Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[fisherlady]

OK... question for all of you....
first the back story...

I caught a 4.5' long Eastern Rat snake today out at the edge of the woods behind the coop run. Actually the broodies alerted me to it and I went back to find out what the ruckus was about and found 1 broody and her sister and a rooster harassing the thing while a second broody made sure the little ones stayed back. Was really cool to see how they were handling it being around.
Anyway, I managed to catch it, did an exam to make sure it wasn't poisonous and snapped a couple of pics to use for comparison on the PAherpes.com web site to get a more positive ID on it (I wasn't sure if it was an old Milk snake or young Rat snake).

The non broody sister (Jeckle) was determined to not give up on getting the snake, it was sort of cute seeing that little hen trying to get to it the whole time I was handling it... she even followed me down the powerline and across the road to the gully where I released it and I had to shoo her back up to the yard afterward or I think she would have continued to follow it! I found out my dogs listen better than my birds do! LOL

now the question...
has anyone lost chicks or eggs to known snake attacks? and if so, do you know what type of snake it was? In researching the snakes a bit I see they will go after eggs and chicks, though we have never had any losses of chicks and none that we know of for eggs. I am hoping this snake won't come back, or be a problem. I know they are often beneficial... but guess I am just paranoid with so many chicks on the ground right now and 4 more hens setting on eggs (or waiting for eggs, #14 and #15 broody haven't gotten eggs yet)

 

[Blarneyeggs]

Hi! we hail from Media, PA just outside Philadelphia.  We are new to chickens but just bought a feed and seed store with a great amount of people interested in starting up!  We had our first "chicken chat" at the store - Tobin's Feed and Seed, also in Media last week.

We are looking forward to starting a group and offering more chats fairly often.  Anyone in PA close enough to may want to come over and add your expertise?

Thanks so much!   Cathy Norrbom

Cathy, Welcome! Have you thought of contacting the Delaware County 4H? They have an active poultry club and are close to your store, the chickens are kept at Ridley Creek State Park. Our 4H just had a table at the local Tractor Supply store, the kids brought a few chickens and talked to the public. They brought posters that they made for fair and sold baked goods for a fundraiser. Win -win. When is your next 'chicken Chat'? You should post it here on this thread.

@Barbiegirl, so sorry. We've got a lot of poke weed around, I need to eradicate it from the goat pen. The adults avoid it, but the babies try out everything. Thanks for the sobering reminder.

@Chippysmom, cute video!

 

[Tobinschickench]

Thank you for your advice! I actually worked for the 4H at the Garrett Williamson Farm for many years! My daughter was involved with the horses and I led that area. I have contacted them and have permission to use their materials etc. So I would like to plan an embryology project at the store. I homeschooled my children and we went through the project already.

Our next chat will be in July, I am working on a speaker to lock down a date. I will be sure to post it here. The first one was so informative because there were a few people who had chickens for a long time and we were able to learn from each other!

I'll be back and thanks again

 

[Tobinschickench]

You are all welcome to stop in. My husband and I work Sunday's, so that would be a great chance for us to meet up! We are planning more "chicken chats" and welcome anyone. We had one with beginners as well as those who have had them many years. It was a polite and informative session. We had handouts and a door prize. It was enjoyed by all. I will post when the next one is coming. Also we are on facebook, if you want to "like" us... Tobins feed & seed... Check out our website - www.tobinsfeedandseed. I already need to update what we have at the store, but it will give you an idea of what we sell.

We are actually new to the chicken world but I am so enjoying learning about them! We are also considering ordering chicks for the spring season for customers to come and pick up. Any ideas on that are welcome.

 

[Tobinschickench]

Hi Stake,
No the girl with the tattoos is my daughter. My husband John owns the store and I do the bookkeeping - we have no tattoos But as I said please feel free to come in some Sunday, we both work on Sunday's and would love to meet you. Thank you for being a customer. If you have any concerns you can also send me a personal message.

Help me out please. Is there a way to answer posts individually? When I hit reply, I am assuming it goes into the thread.

