Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[chickencowranch]

Howdy All! I just saw this thread, and thought I'd pipe up. I'm in Erie, and new to raising chickens. My coop is 75% finished and a friend of mine has 5 hens and a rooster (buff orpingtons I believe) for me to start my flock once I've (well, mostly it's DH doing the hard labor) finished it. I'm excited to finally be "doing this" ---- raising chickens and having a mini farm on our .6 acre.

Howdy, I'm from Mt. Wolf, York county. I'm along way from Erie. Welcome to the board.

 

[msladyhawke]

I'm getting overrun with chicks! If anyone is interested in some, PM me. I have a free Rhodebar cockerel and these chicks for sale cheap:
4 Olive Eggers (Ameracauna x Welsummer)
4 New Hampshires (German strain)

Chester/Montgomery Co area - Pottstown and/or Blue Bell

hey D, are the New Hampshires old enough to be sexed yet? Or still young?
Michelle

 

[dheltzel]

hey D, are the New Hampshires old enough to be sexed yet? Or still young?
Michelle

Just hatched. I find they take a long time to sex out (longer than barred hollands and the leghorn crosses, but faster than an Ameracauna).

The 8 oldest ones are clearly sexable as 4 of each, but they are over 8 weeks old now. On the plus side, the roos are large and very pretty (orange, like a "Pumpkin Hulsy gamecock", if you've seen them). I haven't sent any roos to an auction for a while, but I bet these guys would bring a decent price there.

If you end up with all hens, I will have spare roos.

 

[mimischicksnat]

at what age does a chicken no longer taste good?

I mean................if you decide to process an older bird.............when is it too old to be a good meal...................just curious.........

I pinned this to make sure to remember for future reference.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/using-older-chickens-for-meat-purposes

Hope it helps!

 

[fisherlady]

I know I can not count chicks before the hatch but those 16 Muscovy eggs that I put under the broodies on memorial day, everyone of them had good veining last night, that's a lot of Quacker's, or hisser's in this case.

May need to unload a few babies next month, my pen for the scovie's is not gonna hold that many.

May be time for you to drag home a few pallets and start building! Sounds like you will have a good number soon!

its pretty funny....baby chick sometimes doesn't come when mama calls so mama goes back and baby hops on board....

That is adorable... and cute that the chick has mama figured out already! Yes they do like to hop onto mama once in a while, sounds like yours is doing it more, maybe because it is a solo chick it doesn't have competition so it gets to spend more time enjoying the view. I never get tired of seeing them do this though... one of the most adorable things to see with the broodies and chicks.

Yep, the view is so much better from up here,

I am waiting for Fisher Lady to chime in here, I hardly ever let broodies hatch, I hope this is common, since I have 7 broodies on eggs right now...wouldn't mind watching them walk around like that.

See above, but not uncommon, though I have never hatched out ducks or geese to know if they do the same. The hens will sometimes allow them to ride around for a few steps, but I see it more often when the hen lays down. There is frequently a 'King of the Mountain' contest which becomes quite an amusing show also. The hen usually maxes out at 3 chicks before she gets grumpy, #4 usually causes the mountain to move!

Sorry Fisher Lady, auto correct insist that your name is 2 words, and I get tired of correcting the auto correct

I understand, auto correct gives me hissy fits on a daily basis... I finally figured out how to turn it off after I finally hit my limit on tolerating it 'correcting' the word <broodies> to <bloodiest> every time I typed it!

 

[wingstone]

Out of all the ducks that have hatched this year, I finally got one showing the Mohawk stripe.

 

[SilkieSensation]

at what age does a chicken no longer taste good?

I mean................if you decide to process an older bird.............when is it too old to be a good meal...................just curious.........

They never get too old to be eaten. The preparation method is what changes. I brine all of my birds but especially helpful for older birds. Then slow cook them to make the meat more tender. Older birds are best used shredded & hidden in other dishes (chicken & noodles, quesedillas, enchiladas, creamed chicken, etc.)

 

[griggy]

Good morning:

Anyone ever see this? My solo baby chick likes to ride on mama's back....

Yes! My little Dominique chick has done this several times. I have to figure out how to post the video of him falling off her back.

 

[griggy]

I know I can not count chicks before the hatch but those 16 Muscovy eggs that I put under the broodies on memorial day, everyone of them had good veining last night, that's a lot of Quacker's, or hisser's in this case.

May need to unload a few babies next month, my pen for the scovie's is not gonna hold that many.

If you do have to unload the babies, unload them in my direction

 

[griggy]

So, I am supposed to be gone overnight for about 24 hours from Day 19 to Day 20 of my incubator cycle (chicken eggs.) I know I have to keep the humidity up, but I'm really worried that something will happen from the time I leave until the time I get back. What do you guys think? Should I have someone come check on it? If I have an early hatch, it will be okay for that long right? I'm just freaking out now!