Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[ochochicas]

I have one RIR, one white Rhode Island, and a couple of red sex links which are a cross of RIR and White plymouth rock. They come from two different hatcheries and have all been great birds.

 

[Amberjem]

I have one RIR, one white Rhode Island, and a couple of red sex links which are a cross of RIR and White plymouth rock. They come from two different hatcheries and have all been great birds.

thats great what hatcheries did they come from? my blue wyandotte came from privetts

 

[ochochicas]

I'm pretty sure mine all came from Dunlap in Idaho. A few of my birds came from a different hatchery...I have it written down someplace, but of course I can't find the paper. No more hatchery birds for me though. Now I'm only planning to buy from local breeders or hatch my own eggs.

 

[uhohmaeday]

My hatchery RIR at 1 week. She was buff/red and had a darker stripe on her head. All grown up.

Such a cutie! Our hatchery RIR was rustier colored as a chick. I got a picture of her yesterday. She's a little over 10 weeks.

Two days

Ten days

~10 weeks She doesn't have a name yet. Any ideas are welcome!

 

[budsbirds]

I am glad you choose to comment and come out of the shadows I really like hearing positive stuff over them, mostly because off how I think humanity has created the not so nice rir line because of production, I took no offense this medium is a slippery slope sometimes to communicate in

so when you say raising rir  is that a ssustainable flock of your own birds or replacing with chicks from other source? I'm not sure if that makes sense I may not know the terminology I know some ppl get feed store chicks raise em up get the eggs and freezer camp them eventually n replace with more chicks from outside source were I consider sustainable flock  get your chicks raise them they have chicks ect might bring some outside stock in to fresh genetics ect..

I occasionally will bring in blood from outside, but rarely. I always keep at least three separate breeding pens so I can line breed fairly efficiently. My reds will lay well for 5-6 years. They don't lay as many eggs as a hatchery bird in a year, but they do lay more over their career. I worked in a commercial hatchery back in the mid 70's and I'm not trying to disparage them, they do have their place, just they are very different than sop birds. I have silver laced Wyandotte bantams and blue and black Cornish as well. To me they are just a hobby that I happen to enjoy. Eggs and meat are a bonus

 

[ImpsMama]

Another thought is if You decide on a favorite breed to conserve, have your roosters be from that breed and a few hens among the mixed hen group then You can do both???? 

Sorry for going MIA for a few days... I had foot surgery this week, so I've basically been on pain meds and sleeping. No reading or laptop use due to double vision... Sigh. Pain is still spiking, but I can read now at least.

I read everyone's suggestions and again want to say thank you! I have some great ideas for the direction I want to take our flock in the spring. Especially elizmartin's post about just having a few purebreds, including roo, in the mixed flock to do breed conservation while still having some variety. I was thinking either/or. "Both" didn't even occur to me, duh! Thanks so much!

Also, my Wyandotte is the only one of my five still laying right now, the other layers (barred rock, australorp, and two EEs) have all shut down for the winter (no lights). She's still giving me ~4 eggs a week.

Happy thanksgiving everyone!!

 

[Amberjem]

I'm pretty sure mine all came from Dunlap in Idaho. A few of my birds came from a different hatchery...I have it written down someplace, but of course I can't find the paper. No more hatchery birds for me though. Now I'm only planning to buy from local breeders or hatch my own eggs.

were you not satisfied with the chicks from the hatchery?

 

[Amberjem]

Such a cutie! Our hatchery RIR was rustier colored as a chick. I got a picture of her yesterday. She's a little over 10 weeks.


Two days


Ten days


~10 weeks

She doesn't have a name yet. Any ideas are welcome!

 

[Amberjem]

Sorry for going MIA for a few days... I had foot surgery this week, so I've basically been on pain meds and sleeping. No reading or laptop use due to double vision... Sigh. Pain is still spiking, but I can read now at least.

I read everyone's suggestions and again want to say thank you! I have some great ideas for the direction I want to take our flock in the spring. Especially elizmartin's post about just having a few purebreds, including roo, in the mixed flock to do breed conservation while still having some variety. I was thinking either/or. "Both" didn't even occur to me, duh! Thanks so much!

Also, my Wyandotte is the only one of my five still laying right now, the other layers (barred rock, australorp, and two EEs) have all shut down for the winter (no lights). She's still giving me ~4 eggs a week.

Happy thanksgiving everyone!!

thats great do you know when your wyandotte started laying for you by chance?

 

[Hinotori]

This is etta.. Salmon Faverolles.. I think she's pretty, but certainly "off" when it comes to what she's supposed to look like.

Poor girl is currently in jail because of bumblefoot. We're on day 4 of an antibiotic wrap, but it doesn't seem to be helping... Next phase is cutting her foot open if it doesn't get better (although I'm NOT going to go buy a scalpel or set foot in a store for the next few days.)

P.S. I spent a week at Whidbey Island (Oak Harbor) this summer. Nice place. Especially if you like to race sailboats

Any really sharp knife that is small enough will work. I have a hen that is prone to bumblefoot. She's gotten it repeatedly in both feet. I just did her right foot again last week. It's always a different spot. This one was very big because I hadn't checked her in a few months since I took the last small one out. Hard little thing. After careful cutting around the bumble, I've found squeezing can help get it out if it's a deep one. I think she's going to be wearing foot wraps forever now. Or at least the next several months.