Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[CharterChick]

Awesome coloring book! The kids are going to love it. I wish we would have had chicks when I was in school.

I do have some of my questionable eggs in my incubator. They are on day 4, so too early to candle them yet. The rooster is servicing the hens, but I have not checked all the eggs for fertility. My incubator was running at 102 for the first 24 hours so I'm afraid I might have cooked my eggs right from the start, but we'll see in a week if anything is happening. New incubator is warmer on one side than the other. Maybe beginner's luck will be on my side this time.

My incubator always spikes at the beginning as the eggs warm up. I have never had major loss because of it.

I have an Lg still air that hatches better set at 102* at the top and 98* on the hardware cloth on the bottom. My Hovabator genesis 1588 is amazing though. We bought that one recently specifically for the preschool hatch and it is steady all the time! So now the LG is my hatcher at home!

Having 2 incubators makes it really easy to just hatch all the time! The hatchabatch app keeps track of the days for me lol LOVE technology!

I'm bringing the books to the kids today i'm hoping they like it!

I've had parents ask what it takes to keep chickens and I told them some info but to research first before they get any. I'm not letting anyone take home my babies! But I told the kids we can take pictures with the babies after they hatch.

 

[ochochicas]

Having 2 incubators makes it really easy to just hatch all the time!

Don't tempt me! LOL I think I'm already in over my head...don't need anymore reasons to hatch more eggs.

I'm bringing the books to the kids today i'm hoping they like it!

I've had parents ask what it takes to keep chickens and I told them some info but to research first before they get any. I'm not letting anyone take home my babies! But I told the kids we can take pictures with the babies after they hatch.

If any of the Marans hatch you'll want to hang on to them for sure. They should lay gorgeous olive eggs. I only set four of her eggs, but if I get even one pullet I'll be happy camper.

 

[jbkirk]

We will have eggs hatching in three days!!!

can hardly wait

We have 19 eggs which are dark all the way through and 14 which are dark in some sections and light.
Could you guys tell me what that means.
(their probably a little early because I can already hear them)

 

[Espresso]

How does everyone house their birds? My backyard is fenced, but I don't exactly want to just put a dog house out back and let the ducks fend for themselves...

 

[CharterChick]

Don't tempt me! LOL I think I'm already in over my head...don't need anymore reasons to hatch more eggs.

If any of the Marans hatch you'll want to hang on to them for sure. They should lay gorgeous olive eggs. I only set four of her eggs, but if I get even one pullet I'll be happy camper.

I'm keeping all of them! I'm a confessed chicken hoarder!

I love having a hatching bator, it really helps keep the good one clean. Let me know when and where you want to meet up and we will be there!

GOOD NEWS!​

After frantically messaging all the people on ebay who sell bantam cochins (with good shipping reviews) One lady said she has some and sent them out this morning! I AM EXCITED! I brought the kids their chicken journals today and they wanted to start it today! I was worried they might not like it but I realize now that is silly!

 

[CharterChick]

I know this never ever happens here on the WA coast but it was raining here hard. So the chickens ran straight for the horse barn when I let them out of their coops!

Rusty is a 27 year old quarter horse DH has had for 15-/+ years. The horse doesn't let the dogs anywhere near him but he'll let the chickens and guineas ride him! He's too funny!

Edited to mention DH is thinking about building a roost in the barn overhang since they all seem to be buddies. Lol

 

[ochochicas]

We put our horses in the stalls yesterday as well. It is too wet and muddy outside for them to be in the pasture. The pony tried to chew through the wire covering the window going to the chicken coop. That is why evil pony's usual stall is the furthest one from the chicken coop. I think they were happy to be out of the rain though.

 

[CharterChick]

We put our horses in the stalls yesterday as well. It is too wet and muddy outside for them to be in the pasture. The pony tried to chew through the wire covering the window going to the chicken coop. That is why evil pony's usual stall is the furthest one from the chicken coop. I think they were happy to be out of the rain though.

