Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[JulesChicks]

Adorable chicks SunnySky.... can't wait to get our first ones this spring. Turned out to be a lovely day yesterday so I spent the afternoon trimming the fence line along our driveway of nasty brambles. Looks much better for the moment and won't scratch our cars up - but unfortunately with the "warm" winter we are having there were already buds forming. Arghh! It's going to be a battle to clear the areas that need to be cleared of brambles - for coop, run, pasture, future garden, etc. Lots of work to be done! But it was very nice to be outside doing the work - just wish I could make more progress.

 

[ParklandPoultry]

Juleschicks- I'm not sure where in Washington you are located but there is often goat herds for rent on craigslist. I also don't know how much they cost but if your looking to clear a lot of space quickly and don't want to bother with owning goats it may be a good option for you.

 

[ShockValue]

I looked into renting some goats briefly, but was put off by the price. I rented a bobcat with a brush clearing attachment for half the cost.

It was still expensive, but it took a month long job of doing it "by hand" with clippers and a hand-held brush trimmer to about a 4 hour job.

 

[ochochicas]

From what I remember, the guys who rent out the goats also stay with them and check on them, which is probably why the cost is high...you are paying for their time. I prefer to just do it by hand. Gardening/trimming is good exercise.

 

[ParklandPoultry]

These are my first batch of Silkie chicks for the year, they hatched the first through the third of January and are all with new families now but I was very pleasEd with how they turned out.

 

[JulesChicks]

Yep, my mom looked into renting the goats and it was definitely cost prohibitive. Plus, I believe she found out they don't eat the old growth - some of these old canes are over an inch thick! My husband has rented a brush hog several times and cleared quite a bit this way. I think the bobcat idea is a good one for the larger area we have to clear but it would not work along the fence line. That really has to be done by hand. Thankfully, there really isn't a fence where we want to put the coop so we can use heavier equipment. We may even put it on a gentle slope that is mainly grass and then clear the area next to it for the garden (where it is steeper and could possibly be stepped). This area is SE/S facing and the best location for the chickens and garden. The area along the driveway and fence line would be a good pasture once cleared -pictured below (chickens ranging, possibly horses or alpacas). We are in west Skagit County, Fidalgo Island.


Ok, so here's my first picture post ever - this was DH with the brush hog a couple of months ago - he's about 5'9" or so, that gives you an idea how high these are...He cleared this area to find the old septic drain field (which turned out to be ancient and inadequate). You can sort of make out the road below those trees in the background, and our driveway is on his right. What I was doing yesterday was clearing what was growing through the fence that he couldn't get to with the hog. I only cursed a few times...

Cute Silkies Parkland Poultry...my son wants some Silkies I think...I'm not sure how they would fare with a large fowl flock though?

 

[Natalierose]

I'm in the early stages of setting up for my first flock of chickens


I'm debating between all silkies (Bearded if possible 3-5)

Or a mix of silkies and orpingtons.

If any one has advice and or is a breeder of either of these (any where in washington or Oregon)

Please shoot me an email!

[email protected]

 

[ParklandPoultry]

Juleschicks, you have a beautiful place. I'm very jealous .

I know a lot of people say not to keep silkies with standard size birds but I've don't it multiple times and they have always done fine. It its best to raise them together as chicks with so they establish a pecking order before the size difference is too noticeable though.

Natalierose, I breed them and am located in Tacoma. I'm booked up through mid March but am accepting orders till fall.

 

[SunnySky]

I'm in the early stages of setting up for my first flock of chickens


I'm debating between all silkies (Bearded if possible 3-5) 

Or a mix of silkies and orpingtons. 

If any one has advice and or is a breeder of either of these (any where in washington or Oregon) 

Please shoot me an email!

[email protected]

I actually breed both! I'll send you a PM here on BYC.

 

[Corydg]

Ha! my husband just bought a brush hog and loves it! It chops things up nicely...especially 5 acres of blackberries. We thought about goats (which I love) but they would need so much attention like my dogs AND we have rhododendrons (over 40) on our property and only a couple leaves are toxic. There are a couple places in Washington that adopts out hand raised super friendly rescued goats: http://newmoonfarm.org/farm/ These places also seem to know of the humane people that rent out goats.