Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[dheltzel]

Oh, i thought you'd had them longer than that. Speaking of CCLs, the babies from you are still doing good

the one little CCL is the runt of the group. She's very meek and tiny but she's still doing good. I think I'll name her Flora. She's like a delicate flower

Yup, a year ago I had 2 young pairs, now I have about 30 laying age pullets and 20+ pullets that are under a month old. I wish you were close enough to drive over and get another bunch of young ones.

I have noticed the CCL's are generally smaller than others breeds I raise, and Rhodebars are at the other end (larger and faster growing). I don't think they take longer to reach POL, they are just smaller when they get there. I seems like the eggs stay small for longer too, but eventually start getting larger.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

This has to be about the cutest thing I've ever seen!

Edited:I need to find the right page. It was the wrong thing

 

[LadyBehir]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/watch-vicious-fight-between-gangs-6543773

This has to be about the cutest thing I've ever seen!

I don't think that is the link you meant to post.

In other news, Dupli (no longer DupliCate since he turned out to be a roo) let me pet him today! The 4 little ones still run separate from the 6 original girls but don't usually let me near them. And it is a chore to get them into the run at night. It's like they don't understand the idea of what a door is. And Niko may be going broody again. Not going to do babies this time of year. Will try to break it if she really is going broody.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

I don't think that is the link you meant to post.


In other news, Dupli (no longer DupliCate since he turned out to be a roo) let me pet him today! The 4 little ones still run separate from the 6 original girls but don't usually let me near them. And it is a chore to get them into the run at night. It's like they don't understand the idea of what a door is. And Niko may be going broody again. Not going to do babies this time of year. Will try to break it if she really is going broody. 

I realized that. I apologize.

This one is right. I double checked it.

 

[LadyBehir]

Oh my, that is adorable!

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

Thanks, chickens are incredibly nosy!

It is a fine gravel, best thing we ever invested in for the run!

Cool! Can you tell me why you like it? I'm ready thinking about our next run and the setup....

He is quite the lady's man!
He gets so embarrassed when we pick him up in front of the girls... but he never gives us a bit of trouble And He comes running when you call his name.

That's awesome!

I need some advice from my pennsylvania peeps. 9 of 10 hens in my mixed flock are now regularly laying. With the help of ceramic eggs everyone lays in the nest boxes except my double laced barnevelder. We find her eggs nearly daily in the run here and there. She just started laying about 2 to 3 weeks ago. Should I be patient or is there something I can do to encourage her to lay in the proper spot? Any advice would be appreciated.

Wish I could help. I have one BA that over the summer was laying her eggs randomly in the yard. Not everyday, but occasionally. I think she didn't like that the broodys were in one of the nest boxes. She seems to have gone back to laying in one of the boxes. I would be patient, she may yet get the hang of it by watching the others.

 

[fisherlady]

Cool! Can you tell me why you like it? I'm ready thinking about our next run and the setup....
That's awesome!
Wish I could help. I have one BA that over the summer was laying her eggs randomly in the yard. Not everyday, but occasionally. I think she didn't like that the broodys were in one of the nest boxes. She seems to have gone back to laying in one of the boxes. I would be patient, she may yet get the hang of it by watching the others.

The gravel is easy to clean, it can be raked with a normal leaf rake (I like a small metal tined one for it) and as the birds dig holes in it (and they will!) you can just rake it smooth or keep a 5 gallon bucket of gravel somewhere as *patching* supply.

The gravel can be hosed down to clean it up some if it is under a roof and doesn't get rain to rinse through it, and it is great for drainage, and mud reduction, even standing water puddles aren't really muddy, they will just slowly drain through.

You can scatter lime over the gravel to control odor if needed and rinse it in or rake it over and sprinkle it with the hose to get rid of the dust.

It will pack in and need additional gravel added every couple of years, but not nearly as much as the original layer, the softer your original base is the more the gravel will settle initially. If you have a very soft area you should put in a base of a larger gravel (or any stone available) and pack it down (tamp it) first, then go with the finer layer.

We used treated deck boards (1x6) to line the perimeter of the run. It does double duty, it controls the gravel and it gives us a short protective bumper for tiny chicks ...which as you know is a common thing here, though not so important to other folks.

To us it was worth every penny...and our enclosed run is in the neighborhood of 800 sq ft or so, with over 300 under a carport type roof.

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

Awesome! Thanks for the info!

 

[fisherlady]

Well, just sold 7 of our 'teenagers'.... mixed emotion day...like cleaning out the coop and getting the money back for feed but sure miss having them running around. I hadn't advertised them yet but 2 ladies who bought from us before called me last week wanting to know if we had any available and these girls were very ready, these ladies live in central pa and work together and are willing to travel to get the birds, so I can be comfortable knowing they value their birds... I had just been dragging my feet about getting them advertised since camping season wasn't over and most folks want to meet on weekends to look at birds.
The ladies had fun choosing which hens they wanted and I enjoyed visiting with other chicken folks for a bit and these chickens are going to have a spoiled rotten life out in central pa... so I guess much more good than sad...

So time to go get pictures of the newest additions to get smiling again....

 

[stake]

I need some advice from my pennsylvania peeps. 9 of 10 hens in my mixed flock are now regularly laying. With the help of ceramic eggs everyone lays in the nest boxes except my double laced barnevelder. We find her eggs nearly daily in the run here and there. She just started laying about 2 to 3 weeks ago. Should I be patient or is there something I can do to encourage her to lay in the proper spot? Any advice would be appreciated.

IDK, chicken brains are real small....if it were me, I'd make a spot in the run for her to go to ....but she'll probably figure out the nesting box thing on her own....