Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[Farias1124]

Hello fellow Washingtonians!!! I'm in search of 2-4 young pullets or hatchling Silver Laced Wyandotte's. I live in Roy and work in Tacoma but am willing to travel a little ways. I've seen a few available in Craigslist but I feel $25-$40ea is outrageous.

I've got a nice established flock of 2 RIR's, 2 Barred Rock, 1 Sweet Barred Rock Roo, 1 Buff Orp, 1 Blue Lengshan and a bantam of some sort whom my daughter calls flower. All born Feb/14.


I'm looking to rehome the Blue Lengshan. I brought her and another Lengshan home a few weeks after the rest of the flock (who were raised together from day 1) so they were both kind of the outcasts. Well last week I lost one girl to the eagles and now the remaining girl is all alone. She's a sweet girl laying 3-4 eggs a week but she's not very happy. If anyone is interested in her that would like to trade or just have for free and give her a happier home she's all yours.

Thanks everyone
Brian

 

[KellyLyn]

Just last month or so the Gig Harbor Wilco had many hatchlings - Wynadotte's - I believe Silver Laced. Sorry this doesn't help you now, but is a place to consider in the Spring.

If I thought I could ease your hen in - I would love some blue eggs, but my flock is just settling into a new coop and my Mean Girl just got out of chicken jail and I'm watching her suspiciously now.

Does anyone have any tips how to integrate a single hen into an established flock without bad results?

 

[Theegoliath]

Quote:
See but not touch. Use a small cage/dog crate/rabbit cage (anything that has sides and a top), and put it inside the normal run. That way the chickens can see and hear each other, but not touch. Do that for a week or two. Then remove the small run, and the integration will not be so bad as simply putting the new hen in with the other girls. This meathod worked well for us this past summer. This is of course after a isolation period, seeing if the new girl is sick, or has mites, etc...

 

[KellyLyn]

Thank you for the tip! I did the "cage in the coop-live side by side" method to introduce the next gen to the first gen, but was adding a group of 5.. just a single hen - I'm worried about her already, lol.

 

[LBurt6]

Been working hard at our house. Thankfully the weather was prefect this weekend we are so close to finishing which I awesome cause momma bird is trying to get her four

[/IMG] babies in the coop which is not big enough. Fingers crossed the weather holds out and we can finish next weekend.

 

[ochochicas]

We've never had any huge issues integrating new hens or chicks. They stay in a quarantine coop for up to 2 weeks. At that point the coop is moved and the new birds can see the old birds for another week. Then I let them all out in the yard together. The new birds have been in the coop long enough to know that is home. Usually the two groups go their separate ways and dust bathe in different parts of the yard. Eventually, at feeding time, they all come together in one spot. They are so busy eating scratch grains that they are not interested in fighting. Depending on how they are getting along, the new chicken(s) will be moved into the coop one or two weeks later.

The only problems I have had with this method is one ancient hen fighting with one of my old hens. After a day they forgot they were enemies. They now sleep on the roost together.

Of course the hens will sometimes bite or chase the pullets since that is the way they show dominance. I've never had a chick get hurt by an older bird. They will make a lot of noise as they run away, but never any blood drawn. I recently got a new rooster and even he is fitting right in. He and the old rooster got into one scrap and that was it. They have their separate girls and seem to understand that's how it is. Hopefully when he moves into the big coop later this month there won't be a lot of drama.

 

[Hinotori]

You can put another hen in with her for a while so they become buddies, the add both of then to the flock.

 

[CarolynF]

Hello! Newbie here in Bremerton WA. Waiting for a coop to arrive and then to get this three hen circus up and going. I'm thinking about getting pullets and skipping the chick care, since my boyfriend and I are on the shipyard schedule and there'd be no one to come do midday checkups on them if we did.

Hi & Welcome! I'm in Kitsap too. There are a couple of places you can check for older birds in our area. Try Pam at RainCreek Pottery (google that), she's out toward the airport. Also check with Lynn at Stoney Earth Farm, she has a FB acct. And maybe @DiamondDust will stop by and update us on her flock of Barnevelders. She just earned BV at the show in Vancouver last weekend!

There are a of people in the area that can provide good quality birds without having to buy hatchery birds from the farm stores. In the long run it's a good choice for avoiding a higher risk for heath issues in layers. Here at BYC they tend to discourage us from advertising/sharing information about what birds we might personally have for sale or trade.

It can be very useful to attend a local poultry show where you can find a variety of birds/breeds offered by the participants. The next one is in November at the fairgrounds in Chehalis. It's being put on by the Washington Feather Fanciers.

Hello fellow Washingtonians!!! I'm in search of 2-4 young pullets or hatchling Silver Laced Wyandotte's. I live in Roy and work in Tacoma but am willing to travel a little ways. I've seen a few available in Craigslist but I feel $25-$40ea is outrageous.

I've got a nice established flock of 2 RIR's, 2 Barred Rock, 1 Sweet Barred Rock Roo, 1 Buff Orp, 1 Blue Lengshan and a bantam of some sort whom my daughter calls flower. All born Feb/14.


I'm looking to rehome the Blue Lengshan. I brought her and another Lengshan home a few weeks after the rest of the flock (who were raised together from day 1) so they were both kind of the outcasts. Well last week I lost one girl to the eagles and now the remaining girl is all alone. She's a sweet girl laying 3-4 eggs a week but she's not very happy. If anyone is interested in her that would like to trade or just have for free and give her a happier home she's all yours.

Thanks everyone
Brian

Hi Brian, Sorry to hear you lost one of your girls, that's rough. I hope you can find her buddy a happy new home. Some people will put a singleton like that with some younger birds that need a bit of mothering and they form a nice unit. You might try that with the SLWs you're looking for. In the meantime, I've had good luck putting a rubbermaid type tub and 5 gallon buckets, usually near a corner, in the run to give the singleton a place to dodge the others and get a bit of peace. It takes more time, but she always manages to integrate with the flock. Sometimes she remains at the bottom of the pecking order and sometimes she will assert herself and make new friends. Maybe @Hinotori will offer some other ideas, too. Good luck.

 

[ochochicas]

I'm looking to rehome the Blue Lengshan. I brought her and another Lengshan home a few weeks after the rest of the flock (who were raised together from day 1) so they were both kind of the outcasts. Well last week I lost one girl to the eagles and now the remaining girl is all alone. She's a sweet girl laying 3-4 eggs a week but she's not very happy. If anyone is interested in her that would like to trade or just have for free and give her a happier home she's all yours.

Thanks everyone
Brian

My neighbor is looking for a new hen. Are you in Roy? We're near Maple Valley.

 

[Hinotori]

Quote:
I have had birds that just never would bond with anyone else. Then I also have an EE that's best buddy I had to put down because of a tumor. She went broody and raised some chicks who now act just like her and the five of them do everything together. I'm expecting eggs from the younger ones in the next month.

$20-$25 is about average for young laying hens. Even hatcheries charge $20+ for point of lay pullets. Well bred or rare breed pullets can run much, much more than that. Hatcheries just don't have very good quality birds to the breed standards.

If you want to get a price heart attack, look at some of the breeds at Greenfire Farms like this one http://greenfirefarms.com/store/category/chickens/ayam-cemani/ . Then wait and buy them from someone else for less.