Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[junebuggena]

If your local feed store has a bulletin board, you can advertise your chicks there. This is the time of year when I have the easiest time selling chicks, since the feed stores no longer have any.

 

[pennyJo1960]

@junebuggena actually posted the darn things all over to no avail
kinda weird but the only response was from someone in like
Woodinville told her it was bit far and no delivery to there good
giggle had email, phone and text for a month on cl with chicks strait
run easter egger
I am starting to local people for eggs now rather sell them

 

[Hinotori]

I have straw in unmentionable spots, but now the low spots in the chicken pens have enough before we flood from this storm. Well pen with the big girls stays pretty good now unless little chicken feet get to work bare soil into a soup that I will sink a little in, even if they don't. A bit of straw down stops that from happening. All the straw and stuff tossed in there over the last few years has raised the inside quite a bit higher than the back side where it starts sloping a little so no more water issues inside. That pen is in what was a low spot, but was there was an awning off the back of a shipping container there that I couldn't resist using. So we walled the awning in and tossed in bark and straw to fight the water pooling. It doesn't get as much sun as it could in winter because of shadows, but there is almost no wind as well which the girls prefer not dealing with. If it gets sun here, it will get the wind since it blows in from the SW for us.

 

[pennyJo1960]

@Hinotori great photo op there also

I use the shavings had them 2 ft deep till the tarp started developing little leaks then bigger ones
and it all turned to mud inside there coop

 

[junebuggena]

Got the coop all cleaned out and fresh hay inside. All ready for the flock to spend the next few days in.

 

[Hinotori]

@Hinotori great photo op there also

I use the shavings had them 2 ft deep till the tarp started developing little leaks then bigger ones
and it all turned to mud inside there coop

I prefer shavings inside the coops as well. I use straw in the run as it lasts longer.

 

[pennyJo1960]

why are the spending the next few days in @junebuggena I do not
want more rain till I get the new tarp on it isnt here yet..
@Hinotori I had picked up several bags of lathe shavings and plain
old sawdust.. been using it in the run soon to be vacated but planting like mad to
the composted chicken poop in it so hard packed had take my
little tiller to it which thrilled the chickens they barely couldnt wait for it
to stoo so they could attack the soil

 

[Hinotori]

why are the spending the next few days in @junebuggena I do not
want more rain till I get the new tarp on it isnt here yet..
@Hinotori I had picked up several bags of lathe shavings and plain
old sawdust.. been using it in the run soon to be vacated but planting like mad to
the composted chicken poop in it so hard packed had take my
little tiller to it which thrilled the chickens they barely couldnt wait for it
to stoo so they could attack the soil

Oh I can totally picture the chickens. Mine love to follow me if I'm tilling an area. Getting them to move out of the way so I can go back over it again if it's a new spot is almost impossible.

 

[Duck Drover]

We are using wood chips for the Silkie pen this year since we have a cover for them that was intended more for shade and protecton from predators than to keep out the rain. It does give more dry ground even though it leaks but in order for the water to drain we need to avoid allowing puddles to form. Our soil is so rocky that we have pretty good drainage if there is not mulch or shavings to hold in the moisture and make it soggy. With the thick wood chips (someone paid us to take them) held in by landscape timbers that raise the yard from the surrounding yard, I can still pressure wash the pen to break down waste to feed the worms and yet the wood chips will hopefully keep the feather footed Silkies from having muddy feet this winter better than the sand we had been using (sand just seems to hold in the water so it was moved into the garden with our rabbit fertilizer). It does not matter how much covered area we give the Silkies they will stand in the rain!

The ducks absolutely adore the rain and they will try to dam up any puddle that forms to turn it into a mini pond. I have relandscaped the entire yard to slope the ground away from the house and shop but some day I want rain barrels to store rain water for the garden all summer (without mosquito larvae). Our water is so chemically treated that I can't drink it - we have to buy filtered water to drink. I miss living on acreage with our own well in order to have organic water. I am sensitive to chemicals so we need our living space to be organic. Now that our area is becoming more urbanized the rainwater and groundwater is probably getting polluted with toxic chemicals too.

 

[junebuggena]

How to tell if a storm is going to be particularly bad? The Coast Guard pulls their smaller response vessels out of the water completely...