Dobby

Go online & become a member of back yard chickens. It's free & very informative regarding chickens & ducks & more...

WoW & thanks for the hx lesson!

I could see hundreds or thousands of chickens making a smell. I used to live near a turkey farm, and it was horrendous. Small scale flocks can be almost odor free by composting. All lawn clippings and leaves go directly into my pens. Even with as many birds as I have, customers always comment on the lack of odor

Penn State is an agricultural college. How could State College possibly ban chickens? You hit it at the right time of the year when the college spreads its manure the whole town smells like down on the farm.

State College allows chickens. If they can write a ordinance allowing them then a rural area should be able to.

I just read that whole article. I really don't think it's right for the ones who have had them for years, & I don't mean 5 years either. There are lots of farms in that area, they aren't allowed to raise chickens? If it were me who has raised them for years, I would tell them to go cluck themselves!!!

WE ARE FAMILY! I'VE GOT ALL MY CHICKENS & ME!!
 
 
 
 
 

My first pen has some 6 year old girls in it. Some left from my first two years raising them. All the other pens are rolled over for breeding, but pen 1 is family

It's always fun watching them loose

Know someone who gives non-laying chickens to the Amish because she is too sentimental to kill or eat them. I'm sure they take good care of them until they die of natural causes.

The problem that I would have if I had four chickens is that I would name them and then get attached to them. When they quit laying, I could never eat them or give them away to someone who might eat them. Soon, I would be running a coop for geriatric chickens!

I'm fairly sure that dye is less expensive than chicken feed. Not as heavy either. Met a fellow in the supermarket today who was telling me about his chickens. Said he has over 100 of them at one time and they lived on the farm all by themselves with no human companions.  He apparently had a couple of helpful uncles. His last words were, "Don't ever buy a farm." And if you are wondering why I was discussing chickens with a complete stranger in the supermarket that is the way it is around here.

Yep, lots of people have "disappeared" for displeasing Steve but he runs a clean tight ship!

there is a chicken joke about what a gay rooster says when it crows, but I would hate for Steve to have to give me warning points after all we have been through...

Yeah, after I posted that I saw how it could be read.I've had a hen that crowed. It's freaky. Makes them sound Lebanese..

Blue ribbon at the county fair this year My favorite chickens ever. Very docile, roosters are awesome flock protectors, but not aggressive, and they lay those gorgeous eggs
 
Pulletzer... lol

How wonderful that you have roosters that lay eggs!  I'll bet you got a prize for them too.  By the way, some hens do crow. 

landfillguy - you should win a pulletzer prize for those.

I was just teasing. With the right mix of breeds you can save money on dye

Me. I make Easter baskets too complete with homemade chocolate Easter eggs. I'm weird that way.

The black coppers are the only eggs that taste noticeably different. Very rich yolks with extra thick whites

We get free range eggs from friends and neighbors and the brown eggs that their hens produce are great for dying at Easter. They take the colors much better than the white ones from the grocery store.

I'll take 4 of those black copper eggs scrambled with 2 pieces of buttered toast and 1 cup of caffeinated coffee please.... 

Remember those black copper eggs I told you about?

That's the best part of breeding, there's always chicks around
I hatch at least a few year round, but my busy season is starting now, and I will be hatching every week or so until the weather hits about 90.
Chickens are extremely relaxing. I like to hang out at the pens after a stressful day at work and just watch them. They don't have a care in the world, they are just content creatures.