Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[Stumpfarmer]

Sorry, I was in a MOOD because I'd just finished mud wrestling with the 6 week old Hamburgs.

I love Twinberry, and my neighbor across the road hired somebody to bulldoze out about six great big mature plants at the same time she had her big doug firs topped: bad idea all around. It is too cold here for me to grow it because of the cold air trap.

I am almost ready to move the Am/Am+Au chicks and their mom into the hoop house; good thing because at two weeks they are bigger than the six-week-old Barbu d'Anvers!

 

[Stumpfarmer]

And now Malvina and the Blues Brothers Show Band are safely down in the hoop house, with food and water for the morning and plenty of clean grass. Of course eight chicks will be lot for a twelve foot by six foot pen, possibly before I can sex them, which is going to be a problem; the only thing I can do is dig down to clean dirt on the old footprint of the pen and build a turn-out run for them. We will see.

Just not this month.

I'll be cleaning out the hatching cage and moving it over to the bantam zone sometime in the next 14 days; there will be some modifications to it, too- mostly in the actual footprint, which may involve taking the light-weight posts out of the cage wire and re-framing it on 2X2 so it can be moved more easily. It was a total stinky mess today, but the rain last week especially (since I couldn't scrub the hoop house and have it dry clean in the rain) but also the heat these last four days slowed me down.

The only critical thing I have to do tomorrow is take a picture of the new red bull calf (YAY! last cow has calved!) and finish shearing the sheep. Maybe I can even rest a little.

 

[8675309j]

Hi there, we are new to chickens. Living in Lynnwood. A few questions for ya.

1. Anyone know the Lynnwood laws around Roosters? I am fairly certain on one of our 10 week old Buff Brahmas are a Cockerel.


2. We built what started out as a tractor but is so darn big and heavy DH is the only one that can move it. Run on the bottom, locked in are on top for night (taking food up at night). When we are home and hanging out back they get to free range. What are my biggest predator threats around here. We have 2 labs that love the chicks, lick on them and lay with them. Its pretty sweet. We have seen some mice and rats in our yard but so far that is it, we have half acre and noticed them before chickens. What else should we watch for. Haven't seen coons or possums in years.



3. We use Bothell feed for our supplies, are there any other good ones around. Just curious.

4. Any other advice for raising chicks in this area is very welcome!

5. If my Buff Brahma is a ROO any tips for re-homing him? If we can't keep him in Lynnwood? So far he is a sweetheart.

this is our flock 10 weeks old now, amazing how fast they grow.













Lola is our Buff Orpington
Pee Wee is our Buff Brahma on the left in the back
Freckles is the other BB far back on the right and
Brewster the BB on the front Right (suspected Roo)

 

[chickiemomy]

Thanks for the advice on breaking broodiness CL - I'd also heard freezing the dummy eggs & putting them under her might work as well? I may have located a few fertile eggs locally - thought I might see if she will be a good momma hen. If the eggs don't come thru tho in a couple of days- will block her out of the nest. I was worried about her getting too hot & staying hydrated in all this heat - thankfully it's cooling off now. newbie worry.

and for all you plant folks - I'm an old botanist as well - and thought you might want to take a look for a book I like - 'Gardening with native plants of the Pacific Northwest' by Art Kruckeberg - an old professor of mine from the UW. I looked up twinberry in it - he says for propagation - that lonicera seed germination is slow - needs stratification. However cuttings come easily from either hardwood - outdoors, or young summer shoots over bottom heat. (My recollection is that some berry seeds are helped by nicking them a little before planting - as it mimics the action of gizzards, or acid in digestive tracts that would occur in nature prior to the seed being 'planted' -- think uva ursi - bear berry... this may be helpful for honeysuckles as well?)

 

[Stumpfarmer]

Malvina and her back up band are happy in the hoop house this morning.

Onward and upward, so to speak.

 

[lovinchickypoos]

Any ideas on keeping the birds more comfy in 100+ heat? I lost my Cochin yesterday and am crushed about it. :'( They all free range and have multiple water dishes spread around, various shade spots and I left the hose on mist all day ( the waterfowl and turkey loved that).
Hope all of you are faring better!

 

[hallerlake]

And now Malvina and the Blues Brothers Show Band are safely down in the hoop house, with food and water for the morning and plenty of clean grass. Of course eight chicks will be lot for a twelve foot by six foot pen, possibly before I can sex them, which is going to be a problem; the only thing I can do is dig down to clean dirt on the old footprint of the pen and build a turn-out run for them. We will see.

Just not this month.

