Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[chiques chicks]

If wing has a bunch of white rock hens (which she does, I've seen them) and raises meat birds for sale, I'm not understanding why she doesn't get a few Cornish roos and start her own line of broilers.

 

[SilkieSensation]

 
oooo..I would like to see those silver pencils.. .....i like them...

I would love to share them with you but you would be back into the same boat you were last summer.... these birds come from a VERY broody line, in fact one of the pullets who was hatched in May is now setting in a nest box and has been glaring at me for over a week because I haven't given her hatching eggs!
Her 5 'aunts' hatched a total of 12 times this year, and one of her 'aunts' is also in a box waiting for another batch of eggs....

Send me some eggs with broody genes...lol

 

[fisherlady]

If wing has a bunch of white rock hens (which she does, I've seen them) and raises meat birds for sale, I'm not understanding why she doesn't get a few Cornish roos and start her own line of broilers.

Finding good quality breeding stock of white Cornish is rough. I did find a farm in New England with them but I was given these WR eggs to hatch so didn't have room for more breeds yet.
Cornish are difficult to breed well because of their body shape, so would definitely be a project to get the numbers high enough for retail purposes, though I would do it for my personal use in a minute if I had the space.

 

[Kinmera]

I would love to share them with you but you would be back into the same boat you were last summer.... these birds come from a VERY broody line, in fact one of the pullets who was hatched in May is now setting in a nest box and has been glaring at me for over a week because I haven't given her hatching eggs!
Her 5 'aunts' hatched a total of 12 times this year, and one of her 'aunts' is also in a box waiting for another batch of eggs....

If they are very broody - I would definitely be interested in some of them =)

 

[Avlana]

Would anyone be interested in a small flock of hen and pullets? I have 3 chocolate bantam wyandotte females. One of the hens is my avatar. The Wyandotte bantams lay lots of eggs and big for their size. They're also fantastic mothers. I also have a blue wheaten ameraucana pullet and a blue wheaten ameraucana cockerel, they're about 3 months old. I'm moving unexpectedly and need to find them a good home, protected from predators. I'm located need Harrisburg and York. I'm really sad to see them go

 

[cglessner]

we are planting 2x's the amount of veggies (pumpkins/squash/peppers..etc..), so that we can subsidize the birds diets..that includes the turkeys and meat birds..I feel they should have a variety of things in their diets too. The better they eat, the better we do!  Going to be investing in different "wheat" seed to grow in the garden in the "off" season to also add to the birds/rabbits diets.

We are getting rabbits this spring for breeding/meat/pelts..going to be doing some experiments with "fodder" and other grasses for their food. 

We have also planted fruits trees & berry bearing bushes..going to be adding more as we go. The ultimate/long term plan is turning this property into a self-sustaining garden, through "compatible planting", livestock and insects (pollinators-bees/butterflies).  Also into water collection & alternative "power"/ energy sources (wind/solar/wood), anything to help keep the $$ out-put to the most minimum...a lot of work,  but extremely satisfying and we become more self sustained..finding others who enjoy knowing where/how their food comes to the table is not hard...just start talking chickens with people and the next thing you know you are swapping/trading with your neighbors..they have goat milk/butter/cheese and you have canned goods, bees= honey...it is awesome!

This thread/website is a great start to finding people who are in your more immediate area.  There are a lot of very nice folks I have gotten to know. They have done so much to help us get this far.  
We LOVE yard sales..did 99% of Christmas shopping that way this year..and on-line auctions! Craigslist is great too, just have to be careful..that goes for anything really. We were only able to complete the coop because of materials purchased from these avenues..in truth, most items we were able to get for FREE..just have to take into consideration GAS & TIME...
Going to be roofing the run next spring from materials received free or on the extreme-cheap..we couldn't do this any other way. 

