Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[itsren]

All five Ams that I got from her were stunning. The boys had this beautiful iridescent sheen on their legs. But, JB needed blue egg layers and I think they will be happier at her place where she has a decent sized coop/run and occasional free ranging opportunities, as opposed to living here where they are condemned to tractor living because of all the predators.

I'm now down to six mixed layers and the two Silkies, and am probably going to be giving two of the layers to a friend who lost a couple of hers. But, that opens up room for new chicks in the spring.

I think my birds feel like they have been condemned, too. They just don't seem to understand why they don't get to free-range all the time any more. The get to somewhat - but nothing like they are used to.

When I was scrubbing down the new chicken tractor yesterday, a neighbor came over and asked me about it. I mentioned that I thought we had an Eagle problem - and he quickly said "Oh, yeah, we do!" He's seen them, too. I didn't get a chance to ask any more details, though. A downpour started.

 

[KMHunter]

I have a lot to catch up on! But I'm just gonna jump in cause I need some advice,

please. I don't understand the preferences of my hens. I free range and they will only go in there coop if necessary. (roosting at night and laying eggs)
I have 5 hens. 1 roost 4" thick 10' long 3ft off floor. 3 nesting boxes 1ft off floor. vinyl flooring with a bit of DE for easier poop removal. A light for warmth. A tire with sand and DE for dusting(that they have never used) And there feeder with pellets that they wont eat unless I refuse to give them treats. They spend there day pecking the grass, digging in the garden and sitting/pooing on the back door steps.

They are just doing what chickens do. Foraging. If you kept them in a run and coop then they might eat the pellets more. Have you tried crumble instead? My chickens won't eat pellets. I have tried. As it gets colder and darker, they might spend more time in the coop. But think of it this way, less clean up, less money spent on feed. Oh. except for your back steps! I forgot about that. Do you have a run you can keep them in for half the day, then let them free range?

 

[KMHunter]

Quote: I am not even going to dignify that with a response!

 

[itsren]

FlyRobinFly - it was wonderful seeing you at the museum today. Thanks for welcoming us and making my kids feel so comfortable. We ended up buying a membership so I can take them there on "Waiver Days". There was so much to see, and we felt like we missed a lot. We stayed until closing.

We got to see a lot of cool things. The kids got to do the craft activities and pumpkin bowling. They got to see the live bat. My daughter had her face painted. They finished the scavenger hunt. And - we even got to see a 7-plane formation flying by from the control tower. Although, I felt kind-a bad about the flying formation though - I have a feeling it was associated with a funeral or memorial service. They ended with a missing man formation, and quite a few people were standing on the balcony crying. Neat to see, but pretty heartbreaking if that is what was going on.

 

[FlyRobinFly]

I think my birds feel like they have been condemned, too. They just don't seem to understand why they don't get to free-range all the time any more. The get to somewhat - but nothing like they are used to.

The chicks I raised are used to the tractor and are happy, but Sphinx, the OE I got from CL, isn't too excited about confinement. She will be going to my friend where she can be a free range bird again. I raised the Ams from chicks but they just seem better suited for a life of space and foraging.

 

[itsren]

Quote:
When my 3 girls free-ranged all day, they didn't eat much feed either. They're six months old, and I just finished my 2nd bag of feed total. Well, now that I think about not even 2 full bags have been eaten. In the first 18 weeks, they went through 1/2 to 3/4 of a bag of medicated chick start and from 18 weeks until now only 1 bag of layer feed... that's it. I recently opened the 2nd bag of layer feed. Now that they are cooped up more often, they are eating more feed. I kinda liked it better when they free-ranged. It was much, much cheaper!

ETA: My 3 girls like to look in the house through the sliding glass door, too. So, I frequently scoop poop of the patio and hose it down.

 

[RaZ]

I am not even going to dignify that with a response!

Welcome to Detroit. Where the weak are killed. And eaten. (Feathers and all)

 

[FlyRobinFly]

FlyRobinFly - it was wonderful seeing you at the museum today. Thanks for welcoming us and making my kids feel so comfortable. We ended up buying a membership so I can take them there on "Waiver Days". There was so much to see, and we felt like we missed a lot. We stayed until closing.

We got to see a lot of cool things. The kids got to do the craft activities and pumpkin bowling. They got to see the live bat. My daughter had her face painted. They finished the scavenger hunt. And - we even got to see a 7-plane formation flying by from the control tower. Although, I felt kind-a bad about the flying formation though - I have a feeling it was associated with a funeral or memorial service. They ended with a missing man formation, and quite a few people were standing on the balcony crying. Neat to see, but pretty heartbreaking if that is what was going on.

I'm so glad you had a good visit!

I enjoyed meeting the rest of your family, and have brought your daughter's drawing home to be placed next to her brother's origami Yoda and X-wing. I wish I could have spent more time with you guys, but would be happy to meet up with you again to give you a tour or something. You can come back when the new space exhibit with the shuttle trainer opens, and I can take the kids in to fly the sims again when it's not dark and spooky. By the way, in the summer the museum offers a day camp. There is a robotics themed week that your eldest may like.

Yes, there was a memorial service at the museum today also. We get a lot of those. They did a missing man flight at the service of my former flight instructor too, it was very moving. You never know what you might see out at Boeing Field though. Some days it's the Dreamliner or Boeing military aircraft doing test flights. Other times, Air Force One comes in. And the Blue Angels are headquartered there during Seafair.

 

[FlyRobinFly]

Welcome to all the new people! Sorry if I can't acknowledge each of you individually, but one has to skim posts in order to keep up with this thread.

 

[itsren]

Quote:
Even though we just got the new chicken tractor with attached tiny coop, it will be a temporary fix. I've started talking to DH about figuring out a way we can install a temporary fence of some sort about 6 feet out from the back fence line and the entire length of the fence and then draping netting over it. That would give the girls a long flower bed to root around in, plus part of the grass. It is where they hang out, for the most part, any way. As soon as the rain stops for a bit, I'm going to trim off the bottom branches of the Rhododendrons and make them more "tree" like - giving the girls a place to run under and hide. I also want to remodel the chicken tractor so it is separate from the run portion, so, if they are in a temporary run along the fence, I can park the little coop in there with them so they have a place to hide and roost, or lay an egg.

I think I'm suffering from case of chicken momma guilt! I can't stop feeling bad that they don't free-range most of the day.