Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[stake]

Good evening all:

Had the opportunity to visit Blarney today...met three of her kids (they are all really nice), met three baby blue eyed goats, met Bella(a wonderful pooch) and a plethora of feathered folk of all types....B's garden puts mine to shame and I hope she will save me a handful of tomato seeds from her heritage Italian tomatoes....Her turkeys are way kewl...some strutting and others gobbling back...and she has a couple of chooks of note....the biggest Orp roo ...12lbs, a pair of nice blrw's and a real stately Marans roo...there are a handful of grow out pens with all sorts of broodies/babies running around....

B:

Thanks for the invite....makes me think I need a few more acres,,,,,

 

[KlingKlan]

Hello ALL, I haven't been here for awhile... I guess life gets in the way. Anywayz, my girls have stopped laying, it's been over a week since we've gotten even one egg *sigh*. They all seem healthy and are very active, but no eggs. There are no note worthy changes in environment, diet or overall lifestyle, they just stopped laying. Maybe since they're auction chickens I got their last hoorah?!

Well, I am looking for started pullets or even some hatching eggs if available. I am hoping to get a black and white color scheme going for my flock, soooo any all black, all white or a mix of black & white that are good dual purpose birds. My current coop can house 6-8 birds, but I know I can convince DH to build a bigger coop and run, so young pullets, chicks or even eggs will have time to grow until the new coop is built. FYI: current coop will soon be for sale LOL! Only 2 of our girls are worthy of "freezer camp" so the other 2 will just live out their lives until they are worthy or they pass of their own accord.

The only thing I can even say right now is this; it has been an amazing learning experience and DH now knows why I said we have to be choosy when buying our chickens hehe. Part of me feels vindicated, however another, bigger part of me feels defeated. I've had issues that some people say they've never encountered in all their years of chicken raising, I tackled them each as they came, researched the heck out of them, then treated them as holistically as possible and I truly believe my girls are much better off here than at *Tyson lol!

So, if anyone local has black, white or black and white dual purpose eggs, chicks or started pullets please let me know! I don't have a lot of money, but I am willing to "pay to play" as it were

!!

 

[wingstone]

Hello ALL, I haven't been here for awhile... I guess life gets in the way. Anywayz, my girls have stopped laying, it's been over a week since we've gotten even one egg *sigh*. They all seem healthy and are very active, but no eggs. There are no note worthy changes in environment, diet or overall lifestyle, they just stopped laying. Maybe since they're auction chickens I got their last hoorah?! 

Well, I am looking for started pullets or even some hatching eggs if available. I am hoping to get a black and white color scheme going for my flock, soooo any all black, all white or a mix of black & white that are good dual purpose birds. My current coop can house 6-8 birds, but I know I can convince DH to build a bigger coop and run, so young pullets, chicks or even eggs will have time to grow until the new coop is built. FYI: current coop will soon be for sale LOL! Only 2 of our girls are worthy of "freezer camp" so the other 2 will just live out their lives until they are worthy or they pass of their own accord.

The only thing I can even say right now is this; it has been an amazing learning experience and DH now knows why I said we have to be choosy when buying our chickens hehe. Part of me feels vindicated, however another, bigger part of me feels defeated. I've had issues that some people say they've never encountered in all their years of chicken raising, I tackled them each as they came, researched the heck out of them, then treated them as holistically as possible and I truly believe my girls are much better off here than at *Tyson lol!

So, if anyone local has black, white or black and white dual purpose eggs, chicks or started pullets please let me know! I don't have a lot of money, but I am willing to "pay to play" as it were  !!

Many of my birds at not laying in this heatr either, give them some time..

I think I am fairly close and I have some of what you are looking for.
White rock hen's would be the closest to laying, would have to look it up but , I think they are bout 12 weeks.

 

[dheltzel]

Many of my birds at not laying in this heatr either, give them some time..

