Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[Chickielady]

Yes.
And if you do, please ask after Jean Ribbeck~~
The Ams I have are from Cree Farms, and are slighter, and flightier.
When & If I get more, I will go to Jean for eggs.

P.S. To breed an olive egger, you need 1) a Marans, and 2)an ameraucana.
If you have the 2, you are set to go.
You may not get the exact blue I have in the phot...

Miss you too !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Ogress]

Awww! I miss you too!

 

[prettyheavysoul]

Hey chicken friends! I am a newbie from Whidbey Island. I've had my four
hens for two months now. I'd love to have a rooster but I don't think my neighbors would appreciate it and also I think my town has a noise ordinance. Anyway, I've decided that in the future I'd like to add another hen. I think it would be a really neat learning experience for my kids to see a chick hatch.

I am unsure how I should do this. I could buy one and incubate it myself but I really love the idea of observing one of my hens sitting on her eggs than caring for her chick once it hatches. If I stick to nature how do I fertilize one of my hens? Could I introduce a rooster for a few hours and expect my hen(s) to lay a fertilized egg?

Any knowledge or advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Lutefisk]

Beautiful cockerel !
He diffinetly has Black Copper Marans in him.
And the tub......is it a California Cooperage Redwood tub ???????????????
We had one years ago (in Los Osos California...by Pismo beach) and it took quite some time to bleach the tannin out of the wood.......til then, you will have a tan from the neck down......LOL!!!!!   

I could use a tan!
It's a Snorkel (snorkel.com) which is based in Seattle, made of western Red Cedar. It's a DIY kit, very fun to put together and beautiful. The wood is milled in Shelton. I just need to install the benches and the chimney stack and fill er up! BTW the snorkel stove is not legal to sell in WA due to an emissions regulation (but it is legal to own) so you'll need an out of state friend or relative to make the purchase. My SIL from Wyoming is coming to visit soon to check out her hot tub

 

[Duck Drover]

Even if the males are mounting, they will be shooting blanks until warmer temps.
Every bird is different, too, but all will go sterile in severe cold.
Some will not show any interest in mounting or mating whatsoever.
Some will mate, but all will be infertile.
I believe the colds reduce the testosterone level in the birds, slowing sperm production and making the males much less interested in reproduction.
My males are still attentive to the females, watching over them and being good protectors.
But not mating.
In the spring, we who sell hatching eggs have to watch diligently for the bullseyes to appear after the long cold seasons, before we can sell hatching eggs.

My rooster is still breeding the hens and I am still getting eggs but I only know they were fertile 21 days ago because they are hatching now. I won't know right away if the eggs I set yesterday are fertile or not.

 

[danielle82]

Hi! I've just moved to Chehalis here in Lewis County, and I was wondering if anyone knew of any good places to get some good Chicken feed. I saw what appeared to be a bulk processing plant in town, and when I asked at their office, its for some commercial farm, and they don't sell their feed. Does anyone have any good leads?

 

[Totalcolour]

Hey chicken friends! I am a newbie from Whidbey Island. I've had my four
hens for two months now. I'd love to have a rooster but I don't think my neighbors would appreciate it and also I think my town has a noise ordinance. Anyway, I've decided that in the future I'd like to add another hen. I think it would be a really neat learning experience for my kids to see a chick hatch.

I am unsure how I should do this. I could buy one and incubate it myself but I really love the idea of observing one of my hens sitting on her eggs than caring for her chick once it hatches. If I stick to nature how do I fertilize one of my hens? Could I introduce a rooster for a few hours and expect my hen(s) to lay a fertilized egg?

Any knowledge or advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

A few hours won't do it, especially not this time of year with this cold weather Even if the rooster is interested, he probably won't be fertile due to the cold. Even if he is fertile, there's no guarantee the hen would go broody and set.

Also, you shouldn't try to incubate just one egg. If for some reason it doesn't hatch, you will have wasted 21 days. Also, if it does hatch, it would be very lonely as just a single chick. You would have to separate Mama and baby until baby is big enough to be on it's own, and then it really would be lonely.

You could "BUY" hatching eggs and incubate them, but you'd need an incubator unless one of your hens is broody. While some people do hatch this time of year, I prefer to wait until it's a tad warmer.

 

[Chickielady]

BYC's "Engteacher" has posted many photos of his Black Java hen hatching & raising youngun's in MINNESOTA in the middle of winter..............you can see on the Java thread...I'll see if I can find it.

I sent her a PM to see if she'll send link to her pics.
She had wonderful photos of this Black Java hen, with all these black chicks following...right out of the barn into the snow.
We laughed, cuz when the hen went broody in the first place, it was fall-ish.
When she had hatched her brood and decided to venture out into the world.................it was dead winter...the hen came out, babies in tow, looked at all the deep snow, and went right back inside the barn again !

Here I am, quoting my own self again....this response came in from Engteacher who graciously sent me the link to her Java photos, and said it was 17 degrees the day she took these photos.
The chicks were hatched Nov 24, in Minnesota !
That was one determined hen !

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28991373@N04/sets/72157625573320441/

 

[DuckyDestiny]

Hi there Ducky, and Welcome to the group! 

For recycled wood, have you tried the Habitat store?  There's one in E. Bremerton and another in Belfair.  I'm sure there are others but I don't know the locations specifically.

You mentioned chicken wire.  If you literally mean chicken wire I'd like to strongly suggest that you use something heavier and with a smaller opening.  We have a LOT of racoons, coyotes, and neighbor dogs that can easily get over, under, and through chicken wire.  Many people will use 1/2 inch hardware cloth on the bottom 2 feet and 2" x 4" welded wire for the rest.  Plus an apron 18  to 24"  to deter digging.  You may already know all this and if so, please excuse the redundancy.  And again, thanks for joining us! 

I guess more accurately I have 2x4 welded wire around my coop. They've already dug around the edges and made the floor uneven, my plan was to rake the the floor up, add more wire or mesh, and then compact the dirt back down. I planned on building a big enough coop to close them up in every night.

Fortunately we don't have any raccoons or coyotes in my backyard, unfortunately it's also because we have a bear and a cougar living in a canyon behind our house. Lol our landlord used to live here said that he's seen the cougar only a couple times and the bear won't come near anyone so I'm not too worried, especially since he's had the flock for a few years and they've lasted alright in mediocre conditions ( that I'm working on changing lol )

 

[Chickielady]

I could use a tan!

It's a Snorkel (snorkel.com) which is based in Seattle, made of western Red Cedar. It's a DIY kit, very fun to put together and beautiful. The wood is milled in Shelton. I just need to install the benches and the chimney stack and fill er up! BTW the snorkel stove is not legal to sell in WA due to an emissions regulation (but it is legal to own) so you'll need an out of state friend or relative to make the purchase. My SIL from Wyoming is coming to visit soon to check out her hot tub

Isn't that hysterical ?!?!It is legal to own but not legal to sell in this state !
How absurd !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So, if you have an out of state freind buy one for you, do they then have to ship it to that person, then that person ships it back to you ?
Or can you just go pick it up ?
Since it is cedar, you may not get as much tannin as we did with redwood, but yes, a tan you will have !
You will have to dunk yourself often to get your head as tan as the body.....