Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[WVduckchick]

Frozen nipples - this year I'm trying (and so far its working) heat cable submersed inside the pvc pipe that my vertical nipples are on. I have about 15' length of pipe with 8 nipples. So far, so good. I can't say how low of temps it will work in yet though.

 

[LadyBehir]

Hi guys. Our little wounded one, Jaebels, is doing great. Still the smaller of the 2, but growing nicely. Funny thing - my husband, who cannot remember any of the others' names, calls her Jezebel. Every time. So, that's her name from him.

He has taken to giving them a scoop of cat food mid-day. Maybe that's why they've FINALLY started laying again. Well, one of them has. Got my first egg since October 25 yesterday and another today. Looks like it's from the same girl. Dupli is much less rapey than Zippy was, so all the girls have feathers on their backs now. Good thing, because it looks like we're in for a proper winter.

 

[gonehencrazy]

GHC:

If your birds are winter hardy, there's no need to insulate....we've had a couple of quick drops in temps and chooks need to adjust....its perfectly normal to huddle up if it gets cold....try to limit the drafts a bit....about bullying....there's always going to be a pecking order and chooks will always be doing this....if not one, another....

is your bully, a hen or a roo...and if a roo, how old....I am having issues with too many roos in too close quarters....I put up will occasional fights...so they will all be warmer when the temps really get low....

you can always remove the bully for a few days then put them back...they will come back at the bottom of the pecking order and may lead to a different set of bullies.....my two cents

It's definitely Red sexlink hen that is the bully. Last night I moved the two out of the boxes and she jumped off the roost and started pecking them. I was thinking about separating her for a little since it's going to be warmer and she should be ok in the smaller coop solo. I def want to make sure that those two are getting enough to eat too. The bigger of the two youngsters was on the roost last night which is a good sign. Apparently my CCL and the small Red are getting bullied

 

[OneMountainAcres]

Enough of the snow melted the other day with the rain that everyone could come out to free range for a while. They really had a good time

The ducks have decided that the LOVE the turkeys They all tend to hang out together.

 

[dheltzel]

The ducks have decided that the LOVE the turkeys

They all tend to hang out together.

Hanging with those much larger turkeys probably makes them feel safer. A fully grown, irate turkey can be a scary thing to a predator that is unsure of the threat they might pose.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

Hanging with those much larger turkeys probably makes them feel safer. A fully grown, irate turkey can be a scary thing to a predator that is unsure of the threat they might pose.

Maybe that's it, but they do greet the turkeys just like they greet each other. They bob their heads, wag their tails, and make happy little trills (well, Cosmo makes happy hisses lol).

 

[kie4]

wow @Lelanae
  that's a great idea! I'm making a wall egg rack with some pieces of wood and a hole saw and I'm going to use the top row to put the last blown out egg from our chicken who was killed by a hawk on Friday. A place to keep eggs and also to remember our first layer Chuck.

I saw a syringe technique on YouTube and tried it, worked a treat! It blows out an egg with the tiniest of holes. Perfect for keeping Chuck's eggs and displaying them after Chuck is dead and gone.

 

[kie4]

It's the common consensus on BYC to put fake eggs in the nesting boxes to help chickens learn where to lay.
We have 2 chickens who have been laying for 1 week in the nesting boxes without fake eggs.
Yesterday a new layer came online, and laid outside of the nesting boxes in the coop.
To counter this I put a couple of fake eggs in each nesting box.

Now this morning I found 3 eggs in the corner of the run!

Should I remove the fake eggs from the nesting boxes? How does one deal with such a situation?

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

For those talking about saving blown out eggs....if you like to sew, I found these embroidery instructions on one of the egg decorating contest threads here, and it's not nearly as difficult as it looks. I have a dozen or so eggs, waiting to be embroidered, when I get time. I've done a couple simple ones to practice.
http://www.needlenthread.com/2013/03/hand-embroidery-on-eggs-index.html

That's incredible!! I'd love to make some ornaments for next year that way. You know, when I have time...

Hi guys. Our little wounded one, Jaebels, is doing great. Still the smaller of the 2, but growing nicely. Funny thing - my husband, who cannot remember any of the others' names, calls her Jezebel. Every time. So, that's her name from him.

He has taken to giving them a scoop of cat food mid-day. Maybe that's why they've FINALLY started laying again. Well, one of them has. Got my first egg since October 25 yesterday and another today. Looks like it's from the same girl. Dupli is much less rapey than Zippy was, so all the girls have feathers on their backs now. Good thing, because it looks like we're in for a proper winter.

Glad to hear she is doing well. How old is Dupli? So far, my Roo seems to be pretty gentle, so I am hopeful he will stay nice...

Enough of the snow melted the other day with the rain that everyone could come out to free range for a while. They really had a good time

The ducks have decided that the LOVE the turkeys

They all tend to hang out together.

Everybody is looking great! My chooks and turkeys were all over the exposed grass once that snow melted too! My chickens always follow the turkeys too. The turkeys are fine for the most part, but if there is food around, the one turkey hen tries to chase the chickens away. They're so silly.

It's the common consensus on BYC to put fake eggs in the nesting boxes to help chickens learn where to lay.
We have 2 chickens who have been laying for 1 week in the nesting boxes without fake eggs.
Yesterday a new layer came online, and laid outside of the nesting boxes in the coop.
To counter this I put a couple of fake eggs in each nesting box.

Now this morning I found 3 eggs in the corner of the run!

Should I remove the fake eggs from the nesting boxes? How does one deal with such a situation?

Keep the eggs in the boxes, and try to block off the corner where they started laying for a little while. Maybe put a board over the area. Hopefully they will get the idea. My girls have been laying the boxes, except for one who keeps laying on the straw bale that I left in the coop. But it doesn't bother me, I just remember to look around.

 

[kie4]

That's incredible!! I'd love to make some ornaments for next year that way. You know, when I have time...

Glad to hear she is doing well. How old is Dupli? So far, my Roo seems to be pretty gentle, so I am hopeful he will stay nice...

Everybody is looking great! My chooks and turkeys were all over the exposed grass once that snow melted too! My chickens always follow the turkeys too. The turkeys are fine for the most part, but if there is food around, the one turkey hen tries to chase the chickens away. They're so silly.

Keep the eggs in the boxes, and try to block off the corner where they started laying for a little while. Maybe put a board over the area. Hopefully they will get the idea. My girls have been laying the boxes, except for one who keeps laying on the straw bale that I left in the coop. But it doesn't bother me, I just remember to look around.

Thanks @AnneInTheBurbs , I'll block off that corner and see what we get tomorrow.