Terri McAlinden
In the Brooder
My name is Terri. I am 70 years old and I live 100 miles from the nearest Walmart, Home Depot and Safeway so I try to shop once a month and stock up. However, last time I went shopping there was no Toilet Paper, no rice, beans or EGGS due to hoarding caused by the CoronaVirus. So I decided to raise some chicks for eggs (just in case).
The last time I raised chicks I lived in Hawaii and people over there love them. Chickens run loose on the Island at the airport, at the bus stops and in Walmart parking lots.
But it isn't so easy in Washington State where I live now. Two years ago I moved to unincorporated community, Population 500, between Mt. Rainier and Mt. Saint Helen's volcano. There is no zoning commission here to harass me and the girls.
The problem now is that I live in an RV park and I am planning to enclose the yard behind my trailer for the girls. My darling husband moved his wood pile to facilitate the yard and he is building a shed from scrap siding he got from his brother in Tacoma. When it is done I am going to paint it Pink.
I have not asked the landlord for permission. He lives in Oregon and comes up once a month to collect rent. Yes, I know it is a risk, but it is easier to get forgiveness than permission so the chicks are arriving on the day he is going to be here to collect April rent. I am going to hide them this first month and by next month
he won't have the heart to make me get rid of them when he sees what I am doing. There really isn't any reason for him to say no. The chicken yard backs up to Gifford Pinchot National Forest, so as long as my neighbors are nice I should have no problem keeping them. After doing the math I think I can get about 65 eggs a week so the neighbors will be wooed with free eggs if I can keep them until they are old enough to lay. I have an exit strategy in case the girls become a problem; if I can't keep them I will release them in the forest behind the yard and hope that they will survive in the wild. The forest is full of gouse and my husband likes to hunt them occasionally for supper. I think the chickens can survive out there. There is lots of food and high trees for the girls to hide.
I would appreciate your opinion on this. If that isn't a good option I can probably get $8 for each of them.
I will post pictures of the girls here. I got 5 Columbian Wyandotte, 5 Rhode Island Red and 5 Black Australorp.
I have always had good success with my birds in the past but I have never kept them confined as much as I will have to do here. They will not be able to forage much and I will have to rely on commercial feed.
Wish me luck. Follow my progress and comment on my posts. Thanks!
The last time I raised chicks I lived in Hawaii and people over there love them. Chickens run loose on the Island at the airport, at the bus stops and in Walmart parking lots.
But it isn't so easy in Washington State where I live now. Two years ago I moved to unincorporated community, Population 500, between Mt. Rainier and Mt. Saint Helen's volcano. There is no zoning commission here to harass me and the girls.
The problem now is that I live in an RV park and I am planning to enclose the yard behind my trailer for the girls. My darling husband moved his wood pile to facilitate the yard and he is building a shed from scrap siding he got from his brother in Tacoma. When it is done I am going to paint it Pink.
I have not asked the landlord for permission. He lives in Oregon and comes up once a month to collect rent. Yes, I know it is a risk, but it is easier to get forgiveness than permission so the chicks are arriving on the day he is going to be here to collect April rent. I am going to hide them this first month and by next month
he won't have the heart to make me get rid of them when he sees what I am doing. There really isn't any reason for him to say no. The chicken yard backs up to Gifford Pinchot National Forest, so as long as my neighbors are nice I should have no problem keeping them. After doing the math I think I can get about 65 eggs a week so the neighbors will be wooed with free eggs if I can keep them until they are old enough to lay. I have an exit strategy in case the girls become a problem; if I can't keep them I will release them in the forest behind the yard and hope that they will survive in the wild. The forest is full of gouse and my husband likes to hunt them occasionally for supper. I think the chickens can survive out there. There is lots of food and high trees for the girls to hide.
I would appreciate your opinion on this. If that isn't a good option I can probably get $8 for each of them.
I will post pictures of the girls here. I got 5 Columbian Wyandotte, 5 Rhode Island Red and 5 Black Australorp.
I have always had good success with my birds in the past but I have never kept them confined as much as I will have to do here. They will not be able to forage much and I will have to rely on commercial feed.
Wish me luck. Follow my progress and comment on my posts. Thanks!
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