is probably why they were sold.

 

[My peeps]

Is that a frizzled polish? I must have one!!! Lol

 

[OneMountainAcres]

I don't have a problem with folks having them about anywhere in the house... as long as the brooder is kept reasonably clean, isn't over crowded and common sense hand washing is done after handling chicks then it shouldn't matter.  If the chick is in your garage or barn and you handle it and then go into the house and prepare a meal without washing your hands it is just as dangerous as having them in the kitchen and not washing your hands. Although I still think folks not allowing their immune systems to ever have to work creates a higher risk of getting sick with more serious consequences.  You can't build immunity to all germs, and I realize that... but some folks don't seem to be able to handle even the most basic ones anymore. Antibiotics and antibacterials are awesome things, but horribly over used IMO...
 If you listen to all of the 'sky is falling' types it is a wonder humans ever survived long enough to discover Penicillin! ... just go get dirty once in a while, get sick once in a while and get over it and go on to the next project....

very well said

 

[SilkieSensation]

Need a closer view of the cochin's comb & it's age. Polish is a pullet.
The nice round "afros" are pullets. The roos have a spikier hairdo.

I have a ton of Poliskies (polish x silkie) if you really need some birds with huge hair...lol

Can you post a picture of them? Hubby will kill me but I may need a few of those! Next you need to work on some polish x silkie x frizzles! Holy cuteness! Lol

How far are you moving? It has to be a pain moving all the animals. I remember when we moved here. I only had the 2 kids then and it was such a pain.

Poliskies
I'll have to grab pix of a couple of the older ones who are starting to get afros. They have black skin, 4-5 toes per foot & smooth feathers. If you breed them together you get 25% silkie feathered next generation. If you breed them back to silkie you get 50% silkied next generation. The goal is 5 toes, black skin, silkied feathers & huge crests.

As for moving, U-Haul just loves me! All of my birds go right in the back of the truck with everything else, including the goat...lmao

 

[Katt66]

OMG! I must have one of those! Seriously. If you ever sell them and can ship I know someone who would order some with me in a heartbeat. That is the cutest thing I've seen in a while.

 

[Blarneyeggs]

Ok, it's near the end of May. ..I shouldn't still need a coat! I'm at my son's baseball game and I actually had to go sit in the car even though I have a jacket on since I can't feel my fingers and toes! Now i may be one of those people that are always cold bit this is pushing it. Grrr!

rant over

in lighter news, we got some Carrots planted today in an old wheel barrow bucket lol. Our onions area growing like crazy and more seedlings are showing up each day (corn, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, spinach) I'm still trying to figure out where to plant the pumpkins, zucchini, and water melon though.

Kudos! Feels so good to get that kind of work done. I did not plant zucchini this year as I'm pretty sure I can count on others for that and want to use my garden space for something else...now if I could only keep on top of the weeds. I'm going to go extra heavy on spent shavings, hay and straw this yea and see if that helps.