Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[AnneInTheBurbs]

I have 3 cabinet incubators, 2 "good" desktops (Genesis and Brinsea eco 20), and a large "coolerbator" that serves as a dedicated hatcher. If I get good fertility (meaning not many clears to throw out early) I can do 288 per week. Clears increase that because I can reuse their space, but take away from the total number I can hatch because they take space for a week or 2.

It's definitely looking like a much busier year. For one thing, I'm selling chicks through Pughtown Agway during the "spring rush", not later summer and fall like last year. Right now, the only thing I'm not selling as fast as they hatch are turkeys. Probably because they are hatching far better than last year. I think turkeys are a little harder to incubate correctly and last year I learned how to do that.

Are your turkey poults doing ok? You gonna take some pics?

I had almost forgotten! Here they are! I could hardly believe she took them right outside this morning, even with the ground frozen. But I know she's a good Mama and she'll just sit on them when they need it.

I put a ramp in from the duckpen to the chicken pen today. Then another to get out to the run. I had to pick the first duck up, and put them on the ramp to encourage them. I was actually surprised to see the ducks had gone into their pen tonight after free ranging.

Yay! They surprise you sometimes, don't they?

We got our first egg today!!!!
I went out early this afternoon and four of my five girls ran out to greet me. I went into the hen house to see if Rosie (our Red Star) was ok and saw her actually starting to lay!
By the time I got my son--the little egg was in the nest box. My son had me scramble it up for him.
Do I put all the girls on layer feed now? Murphy's law-- I bought a fifty pound bag of starter yesterday since I thought it might be another month or two before we saw eggs!

Congratulations! That's always the best. I actually got 4 eggs from my girls yesterday! I don't provide additional lighting, and I think I only had one day or two where I didn't get any eggs. I think my Rhodebar is laying good is eggs now, they were mall at first as always. I'm not completely sure because I'm not outside enough to to see who is in the box when.

 

[BullChick]

Quote:

I had almost forgotten! Here they are! I could hardly believe she took them right outside this morning, even with the ground frozen. But I know she's a good Mama and she'll just sit on them when they need it.

I have an image of a mother sitting on her rambunctious toddler!

Quote: Yup

 

[LehighCounty4-H]

im setting my white barred rock rooster who bred with my black sex link! about a dozen eggs ssetting and may be getting some Muscovy duck eggs!! i am so excited!

 

[dheltzel]

I had almost forgotten! Here they are! I could hardly believe she took them right outside this morning, even with the ground frozen. But I know she's a good Mama and she'll just sit on them when they need it.





Yay! They surprise you sometimes, don't they?
Congratulations! That's always the best. I actually got 4 eggs from my girls yesterday! I don't provide additional lighting, and I think I only had one day or two where I didn't get any eggs. I think my Rhodebar is laying good is eggs now, they were mall at first as always. I'm not completely sure because I'm not outside enough to to see who is in the box when.

Nice mother hen you have there! I thing the gray one is probably a silver dappled or mottled silver dappled, the white one could be either a midget white or a royal palm.

 

[Lelanae]

Go ahead and feed the starter. Just buy a bag of oyster shell and keep a can or bowl of that available, they will eat it as needed. Starter is usually higher protein (which is good) and low calcium (good for the pullets that aren't laying yet). When this bag is finished, you can switch to layer for your next bag.

Makes good sense!
Thank you!

 

[OneMountainAcres]

Who raisers rabbits for meat? What do you do with the pelts? We're looking for some and curious what anyone here might have.

 

[emorems0]

Who raisers rabbits for meat? What do you do with the pelts? We're looking for some and curious what anyone here might have.

You are looking for pelts? We have American Blue meat rabbits, their fur is solid grey/blue. We'll finally be processing our first rabbits within the next month or so. We don't have any plans for the pelts yet, although the eventual plan is to talk with some of the people we met at a native American gathering last fall who seemed intetested in trading.

 

[dheltzel]

I finally got some egg color comparison pics. I'll call these first 2, "guess the Welbar".
They are arranged in vertical rows, the 4 breeds of dark egg layers in my flock: Welsummers, Black Copper Marans, Welbars, Bielefelders
(no fair reading the labels)





Now, to see if you are right, they are, from the left:
Welbars
Welsummers
Black Copper Marans
Bielefelders

As long as I was taking pics, here are Legbar eggs. One end of the tray is the regular CCL's the other end are the Reese line:


Please excuse the dirty eggs, they seem to like wading in a mudpuddle before going into the nestbox - I think they must have read about applying mud to improve their complexion.
Anyway, the Reese line are on the left (marked "RL").
The olive colored ones in the middle probably have some Welsummer in their ancestry, but are at least 3/4 CCL and still autosex fine. I thought I sold all the olive eggers I hatched last spring, but it turns out they look exactly like CCL's and one must have slipped into my CCL breeding pen.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

Hey everyone, my Maple isn't feeling great this morning. I started a thread in the emergencies section. Here's the link to the page. If anyone can check it out and tell me what you think, is really appreciate it. Thanks.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1080511/wheezing-hen#post_16512625

 

[TillyPeeps]

I finally got some egg color comparison pics. I'll call these first 2, "guess the Welbar".
They are arranged in vertical rows, the 4 breeds of dark egg layers in my flock: Welsummers, Black Copper Marans, Welbars, Bielefelders
(no fair reading the labels)




Now, to see if you are right, they are, from the left:
Welbars
Welsummers
Black Copper Marans
Bielefelders

As long as I was taking pics, here are Legbar eggs. One end of the tray is the regular CCL's the other end are the Reese line:


Please excuse the dirty eggs, they seem to like wading in a mudpuddle before going into the nestbox - I think they must have read about applying mud to improve their complexion.
Anyway, the Reese line are on the left (marked "RL").
The olive colored ones in the middle probably have some Welsummer in their ancestry, but are at least 3/4 CCL and still autosex fine. I thought I sold all the olive eggers I hatched last spring, but it turns out they look exactly like CCL's and one must have slipped into my CCL breeding pen.

Very impressive egg colors. I personally like the eggs from the other three than the Marans ones. I'm actually supprised the Marans eggs aren't the dirtiest because of their feathered feet.

I'm sure someone like me will love to get some the olive/green egg layer for their kids.