Southern NY, Dutchess county and below

[JerseyHen]

What kind of chickens? Are your pets or do you eat them also? Happy New Year to you too.

I ordered a mix of 25 chicks this year (spitzhaubens, brabanter, orloff, hamburgs, golden lakenvelders, jaerhon, etc) and cream legbar and swedish flower eggs for hatching. I keep a flock around 40 as a rule, so they are not as "pet-like" as they would be if they were a small flock. We do have several favorites though that are more like pets to us. We do process and eat the extra roosters when I do hatchings and I keep meaning to do a flock of meaties, but life keeps interrupting my plans. We have a growing tractor for them so we don't get attached to any of them. I hatched quail last year, I won't do that again. Those things are like little bumblebees and are completely wild. Last year we were going to put in a small duck pond, but my health prevented it. Maybe this will be the year.

 

[JerseyHen]

On a totally unrelated note, anyone have any idea how to transport a pot bellied pig? We have to get 5 adult potbellied pigs to a rescue or find a home for them. They are not mine, but my cousins. They moved and were unable to take them with them. They also have a rental house that is available that has 2 coops, a small barn and paddock, garage, and lots of acreage in upstate (glen spey) NY (house is for sale also). Just throwing it out there in case anyone is interested.

 

[queenchick16]

Happy New Year everyone...
Welcome Mahlzeit....
It sure sounds like you are feeling better Christina. I am so glad.

Well the year didn't end well. My little rose comb bantie died yesterday. I only have one left form our second shipment Christina. She was a sweetheart. No one else is sick. She was just finishing a very heavy molt in this terrible weather.

Christina where did you order from? I am down to 13. Richard wants it down to 10. Like I listen to him....
I have my order ready to go for my gardens this year .. Got a catalog from Territorial seed company. They have some neat things. I'm going to try a few.im also sticking with some of my favorites from Burpee. The Easy peasy and mascarade potatoes worked great last year.
I had 3 new raised beds built this past fall that I can't wait to fill. I wanted another cold fram but my friend never got around to it. Do you believe I'm still getting spinach from my fall crop?

I'm so looking forward to the poultry conference in a few weeks..Maybe a couple of babies will jump into the back of the car. I'll bring a cage just in case.
Roberta, did you go and save those 25 chicks that someone dumped at a vets office in Nassau ? I figured for sure you would have.

 

[Mahlzeit]

Thanks for the welcome. I'm sorry to hear about your bantam. I saw those chicks on the news I wish they were a little closer to me I would have taken them.

 

[JerseyHen]

Happy New Year everyone...
Welcome Mahlzeit....
It sure sounds like you are feeling better Christina. I am so glad.

Well the year didn't end well. My little rose comb bantie died yesterday. I only have one left form our second shipment Christina. She was a sweetheart. No one else is sick. She was just finishing a very heavy molt in this terrible weather.

Christina where did you order from? I am down to 13. Richard wants it down to 10. Like I listen to him....
I have my order ready to go for my gardens this year .. Got a catalog from Territorial seed company. They have some neat things. I'm going to try a few.im also sticking with some of my favorites from Burpee. The Easy peasy and mascarade potatoes worked great last year.
I had 3 new raised beds built this past fall that I can't wait to fill. I wanted another cold fram but my friend never got around to it. Do you believe I'm still getting spinach from my fall crop?

I'm so looking forward to the poultry conference in a few weeks..Maybe a couple of babies will jump into the back of the car. I'll bring a cage just in case.
Roberta, did you go and save those 25 chicks that someone dumped at a vets office in Nassau ? I figured for sure you would have.

I am feeling much better. The stenosis is still there, but is opening a bit so the headaches, dizziness, and blurred vision have gone done accordingly. The disease itself is affecting me less secondary to the prednisone, so that is also good and they are tapering me off the predisnone so the symptoms from that are going down now too. I hope that after they get me off the meds that the disease is in remission. That would be the ideal situation. In the mean time, planning all kinds of crazy projects keeps me positive and looking forward to 2014.

My birds from our order didn't do well either. I have decided that it was probably a vitamin E deficiency. By the time I figured it out I got one to recover. I am not sure why, they all eat proper layer feed. Perhaps they were just all so weak from the bad weather and long shipping? There were too many deaths for it to be mareks. I mean vaccine failure is one thing, but this was too many to have been that, unless they never actually vaccinated them. It still could have been botulism. It only affected my lighter and younger birds. They do forage in an area that is a bit swampy, so it wouldn't be a stretch. Oddly all of the birds I hatched out from my own stock did fine. Hybrid vigor, I suppose (although the pure dark brahmas are fine too). If I have another death I will have a necropsy done to be sure.

