Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

Pics
Date sort Score sort
Plantnerd said:
Hi all. I’m new to this site and just found this forum. I’m in SE PA about an hour outside Philly. I haven’t posted much but I’ve been doing a lot of reading. I have spent years taking care of chickens at garden centers I’ve worked at but this upcoming spring will be my first official flock. I’m looking to maintain a flock of 30 or so Dual Purpose breeds Jersey Giants, Naked Necks, Black Australorps, White Rocks, and either New Hamps or Buckeyes. This will strictly be a utility flock. I have no intention of keeping chickens as pets only as food. I am wondering if anyone knows of any upcoming poultry shows in the area? I would like to start this flock with good genetics as opposed to hatchery stock but I have to be realistic about pricing and availability. Any and all advice is appreciated. Thank you in advance.
Click to expand...
:welcome Howdy neighbor! Welcome from Lincoln University area, PA (southern Chester County, 5 miles east of Oxford). I live right next to the college, whereabouts are you? I’m afraid I don’t know of any upcoming shows in the area, but if you find somewhere to get nice Jersey Giants, please let me know, they are my favorite. If not, maybe we can split the shipping costs bringing some in from a breeder.

I breed a mix of Jersey Giant, Marans, Brahma, Cochin, and Easter Egger, my birds aren’t “performance grade” in any category yet, but my main immediate goal is improved immune system. They are nice big birds, especially the boys, and good winter layers. My flock is Marek’s positive so I don’t trade birds (well, new ones can come IN but none go OUT), but you are welcome to some free hatching eggs anytime. Since you like large birds, you should also know there is someone in Parkesburg clearing out her whole flock of Brahmas, they are advertised on Facebook (Oxford PA Farm and Livestock group) and they look pretty nice.

Again, welcome and God bless!
 
VictoriaTemple said:
:welcome Howdy neighbor! Welcome from Lincoln University area, PA (southern Chester County, 5 miles east of Oxford). I live right next to the college, whereabouts are you? I’m afraid I don’t know of any upcoming shows in the area, but if you find somewhere to get nice Jersey Giants, please let me know, they are my favorite. If not, maybe we can split the shipping costs bringing some in from a breeder.

I breed a mix of Jersey Giant, Marans, Brahma, Cochin, and Easter Egger, my birds aren’t “performance grade” in any category yet, but my main immediate goal is improved immune system. They are nice big birds, especially the boys, and good winter layers. My flock is Marek’s positive so I don’t trade birds (well, new ones can come IN but none go OUT), but you are welcome to some free hatching eggs anytime. Since you like large birds, you should also know there is someone in Parkesburg clearing out her whole flock of Brahmas, they are advertised on Facebook (Oxford PA Farm and Livestock group) and they look pretty nice.

Again, welcome and God bless!
Click to expand...
I’m in Coatesville so not too far from you or Parkersburg. The Brahmas are pretty but just not for me. I have no desire to clean feathery feet all the time. I am looking for large birds though. This is why I’d like to try to find good breeders to buy from rather than a hatchery. Even in pictures you can tell there is a size difference hatchery and real breeder stock. I’m not looking to show or sell birds. If I have to go the hatchery route, I’m sure I could improve size through selective breeding but that takes time. Where did you get your Jersey Giants from? Can I ask about the Mareks in a science nerd kind of way? How did you find out you had it? Do you vaccinate any new stock you get? Do you know how your birds contracted it? Sorry for all the questions. You can read all you want about it but none of these questions can be answered by an article. I will keep you updated if I find a breeder of giants.
 
Plantnerd said:
Hi all. I’m new to this site and just found this forum. I’m in SE PA about an hour outside Philly. I haven’t posted much but I’ve been doing a lot of reading. I have spent years taking care of chickens at garden centers I’ve worked at but this upcoming spring will be my first official flock. I’m looking to maintain a flock of 30 or so Dual Purpose breeds Jersey Giants, Naked Necks, Black Australorps, White Rocks, and either New Hamps or Buckeyes. This will strictly be a utility flock. I have no intention of keeping chickens as pets only as food. I am wondering if anyone knows of any upcoming poultry shows in the area? I would like to start this flock with good genetics as opposed to hatchery stock but I have to be realistic about pricing and availability. Any and all advice is appreciated. Thank you in advance.
Click to expand...
Welcome! I'm to the north of you, up in Lehigh County. Nice to have you here!
 
