Recent content by ImpsMama

Are you near Seattle? I'm considering expanding my flock of english orpingtons this spring... I have have 2 hens, and love them. Haven't decided for sure yet, but I'm looking for a breeder close by--not interested in shipping.

@tomtommom yeah, I sometimes look around and can't believe how much I've changed... My husband is getting me a grain mill for Christmas. A *manual* grain mill. And I'm excited for this... Five years ago, I'd have been horrified, lol. We still do take out, and rarely fast-food, but we're mostly...

I'm not technically a new member... Happily lurking since spring '13... :) but yes, back then I posted briefly in the new members area. I have a very active toddler and busy suburban "homestead", so reading time is precious, and it's usually a frantic search for whatever info I need then off...

So I popped into the "Incubating and Hatching Eggs" area to get recommendations for a good small-ish incubator... Haven't incubated before, so I thought I would take in the collective BYC wisdom on the subject. One of the first threads I saw was "Getting the flock out of here", and I must say, I...

She hatched mid March 2013 (I think March 11??), and she started laying mid September. She was 2nd of the five--the barred rock was early September, the other three were end of September. I purchased them as 6 week pullets, but they all hatched within a week of each other.

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...

I've got personal ethical issues with the cornish cross.... Not knocking those that raise them, I'd just prefer not. I want a bird that can live to maturity and reproduce naturally... And forage, definitely forage. I did think about it briefly, but just can't get past the "ick" factor.

Thanks everyone for the advice!! It's very helpful! I'm definitely not looking "just" for production, I actually got chickens in the first place to be "tiller chickens" in my garden... Eggs were just a bonus. :) but now that I've had a couple of years to figure out the direction I want our...

Thanks for your replies! I will look into turken, I haven't looked at those yet. Jersey giants, I believe are pretty slow maturing? I ruled them out due to that after reading some other threads about best dual purpose birds... Barred rocks, wyandottes, and orpingtons seem to have quite a...

Hi all, I'm mostly a lurker, and I've learned a ton from BYC over my last (almost) 2 years of chicken keeping. However, I was hoping y'all might be able to point me in a good direction... i have a mixed layer flock (5 hens), and am interested in breeding for true dual purpose--good layers, with...

The coop builder was Donald Weeks in Orting, listed on Craigslist as the Chicken Man. He delivers to all of Seattle; my coop was delivered fully assembled yesterday. For bigger coops, they bring the pieces and assemble on location. I think it's pretty well made. So far, so good. First thing I...

Too funny, yes, we likely really are neighbors! We just moved in last October and haven't met most of the neighbors yet. :) I hear several roosters crowing in different directions, so I know I've got chicken-neighbors around...

Ack, still getting the hang of this quoting thing! Didn't mean to add my commentary to your quote! Not sure how to fix it! Sorry! (Couple minutes poking around trying to figure it out....) Ah, got it. Fixed :)

Lol, too funny! Nope, the "imp" in question is my daughter, its her nickname 'cuz she's always in to something!! Ahh, toddlers... She does enjoy the chickens, though, she watches them and calls them "birdies" :)

Thanks for the welcome! I got this coop from a coop-builder on Craigslist. It is about 6' long, 4' high, and 32" wide. I think it will hold my four girls pretty well. They will have a free range area of about 40'x40' eventually, but at first I'm going to start them with a dog exercise pen...