I am trying Ideal again since that is the only place to get what I want, but I am also going to order from Myers in PA again (I have a credit with them, so meaties and whatever else jumps into the cart). I ordered eggs from muddyhooffarms. They are in Maine and are NPIP, so I thought I would give it a try (cream legbars and swedish flowers). I want to go to the congress... looks like it will take me right through Wethersfield so I could stop at comstock ferre and co seed store...

I ordered my sunflowers from territorial and the rest from bakers creed rareseeds.com. I am going to go to their historic seed farm (http://www.rareseeds.com/get-to-know-baker-creek/comstock-ferre/) in CT one of these weekends, but also for the festival they have there in May and October (http://www.rareseeds.com/heirloom-festival/). They have a seed store there (spells big trouble for me). So many neat things. We really should do some seed swapping. I want to get the coconut ice sunflowers from burpee. They look amazing. I have a patch just for sunflowers this year. Should be fun. I. Can't. Wait. For. Spring... although it is nice to get a break from the weeding and stuff for a bit.

 

[queenchick16]

Christina, you have to let me know when you are going to the seed co. I'll meet you there. Are you going to the conference by yourself? I'm going up early Saturday and staying over. The room has two queen size beds. We can easily fit 4.Unfortunately the tub and closet are reserved for chicks. loretta is taking the trip with me. If you'd like to crash with us you are welcome. It was a nice time last year.
I'll let you know what I'm getting as far as seeds go. I'm putting my order in today.
All the girls I hatched myself have done great also.my next purchase will be The south American birds that are related to the aruacana. Won't be til early spring, unless there is something I can't live without at the conference.
Everyone be safe if you are going out in this storm.

 

[JerseyHen]

Christina, you have to let me know when you are going to the seed co. I'll meet you there. Are you going to the conference by yourself? I'm going up early Saturday and staying over. The room has two queen size beds. We can easily fit 4.Unfortunately the tub and closet are reserved for chicks. loretta is taking the trip with me. If you'd like to crash with us you are welcome. It was a nice time last year.
I'll let you know what I'm getting as far as seeds go. I'm putting my order in today.
All the girls I hatched myself have done great also.my next purchase will be The south American birds that are related to the aruacana. Won't be til early spring, unless there is something I can't live without at the conference.
Everyone be safe if you are going out in this storm.

What, pray tell, is this south american bird? I am intrigued.

I am not sure if I will be alone, with kid, or with kid and hubby yet. I threw it out there yesterday. I think I almost want to go alone so I can just do/go where ever I want. I was thinking of driving out early saturday for the show, then staying in Wethersfield Saturday night (where the seed store is) and pittering around the old downtown on Sunday and returning to NJ Sunday afternoon. It would be great to meet up with you there at the show and in Wethersfield. We might finally get to have that cup of coffee... lol. There are antique shops and historic buildings and such there. The seed store is not open on Saturday, so an overnight is necessary.

 

[jpefein]

Question for the group. I live in Westchester county and this is my first winter with chickens I have four silkies. I just ordered a new coop which wil have electricity. It unfortunately does not arrive until Monday. At least it will be here for the second cold night. But tomorrow will be close to 0 degrees. Is it too cold for the silkies. Do I need to bring them in to my garage? They are currently in a trixie coop. Thank you for your guidance

 

[lalany]

I've never done a blizzard with chickens( not even substantial snow) . Any advice is welcome. I put a tarp around the house part of the coop. We do not have a heat source for our coop.

 

[Lapeerian]

This thread has been a little slow, so I'll chime in from upstate with some common advice. If they have deep bedding/ hay and can huddle together, they should be fine. Be careful not to close the coop too much, need ventilation to remove the moisture buildup from droppings and breathing. Moisture will cause frostbite, most common on large comb breeds. Lack of ventilation will also lead to respiratory problems. make sure they have access to non-frozen water, but remember that water in the coop adds to moisture buildup too. Corn is also known to "heat" them, so is a nice treat in this cold snap. The energy it takes to digest corn increases their core body temp (which is why corn is avoided in summer heat). Some feed other warm treats, such as oatmeal. If your chickens are messy eat/drinkers, any wattles that get wet will also get frostbite. My Roos usually have that problem. Block any bitter cold wind from creating drafts that blow directly on the chickens. They will huddle and fluff up to keep warm. If they have been living outside this long, they should be fine. Of course the island tends to have more moderate temps than upstate. Keep an eye on them, if any appear poorly, move them to garage or basement that is slightly warmer without being your 70* livingroom. LOL. Good luck and don't worry too much, they are pretty hardy.
ETA: I have a 6x8 hoop coop on wheels, so have it parked inside my 36x48 horse pole barn that has open eaves with 6' overhang. Some of the chickens roost 10' up in the barn rafters instead of the coop and have survived, this is their second winter. Those are my "light" breeds up there, not known as winter hardy.