I just turn eggs...it is a pain sometimes to remember. I mark the eggs with numbers so i "know" how many times I have turned/rolled them..Some days they would only get turned once, but it was all good in the end...
i would think you could pick-up a 'new' turner for $100..just seems like a lot for something ''used'..JMO, but what do I know? ..sorry Ray..i really didn't help much did I..geesh..

I planted a lot of everything for my chickens but they won't eat broccoli, cabbage, kale, or collards. Should I be cooking them first?
Do you ferment grain for your chickens?
Thanks for all of the information. I have a long way to go.

 

[dheltzel]

Would anyone be interested in a small flock of hen and pullets? I have 3 chocolate bantam wyandotte females. One of the hens is my avatar. The Wyandotte bantams lay lots of eggs and big for their size. They're also fantastic mothers. I also have a blue wheaten ameraucana pullet and a blue wheaten ameraucana cockerel, they're about 3 months old. I'm moving unexpectedly and need to find them a good home, protected from predators. I'm located need Harrisburg and York. I'm really sad to see them go

I'm sorry you have to move and leave them behind. I wish I had a place for them, especially the Ameraucanas, I love the wheaten color.

 

[wingstone]

If wing has a bunch of white rock hens (which she does, I've seen them) and raises meat birds for sale, I'm not understanding why she doesn't get a few Cornish roos and start her own line of broilers.

Well why don't you just ask wing?
A couple of reasons, I had that combo before and the rooster went camping at an early age, was very mean. Good stock is hard to find and even if you do, I found the few that I did hatch just took to long to grow out...need to know the real combo's that goes into Cornish, cause obviously it is not just those two breeds.

Silkie all of my white rocks are good broodies also, they are young and only started laying in late summer, but I have had 4 broodies since then that all hatched most of what they were sitting on.. and mine are hatchery quality, guess they forgot to tell them to sop breeding for broodies.

 

[Kinmera]

Finding good quality breeding stock of white Cornish is rough. I did find a farm in New England with them but I was given these WR eggs to hatch so didn't have room for more breeds yet.
Cornish are difficult to breed well because of their body shape, so would definitely be a project to get the numbers high enough for retail purposes, though I would do it for my personal use in a minute if I had the space.

This is why I took the offer for freedom Rangers. I figure by crossing them with both the orpingtons and the rocks, I will get a good decent bird for growth.

 

[LittleMissPurdy]

I would love to share them with you but you would be back into the same boat you were last summer.... these birds come from a VERY broody line, in fact one of the pullets who was hatched in May is now setting in a nest box and has been glaring at me for over a week because I haven't given her hatching eggs!
Her 5 'aunts' hatched a total of 12 times this year, and one of her 'aunts' is also in a box waiting for another batch of eggs....

omgosh...never mind..good grief. I do really like the silver pencil feathers..very nice for tying flies

...
are yours wyadottes?...they are a broody breed huh?! ..we are really looking at the different breeds for a "not so broody" type...I am still looking at breeding a wyandotte rooster to the girls..to make pure BLRW and Marans/wyandotte mixes...interested in what those birds will do..eggs & broodiness

I planted a lot of everything for my chickens but they won't eat broccoli, cabbage, kale, or collards. Should I be cooking them first?
Do you ferment grain for your chickens?
Thanks for all of the information. I have a long way to go.

haha, picky chickens...do I know it?! Mine will not eat carrots or celery..not even cooked! squash has to be cooked first..temperature doesn't matter, so I can give them stuff thawed from the freezer. they will only nit-pick if it is fresh..go figure

I ferment the chicken feed, some times i will add oats to their ferment ..anything is good really from what i have read..if you are making your own feed, you would have to know the nutrition values of each grain to make sure they are getting the right balance..but I don't believe adding a bit here and there throws things off too much. If you add too much extra flax seed to their mix, i have heard that it can throw off the flavor of the eggs.
No problem with the info sharing..gosh, i can't even begin to tell you how many questions I have thrown out here..hahaha, so many awesome people here to help. The only way we get through things is to help each other & share info. ..experiences..