 

[fisherlady]

Hi Stake,
No the girl with the tattoos is my daughter. My husband John owns the store and I do the bookkeeping - we have no tattoos But as I said please feel free to come in some Sunday, we both work on Sunday's and would love to meet you. Thank you for being a customer. If you have any concerns you can also send me a personal message.

Help me out please. Is there a way to answer posts individually? When I hit reply, I am assuming it goes into the thread.

You can quote a particular post.... as I have just quoted yours....

in the lower right side of the posted message box there are three options... multi quote, quote and reply
by clicking on the 'quote' button it will automatically bring you down to the reply box with the quoted post in a shaded area, you simply post your reply underneath of it and then hit the submit button.

If there are numerous posts you want to answer you simply hit the 'multi-quote' button on each, then when you get to the last one you want to answer you hit the 'quote' button.... this will move all of the ones you want to reply to into the reply box and you point your cursor under each highlighted message to reply to it, when you are done with all of them you hit submit and it will post it.

 

[Tobinschickench]

You can quote a particular post.... as I have just quoted yours....

in the lower right side of the posted message box there are three options... multi quote, quote and reply
by clicking on the 'quote' button it will automatically bring you down to the reply box with the quoted post in a shaded area, you simply post your reply underneath of it and then hit the submit button.

If there are numerous posts you want to answer you simply hit the 'multi-quote' button on each, then when you get to the last one you want to answer you hit the 'quote' button.... this will move all of the ones you want to reply to into the reply box and you point your cursor under each highlighted message to reply to it, when you are done with all of them you hit submit and it will post it.

Ahhhh Thank You

 

[dheltzel]

You are all welcome to stop in. My husband and I work Sunday's, so that would be a great chance for us to meet up! We are planning more "chicken chats" and welcome anyone. We had one with beginners as well as those who have had them many years. It was a polite and informative session. We had handouts and a door prize. It was enjoyed by all. I will post when the next one is coming. Also we are on facebook, if you want to "like" us... Tobins feed & seed... Check out our website - www.tobinsfeedandseed. I already need to update what we have at the store, but it will give you an idea of what we sell.

We are actually new to the chicken world but I am so enjoying learning about them! We are also considering ordering chicks for the spring season for customers to come and pick up. Any ideas on that are welcome.

Buying chicks is a risk if you can't sell them, unless you want to raise them yourself. Some stores only (or mostly) do pre-orders and so know exactly what to buy. Another option (or an add-on idea) is to buy from local breeders who can sell you their surplus. I believe Pickering Valley does all of these, pre-orders to reserve chicks, walk in purchases and reselling chicks hatched locally.

IDK if you need to only buy from NPIP certified sources since you are reselling, but if so, that would greatly reduce you options for locally produced chicks.

 

[LittleMissPurdy]

Thanks! It was a lot of work (still have a lot to go but no rush anymore lol). Those are concrete footers and the 4 x 4s are down in them. The entire shed/coop and run is built on them since Hubby didn't want to dig huge holes and pour concrete. They were ok to work with (HEAVY). A couple of the 4 x 4s had to have the corners shaved of them just a little to get them to fit right into the footers and they all had to be pounded in. A couple of them were rough and didn't want to go in straight but it was easier than trying to keep posts straight being cemented into the ground lol. Overall, I'm happy with the way they worked out. We did have about a 1ft gap from the bottom of the hardware cloth to the ground which we just put plywood pieces there. Right now, they're only about 2 inches into the ground but we're actually going to use them as the backs to flower boxes were going to build in front of them, the whole way around the run.

thank you for letting me know how that was put together, these things are always a "work-in-progress"

.....sorry it has taken me awhile to respond...been away for a couple days.
Trying to catch-up to 200+ posts now

...hahaha, today is definitely a "recovery" day!!
Hope everyone is doing well & enjoying this beautiful *cough* weather..

..waiting patiently for some sun.....

...

 

[chippysmom327]

Thanks for the compliments on my crowing chick. He really is hilarious.