X2!
I would give them a little more time. Despite the "agribusiness" approach to egg production in many publications, hens have cycles and are not consistent in their output. They might very well surprise you yet. Part of me wants to believe they will try hard since they are in a good place now and just need a little R&R to adjust from their previously harrowing lives.

Good for you for thinking about what you want in your next chickens. Rather than just a color scheme, you should research the various breeds and target the specific birds you want to have. I think that will be more exciting and satisfying. You can get lots of suggestions, Rocks (Plymouth Rocks are their full name) are good dual purpose birds and like many breeds, they come in white, black and barred, so you can build your patterned flock. But there are lots of others to consider also - Orpingtons, Cochins, Ameracaunas, Breese, Langshans, Leghorns, just to mention a few. They have very different characteristics, Leghorns and Cochins are as different as Border Collies and Bulldogs, IMO.

I'm biased, but I think starting with chicks is ideal because you can socialize them and make them pets. I takes longer to get eggs and you might find it harder to get them this time of year, but once you decide on your breed and color, start looking.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

I just wanted to let everyone know that I can now trust 2 of my 3 dogs to be out which the chickens are free ranging with supervision of course. The one was never a problem but the other was one of the birderers in the masacer with our first babies. Our third dog, there's no hope for since she's a high prey drive Siberian husky. She's always tied when she's out anyway since she'd run if she got a chance but now she's supervised, tied and usually held seeing as how our flock has no fear of dogs and will walk right up to her *rolls eyes*

 

[wingstone]

Aurora, good job with the dogs, not sure I would ever trust them after what you went thru.

dheltzel, I wish you were closer, I could use some extra day olds, maybe break some broodies.... everything I have right now is important for replacement stock, so I m not willing to risk the first time broody.

 

[chippysmom327]

Okay, here are the pictures of the mottleds. I think one may be a pullet. What do you guys think? 5 weeks old.

Bird in question:

I'm pretty sure this one's a cockerel, but I'm asking her just for verification. This one is a 9 week old:

Then here's Mr. Crowsalot 1:

And Mr. Crowsalot 2:

Crowsalot 1 and 2 are up for sale for sure because I'm positive they're boys. $5 ea.

Just a quick lil' bump because I need to know by this weekend. I'll be selling at swaps.

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

Okay peeps, any bird cooling tips? It's so hot out there and while I was out running errands two of my girls jumped in and got stuck in the garden. I don't care that they snacked on and dug up a fair amount of the garden, but they were without water for maybe a few hours!

Of course I got them fresh water with ice right away and they seem okay now. But all my chooks are super hot. And yesterday they did not appreciate an occasional sprinkle with the garden hose for cooling...

 

[labradoodlemama]

Okay peeps, any bird cooling tips? It's so hot out there and while I was out running errands two of my girls jumped in and got stuck in the garden. I don't care that they snacked on and dug up a fair amount of the garden, but they were without water for maybe a few hours!

Of course I got them fresh water with ice right away and they seem okay now. But all my chooks are super hot. And yesterday they did not appreciate an occasional sprinkle with the garden hose for cooling...

I have a mister. I also put watermelon, frozen corn, frozen blueberries, frozen strawberries out for them. You can also put frozen veg and fruit in bunt pan, cover with water and freeze, unmold and put in run. I am also going to try egg popsicles.

 

[roseschickies]

Well now.. did anyone else get the email about the survey and a free bag of feed... I didn't even answer one question just clicked the link and it said i was not eligible.. Whaaaaaa... My chickens aren't good enough for their free bag of feed.. Well You know what you can do with that BAG O FEED!!!! (*NODS*)


Here is the email:

Hi BYC Community!

One of our sponsors is running a survey to gather helpful information about our members' love of chickens! If you're a current chicken owner, please consider filling out the survey below to help one of our valued sponsors gather information about their customers. Once you fill it out, you'll learn who the survey is for, and be able to sign up to get a coupon for a FREE bag of feed!

Happy Clucking!
The BYC Team