Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[stake]

I can't be of help with the air predators, I free range my girls an roll the dice. However, I have a Roo now and they have lots of places to run and hide also.
As far as the cold, they do just fine if they have a draft free place that is sheltered from wind and the elements. It's also important that it is kept dry too.


My girls all came out of the coop today, and even the little silkies. I'm hoping to have some time off at the end of the week to adjust my run for the group. It looks like it will warm up for a couple days. Yay!
Queen Zelda is a looker!

@stake . I think Rusty other sister laid for me today. Unless Dheltzel thinks this is one of his girls that laid the egg. A beautiful soft green color! Here are my egg colors so far... (not including the speckled turkey egg)

those two would be considered (imho) olive ...I'm 'green' with envy....have to hatch some more for myself......glad Rusty-n- crew are working out for you!

 

[stake]

Stake. Here, cold is 0 degrees with a -15 windchill and windy. Thankfully I was able to work inside these days. (I am a roofer by trade)

Hey T :

Good to hear from you....do you get the lake effect snows?....-15 is a pisser....our wind chill was down in the low singles...but this evening was out with the pooch and the wind has temporarily laid down...crew was huddled pretty tightly...

 

[dheltzel]

I trapped and dispatched nearly 60 starlings this weekend. The snow covered ground makes them even more desperate for food and forces them to enter the coop, which they know is dangerous. While removing some from the trap, a Coopers hawk attacked from the outside, trying to get at the starlings fluttering in the trap. It was fooled by the glass panel into thinking it could reach into the trap for lunch. That is the closest I've ever been to a live hawk. I was startled by how unexpected and fast the attack was. I scolded the nearby guineas for not alerting on the hawk, but they ignore me (I think they blame me for the snow, and are holding a grudge).

Those hawks are welcome to all the starlings they can eat.

3 more chicks out tonight, an Olive Egger and (I think) 2 Jill Reese Legbars. They are still in there, so kind of hard to see,

Going to the PA Farm Show tomorrow. Looking forward to the poultry exhibits being back.

 

[dheltzel]

9 chicks are hatched for this week. The first of the year for several breeds:

• 1 lavender ameraucana (still resting in the incubator, seems weak)
• pair of welbars (female is silver, male not dry enough to tell for certain)
• trio of california greys
• 1 olive egger
• pair of Rees Legbars

 

[OneMountainAcres]

9 chicks are hatched for this week. The first of the year for several breeds:

• 1 lavender ameraucana (still resting in the incubator, seems weak)
• pair of welbars (female is silver, male not dry enough to tell for certain)
• trio of california greys
• 1 olive egger
• pair of Rees Legbars

Congratulations on your first hatch of the year! May they be the first of many this year (we all know they will be!)

 

[gonehencrazy]

This CL isn't handling the cold very well. Everyone is out and about today since it is sunny but she is inside shivering.

We are finishing the roof today to our run and hope to at least get plastic up for now to give them better shelter.

They get cracked corn. What else should I do for her?? I made them eggs yesterday. She wouldn't get off the framing of the run so I let her eat off the plate while I held it.

 

[LadyBehir]

Cate has laid 3 eggs so far this season. I am pretty sure that they are hers and not the new half Marans. Will be interesting to see what color eggs they lay. Niko and Colleen are also laying. I'm getting about 5-6 eggs a week now. Getting some submissive crouching from the other girls also, so maybe they'll start up again. And Dupli is doing his duty - the eggs are fertile.

Anyone here watch homesteading/gardening type YouTube shows? I am somewhat addicted to "50 Ducks in a Hot Tub". He's a Canadian that raises meat ducks for a homeless shelter. Very interesting guy.

 

[fisherlady]

This CL isn't handling the cold very well. Everyone is out and about today since it is sunny but she is inside shivering.

We are finishing the roof today to our run and hope to at least get plastic up for now to give them better shelter.

They get cracked corn. What else should I do for her?? I made them eggs yesterday. She wouldn't get off the framing of the run so I let her eat off the plate while I held it.

Check her over to make sure her reluctance to move is not due to an unseen injury...in particular I would check her feet for frostbite.
Make sure she has ample opportunity to drink warm water (not heated, just not frosty cold) and scrambled eggs are always a good treat, as can be warm oatmeal with raisins, peanuts and many high quality bird seeds...we use one available from Walmart as a treat, it is 15-17% protein so still worthwhile as a food, not just a junk food treat, canned tuna, baked or boiled fish and chicken are also favored treats for our birds.

 

[emorems0]

Trying to catch up here from the holidays... My crazy birds are out in the run during any weather. Yesterday was like 10 degrees outside and I'm trying to figure out why a bunch of birds are standing on one foot... the ground is cold (duh). But rather than hang out in the coop, they are all outside in the run on the cold ground. Still trying to find the time to finish up my little coop for the breeding pen. They just have 4x8 covered dog kennel for a run so I have it all wrapped up in blankets, tarps, and plastic. They seem to be handling the weather okay, but I'm hoping to get the roof and the doors on their coop this week. Little miss toddler barely gives me enough time to get out to feed the chickens and change out frozen waterers, and then with the weather being so cold, I can't drill/screw into the hardwood coop with the wood frozen anyway so my window of workable time is even smaller.

 

[stake]

9 chicks are hatched for this week. The first of the year for several breeds:

• 1 lavender ameraucana (still resting in the incubator, seems weak)
• pair of welbars (female is silver, male not dry enough to tell for certain)
• trio of california greys
• 1 olive egger
• pair of Rees Legbars

don't forget the three I took!!!...also talked to Blarney about LAV orps and she seemed to have some trepidation over the perceived ancillary recessive genetics collateral to the LAV color...I dunno....I'll be trying some out....