I'll be cleaning out the hatching cage and moving it over to the bantam zone sometime in the next 14 days; there will be some modifications to it, too- mostly in the actual footprint, which may involve taking the light-weight posts out of the cage wire and re-framing it on 2X2 so it can be moved more easily. It was a total stinky mess today, but the rain last week especially (since I couldn't scrub the hoop house and have it dry clean in the rain) but also the heat these last four days slowed me down.

The only critical thing I have to do tomorrow is take a picture of the new red bull calf (YAY! last cow has calved!) and finish shearing the sheep. Maybe I can even rest a little.

Mama is blue. Daddy is red. Shouldn't calf be purple?

Yay, on the last calf. One less thing to deal with before the wedding.

 

[Stumpfarmer]

And now Malvina and the Blues Brothers Show Band are safely down in the hoop house, with food and water for the morning and plenty of clean grass. Of course eight chicks will be lot for a twelve foot by six foot pen, possibly before I can sex them, which is going to be a problem; the only thing I can do is dig down to clean dirt on the old footprint of the pen and build a turn-out run for them. We will see.


Just not this month.


I'll be cleaning out the hatching cage and moving it over to the bantam zone sometime in the next 14 days; there will be some modifications to it, too- mostly in the actual footprint, which may involve taking the light-weight posts out of the cage wire and re-framing it on 2X2 so it can be moved more easily. It was a total stinky mess today, but the rain last week especially (since I couldn't scrub the hoop house and have it dry clean in the rain) but also the heat these last four days slowed me down.


The only critical thing I have to do tomorrow is take a picture of the new red bull calf (YAY! last cow has calved!) and finish shearing the sheep. Maybe I can even rest a little.

Mama is blue. Daddy is red. Shouldn't calf be purple? Yay, on the last calf. One less thing to deal with before the wedding.

Last year their calf was white with black ears; the blue cow's famous for throwing non-black calves, though, including a big red-and-white one out of the nope, not an angus bull a couple of years ago.

Red calf with his eldest and youngest sisters:

Malvina and the Blues Brothers Show Band:

 

[LynS1975]

I live in Bothell and we are not allowed to have roosters here. You can probably google Lynnwood regulations and find out what the laws are for Lynnwood on having roosters. I bought some chicks from Bothell Feed this Spring and two of my chicks turned out to be roosters. I ran an ad on Craigslist for a while and also on this forum and didn't have any luck. I ended up taking them to Monroe Farm and Feed. They have a "rooster pen" where you can drop off any unwanted chickens and they sell them for $10. They are also a good place for feed and supplies and have pretty good prices and seem pretty knowledgeable. They also have a great selection of different chicks if you plan on adding more to your flock.

Hi there, we are new to chickens. Living in Lynnwood. A few questions for ya.

1. Anyone know the Lynnwood laws around Roosters? I am fairly certain on one of our 10 week old Buff Brahmas are a Cockerel.


2. We built what started out as a tractor but is so darn big and heavy DH is the only one that can move it. Run on the bottom, locked in are on top for night (taking food up at night). When we are home and hanging out back they get to free range. What are my biggest predator threats around here. We have 2 labs that love the chicks, lick on them and lay with them. Its pretty sweet. We have seen some mice and rats in our yard but so far that is it, we have half acre and noticed them before chickens. What else should we watch for. Haven't seen coons or possums in years.



3. We use Bothell feed for our supplies, are there any other good ones around. Just curious.

4. Any other advice for raising chicks in this area is very welcome!

5. If my Buff Brahma is a ROO any tips for re-homing him? If we can't keep him in Lynnwood? So far he is a sweetheart.

this is our flock 10 weeks old now, amazing how fast they grow.













Lola is our Buff Orpington
Pee Wee is our Buff Brahma on the left in the back
Freckles is the other BB far back on the right and
Brewster the BB on the front Right (suspected Roo)

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

Quote:

Is it unusual for a hen to go broody during the summer? We have a Buff Orpington who is over the moon happy, sitting on a clutch of eggs in the shed. We've never had fertile eggs before this, and probably won't again. The neighbors hate our rooster. I've heard you can douse them in a tub of cool (not cold) water, and that is supposed to break the broodiness, but I've never tried it. Good luck with your hen. Happy Independence Day!

I have a broody that I broke 3 weeks ago and the heat re triggered her into broodiness. I am giving her eggs this weekend to hatch. This is the 3rd time my BO has gone broody since Feb. She raised a pair of chicks the first time. Giving her 6 eggs this weekend. I believe the heat helps raise hormone levels.