Newbie in Western Washington

[MrsM74]

Hello,
I joined a while ago to be able to ask questions and read, but never did the introduction. We got our first chickens back in March, month old pullets from Murray McMurray. In April we got a few more locally raised marans barnyard mixes from a local breeder. A student wanted to raise a few for me, so he raised two OE, which I am getting this week. We have SLW, Cuckoo Marans, Barred Rocks, EE, and then our marans mixes and the OE. Two of the mixes appear to be roosters. We live in Western Washington State and have a hay farm where the chickens live. We live down the street. I want to eventually allow them to free range, but there are many predators and not many places for chickens to hide on a hay farm just yet. For now they get supervised time out to play.

 

[Kiki]

Thanks for doing an "intro".
Welcome to BYC.

 

[drumstick diva]

Welcome to Backyard chickens, as an official member you can enter most of the contests etc. on the site.

 

[N F C]

Thanks for joining us!

 

[TwoCrows]

Hello there and welcome to BYC!

Nothing wrong with supervised free ranging. This is all I can do with my flock too as I have lots of predators out here and I have to keep an eye on them while they are outside. Then the rest of the time is spent in a large run. I try and keep the as entertained as possible when they are not outside and they seem to do well.

Great to have you aboard and welcome to our roost!

 

[Percheron chick]

Chickens are a natural accessory with a farm. I originally got mine to control grasshoppers and only see a handful every summer. It's easiest to let them free range in the late afternoon. They won't wander too far and you'll be close by doing chores.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Great intro, nice to"meet"you!