Plantnerd said:
Hi all. I’m new to this site and just found this forum. I’m in SE PA about an hour outside Philly. I haven’t posted much but I’ve been doing a lot of reading. I have spent years taking care of chickens at garden centers I’ve worked at but this upcoming spring will be my first official flock. I’m looking to maintain a flock of 30 or so Dual Purpose breeds Jersey Giants, Naked Necks, Black Australorps, White Rocks, and either New Hamps or Buckeyes. This will strictly be a utility flock. I have no intention of keeping chickens as pets only as food. I am wondering if anyone knows of any upcoming poultry shows in the area? I would like to start this flock with good genetics as opposed to hatchery stock but I have to be realistic about pricing and availability. Any and all advice is appreciated. Thank you in advance.
Click to expand...
Hmm, SE PA, like plants and chickens, I feel like I should know this person . . .

Welcome to the group. I find this group of people much more knowledgeable/friendly/accessible/etc than the FB poultry pages, though I do participate there as well. People here are just fun, I guess is the best way to describe them. I am in northern Chester County.
The nearest poultry show of any size is in Lebanon, but I have never been there. Google poultry shows and you will find some. The breeders at shows are mostly very picky about their stock, and even who they choose to sell to, but you can at least get names and maybe contact info. Getting quality stock of any of those breeds will not be as east as you think. They are mostly all handled by large hatcheries that breed for high egg production and mostly correct color. Any other breed qualities are not important in a for-profit hatchery.
You might consider specializing a little and finding a breed that is not locally popular, but historically significant. I would suggest you consider Delawares, and a fairly local hatchery has some excellent ones: https://www.deerrunfarmmd.com/pages/delaware
If you restrict where you get your birds from, you can be a lot more sure of their disease free state. There are a number of significant diseases in this area, the worst being Marek's and the 2 Mycobacteria diseases, often called MS and MG. Deer Run tests from all those and vaccinates for Marek's (as do I). My "dual purpose" breeds are Marans and Ameraucanas, but I focus much more on egg (and bird) color than high meat production, that is why I am suggesting a breed I don't have for people that want to butcher their birds for meat.
If you do decide to focus on pretty eggs and sweet personalities, then the chicks I produce each spring are an excellent choice. Very few of my customers would even consider butchering one of their pets.

As for my original comment, my BS is in Horticulture and though gardening often takes a back seat to my poultry addiction, I do love to talk plants of any kind. My oldest daughter got me a mug that says "introverted, but willing to talk about plants" for Christmas. She said she thought of me when she saw it.

We do have occasional plant and gardening discussions here as well.
 
BullChick said:
:lol: I thought I knew them too, but it’s just a coincidence that someone in their area is a plant fanatic.
Click to expand...
Gardening is even more popular in SE PA than backyard chickens. There are a LOT of young families and parents looking for ways to get their kids more grounded in where their food comes from (and that there is a real world out there, beyond the internet). I view home gardens as sort of the "gateway drug" for backyard poultry. It is a logical, natural progression to go from tomatoes to eggs.
 
Plantnerd said:
I’m in Coatesville so not too far from you or Parkersburg. The Brahmas are pretty but just not for me. I have no desire to clean feathery feet all the time. I am looking for large birds though. This is why I’d like to try to find good breeders to buy from rather than a hatchery. Even in pictures you can tell there is a size difference hatchery and real breeder stock. I’m not looking to show or sell birds. If I have to go the hatchery route, I’m sure I could improve size through selective breeding but that takes time. Where did you get your Jersey Giants from? Can I ask about the Mareks in a science nerd kind of way? How did you find out you had it? Do you vaccinate any new stock you get? Do you know how your birds contracted it? Sorry for all the questions. You can read all you want about it but none of these questions can be answered by an article. I will keep you updated if I find a breeder of giants.
Click to expand...
I wrote a page about Marek's with some references and an explanation of why I am vaccinating all my chicks from now on.
http://welbars.com/doku.php?id=mareks
This year I am raising a LOT of replacement breeders so that my breeder flocks will be mostly vaccinated from here on out. I am so tired of having to keep 2 or 3 times the number of replacement birds as I ultimately need, to allow for heavy losses over winter. This winter will see whether the vaccine helps or not, but it can't hurt.
 
Today I have to say goodbye to our Jack Jack. I know he’s suffering and deserves to move on, somehow that doesn’t make it easier.

19A488A9-8795-47F5-9CF6-EFAEB0A30B9E.jpeg

91EB6DC6-8534-4A80-A7F6-986039E04E7E.jpeg
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom