Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[Blarneyeggs]

Emorems, yup, I vote fox, sneaky buggers.

Anne, AI is a respiratory disease so swollen sinuses and eyes, sneezing, ect. But, with this hi path variety, the chief symptom is death. That's how quickly it spreads and takes over.

 

[chiques chicks]

Emorems, yup, I vote fox, sneaky buggers.

Anne, AI is a respiratory disease so swollen sinuses and eyes, sneezing, ect. But, with this hi path variety, the chief symptom is death. That's how quickly it spreads and takes over.

Agreed. Death is generally the symptom of the current strain. It is highly contagious among flocks.

As stated earlier, for some reason it is more prevalent in commercial flocks than backyard flocks. Purely hypothesis as to why.

They aren't even sure of the pathway of contamination at this point. The wild bird theory is only a theory. Nothing has been proven. It's been 30+ years since our major outbreak here and biosecurity has been high since then, but last time I don't even remember them testing backyard flocks, they just came in and killed them to protect the major commercial producers, understandably, since commercial poultry is huge in Lancaster county.

 

[Chaos18]

So this is a question for those of you who know more about coop ventilation than I do. Does this sound like enough ventilation to you? Coop is 6'x6' roughly 18" to roost and another 18" above the roost to the ventilation. Ventilation is all the way around the top of the coop starts at 10" at the front down to 4" at the back with 1/2" hardware cloth over it so no sneaky buggers can sneak in.

 

[winc564]

Hubs and I were just talking about the egg shortage and avian flu last night and I've been trying to figure out how we could possibly cover the new run for better biosecurity (there is a tree/shrub in there so we'd have to go really tall). Then I came across this article and it made me feel much better.

http://www.naturalnews.com/049905_bird_flu_factory_farming_chicken_health.html

I was reading that not only will there be a shortage of eggs, but also of turkey for the holidays...I was considering raising some turkey poults.


Exciting weekend. My husband has started sweating the prospect of building bigger coop. Frankly, I understand, we have our plate pretty full this summer. We checked out a few local feed stores that sell coops, but I kept insisting that buying a shed seemed like more bang for our buck. We stopped at his aunt's store - she sells Amish furniture - where they had a few display sheds. Really liked what I saw, but was worried about the cost. Turns out, one particular shed has been in their inventory for a few years and they would like to be rid of it. Our uncle is contacting the supplier to see how much he can reduce the price and when it could be delivered! I'm certain that it will be much more secure than anything we could build, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed and saying a few prayers for how much they will reduce it.

 

[wingstone]

Quote: some places are putting a limit on how many eggs can be bought at a time.
my egg sales have doubled since the store raised prices.

i think turkey will be pricey for the holidays. doubt you will see those .99 a pound sales..
thinking this may be a good year for me to push duck and other meat's.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

We used some chicken compost in our garden. Some sprouts started to pop up were we didn't plant anything. It looks like our garden will have many pumpkin plants this year lol. We gave our chickens some pumpkins last year and I guess some seeds were buried in the mud and poop.

We just threw some chicken poop in our garden yesterday. Today, the corn is popping up, the sugar snap peas are up, the green beans are exploding lol. Is it coincidence? Lol

Welcome! What county are you in?
I had a surprise pumpkin plant too next to my porch. I'm just going to leave it there for kicks. I had a pumpkin on the porch that the girls were eating and now I got a surprise in spring.

Good news! My husbands landlord let me plant a garden behind our work building where there is lots of full sun.

Bad news : I now have poison ivy blisters on my arms (I did wear gloves!). Any body have any good home remedies for Poison ivy? I found some jewel weed yesterday, I will have to track down some more today at the park. Sshhh, don't tell anyone I'm stealing...,

we had a surprise pumpkin last year. Used it for a jack o lantern. It tasted awful!

For the poison ivy, try some tea tree oil. It'll dry it out and dull the itch.

 

[wingstone]

Quote: plantain will take the itch out, and may help to dry it up..... glad I do not get that stuff..

 

[stake]

Emorems, yup, I vote fox, sneaky buggers.

Anne, AI is a respiratory disease so swollen sinuses and eyes, sneezing, ect. But, with this hi path variety, the chief symptom is death. That's how quickly it spreads and takes over.

Ditto on the Fox....the only other critter that could/would carry a bird of is a coyote...and they will be back....my two cents....

 

[fisherlady]

Ditto on the Fox....the only other critter that could/would carry a bird of is a coyote...and they will be back....my two cents....

They are back in our area... and causing problems for some. we hear them every night. Glad we have 8 ft chain link around our paddocks! ...though I am waiting for them to try to breach it. I keep a shotgun and a .357 available at all times now.

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

We just threw some chicken poop in our garden yesterday. Today, the corn is popping up, the sugar snap peas are up, the green beans are exploding lol. Is it coincidence? Lol
we had a surprise pumpkin last year. Used it for a jack o lantern. It tasted awful!

For the poison ivy, try some tea tree oil. It'll dry it out and dull the itch.

Tried that, still not as effective as jewel weed. And I love tea tree oil!

plantain will take the itch out, and may help to dry it up..... glad I do not get that stuff..

Thanks, I know I have some of that growing. Are you still doing the meaties wing?

Embarrassing for me, funny for the rest of you. I'm started getting itchy right where my underwear meets my thigh and above my waistband. Sure enough, I got poison ivy there too. I'm pretty sure it was from adjusting my now-too-big pants when I was pulling the weeds. Nothing more attractive than a grown woman scratching down her pants!