DH wanted to get a pony for DD... It was free he said! I told him it's probably possessed and I wanted nothing to do with it! A friend of ours took it and renamed it Hannibal after a couple of weeks because he would bite (viciously) EVERYTHING! He had to get rid of it after it got his donkey and the donkey needed stitches. Things like that is why I will not take free animals unless tons of info is given. I have a $200 barn cat because of lack of info. Went to get her fixed she was pregnant (in the first week), she had ticks, tapeworms and some other worm I forget. But the bill was $204.68... OUCH! She's a great hunter and leaves the chickens alone but geeze, really?

I'm on day 20 with test batch for the new incubator... Nothing yet but i'm patiently waiting right next to the bator. 9/10 made it to lockdown and then I switch them to the LG. I used the dry method everyone talks about and it worked great! There is so much humidity here that I honestly didn't add water for the first 18 days. Only for lockdown and I only added 2-3 tablespoons full.

 

[ochochicas]

Our pony was free too - and she would bite, kick and attack people. The lady gave her to us because she was afraid to handle her. I can't say I blame the pony though...the woman starved her. She was living in a pen outside in the middle of winter with no shelter or water. After about a year of pony boot camp, she is now a good equine citizen most of the time. She does occasionally chase cats, chickens, and I'm sure coyotes that get in the field. Earlier this year she "accidentally" killed a bunny. It is kind of disturbing to know you own a killer-pony.




On another note, I didn't go to work today because I'm sick. I stayed in the house until it got light out and then headed out to feed the horses and chickens. Because of all the rain I had to move birds around and clean horse stalls. After a long time outside I decided to check the nest boxes. I NEVER turn the light on in the chicken stall in the morning, but for whatever reason I did this morning. It was a very lucky day for one little critter. I have a bucket in the stall to catch drips from the crappy roofing job on the barn. In the bucket was a black blob that looked like a chunk of wood that appeared from who knows where. When I picked the bucket up, the blob put out its arms and was trying to swim. The poor little bat had landed in the water and couldn't get out. He looked really pathetic so I put him in box with copious paper towels so he could dry off. Being the animal lover I am, I thought he probably had hypothermia. Then I brought his box in the house and started a fire in the wood stove to help him dry off (our house is really cold). So far he is looking pretty good, but I'll wait a couple hours before sticking him back in the barn. I hope he learned a lesson!

The cats are trying to get in the bat box. Bad kitties!

 

[CharterChick]

Our pony was free too - and she would bite, kick and attack people. The lady gave her to us because she was afraid to handle her. I can't say I blame the pony though...the woman starved her. She was living in a pen outside in the middle of winter with no shelter or water. After about a year of pony boot camp, she is now a good equine citizen most of the time. She does occasionally chase cats, chickens, and I'm sure coyotes that get in the field. Earlier this year she "accidentally" killed a bunny. It is kind of disturbing to know you own a killer-pony.




On another note, I didn't go to work today because I'm sick. I stayed in the house until it got light out and then headed out to feed the horses and chickens. Because of all the rain I had to move birds around and clean horse stalls. After a long time outside I decided to check the nest boxes. I NEVER turn the light on in the chicken stall in the morning, but for whatever reason I did this morning. It was a very lucky day for one little critter. I have a bucket in the stall to catch drips from the crappy roofing job on the barn. In the bucket was a black blob that looked like a chunk of wood that appeared from who knows where. When I picked the bucket up, the blob put out its arms and was trying to swim. The poor little bat had landed in the water and couldn't get out. He looked really pathetic so I put him in box with copious paper towels so he could dry off. Being the animal lover I am, I thought he probably had hypothermia. Then I brought his box in the house and started a fire in the wood stove to help him dry off (our house is really cold). So far he is looking pretty good, but I'll wait a couple hours before sticking him back in the barn. I hope he learned a lesson!

The cats are trying to get in the bat box. Bad kitties!

I hope you get better soon! I'm glad the killer pony has a good home.

That is a very pretty pony! The pony we were offered was taken great care of but he was just mean! But I've come across other animals (mostly cats) that just aren't nice no matter what. Poor little bat, he got lucky today... My kitties eat bats in the barn so all the bats got smart and moved to the woodshed.

Edited bc I noticed the antlers... TOO CUTE!