Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[CarolynF]

Quote:

I do coarse sand in my covered run/pen and inside the coop. I love it. Super easy to keep clean by using a litter scoop each morning. Takes about 5 min. If the birds are inside your run 24/7 I'd make it at least 4" deep as they will use it for dust baths, too and they'll kick some of it out. It's cheap and easy to refresh if you get it at a gravel pit or concrete company. In the coop I only have about a half inch. Just enough to make it easy to clean. If there's a wet spot I just push the sand aside for the day to let the floor dry. It's a plywood floor that I've primed and painted twice with exterior paint. It's holding up extremely well. Almost 4 years now. If you click on "My Coop" below my avatar you can get an idea.


The biggest lesson for me was to be sure it's covered and to slope the ground so that any rain that hits the adjacent land doesn't drain in their run. In our case there's an asphalt driveway adjacent to the fence. It was sloped just right so the rain ran directly onto our property.

 

[trovito]

Hello. I am located in Chehalis and am back at raising chickens as I took off a couple years to get my life together. I am in the market for poultry so please let me know if you are close to me and have something available... Thanks in advance!!

I currently have:

2-peacocks
3- d'anver hens

Chicks (all straight run):
1-polish
4-turkins
2-barred rock
2- RIR
2-Ideal 236

 

[elizmartin]

hello and welcome

…..

Tell us More what you enjoy about poultry. I guess mostly what would YOU like..…in general, eggs, meat, personality, variety, feathers/crafts or….. There are alot of folks not far from You…..and in the fall the Washington Feather Fancy has its winter brisk at the Chehalis Fairgrounds…You can also checkout its website for other shows coming up that can help You find breeders of some very beautiful poultry.

 

[Chickielady]

I built a 5 x 10 covered run off my coop for my five girls when they first moved outside. It didn't take very long for them to remove every blade of grass. Since then I've used pine shavings in the run and it's worked out really well. The run stays clean and dry. I've since built an additional larger run, but they still like to spend part of their time in the small covered run. Here's a picture from the time when I only had the small run and there was still grass in it.


Here's a picture of them taking a dust bath in the dirt and chips inside the covered run.


I have one Australorp, Maxine, and she's a real sweetheart. She lays the biggest eggs of any of my girls.
Good luck with your flock!

Ahhhh, that looks like a nice place to sit & read !

 

[Chickielady]

There is 30 feet or so between the beds and berries. I will train them.

get a few packs of 2' bamboo sticks(Walmart) or 2' foundation stakes (HD) and stake them every so many days.

 

[Chickielady]

Yet another question for you locals - what do you use for substrate in your runs? I'm building an 8' x 4' run off my coop for the 3 girls and want to make sure they stay clean and dry. I'm figuring I'll just let them enjoy the grass while it lasts and see just how much they destroy it. My yard has decent drainage, but it's soft clay and stays soggy during the rainy months. I just don't want anything that will get moldy or nasty and cause more harm than good for both the yard and the hens. The other thing I have to take into consideration is this is all semi-permanent, we are moving in 4-6 years and will have to take the coop and all the chicken stuff out when we sell and re-sod that area. For some reason, our realtor thinks people won't find a pre-built chicken coop and run won't be seen as an attractive option for potential buyers!

Thanks for all your patience and advice everyone! I'm loving reading everyone's stories, especially gardening wise! I started experimenting with gardening in AZ before we moved here (aka watched everything die!), so it's great to see what I can actually GROW now!

Pea Gravel in my runs.
Even still, 1 to 2 X a year I get the hose directly hooked to the well pump, has tons of pressure, and clean the gravel runs as a tide would wash gravel.
Otherwise, the poop & bio stuff builds up, and the gravel is buried.
The poop can accumulate ammonias that will burn the bird's feet if they are forced to stand in it.

Washing with the big pump creates a poop soup of pyroclatic rivers running down into a ravine here, and leaves the gravel pristine & all good again.

 

[Carolei]

I do coarse sand in my covered run/pen and inside the coop. I love it. Super easy to keep clean by using a litter scoop each morning. Takes about 5 min. If the birds are inside your run 24/7 I'd make it at least 4" deep as they will use it for dust baths, too and they'll kick some of it out. It's cheap and easy to refresh if you get it at a gravel pit or concrete company. In the coop I only have about a half inch. Just enough to make it easy to clean. If there's a wet spot I just push the sand aside for the day to let the floor dry. It's a plywood floor that I've primed and painted twice with exterior paint. It's holding up extremely well. Almost 4 years now. If you click on "My Coop" below my avatar you can get an idea.
ave

The biggest lesson for me was to be sure it's covered and to slope the ground so that any rain that hits the adjacent land doesn't drain in their run. In our case there's an asphalt driveway adjacent to the fence. It was sloped just right so the rain ran directly onto our property.

Sand is great if you have a truck and can get to the run easily with the truck. If I used sand I'd have to buy it in bags or pay someone to dump it in my ally and bring it in to the run by wheelbarrow -- way too labor intensive and expensive for me. So, in my situation pine shavings are great. They're light, easy and readily available where I live. I also use pine shavings inside my coop. I have a poop board under the roost that I sprinkle with pine shavings. I brush the poop and shavings off the poop board every morning and dump it in the compost. I use deep litter on the cement coop floor. What works best for you will depend on your location and situation. Have fun setting up your coop and run!

 

[Carolei]

Ahhhh, that looks like a nice place to sit & read !

If only the girls would stop trying to turn the page before I'm ready!

 

[Chickielady]

If only the girls would stop trying to turn the page before I'm ready!

And not potty on your chair !

 

[CarolynF]

Hello. I am located in Chehalis and am back at raising chickens as I took off a couple years to get my life together. I am in the market for poultry so please let me know if you are close to me and have something available... Thanks in advance!!

I currently have:

2-peacocks
3- d'anver hens

Chicks (all straight run):
1-polish
4-turkins
2-barred rock
2- RIR
2-Ideal 236

Hello and Welcome to the group!

I happen to have a pair of Welsummer littles that need to find a new home. They're 8 weeks old and will eat from my hand.
The pullet has one toe that is slightly crooked. These are not hatchery birds, but not from a "name" line that I know of. I'm asking $25 for the pair.