Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[Chaos18]

How will I ever get the lungs out of a dove?

Very carefully. Most people will just remove the breasts because the rest of the bird doesn't have enough meat on it to bother with.

 

[BullChick]

Ohhhhhh!

 

[dheltzel]

How long do pea eggs take to hatch? Are you looking to sell Peafowl, or just hoard them for yourself?

They take 28 days, like ducks and turkeys. So far, only 1 peachick has hatched and I'm keeping him/her and trying to get it tame so it can run free on the farm. If I get more to hatch, I will likely try to sell them.

 

[LadyJane8]

Our first egg!! Presumably from one of our ISA Browns, just over 16 weeks.

 

[Chaos18]

Our first egg!! Presumably from one of our ISA Browns, just over 16 weeks.

Congrats

 

[BullChick]

Our first egg!! Presumably from one of our ISA Browns, just over 16 weeks.

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[LadyJane8]

Some recent pictures of our small flock hanging out in their coop and the run my hubby built, eating raisin snacks and taking a morning walk around the yard before I went to work and the heat took over.

 

[BullChick]

 

[TillyPeeps]

Our 'Eggers coop' was stick built by DH and I. Elevated platform is 12x16 with enclosed coop being 12x12 with the roofed 4 ft porch. The porch is a wonderful spot and my favorite place to sit and visit with the birds.
Walls are insulated, eaves are open with sturdy hardware cloth to protect from varmits, windows were all free 'reclaims' from demolition projects we had stashed for later use, and actually so was the door, someone was replacing their old basement steel entry door and we snagged the old one.
There is expanded metal grating lag bolted over each window and a metal 1" bar that slides through 2 giant eye bolts on either side of the door and locks to provide 'bear security' since DH did find one sitting on the porch one morning!

General layout is step through man door into a people area which is about 3ft deep, to both right and left are deep shelves with broody hutches underneath of them. These are about 2.5 x 3 each and allows for stacking of as many as 4 broodies at a time in that area, though I think that only happened once, usually it is just 2 or 3. Then the main portion of the coop is one big open area, with the option of hanging fence panels in the middle to make it 2 smaller ones if needed. The fenced wall between the people area and coop has 2 doors in it so each coop would have separate access. The doors do not go to the floor, we leave a 10" or so step over sill so that when we go in and out a chick doesn't run out unnoticed. Little ones would have trouble jumping over at all and bigger ones get noticed doing it.
Each side of the coop has a pop door out into the covered run and the run can also be divided by adding a 10ft dog panel into it near the back corner which would provide a 300sq ft run or so to each coop.
A few pictures of the coop...

Thanks so much for the detailed information. It's very impressive setups. I will try to copy some good features in the future.

I spent whole day calling rental properties around skaneateles NY, no one will let me have chickens. There are very limited available apartments and houses there, so if the local farms would not let me rent their ground, chickens have to stay with my BIL. I guess it is not appropriate to ask them back in the future, since they will be their family pets. I hope Jess will have some great chicks available next year.

 

[chickachickayea]

was into it all the way yesterday!! 10 quart & 7 pints of fresh peach pie filling. we will be doing the rest up as slice/pieces in an extremely light syrup. This filling is so good, i have made 3 peach crisps with it already!! ****Stake****..these are the blackberries, we have 2 quart already..most will be ripening in just a few days. DH put this together because the birds are so bad this year, they are getting into everything! . He used 1x2's and just stapled the netting to it. He did leave 2 places for picking access. We just use clothes pins to close the openings. There are hooks to hold the netting to the ground,(made hooks from old tomato cages). A few birds have gotten in there, not sure how though..we have checked everywhere. They don't do too much damage when they do get stuck, they just freak out trying to get free. It is tall enough for us not to have to bend over too far, well not for me anyhow, not even 5'... And because you all know how I LOVE to share pics... ..here are a couple of the girls and new additions. I fenced off an area of the run to grow veggies for the girls..then in the fall when all is finished, the fence will be removed and it will be party time for them!! hahaha We will be keeping the smaller coop in there for broodies, newbies and meaties. The dog cage you see in this pic was for Cordon, she has finally come to her senses and decided to join the rest of the bunch and lay eggs instead of going brood-crazy...I do not have a rooster,(yet), so no fertile eggs for her. we have some projects yet to do on the coop-run. Of course I will post those pics when we get those accomplished.. Their ground is like concrete out in the open area...I have to turn it over , have just been waiting for some rain to soften it up a bit...still waiting . sorry, I need to get a better pic of these two..they are sooo affectionate!! I love it!..I raised them in the basement this spring and was able to really give them hands on rearing. It paid off, they love to be petted and held, even now in their 'teen-age'. They are barred rock, picked them up at Calico creek when we had gotten our meaties. Their names are 'Thelma & Louise'. These girls are the only two I have received from a hatchery, it will be interesting to see how they differ from our 'breeders' girls. **Does anyone have experience with wyandottes and their production years? My BLW girls are 3yrs now, was curious to find out how old some of the birds you have and their production rate... Thank you all for your tolerance with me and my inability to control my picture sharing, it has been awhile.

I love your berry setup and these photos!

Hi PA friends, I'm in Kutztown, Berks County. Recent transplant from Brooklyn NY. Love it here!!! All my best to all you PA chickeneers.

Lived in Kutztown during my college years, has a special place in my heart... Welcome!

[COLOR=0000FF]I've read several times that Pumpkin seeds are a natural dewormer, and the chickens seem to love them.[/COLOR] [COLOR=0000FF]When it gets this hot, we freeze water in 2 liter jugs or gallon containers, then we put them into the runs. The birds will gather around them ~and then they get nasty so we hose them off before putting them back in freezer. [/COLOR]

Yeah I try to give them a few frozen water bottles throughout the day, I cut a gallon jug in half to make a big ice block for their waterer, and fill a plant water catcher with ice blocks and cubes for then to wade in (which they mostly dip their beaks in...)