Virginia

[D'Angelo N Va.]

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sure, what do you want to know..we can help. Also, check out the other threads to BYC, such as coop design and raising chickens....lots more info.

 

[Gold Griffin Chicken Mom]

Nice weather for penguins!

Hello, everyone. I'm here in (snowy) Surprising Suffolk. I'm within a few miles of the NC line and US 58.

My flock is mostly hatchery stock. I have some mutts from my brother's hatchery stock. He sent eggs (via car) from Charleston, SC, and I hatched them. I hope as the new year starts that I will be able to visit some of the breeders around here for eggs or chicks. There seems to be very few chicken swaps in this area. I drove to Courtland in September and came home with a load of hay and 4 Ameracuana roosters (the "Gorgeous Boys": Nugget, Stew, Fried, and Cordon Bleu.) I'm doing a test hatch from some of the girls with the boys. Hopefully, we'll have a few Christmas babies!

I've enjoyed reading everything on BYC, but I must need to read more. I processed a rooster yesterday. It took about two hours from kill to clean up. Obviously I need practice! Due to the cold weather, I did everything (kill included) in the kitchen. The mess was contained as planned, but plucking a black-feathered bird took a lot longer than I remembered! I ended up skinning him. He's resting in cold water until I get to him today.

Is there anyone near Suffolk that raises and sells Ameracuana, Dominique, RIR, or any variety Plymouth Rock?

 

[Gallusfarm]

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Hey there, and welcome. It's snowing there already?! LOL, we had the same thing happen on our first processing attempt. Ended up skinning it. I bet he'll be delicious no matter what. Yes, swaps are in Courtland 2X year and there was one in Frankiln in the fall, think they're gonna try to do that more often! We are not too far from Suffolk - Prince George County - but my parents live in Waverly - not too far from you. We raise Dominiques! If you're ever interested, let me know!

 

[itsdamamma]

MOVING.... Just getting started and I have to move. I have 10 chickens. 3 roos, 2 Guineas, 2 baby girls (11 week old) and the rest laying hens. Do folks get a lot of responses from the "for sale" section? Cause I am pretty sure that's where my flock is going to end up. I want them to go to a BYC person that will love them. I hope this works. As soon as i get settled I will be getting a few more and starting all over again. Either way I will still be reading BYC!

 

[Gold Griffin Chicken Mom]

Itsdamamma, I've seen many craigslist ads for chickens, both for sale and wanted. I try to read the Norfolk/Hampton Roads list everyday. When bored, I read the other Virginia cities' listings.

Gallusfarm, it wasn't snowing this morning when I posted. It looks like white-out now. The ground is so cold that the snow hitting the highway was swirling in the wind. We had nice tire-tracks to follow even though this road hasn't seen a VDOT truck yet. After enjoying the pretty (if slow, Mr Surburban felt he had to do 35 in a 55 zone) ride home, I was nearly forced off the road into my own ditch when the on-coming Road Hog decided he needed to speed AND drive down the center. Ordinairly I have plenty of room to manuever my large truck, but I guess he thought his pickup was bigger. (It wasn't .) I will admit to saying a Bad Word.

Usually I avoid wishing bad things on others, but I did wish Mr Road Hog to recieve some of the same treatment he just showed me!

And my chickens are NOT amused by the weather. My "offering" of greens from the grocery store were glared at. I have been snubbed, after I travelled dangerous roads in the snow to get it for them!

 

[Crabman]

Hi Virginians. Snowin` hard here on the Eastern Shore too. This is my flock`s first real taste of snow. They all seem to be handling the cold well. Probably better then I am!

 

[Gallusfarm]

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Hi Crabman!

 

[Gold Griffin Chicken Mom]

All the humans and adult chickens here survived this first big (for us, don't want to hear otherwise right now) snow. I did have one September Baby do something real stupid: he decided to play Hide & Seek at bedtime. The stupid Turken boy hid and I failed to see him with my flashlight when I locked all the good babies up for the night. First thing the next morning I saw him even before I could enter their run. The stupid Turken froze to death right under the elevated coop! I kept replaying in my head a bit from Jeff Foxworthy: "That'll learn him!"

The September Babies were hatched around September 21, so needless to say, that Turken was scrawny! He's currently in a bowl of water in the frigde awaiting his turn in the stew pot. I didn't time myself on his processing because I kept taking breaks. His "shortage" of feathers has intrigued me. I may purchase some more Turken boys to grow out in the warmer weather.

Despite all the cold weather, I've seen my Silkie roos mating the June Girls. The Junes were one of those all female assortment deals from MPC. Even though there are two standard roosters present in the run, the Silkie brothers are learning how to make those big girls get down on their level, lol! Big Boy managed what looked like a successful mating with a standard Dark Cornish yesterday. I think Little Brother has finally gotten a girl or two, but not totally positive. Any time Blackie or Red catch them dancing or actually mating, there is much squawking for a few minutes. Blackie and Big Boy both like the Australorp girls, but with 19 total girls and a dog house to hide behind, well, let's just say it's rare for me to crack a June's egg and it not be fertile! I am resisting the urge to test hatch and see how many Silkie crosses I get.

How is everyone else doing?

 

[chickengrl]

Hello all, we are newly legal chicken owners here in Prince William County. They just passed the new ordinance recently. We are in Nokesville and just wanted to say: yiipchick HELLO!

 

[Gold Griffin Chicken Mom]

Welcome! It is best to be legal, lol. I used to live in a subdivision in Portsmouth that allowed chickens. The whole subdivision had once been "truck farms". Churchland High School's mascot is "The Truckers" as a result. I heard the city was planning to change the chicken rules but I don't know if it has actually happened. Most of the children near that house had never seen a chicken in person.

I'm happier out here in Suffolk. My roosters have daily "crow-offs" with the neighbors on either side of us. I have to listen very quietly to hear the responses because the neighbors are so far away.